Environmental risks China

Question 1

enviromental risks

Answer 1

water pollution
air quality
desertification
human activities

Question 2

water pollution

Answer 2

• 80% of groundwater reserves is unfit for human use
• most surface water is badly polluted.
• Thousands of rivers have been over extracted & no longer flow.
• Cancer village
• Eutrophication

Question 3

eutrophication

Answer 3

high levels of phosphates in water lead to rapid growth of phytoplankton or algae blooms. Plants starve the water from light and oxygen and so reduces the biodiversity below the surface.

Question 4

air quality

Answer 4

• has improved 35% from 2013.
• In 2013, Beijing experienced a prolonged period of smog “airpocalypse”; the concentration of hazardous particles was 40 times the level deemed safe

Question 5

consequences of poor air quality

Answer 5

across China since 2000 more than 30 million have died from poor air quality

Question 6

desertification

Answer 6

• impacts 1/4 of China
• Impacts around 400 million people.

Question 7

main causes of desertification

Answer 7

• Climate change
• human activity
• heavy machinery

Question 8

how climate change causes desertification

Answer 8

China’s north has experienced a rising temperature and falling precipitation.

Question 9

what human activities causes desertification

Answer 9

• intensification of agriculture
• deforestation
• overgrazing
• destruction of vegetation
• misuse of water resources
• lack of environmental protection

Question 10

how heavy machinery causes desertification

Answer 10

• Large tractors compact soil and limit water infiltration and organic processes
• Process exposes soil to wind and water erosion
• The World bank suggests that over 1,500 km2 of land is vulnerable to wind erosion and 1,700km2 is exposed to water erosion

Question 11

strategies to reduce desertification

Answer 11

• planting more trees
• improving quality of the soil - by decreasing number of grazing animal and grow crops instead
• water management

Question 12

how planting more trees reduces desertification

Answer 12

the roots of trees hold the soil together and help to reduce soil erosion from wind and rain.

Question 13

how improving quality of soil reduces desertification

Answer 13

Growing by using manure to fertilise the crops can improve the quality of the soil as it is held together by the roots of plants and protected from erosion. This type of farming is moresustainable.

Question 14

how water management reduces desertification

Answer 14

water can be stored inearth damsin the wet season and used to irrigate crops during the dry season

Question 15

causes of desertification (in general not only case study)

Answer 15

• population growth
• desertification
• overgrazing
• soil erosion
• climate change

Question 16

problems of desertification

Answer 16

• Reduces soil fertility
• Sediment from degraded land flows into rivers
• Reduces water quality
• Increases the risk of flooding downstream

Question 17

problems of desertification

Answer 17

• Reduces soil fertility
• Sediment from degraded land flows into rivers
• Reduces water quality
• Increases the risk of flooding downstream