The Aral Sea
examine the causes and effects of biodiversity loss in tropical rainforests Biodiversity refers to the variety and quantity of all forms of life on Earth such as plants, animals and micro-organisms. It is estimated that there are up to 30 million different living species on Earth and more than 50 percent of these species live in the tropical rainforests. (rain-tree, N/A) Tropical rainforests play and important role in the world's natural environment as well as human society, as they not only provide a safe home for numerous plants and animals and help stabilize the world's climate and nature, but also also are a great source for medicines and foods. However numerous lives in tropical rainforests are at risk due to human deforestation. Deforestation in tropical rainforests as the major cause of the tragic loss of biodiversity, mainly happens due to globalization and cattle ranching, hydroelectric power, migration and logging. As a consequence, the ecosystem is disrupted, soil is eroded, carbon dioxide levels are increased and the nutrient cycle is affected. Globalization and cattle ranching is one of the major causes of loss of biodiversity due to deforestation in tropical rainforests. Meanwhile, industrial countries continue to develop and the demand for cattle is rapidly increasing. Over the past 25 years, rainforests have been cleared from an area the size of the entire
Examine the causes and the effects of biodiversity loss in the Tropical Rainforests
Examine the causes and the effects of biodiversity loss in the TRF Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of all forms of life on earth (plants, animals and micro-organisms). The tropics are the richest areas for biodiversity as tropical rain forests contain over 50% of the worlds species in just 7% of the worlds land. They account for 80% of the world's insects and 90% of its primates. Even though biodiversity benefits us humans in countless ways we tend to be oblivious to this fact and instead, the biodiversity on earth is gradually diminishing. There are many reasons for the loss of biodiversity and the most prominent include Globalization & Cattle Ranching, Hydroelectric Power (HEP), Migration and Logging. Similar to how there are numerous causes for the loss of biodiversity, these causes also have many drastic effects. As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, globalization and cattle ranching is one of the major causes for the loss of biodiversity. Globalization can be defined as the world coming together for trading purposes. This contributes to the loss of biodiversity as globalization is directly linked with deforestation. For instances, huge global corporations like McDonalds own countless amounts of cattle which are often located in deforested areas. In addition to this, much forest land in the Brazilian Amazon is also deforested in order to enable the
Aral Sea Case Study
ARAL SEA CASE STUDY The Aral Sea in definition can be best described as a basin in Central Asia that is located between Kazakhstan, northern Karakalpakstansan and in a generous region of Uzbekistan which is in the South [Fig. 1]. This map accurately depicts the significance of the Aral Sea in a regional scale as there are only two countries bordering the sea as opposed to a cluster of countries (whereby the significance would be national) and thus only two countries with immediate contact with the basin. The Aral Sea was a creation made in the location where two major rivers in the name of Amu Darya and Syr Darya met. In previous years, The sea was declared as the fourth largest inland sea but has been steadily shrinking and drying up since the 1960's due to diversion of the Amu and Syr Darya as means of water supplements for Soviet Union irrigation projects. These drastic actions have impacted both the safety of the drinking water in the area as well as the health of the locals. In the year of 1981, the decision of the diversion of Amu and Syr Darya was officially declared by the Soviet Union as means of irrigation for the desert where the growth of rice, cotton, cereals and melons would be attempted. This decision was a branch in the plan of developing the cotton industry as becoming one of the most major exports. Even though this plan had clear success with Uzbekistan
Tropical Rainforest Case Study
Sasha Zouev IB, 16/11/05 Tropical Rainforest Case Study, Amazonia Introduction Tropical rainforest, temperate coniferous and deciduous woodland forests are the three main categories of forest type. Tropical rainforests are considered a much richer species that the other two, and temperate vegetation is one that grows fastest. The rainforest ecosystem is very weak and easily unbalanced, making this type of forest more "permanently destroyed" than the other two. The importance of tropical rainforests lies within the fact that they are the earth's richest source of life as they play a vital part in the earth's natural cycles of soil, water and air through the process of photosynthesis. In this case study we will be looking closely at the tropical rainforest in the Amazonia region of South America. Where is this Rainforest? The term, Amazon rainforest, is used to basically talk about the moist and broadleaved region of what is known as the Amazon Basin, which is around 7 million km squared and covers areas of mainly Brazil, Colombia, Peru and many more South American countries. This rainforest accounts for around 50% of the world's remaining rainforests. Amazonian rainforests contain the biggest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest that there is to be found. It is the world's greatest natural resource - the most powerful and bio-actively diverse
Pro-Natalist China's population policy
Introduction: China has the largest world population, and with most of its cities densely populated. It has a policy which is most recognizable globally, as it is the most rigid compared to any other countries, this policy admits only one child per couple, and due to this fact it is named as "One Child Policy." s Background information on the Population: What was the problem? Due to the high fertility rate, numerous disasters such as pressure on resources (water, food, medical care, and housing) and a virus such as SARS will not spread as fast if the population in China declines. Causes of High Fertility rate: Before 1949, before the communists came into power, china was at stage 1 of demographic transition model, and had between 5-8 children per family. By the time, birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate were all relatively high, and with a low life expectancy. This shows that the population was increasing at an extremely slow rate. Consequently, large families were encouraged, as the government followed a pro-natalistic population policy. 0 years later in 1960, there was a dramatic increase in population with approximately 100 million people more; this determined a change in demographic transition model from first to second stage. In addition, as a result, there were improvements made in some medical services. Due to the death of Mao in 1976, the government
Malthus got it right-we are doomed?
