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___________________________________ How are people responsible for the environmental challenges in Africa? ___________________________________ Overview: Africa is beautiful continent with a large variety of animal and plant life, however due to constant neglect and misuses of the resources Africa’s beauty is at risk. Large companies and private individuals have mistreated the land and the rich beauty of Africa is being lost. This Mini-Q explores the question, why is the environmental of Africa in danger?. The Documents: Document A: UN Issues Desertification Warning Document B: Africa’s Deforestation Twice the Rate Document C: Nigeria: Oil Spills Drench and Sicken Delta Community Document D: Soil Quality and Soil Productivity in Africa Hook Exercise: Environmental Issues Note: The environment is the area all around us and the issues are those problems that face the entire continent of Africa. The environment is constantly changing throughout history. Africa has undergone many different environmental changes however during the last several centuries Africa has experienced many environmental challenges that have reshaped the continent in alarming and dangerous ways that could impact the entire world. Part 1: Examine the flow chart below. Each event shows a cause and effect scenario that are direct results of environmental issues. Then, then from the choices below, select the environmental issue that best matches each effect. Environmental Issues Categories: Deforestation Desertification Water Pollution Poor Soil 1. A Large chemical company is dumping waste into the Nile River. A logging company cut down trees in along the Congo River rainforest. People living along the Nile River are getting sick and suffering from strange illness and heavy metal poisoning. The Rainforests are depleted of trees and less oxygen is being produced. ______________________________________ ____________________________________ The grass lands along the Saraha Desert are being burn down by farmers trying to make larger farms. Constant use of fertilizers have destroyed the land and make it difficult to grow crops on the land. The deserts increase in size as the area around it is being destroyed. Famine and starvation hit the land and people are forced to move. ______________________________________ _____________________________________ How are people responsible for the environmental challenges in Africa? Africans face many different types of environmental issues. Some of them are lack of water, poor soil quality, and expanding deserts. Much of Africa has trouble having enough water for people to live. Parts of Africa are arid desert, others are semi-arid, some are rolling grassland, and still others are humid and subtropical. Countries with large river systems have enough water for farming and for people in villages, towns, and cities. However all countries have the problem of increasing pollution from factories, and animal and human waste. Some countries have poor harvests, little grazing land for farm animals, and even little clean water for drinking and washing. Each year deserts claim more and more. The tension between the needs of a growing population and the limited supply of water is a serious issue for most of Africa. Nile River Many countries in Africa do not have enough clean water even though they have large rivers. Egypt is a good example. The Nile River, the longest river in the world, runs the length of Egypt. Most Egyptians live along its banks. The river is used for water and transportation. In recent years, however, overpopulation and poor sanitation regulations have made life along the Nile River more difficult. People are concerned about the water’s contamination with human and industrial wastes. Aswan High Dam The Aswan High Dam has allowed Egypt to have year-round irrigation, so the farmers can grow three crops a year rather than just one. They no longer have to depend on the annual flooding of the Nile to bring water to their fields. The dam is also used to generate electricity for the people of Egypt. However, because the Nile no longer floods, the silt (rich topsoil carried by the floodwaters) is no longer deposited in the Egyptian fields. Irrigation requires farmers to use chemical fertilizers instead. Fertilizers are expensive and contribute to the river’s pollution. Fertilizers have caused some parts of Egypt’s farmland to develop heavy concentrations of salt. Land that is contaminated with salt is not suitable for growing crops. Niger River The Niger River provides some relief to the people living in the Sahel. The Niger is also a vital transportation route. When the Niger reaches the sea in the country of Nigeria, it broadens into what is known as the “Oil Delta.” This area is rich in petroleum. The silt from the river makes good soil for planting crops, too. The Congo River provides water to villages and towns, water for irrigation, and a fishing industry. It serves as a major transportation route for those who need to go from the interior of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the timber from the rainforests is transported down the river, and people travel the river in search of work. Water Wars Many who study this region believe that Africa could find itself in the midst of “water wars” in the coming years. The Nile River runs through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. All of these countries have growing populations and growing water needs. The Niger River supplies the dry Sahel area before flowing into Nigeria. As more water is drawn off upstream, less is available to the countries farther down river. Increases in agriculture also mean greater water needs as well. Clean Water Clean water is needed for basic health and sanitation. People who are not able to have access to clean water are at risk for many diseases. Lack of clean water to wash with also increases the frequency of skin and eye infections. Some people in Africa also face the problem of water-borne diseases spread by parasites living in standing water. Some countries in Africa have tried to improve their economies by starting factories. Some have paid little attention to the factory wastes that are flushed into rivers and streams. Government officials ignored environmental problems as long as the factories made profits. Sometimes the factory workers are harmed by the industrial waste that pollutes local water supplies. Background Essay Question 1. What problems do all African countries have? 2. What are conditions that caused the Nile to be polluted? 