Africa: Environmental Issues

Africa: Environmental Issues Re-Performance Lesson (Deforestation/Desertification)

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7th Grade Social Studies​

Desertification

•The Sahel is one part of Africa that is experiencing severe problems with desertification, the process of the desert expanding into areas that had formerly been farmland.

•As the land is overused, the soil becomes poor and powdery.

 

•The winds coming from the Sahara gradually blow the dry topsoil away, leaving a barren and rocky land that loses its ability to hold water.

Desertification Causes:

​•Poor farming practices.

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•People cutting down the trees that help hold the soil in place.

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•Animals being allowed to graze too heavily in an area and stripping all of the vegetation from the soil.

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•Draining the surface & underground water for industrial & home use.

•Africans who have lived  for generations by farming and  raising grazing animals are finding they have less and less land available to them.

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•The people who live in these areas often face starvation and poverty.

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•Many move into urban areas hoping to find work, but most find only more poverty.

Effects:

Multiple Choice

Desertification is: ________________________.

• The transition from desert to fertile land

• a method for reducing overgrazing

• eating too much pie

• The transition from fertile soil to desert

Multiple Choice

Which environmental issue is caused by logging, over grazing, wind blowing away topsoil, over farming and drought?

• water pollution

• desertification

• unequal distribution of water

• deforestation

Deforestation is the process of forests being destroyed to make way for

human development.

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**Most land in Sub-Saharan Africa is poorly suited for growing crops, although many Africans rely on subsistence agriculture.

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Deforestation:

Deforestation:

With the slash and burn method of clearing land, the poor soil is coated with the nutrient dense ash of the burned forestation. However, the nutritious topsoil gets washed away when the trees are cut down, and the new farmland quickly has poor soil and does not produce very many crops, causing farmers to quickly move on to cutting more trees to create more short-term fertile land. The cycle continues over and over causing increasingly widespread deforestation across Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Deforestation:

•The main cause of deforestation in Africa’s rainforests today is commercial logging.

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•The timber from the rain forest is exported all over the world and helps boost the economy of many African countries.

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•Unfortunately, the environment is destroyed as a result.

​Deforestation Causes:

•Deforestation also leads to extinction of species of both plants and animals.

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•Destruction of forests also contributes to soil erosion and desertification.

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Deforestation Effects:

•Nigeria is losing its rainforests at the fastest rate.

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•The United Nations estimates that Nigeria has now lost about 55 percent of its original forests to logging, clearing land for farming, and cutting trees to use as fuel.

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​Deforestation Effects:

Replanting trees, crop rotation, and laws that prohibit cutting down trees, are just a few solutions to help solve the deforestation issues.

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Solutions:

Multiple Choice

Replanting trees, crop rotation, and laws that prohibit cutting down trees, are solutions to which problem?

• desertification

• deforestation

• barren land

• drought

Multiple Choice

Slash and burn agriculture can lead to ___________________________.

• poor harvest

• overgrazing

• deforestation

• desertification

•Countries with large river systems have enough water for farming and for people in villages, towns, and cities.

•Unfortunately, the majority of Africa has trouble getting enough water for people to survive.

•Most African countries have very little clean water for drinking and washing.

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Unequal Distribution of Water:

•Droughts (periods of very little rainfall) have hurt many parts of Africa.

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•People who live in areas affected by drought often face starvation and poverty.

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•The tension between the needs of a growing population and the limited supply of water is a serious issue for most of Africa.

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• Increased water flow through dams​

• ​Building canal systems

• ​Drilling of wells for water access

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Unequal Water Distibution Solutions:

•Many countries in Africa do not have enough clean water, even the ones that have large rivers.

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•African countries have the problem of increasing pollution from factories and contamination from animals & human waste.

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Water Pollution:

•Clean water is needed for basic health and sanitation.

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•Lack of clean water to wash with increases the frequency of skin and eye infections.

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•People who are not able to have access to clean water are at risk for many water-borne diseases that spread by parasites living in standing water.

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Water Pollution Effects:

Multiple Choice

The building of water treatment plants, is a solution to what problem?

• water pollution

• desertification

• unequal distribution of water

Multiple Choice

When there are dams or rivers in some areas and not others, this creates a problem of

• unequal distribution of water

• water pollution

• Industrial waste

Multiple Select

Choose which of the following contributes to water pollution (mark all that apply):

• industrial waste

• poor sanitation

• sewage

• drought

Multiple Select

Which of the following are a solution to the unequal distribution of water? (Choose all that apply)

• Increased water flow through dams

• Building canal systems

• water treatment plants

• Drilling of wells

Multiple Choice

People getting sick, slow economic growth, and contaminated food are all effects of _____________.

• desertification

• building dams

• Unequal distribution of water

• water pollution