Friday, August 16, 2019
Mitigation Strategies Essay
Human Population            As the human population in the world continues to geometrically grow, it has put a lot of pressure on the arid land, biological resources, energy and water to supply food in adequate amount while maintaining the integrity of the world ecosystem. According to the figures that were recently released by the united nation environment plan (UNEP) and World Bank there is a great imbalance between the human population and natural resources.  The environment has it is now, cannot bear this pressure. With the increase in human population land has been cleared to pave way for human settlement, human have settled in water catchments areas, the rate of air pollution has also increased, Global warming is also on the rise. This paper is going to look at how human population causes desertification (environmental problem), how desertification affects the both the flora and fauna, the paper will try to establish and evaluate some strategies and that are in place to try solve the problem of desertification, the paper will also outline the plan of reaching sustainability the paper will conclude by looking at the required government, societal, and global support to overcome desertification. Detailed description of Desertification            Desertification refers to the slow encroachment of desert condition to a once fertile land. Some scholars have also defined desertification as the degradation of fertile land in sub humid and arid area, that occurs primarily because of human activities such as clearing of forest, destruction of water catchments areas and air pollution and it is influenced by the variations in the climatic conditions. The major effect of desertification is the loss of the productivity capacity of the land and loss of biodiversity. (Christopher 2007 page 123) Causes of desertification Desertification mainly occurs because of the climatic variations that are mainly caused by human activities. Desertification is caused by the following factors: deforestation, global warming, overgrazing, destruction of Ozone Layer, over cultivation, over drafting of underground water, and increase in the frequency of fire. Generally the main cause of desertification is the over exploitation of land by man (human). The paper is going to discus in details how these factors contribute to desertification. Over cultivation – with the growth of human population, there is need for more food. This makes man to start over cultivating land. Whenever land is over cultivated, the nutrient content in the farm becomes depleted at a very faster rate. The depletion of nutrient makes the land to be in fertile hence resulting into desertification. (Oesterheld eta l 2006 page 770) Over drafting of underground water – underground water refers to any water that lies below the earth’s surface such as boreholes, springs and well. With the increase in human population, the percentage of water being withdrawn from the underground water is also on the rise. This is likely to interfere with the hydrological cycle of water. Over drawing water from the underground sources is also likely to deplete the water in the aquifer, with the depletion of water in the aquifer the roots of trees are likely to miss water, because of the low moisture contents. This makes it hard for trees and other vegetations to survive and with time, the land will be bear, and desert condition is likely to encroach. (Oesterheld eta l 2006 page 774) Soil erosion – it refers to the carrying away of the top fertile soil by water or wind. As the human population increases, the human beings get to clear tree for them to settle hence leaving the top fertile soil exposed. The exposure of the top fertile soil to factors like wind, and water makes the soil; to be eroded. This (soil erosion) result into soil infertility which causes desertification given that the soil will not be able to support the growth of vegetation. (Oesterheld eta l 2006 page 761) Global warming – it is the increase in temperature of the earth surface and of the ocean. Global warming at times is also known as Climate change. It is mainly caused by the increase of carbon dioxide gas, water vapor, methane and ozone. And other green house gases (Tetra – Chloro fluorine, Chlorine, fluorine. and Bromine) in the atmosphere. For the last one hundred years the temperature of the earth has risen drastically at a mean of 0.74 °C  for the year ended 2006. The main factors that have contributed to the increase are: anthropogenic gas emission by the green house effect, volcanic eruption, and solar variation. When the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere increases, the heat energy being reflected back into the earth also increases. This changes the weather pattern hence resulting into desertification. (Hughes 2006 page 28) Deforestation – refers to the cutting down of forest. Deforestation is the major factor that causes desertification. As the human population grows, the human can trees for them to get timber, land, and other raw material. The cutting of trees without replacing them increases the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this result into global warming, which causes desertification. Deforestation also exposes the top fertile soil to soil erosion, with soil erosion the soil fertility is likely to decrease hence resulting in desertification. (Hughes 2006 page 28) Overgrazing– with the growth of human population, many of them are likely to keep many livestock on a small piece of land. Overgrazing leaves the top fertile soil exposed to erosion. Whenever there is soil erosion, the soil won’t be able to bear vegetation hence leading to desertification. Livestock also pounds on the soil using their hooves, compacting of the substrate increases the proportion of fine materials present in the soil hence increasing the rate of water and wind erosion. (Hughes 2006 page 30) Impacts of desertification Loss of land productivity – with the encroachment of the desert conditions the soil become infertile hence making it unproductive. A land that is not productive cannot bear the vegetation growth. Reduction of agricultural yields – in places where the productivity of land has gone down because of desertification the amount and the quality of the agricultural yield will also reduce, given that plants need nutrients to be able to produce products