HUMAN ACTIVITIES
What is human activities?
Human activities: Refers to the activities what people do in order to meet their daily basic needs. Example of human activities: are such as Agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, tourism, transport and communication, leadership, trade, etc.
TYPES OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES
i. Primary activities
ii. Secondary activities
iii. Tertiary activities.
iv. Quaternary activities
v. Quinary activities
1. Primary activities: Refers to the human activities which involve the extraction of the raw material from the earth. Are all activities which deal with extraction of nature or depending from the natural environments.
Example of primary activities
i. Agriculture.
ii. Mining.
iii. Fishing.
iv. Lumbering.
2. Secondary activities: Refers to the human activities that deal with processing and manufacturing of raw materials in to useful products. Normally secondary human activities depend largely from the primary activities where different raw materials extracted from the natural environment are converted to produce differenf goods.
Example: processing of raw cotton to produce clothes, paper making, processing of iron ore to produce iron.
3. Tertiary activities: Are human activities that dealing with provision of service that are need by the society. Example trade ( restaurant, hotel, lodges, supermarket.), education (teachers) hospitals (doctors), transport (driving) banking, plumbing
4. Quaternary activities: Refers to the activities that based on provision of intellectual services and informations to the society. Example activities related to Information and communication technology (ICT). Example: Information technology, scientific research, consultancy, library services computer based activities like marking of software.
5. Quinary activities: Refers to the activities that deal with administrative issues. It deal with activities that are performed by people from top official position. Example: reorganization management concerning with industry, mining, and trade.
IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES
1. They facilitate development of manufacturing industry. by producing raw materials such agricultural crops, etc.
2. They generate employment opportunities to the people.
3. They provide food supply to the people. This is through agriculture, fishing, etc.
4. They facilitates development of transport and communication system. E g tourism encourage the development of road and railway, telephone graphs, etc.
5. They encourage development of tourism industry through recreation activities.
6. They provide foreign exchange to the country. After export of different goods.
7. They encourage improvement of living standard.
8. They facilitate urban growth e.g mining, trade, etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS CAUSED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES
1. They cause environmental polution: These include, water pollution, air pollution, land pollution and noise pollution caused by construction activities, fishing, agriculture, manufacturing, etc.
2. Deforestation: caused by cutting down tree without replacing them for the purpose of construction activities, clearing forests for and for settlement establishment.
3. They contributes to soil erosion: caused by cutting tree and burning of glass.
4. They can led to loss of soil fertility: due to over cultivation, pollution and erosion.
5. They can led to loss of biodiversity: Both plant and animal species may disappeared due to over exploitation of natural resources and environmental pollution.
6. They contribute to climate change: due to deforestation and environmental pollution.
7. Disappearance of water sources: Caused by pollution and deforestation.
WAYS TO SOLVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS CAUSED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES
1. Afforestation and reforestation: planting trees in areas where trees has been cuts and areas with no vegetation at all.
2. Provision of environmental education to the societies: Societies should be well educated about how to conserve the environment as well as about the consequences of environmental pollution.
3. Enacting strictly laws against environmental pollution: Strictly law as should be enacted to punish people who pollute environment and those who cuts trees without reasons.
4. To ensure population control: population growth should be checked by through provision of family planning education.
5. To ensure sustainable utilization of resources: the natural resources should utilized and exploited in a way that will meet the present demands without compromising the future demands, those including sustainable fishing, sustainable forestry, sustainable mining, etc.
6. To suggests other alternative source of energy: another source of energy should be suggested like the use of electric energy, biogas, coal gas, therefore this will reduce deforestation.
7. To improve good farming methods: there should be use of organic farming which will reduce the rate of land and water pollution.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Environmental pollution: Is the process of introducing some substances that are harmful to the environment. However environmental pollution involves the introducing of unwanted materials into environment such as liquid, solid, gases and particulates. Normally the materials that are introduced in to the environment are called pollutants
POLLUTANTS
Pollutants: are those materials that are introduced in to the environment.