3. How does the Aswan create environmental problems? 4. Why is drinking water so important for people? 5. What can you infer are some of the issues associated with industrial waste in the drinking supply? 6. Define these terms: Semi-arid Sanitation Aswan Dam Contamination Petroleum Understand the Question and Pre-Bucketing Understanding the Question 1. What is the analytical question asked by this Mini-Q? 2. What terms in the question need to be defined? 3. Rewrite the question in your own words. Pre-Bucketing Directions: Using clues from the Mini-Q question, suggest general analytical categories and label the buckets. __Disforestation______ _ __Desertification___ ___Poor Soil_________ ___Water Pollution_____ ____________________ _________________ ____________________ ____________________ Document A Source: Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6247802.stm Published: 2007/06/28 10:49:25 GMT © BBC 2013 UN issues desertification warning http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6247802.stm Tens of millions of people could be driven from their homes by encroaching deserts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, a report says. The study by the United Nations University suggests climate change is making desertification "the greatest environmental challenge of our times". If action is not taken, the report warns that some 50 million people could be displaced within the next 10 years. The study was produced by more than 200 experts from 25 countries. This report does not pull any punches, says BBC environment reporter Matt McGrath. One third of the Earth's population - home to about two billion people - are potential victims of its creeping effect, it says. Desertification could displace up to 50m people over the next decade "Desertification has emerged as an environmental crisis of global proportions, currently affecting an estimated 100 to 200 million people, and threatening the lives and livelihoods of a much larger number," the study said. The overexploitation of land and unsustainable irrigation practices are making matters worse, while climate change is also a major factor degrading the soil, it says. People displaced by desertification put new strains on natural resources and on other societies nearby and threaten international instability, the study adds. "There is a chain reaction. It leads to social turmoil," said Zafaar Adeel, the study's lead author and head of the UN University's International Network on Water, Environment and Health. The largest area affected was probably sub-Saharan Africa, where people are moving to northern Africa or to Europe, while the second area is the former Soviet republics in central Asia, he added. Tree-planting schemes may put pressure on scarce water resources Source: Doyle, Alister, Environmental Correspondent OSLO OSLO | Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:27pm EDT http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/06/10/us-africa-environment-idUSL1064180420080610 Document B Africa's deforestation twice world rate, says atlas A logging company's tractor sits on the side of a road that has been cut into Congo's forest in the northern province of Equateur October 8, 2004 in this file photo taken October 8, 2004.Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate and the continent's few glaciers are shrinking fast, according to a U.N. atlas on Tuesday. Credit: Reuters/David Lewis By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO | Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:27pm EDT (Reuters) - Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate and the continent's few glaciers are shrinking fast, according to a U.N. atlas on Tuesday. Satellite pictures, often taken three decades apart, showed expanding cities, pollution, deforestation and climate change were damaging the African environment despite glimmers of improvement in some areas. "Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of forest every year -- twice the world's average deforestation rate," according to a statement by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) about the 400-page atlas, prepared for a meeting of African environment ministers in Johannesburg. Four million hectares is roughly the size of Switzerland or slightly bigger than the U.S. state of Maryland. Photographs showed recent scars in forests in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria and Rwanda. It said forest loss was a major concern in 35 countries in Africa. And it showed that environmental change extended beyond the well-known shrinking of the snows on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa's highest peak at 5,895 meters (19,340 ft), or the drying up of Lake Chad. On the Ugandan border with Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, glaciers on the Rwenzori Mountains where the highest peak is 5,109 meters shrank by half between 1987 and 2003, it said. For Reuters latest environment blogs click on: blogs.reuters.com/environment/ (Editing by Janet Lawrence) Source: Murdock, Heather Global Post June 25, 2012 06:15http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/nigeria/120624/nigeria-oilpollution-sickens-communities Document C Heather Murdock June 25, 2012 06:15 Nigeria: Oil spills drench and sicken delta communities Niger Delta residents say oil slicks and bad aid make their children continuously sick and have destroyed their businesses. A Nigerian tries to separate crude oil from water in a boat at the Bodo waterways polluted by oil spills attributed to Shell equipment failure August 11, 2011. The Bodo community in the oil-producing Niger Delta region sued Shell oil company in the United Kingdom, alleging that spills in 2008 and 2009 had destroyed the environment and ruined their livelihoods. The UN released a report this month saying decades of oil spills in the Nigerian region of Ogoniland may require the biggest cleanup ever undertaken, with communities dependent upon farmers and fishermen left ravaged. