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Netherlands, land is reclaimed from the sea. Barriers are built and water is pumped out.
New dry land forms for people to use.
We also large areas of land for quarries. These are large holes in the ground where rocks
containing useful metals are taken out.
The environment is also changed when land is flooded to make reservoirs for drinking
water or hydroelectric power schemes. The animals and plants that live in the forest or on
the land lose their habitat. They may die out in that region as a result
Deforestation
Humans have been cutting down trees for thousands of years. We do this to clear land for
farming and building, and for wood to use as a fuel or building material.
Forestry is sustainable as long as forests are allowed to replace themselves, or are
replanted after felling, but often this is not done. The result is that the world’s forests are
steadily shrinking.
The maps below show the loss of forest across the world over the last 10 thousand years.
The world's forests
The world's forests 8000 BC
Changes in the environment - Pollution
Living things produce waste materials, such as urine and faeces. Humans produce these,
too, but they also produce other waste materials. These materials can pollute the
environment. They include:
household and industrial rubbish
chemicals from industrial processes
smoke from burning fuels
harmful gases from burning
Landfill sites
Rubbish is taken to a landfill site
Rubbish does not vanish when it is thrown away. A lot of it is buried in landfill sites. These
may be disused quarries or rough ground that cannot be used for farming or housing. When
landfill sites are full of rubbish, they are covered in soil and planted with trees and bushes.
Recycling rubbish is important because fewer landfill sites are needed, and the materials in
the rubbish are re-used.
Fertilizers
Fertilisers are chemicals used by farmers to help their crops grow well. Rain can wash
fertilizers off the fields and into rivers. This causes water plants to overgrow and block out
the light. Other plants die as a result. They use up oxygen as they rot away, and fish and
other animals suffocate. This process is called eutrophication.
Smog
Smoke from burning fuels makes buildings turn black. With other waste chemicals in the
air, it can form smog. This makes the air hazy, especially over large towns and cities. The
polluted air can make it difficult to breathe.
Acid rain
Acidic gases such as sulfur dioxide are produced when fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas
burn. Sulfur dioxide dissolves in the clouds and causes acid rain. This damages buildings,
trees and harms life in rivers and lakes. It also causes chemical weathering of rocks to
happen much faster than normal.
Changes in the environment - Climate change
Greenhouse effect
Some heat energy from the Earth’s surface escapes into space. If too much heat energy
escaped, the planet would be very cold. However some gases in the atmosphere can trap
escaping heat energy, causing some of it to pass back to the surface.
These are called greenhouse gases, and they keep our planet warm, which is a good
thing. Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas.
Increasing carbon dioxide levels
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Humans burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The energy released is used to
power cars and other machines, to generate electricity, and to keep buildings warm. The
burning fuel releases waste gases, including carbon dioxide. As the human population
increases, more fuel is used, and more carbon dioxide is released.
Global warming
The extra carbon dioxide increases the greenhouse effect. More heat is trapped by the
atmosphere, causing the planet to become warmer than it would be naturally. The increase
in global temperature this causes is called global warming.8
Prof. Pedro Rasse
Inglés Instrumental
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased a lot in recent years
The average temperatura of the planet has increased in recent years9
Prof. Pedro Rasse
Inglés Instrumental
Climate change
Global warming is beginning to cause big changes in the environment. These include:
ice melting faster than it can be replaced in the Arctic and Antarctic
the oceans warming up – their water is expanding and causing sea levels to rise
changes in where different species of plants and animals can live
The extra heat energy is also beginning to cause large-scale changes in the weather. These
changes in weather patterns around the world are calledclimate chang