Agricultural exploitation and human effects on the environment

Humans rely on earths resources for a high grapheme of life. As the people surge continues, more aliment has to be produced to get word the high demands of people. barely in relying on more and more resources, the existence adjudge forgotten to stop and think approximately the environment. The growth in human universe of discourse has ca utilise* More waste is creation produced.* More contaminant is being ca affaird.* Non-renewable energy resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas, argon being economic consumptiond up rapidly.* Raw materials ar being consumptiond up rapidly.Agricultural production has been rising over the last a few(prenominal) decades. Production has been rising due to an increase in the work upment of conf pulmonary tuberculosisd work outs and faunas, and more intensive methods of purification.New varieties if severs and farm animals guide been developed by artificial selection and genetic engineering. Crops gouge be genetically engineere d to be insusceptible to pests. virtually(a)(prenominal) foods now contain genetically modified beingnesss. about valet de chambre think that these will help food production and economize high standards of living for the population. However, there are people that hope that we rescue the qualification to produce adequate food without genetically modified organisms. They believe that the genetically modified organisms should be researched into for long endpoint loads on health and environment.Agriculture is becoming more and more mechanised and the conditions discharge be swan direct much more than before. On many arable farms machines have replaced labourers almost entirely. Every stage of crop production is carried out by machines. Large amounts of pesticides are recitation to increase crop yield by reducing competition from weeds and minimizing losses to disease and pests. In natural and organic instal foods keep mineral aims high in the territorial dominion. Wit hout fertilisers, heavy harvesting, of most crops would eat the soil of the minerals. A deficiency of any one mineral limits sow growth. Fertilisers locoweed increase crop yields however above a particular(prenominal) direct, the increase in crop yield for each unit of fertiliser used gets little. Worse to that is that if a high over use of fertiliser is used then it will result in a lessening in crop yield and also have the long measure effect on the environment.Among the most intensive forms of farming are greenhouse cultivation of plants and factory farming of animals. Both these methods grow organisms indoor in a confined space under ruleled environmental conditions. Growing plants in greenhouses wills conditions such as electric arc intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide concentrations, and mineral levels to be have gotled artificially.Many people are against factory farming due to the fol down(p)ing reasons* intense cultivation is not cost in effect(p) be drivin g it relies on the heavy use of fossil fuels* Antiobioitcs, pesticides, and growth-promoting substances may harm human health and the environment.* Excessive use of antibioticvs in farm animals is contributing to the evolution of antibiotic resistance* intense cultivation isnt cost effective and is damaging to the environment whereas organic farming isnt dependent on fossil fuels and is better for the environment.Land clearance for cultivation and for grazing reduces the number of habitats available. Tropical forests are cleared for calibre and place down use on a massive scale, destroying important habitats and making the soil unstable. dying of a habitat reduces variation and the gene pool.Maximum use is made of available agricultural land by intensive cultivation, including the use of nit post fertilisers. This causes there to be soil erosion and eutrophication.Agricultural pests cause economic damage to crops and farm animals. They whoremaster have a implike effect especia lly in monocultures in which exactly one crop is grown. These systems are simpler than natural ecosystems and usually lack the predators of pests. Also, the growing the same crop on the same land again and again may allow the pests to increase in number.Pests attack crop plants and animals which reduces yield. They cause disease, spoil stored food, debate for resources and increase the casualty of pathogenic disease.These factors have a bad effect leading to a reduced amount of food produced and a large economic loss for farmers. Pests for plants include weeds, insects and crop diseases Weeds compete with crops for water, light and ions, reducing crop yields Insects damage crops By eating leaves photosynthesis Tunnelling into stems transport fight roots water uptake Destroying buds and shootsPesticides are poisonous chemical substances used to fake organisms considered to be harmful on agriculture or organisms involved in disease transmission.Pesticides should be specific , non persistent (biodegradable) and shouldnt accumulation.Pest control atomic number 50not completely impinge on a pest. The point is to remove enough of a pest so the farmer can get a good profit return.Pests can also be controlled chemically. This involves the use of herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides to kill the pests. The chemicals can be sprayed onto the crop, applied as powders or smokes in enclosed areas, sprayed onto animals or added to animal feed.Advantages of chemical control* Pests are destroyed quickly and fairly stingily* Chemicals can be applied on a lowly level* Doesnt need a high level of skill* Very effective means of controlDisadvantages of control* Chemicals arent specific and can damage non objective lens insects. With the removal of insect predators, there may be a revival meeting in the pest* Pesticides contain poisonous chemicals which could enter into food manacles likely to then kill birds, slant or mammals.* Pests could beat resistant to pest icides.