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images) WARRI, Nigeria— When he was a child, Tonye Emmanuel Isenah saw men in the Niger Delta who were 70 and even 80 years old. But these days, he said, people just don’t live that long. Isenah is now the deputy leader of the state assembly in Bayelsa State, part of Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta region — a land that for decades has suffered annual devastating oil spills. Experts say the yearly spills are each comparable to the Exxon Valdez spill. And the environmental degradation is causing the local people to become ill and die at earlier ages. “At the age of 45, people are beginning to have strokes,” he said. “I used to see people that lived up to 70 years and beyond.” Life expectancy in Nigeria now hovers above 50 years, nearly 20 years below the world average, but Isenah says that in the Niger Delta, the life span is shorter. Isenah’s assertion that pollution in the Niger Delta is weakening the people, is as obvious to any observer as the oil that coats the mangrove roots in the creeks. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, exporting about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, almost entirely from the Niger Delta. It is the United States’ fifth largest oil supplier and the proceeds from sales of crude oil made up 80 percent of Nigeria’s national revenue and nearly all its foreign currency earnings. Source: Hari Eswaran, Russell Almaraz, Paul Reich, and Pandi Zdruli 1, 1 Director, International Programs, Soil Scientist, Geographer, and Visiting Scientist, respectively. US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, PO Box 2890, Washington DC 20013. Document D Soil Quality and Soil Productivity in Africa Introduction More than four decades of research and development work in Africa have not resulted in the 3-5 % annual increase in agricultural growth (Badiane and Delgado, 1995) that is necessary for most African countries to ensure sustainability of agriculture and the promise of food security in the next decade. Sluggish or zero growth is likely because of the cumulative effect of many factors but with strong bearings on soil productivity. Agriculture production is not merely the managing of the biophysical resources; it is also strongly controlled by the socioeconomic milieu. The opening of national markets to world trade has induced new stresses in the on-farm socioeconomic situation. The resource poor farmers of Africa have few options today to enhance their agricultural productivity. The challenge to African governments and the international community is to enhance the farmer's ability to effectively participate in the national and global economy and a prerequisite is the improvement of the productivity of the millions of small farms. The traditional low-input agriculture practiced by many of the farmers in the absence of replenishment of mineral nutrients, is slowly reducing many of the soils to almost inert systems (Stoorvogel and Smaling, 1990). As many of the soils also have low resilience, future corrective measures may be exorbitantly expensive. The study of Oldeman et al. (1991) indicates that soils on about 5 million ha of land in Africa are degraded to a point where their original biotic functions have been fully destroyed and resilience reduced to such a level that rehabilitation to make them productive may be economically prohibitive. This empirical assessment based on the judgment of many persons and often made in the absence of supporting data, points to the magnitude of the problem. With reliable resource inventories and monitoring of the resource base, better assessments and projections can be made. Such knowledge is as important as helping national planners and farmers to enhance their agricultural productivity. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the quality of the soil resource base of Africa and the risks to sustainable agriculture and soil productivity on a continent-wide basis. Similar to other assessments, the task is fraught with difficulties stemming from an absence of reliable databases and almost a total lack of studies evaluating the state of a nation's resources at any time in its history. Bucketing – Getting Ready Bucketing Look over the documents and organize them into your final buckets. Write labels under each bucket and place the letters of the documents in the buckets where they belong. Plan out either a three or four-paragraph essay and remember-your bucket labels are going to become your body paragraphs. Thesis Development and Road Map On the chicken foot below, write your thesis and your road map. Your thesis is always an opinion that answers the Mini-Q question. The road map is created from your bucket labels and lists the topic areas you will examine in order to prove your thesis. From Thesis to Essay Writing Mini-Q Essay Outline Guide Working Title Paragraph #1 Background Stating the question with key terms defined Thesis and road map Paragraph #2 Baby Thesis for bucket one Evidence: supporting detail from documents with document citation Argument: connecting evidence to the thesis Paragraph #3 Baby Thesis for bucket one Evidence: supporting detail from documents with document citation Argument: connecting evidence to the thesis Paragraph #4 Baby Thesis for bucket one Evidence: supporting detail from documents with document citation Argument: connecting evidence to the thesis Paragraph #5 Baby Thesis for bucket one Evidence: supporting detail from documents with document citation Argument: connecting evidence to the thesis Paragraph #6 Conclusion: Restatement of main idea along with possible insight