Types of pollutants
i. Liquids pollutants. E.g Polluted water from sewages, industrial chemicals, oils, etc.
ii. Gas pollutants. E.g industrial gases , volcanic gases, etc
iii. Solids pollutants. E.g iron, crop residues, etc
iv. Particulates pollutants. E.g Broken glasses
FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
1. Rapid population growth: in the world especially in the thirds world countries this led to the increase rate of production of waste and problem in the managing of the waste.
2. poverty: This made people uses cheap energy resources that cause air pollution like charcoal and fuel wood. Rapid advance in technology that has led to the development of supplicated industries which emits a lot of gases and waste.
3. Development of transport networks: These network development increase the number of means of transport such as cars that emits a lot of gases to the environment.
4. Military testing: This forces people to keep on migrating from place to place hence pollute the environment as well as the use of bombs and nuclear weapons.
5. Advancement of Science and Technology: This increase the rate of materials that contributes to the environmental pollution. These include, solid, liquids and gases materials.
6. Natural phenomenas like volcanicity, wind, earthquakes, political conflict.
TYPES/CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
However environment pollution can be classified in to four (4) categories which are:-
i. Air pollution.
ii. Soil/land pollution.
iii. Water pollution.
iv. Noise pollution.
A. AIR POLLUTION
Air pollution: Is the process of additing of waste material into air. Air is an important resource in sustaining life, without it there is no life on earth.
CAUSES OF AIR POLLUTION
1. Volcanic eruptions: That gives out dust ashes and gaseous like sulphur and carbon dioxide.
2. The strong blowing of winds: That, raise the dust and pollen to a certain levels. Dust has chemical that are toxic and hence harmful to the living organism both flora and fauna.
3. Industrial activities and automobile: This process led to the emission of fumes and gases that pollute the air.
4. Burning of fuels: The uses of different fuels such as charcoal, coal, firewood and oil fuel for difference purpose pollute environment.
5. Construction activities: The construction activities such as road construction, salting up buildings and etc. lead to introduction of dust into the air.
6. Agricultural activities: It pollute the air through, digging in the soil that raises dust into air, spraying some chemicals like insecticides.
7. Mining activities: this in also led to the introduction of dust and some gases into the atmosphere.
EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION
1. It reduce the amount of solar energy: because of being blocked by the layer of dusts or fumes hanging in the atmosphere leading to problems in photosynthesis.
2. Occurrence of global warming: as the result of green house gases from the atmosphere.
4. Disappearence of plants and animals: due to poisonous gases.
5. Destruction of Ozone layer.Due to the concetration of green house gases.
6. Occurrence of acidic rain: when gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide mix with rainfall.
7. Source of bad smell: keeping people in residence area uncomfortable.
8. Source of dangerous disease: like skin cancer, respiratory prooblem etc.
MEASURES TOWARDS REDUCING AIR POLLUTION
1. Afforestation: Planting trees which absorb gases like carbon dioxide and prevent fast movement of air towards the atmosphere.
2. Improving the combasion system: This will enable engines to burn fuel easily.
3. Improvement of industrial machines.
4. Finding other alternative sources of energy: This will reduce over depending on the charcoal, fire wood, and fuel wood.
5 . Government policies: Strict laws should be passed to ensure proper management of resources.
6. To ensure proper management of wasted materials: these include use of land filing, recycleling, etc.
B. SOIL/ LAND POLLUTION
Soil pollution: is the process of introducing or adding any unwanted material in the soil. Or Is the process of adding harmful material into the soil.
SOURCES/CAUSES OF SOIL POLLUTION
The main causes of soil pollution can be categorized as follows
1. Materials atmosphere: the pollutants are introduced into the soil through the acidic rain. Acid rain leads to the increase of acidity into the soil which later on destroy the soil structure. Acidic rain is predominant in the industrialized countries like Germany Eastern Canada and USA.
2. Industrial materials: Some chemical such as radioactive material and metals can be introduced into the soil and render the soil units for Agriculture.
3. Domestic materials: Some waste from homes like bottles, metallic material plastics baby’s cans etc. which are dumped into the soil they lead to soil pollution.