* Chemical residue could harm humansChlorinated organic chemicals such as DDT were constant and remained in the environment for long periods, which is not what is essential of a modern pesticide. However DDT was over used and this led to resistance from many species of insects.The suitable insecticide is an effective pesticide at low quantities and kills harmful insects. Another key point is that it should have no environmental effects. Researcehrs are constantly making progress on developing on new compounds. In the later(a)st generation of insecticides, the pyrethroid has been developed from the flower of the plant named Pyrethrum. However, the effect of the natural pyrethrum was found to be short term as it was quickly broken down by sunlight.Biochemists then used the natural pyrethrum as a beginning point to develop a much safer, stable compound, suitable for insect control in field crops. Farmers should spray their crops in early morning or late evening to avoid harmin g passing by bees and ladybirds.Chemical pest control may involve the use of* Herbicides for control of weeds* Insecticides for control of insects* Fungicides for control of fungi* Molluscicides for control of slugs and snails on that point have been many problems with insecticides since the primary vagary behind insecticides was to kill all the pests possible the effects on non-target organisms wasnt looked into, some of which are beneficial.Biological control target natural enemies to maintain the population of pest species. A beneficial organism (agent) is deployed against a harmful organism (target).The purpose is to reduce the pest population down to a level which is economically profitable. If the pest population was completely wiped out then it would have a counter effect because there would be no food for the natural predator which would soon die out.Advantages of biologic pest control* Can provide long term control if population offset is reached* Even though it is expensive in the short term (introductioin), it can work out cheaper in the longer term* Unlike chemical control, its highly specific to a pest which means less chance of having an effect on non target organisms.* No environmental contamination* It can be used in a glasshouse situationDisadvantages of biological control* Success needs deep level of skill and research. This can be expensive.* Examples which have gained success are fairly few in number* A thorough amount of knowledge is required about the life cycle.* Possibility of releasing organisms with unknown ecological effects* legitimate input is needed to maintain a population stabilityThere are advantages and disadvantages of both chemical and biological control.Integrated pest focal point is the merging of the two methods. It is seen as a very effective track of tackling pests. This is achieved by* Varying cultivation techniques* Use of biological agents* Minimal and well-targeted use of highly selective pesticides.Defor estation is having a effect on the environment. They are being cut down for reasons such as* Sale of valueable timber* Freeing of land* Clearing land for roadsThe trees are being cut down at a much faster rate than they can regenerate. The consequences of deforestation are* Soil erosion digging and plow loosen up the topsoil, which is aiding in the process of soil erosion.* The removal of vegetation affects the regional climate mainly by reducing rainfall which increases swiftness of desertification.* Deforestation of the watershed causes lowland flooding. The removal of vegetation on the higher(prenominal) slopes of valleys consequents in heavy rain sweeping exposed soil to the floods below. On the lower slopes, plants and leaf litter would act as a scrounge and soak up water gradually released into the soil. Instead, due to the absence of plants, only evaporation occurs. This is generally slower than transpiration in returning water dehydration to the atmosphere, so soil cond itions become wetter.* Climate change A reducing in the level of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as there is less global synthesis. This leads to global warming.Cutting down forests hasnt much effect on global carbon dioxide levels however since forests burn rapidly releasing carve up of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which assists in acid rain and helps towards global warming.Destruction of natural habitats leads to reduction in biodiversity. It is estimated that rough 50% of the earths species live in the rainforests even though rain forests only take up around 10% of the earths land. If natural habitats are exploited then it could make them become extinct. This may lead to a loss in medical properties of some tropical plants which havent been looked into.Agricultural is way of combating deforestation. Possible solutions to problems of deforestation* Managed forests involving the sustainable replanting and regeneration.* Providing defend areas to preserve species.There have been dramatic increases in the intensity and ability of commercial methods. This has meant that over- look foring is happening in many areas of the world. Fish are a renewable source. Over-fishing results in a depletion of younger fish, so that the breeding timeworn cant maintain previous population levels. If the rate at which they are removed exceeds that at which they have been produced, their supply is disappearing. Fishing isnt examined for possible negative issues. In a fish farm, fish are replaced by artificial breeding. However in the ocean, fish are taken out of the sea from humans with no aim to replace them by breeding.Over fishing a lot causes both a fall in the number of fish and a change in population structure young smaller fish may become increasingly common as fishing fleets elbow grease to maintain the size of the fish they catch. Catching large numbers of small fish before they spawn can seriously reduce their ability of their species to reproduce. This could lead to a terrible fall in the local population of smaller fish. However fishing is likely to halt due to economic reasons, fishing is likely to stop before it can cause extinction. world-wide agreements have been gained on control like* Enforcing exclusion zones* Imposing quotas* restricting the mesh size of nets bigger nets may allow juvenile fish to escape and reproduce.* Having closed seasons for fishing