of high quality. Reduction in agricultural yield has also resulted into starvation and poverty. As it is now in sub Saharan Africa where the rate of desertification is high the countries are facing severe drought as a result of the encroachment of desert conditions. (Oesterheld eta l 2006 page 776) Extinctions of some species of flora and fauna- Animals and some plants  living in very cold areas have already started to die, because of melting of the ice due to the encroachment of desert in the once fertile lands has resulting into the death of many species. Other impacts of desertification include: Impoverishment of natural vegetation, Water scarcity, Poverty, starvation and Receding ground water level. Evaluation of current sustainability strategies and solutions            Currently there are several sustainability strategies and solutions that many countries in partnership with UNEP and other non governmental organization have put in place  these include: the government has put in place a global monitoring satellite this has help us to understand the devastating effects of desertification, the government has reignited its campaign against desertification by encouraging people to do research, UNEP has also funded many smaller NGOs, whom have been charged with the responsibility of teaching communities about the causes and the repercussions of desertification lastly some counties has gone ahead and encourage its citizens to carry out birth control. Table Plan of reaching sustainability Action Items (in the correct order)  Actions Steps Timeline Research and identify how human population causes of desertification Review journals, book and websites dealing with desertification.  Identify and document the various causes of desertification.  Develop a documentary showing the various causes of desertification.  26 days   21 days    14 days Research the impact of desertification on the environment and the human being Taken a trip to North Africa where the rate of desertification is high due to human population.  Identify and document the various effects of desertification.  Develop a documentary showing the various effects of desertification.  90days Develop an education program about the adverse effects of desertification Come up with a presentation showing why the program is needed and include desertification, its impact (both positive and negative), changes that are needed to reverse the situation, the benefits of these changes needed and lastly the challenges that will be faced while trying to implement the proposed changes 76 days Schedule a presentation day and time Attend the world environmental day in the community/Country and present the benefits in the most appropriate manner to the environment department  Request the state environment department to add my presentation to the next year’s agenda. If possible it should be the theme for next year environmental week. Document the visual and audio materials required for the presentation of my topic   18 days Identify and invite all the stakeholders Tally the number of the expected attainders Advertise in press and in banners informing people about theme of the environmental week and what will be presented 10 days Present my topic to the stakeholder and convince them about the benefits of mitigating desertification Present to the audience the causes, effects and measure that can be taken to mitigate desertification 1 day Ensure that the government and all the stakeholders has adopted the mitigation measure for desertification that I had proposed Advice the people charged with implementing the mitigation measures Ensure that whatever is to been implemented is implemented using the most efficient and effective way 16 months Make a follow up to see the effectiveness of my proposed mitigation measures. Collect data in the community a bout any positive or negative changes that they have noticed since implementation of the project 13 days   Benefits my plan             If the plan is followed without being altered it is expected that the rate of desertification will reduce with more than fifteen percent annually this is likely to reverse the currents effects of desertification. If the plan is successful implemented the following be noticed: amount of agricultural yield is likely to increase, the rate at which some species are vanishing will reduce, the natural vegetation wont be impoverished, there will be more water, the rate of poverty and starvation is likely to reduce. Challenges to my plan The plan might not go as smooth as it expected, because of the following: there might be some financial problem given that to be successful I must have the necessary resources need. the second challenge that the plan might face is lack of cooperation from the stakeholders particularly those in the timber industry who might have the perception that all these are meant to deny them an opportunity of excelling in whatever business that they are doing, lastly the plan might be changed because of natural disasters like hurricane, sickness and other unforeseen circumstances. Required government, societal, and global support                       The government, NGOs and other stakeholders can actually help to reclaim the lands that have already become deserts in areas where there are sand dunes they should cover them with petroleum or large boulders, this will prevent the sand dunes from rolling away. The stakeholders should fund more researches concerning the effect of human population to the environment. This will encourage many scientists to venture into this field. The government should also run awareness campaign to encourage its citizens to co exist with the environment and to discourage them from having many children lastly the stakeholders should to the people the impact of desertification to the environment so that they can appreciate and change. Reference:  Christopher H 2007 desertification impacts assessment of Egypt international journal of environmental studies page 165 –page 201 Hughes L.2006. â€Å"Principles of Environmental Engineering†oxford press page 28- 32 Oesterheld M, Paruelo J & Veron S ( 2006) â€Å"Assessing desertification† Journal of Arid Environment, Volume Number 66 4th Issue Elsevier Limited page 751 – page 776 William. R. 2008. â€Å"What does the feature hold for our environment†Washington Post March issue page 24
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