Malthus got it right-we are doomed? How far do you agree with this statement when discussing the population-resource relationship in the 21st century? In 1789 the Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus produced his 'Essay on the Principle of Population', which were based on two principles: first one being that the food supply would increase arithmetically over time, and the second one being that population would grow geometrically/exponentially. There would be a finite optimum population size (carrying capacity) in relation to food supply. So if the population would reach beyond this carrying capacity, it would lead to a decline in the standard of living - it would lead to war, famine and diseases. Nowadays, his prediction luckily is not the case. Since the 'Green Revolution' started in 1945, there has been an enormous increase in food supply provided by agricultural markets. The green revolution has enabled food production to keep pace with the increasing global population growth. The Green Revolution has provided some great benefits: "From 1950 to 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the world, grain production increased by over 250%"1 and "The world population has grown by about four billion since the beginning of the Green Revolution and most believe that, without the Revolution, there would be greater famine and malnutrition than the UN presently
Population Essay
"The new threat to the planet is not too many people but too few." Was once written by Michael Mayer. He claimed that the global population will rise to a peak and then sharply decrease. As we know at the moment it seems like there are already too many people on the world, leading to starvation, scarce natural resources, poverty, war and global competition for jobs. And it seems like the amount of people are continually increasing, but will it really last and will it be a problem? In Japan in fact the population is already starting to decrease, where the total fertility rate is only 1.2. That means that a woman in Japan will have an average of 1.2 kids in her life. One of the problems in Japan is that it is difficult to live there as an immigrant. This is due to the hard language and very few Japanese people speak English well. So it's not really attractive to migrate to Japan. And the women see kids the result for Japan is what's called an 'ageing population', where there will be older people, than younger people in the future. The picture beneath shows the current populations pyramid of Japan. As you can see, the life expectancy in Japan is high, as there are quite some people in their 85's-89's. What we can conclude from this pyramid is by the trend in it. [Source: http://www.nurse.or.jp/jna/english/nursing/images/pyramid.jpg] The number of kids in the groups of 0-15
Population in Brazil
Sasha Zouev Geography IB, 5/09/05 IB Case Study: Brazil Population, Distribution, Density Introduction: As one of the most commonly studied populous LEDC's in the world, Brazil certainly has very interesting features and patterns regarding its population and distribution. First of all, Brazil is the largest and most inhabited country in South America, and fifth in the world. Its 8,500,000 square kilometer land area borders countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia. The aim of this case study is to examine, section by section, the different factors that affect Brazilian population growth and distribution by looking at areas such as geographical positioning, politics, history, and generate some sort of conclusion. Distribution: Brazil's population is mostly concentrated alongside the coast. Coastal states, with a sum area of about 35% of Brazil, in fact account for about 87% of the entire population. Brazil can often be divided into clear-cut social, geographical and economic regions (figure 1). Masking half of the country, the Northern area has the dense and tropical basin of the Amazon (largest rain forest and largest river in volume of water in the world). The northeast, which is the most economically handicapped region, relies heavily on agriculture as its main economic activity. The area that is the wealthiest, and contains half of Brazils total
China One Child Policy
Case Study China One Child Policy History China has the world's largest population, and it's cities are the most densely populated ones. It's policy is one of the most recognized policy, since is the most rigid of any country. The policy admites only one child per couple, and because of this it is called the "One Child Policy". Before 1949, before the communists had the power, China was at stage 1 of demographic transition model, and families had betwen 5 and 8 children. Also there was a high death rate, and a low life expectation. Infant mortality rate was also high, and so with death rate and birth rate, which means that the population was increasing at a very slowly rate. In these days, large families where encouraged, since the government followed a pro-natalistic population policy. Ten years later in 1960, the population increased dramatically to 100million people more, which determined China in the second stage of the demographic transition model. As a result improvements where made in medical services. In 1976, whith the death of Mao, the government decided to advocate voluntary population control to reduce the birth rate. China began to advice about limiting family sizes and to distribute information about the need to control the population growth. Finally in 1980, the One Child Policy was introduced, which provided benefits for couples which had only one
Population Case Study - Japan
Sasha Zouev Geography IB, 13/09/05 IB Case Study: Japan (MEDC) Population, Distribution, Density Introduction: Japan is a great example of an MEDC with a particular population pattern and distribution. The country, located on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean lies to the east of Asia and is made up of about 3,000 smaller islands. There are several large main islands including, from top to bottom, Hokkaido, Honshu (the biggest), Shikoku and Kyushu. Japan is also interestingly rated 10th in the world by population count and has an area of about 377,835 km². The aim of this case study is to examine, section by section, the different factors that affect Brazilian population growth and distribution by looking at areas such as geographical positioning, politics, history, and generate some sort of conclusion Distribution: Japan's population is mostly concentrated alongside the south and west coast (figure 1). Japan's population density is ranked 18th in the world, and has assisted in advertising very expensive land prices. From the years 1980 to 1987, prices of land in the six largest cities nearly doubled. This prevents many poorer families from ever purchasing or renting housing in the central cities. Because of this, daily transportation for many workers became a real lengthy hassle. For example some daily commuters had to travel up to four hours total to reach
