The
Environment
Resources
on the themes of development and the environment
A healthy
planet can provide enough clean air and water, food, energy and shelter for
everyone.
Yet our
world is under threat. We misuse the land,
rivers, and seas. We pollute.
We allow big
businesses that provide us with food and materials to put profit before care for
the environment and the needs of the poorest.
Those with
least power,
wealth and resources suffer the worst effects of environmental destruction and
receive less than their fair share of the planet's benefits. This is called
environmental injustice.
Here are some of the reasons...
1. Environmental destruction
Environmental destruction includes damage to air, water, soil,
habitats and wildlife, and the squandering of natural resources. Environmental
justice is one of the values on which CAFOD is founded. CAFOD believes that in
order for everyone to enjoy a healthy environment and a decent quality of life,
the environment needs care and protection. Often the opposite happens. The
environment is damaged by pollution of land and water: waste is dumped in the
oceans, polluted air causes acid rain, open-cast mining removes topsoil and poor
farming practices can erode it. Deforestation also damages the environment.
Evidence shows that even the global climate and the earth’s protective ozone
layer have been affected by human activity.
FACT: It is estimated that up to 137 species of plants and
animals disappear worldwide every day.
(Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA)
2. Erosion
Erosion happens when topsoil particles are
carried away downhill by wind, ice or water flow, aided by gravity. The most
extreme form of erosion is desertification, when fertile land is turned into
desert. How badly the earth erodes un a particular place depends on rock and
soil types, weather, and the condition and amount of plant cover (eg. plant
roots help to hold the soil together and their leaves can catch the rain and act
as a windbreak.)
Erosion causes cliffs to fall into the sea, riverbanks to break down, and rich
soil to dry out and be blown away. Some farming practices - especially
over-grazing or clearing of large forested areas for grazing - can speed up soil
erosion.
FACT: Planting in terraces across slopes can reduce erosion by
25%.
(Source: www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/soil/erosion.htm)
3. Deforestation
Deforestation is the large-scale removal of trees from
an area that is mostly forest. For thousands of years, people have cleared land
for farming, grazing or building or to obtain wood to build houses, make
furniture or use as fuel. Forests have also been cleared for road construction
or industrial development; and they have been destroyed in wars. A current
global concern is the loss of tropical rainforest. Often trees cut down in the
South are sold in the rich countries of the North. caring for the environment
promotes human development. This is why CAFOD funds projects that help
communities living in or near endangered forests and benefit the forests
themselves.
FACT: It is estimated that between 1990 and 2000 the net global
loss in forest each year was 9.4 million hectares - an area the size of
Portugal.
(Source: FRA2000 report by UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation.) |
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This lesson idea also appears on the
CAFOD website and is used with permission.
For more information about the work of
CAFOD please visit their excellent
website and sign up
for their
Fairground magazines
To view the original Secondary Fairground Magazine 28,
please click here
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Curriculum links:
-
Geography/Citizenship:
KS3: 5 a, b. - Environmental change & sustainable development
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RE:
Icons, Book 2 (Y8), Unit 3B - Caring for the earth as co-creators; Here I Am:
“Treasures”.
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Citizenship:
KS3: 1 i; KS4: 1 j. - Environmental implications of global interdependence
Based
on:
Secondary
Fairground 28
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