4. Agricultural activities: There are chemicals which include pesticides like DDT crop remains and fertilizers when all these chemicals get into the soil they lead to the soil pollution. Likewise irrigation activities can lead to soil pollution especially when applied in steep slope areas for a long period of time.
5. Mining activities: On the other hands mining activities can lead to the introduction of some rocks. Fragments into the upper layer of the soil which then leads to the soil pollution.
EFFECTS OF SOIL POLLUTION
1. Loss of biodiversity: It leads to the disappearance of both plants and animal living in the land.
2. Decline in Agricultural production: as a results of decline of soil fertility.
3. It can leads to the water pollution: due to the chemicals from the land brought in to the water by rainfall.
4. Change in soil structure as some of the mineral and nutrients are dissolved by acidic materials.
5. Change in soil color: hence cause the problem in soil classification.
6. Decline of soil fertility: this cause poor harvesting in agriculture.
MEASURES TO BE TAKEN TO REDUCE SOIL POLLUTION
1. Reducing the uses of chemicals in agriculture like DD etc.
2. Increase of manure instead of industrial fertilizers.
3. To improve recycling of wastes: Rather than dumping them in the soil.
4. To improve afforestation and reforestation: this can reduce soil erosion.
5. Population control: through family planning so as to reduce the rate of production of wastes through human activities.
6. Provision of education to the society: on how to undertake their activities properly.
7. Formulating strong laws to protect the environment.
C: WATER POLLUTION
Water pollution: Refers to the introduction of unwanted materials in the water which has negative effect of animal and plant.
CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION
1. Disposal from the sewage: The sewage can be from homes, Institutions like schools, hotels and hospitals.
2. Dumping of wastes from industries: these can be either liquid or solid form.
3. Chemicals from the farms: through the surface turn off or by rain water.
4. Oil spills from the oil containers or pipes: This happened in the Indian Ocean where there are some oil spills from TIPPER in Dar es Salaam in 1990s oil forms a uniform over on the surface of water.
5. Fishing activities: some fishermen tend to use harmful chemicals in fishing which lead to water pollution.
6. Breaking of rocks near the water sources: this can be done by using explosives like dynamite.
EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
1. Loss of biodiversity: Water pollution can lead to the death of plants and animals if the pollutants and poisonous or causes the rise of temperature to extreme levels.
2. Spread of disease: like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid.
3. Leads to the emission of bad soil smells: hence causes discomfort air. The soil smell is caused by decomposition of the organic matter introduced into the water body.
4. Decline of tourist activities: due to the fact that tourist who depends on water bodies for swimming will find difficult due to the fact that water bodies has been polluted (i.e. presence of toxic chemicals)
5. Change of water colour: The water becomes coloured due to the presence of impurity materials.
6. Disappearances of water sources: due to pollutants in the water.
MEASURES TO REDUCE WATER POLLUTION
1. To improve proper use of fishing methods: This will reduce the rate of water pollution.
2. To ensure proper transportation of oil: The oil container and pipes should be kept properly and frequently inspected so as to avoid the problem of soil spiller.
3. Population control: this will reduce the rate of pollutants and this is done throgh family planning program.
4. Government supports: Through provision of education about water conservation.
5. To avoid human activities along the water sources: Breaking of rocks using dynamite should be discouraged and hence alternative ways should be applied.
6. Proper treatment of sewages: The sewages should be treated enough and regularly to reduce the rate of water and air pollution.
7. Proper management of wastes: Dumping of wastes on the land should be hand in hand with land filling method since random throwing of it leads to water pollution.
8. To improve recycling
D. NOISE POLLUTION
This refers to the disorganized sound produced from different activities.
CAUSES OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. Motor vehicles
2. Construction activities.
3. Bombing activities.
4. Machines in factories.
EFFECTS OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. Mental and physical problem to people .
2. High blood Pressure problem.
3. Death on organisms.
4. Decline of communication.
5. It can cause migration of people.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1. Briefly explain six causes of environmental pollution.
2. Explain six importance of human activities to man and national development.
3. Explain six negative effects of human activities to the environment.
4. Analyze six environmental problems cause by human activities.
