Agricultural lands are covered by snow while the trees in non-agricultural areas protrude through the snow, reducing the albedo of the surface. The warming during summer reflects reduced evaporation. Urbanization also reduces the diurnal temperature range (DTR) by about 0.4 K.
How does urbanization affect the agriculture industry?
· At night, the buildings and asphalt surfaces in the urban areas release the solar heating absorbed during the day to increase the minimum temperature. Also, agricultural development will increase the heat capacity of the soil, thus increasing the minimum temperature. Thus, both urbanization and agricultural development tend to decrease DTR.
How does urbanization affect native species?
· Agricultural livestock are responsible for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions, most notably methane. In addition, overgrazing is a major problem regarding environmental sustainability. In some places, stretches of forage land are consumed so extensively that grasses are unable to regenerate. The root systems of native vegetation can …
How does agriculture affect the environment?
· Urbanization impacts the environment through the strain of resources, including food, water, energy and the land itself, which increases as the population within the urban area increases. As the resources within a particular urban area are depleted, the area is expanded to accommodate further population growth and provide access to greater resources, leaving the …
How does the urban environment affect biodiversity?
· #10 Agriculture provides food from limited sources. Urban agriculture on a small scale can help to localize food production, reducing the overall environmental footprint of our modern food systems. Benefits include lower greenhouse gas emissions, minimal transportation requirements, and reduced energy use for food production.
How does urbanization affect population?
Differences in rural and urban rates of natural increase (influenced by differences in fertility and mortality rates) also influence urbanization, although generally these act to reduce urbanization.
What are the factors that influence urbanization?
Differences in rural and urban rates of natural increase (influenced by differences in fertility and mortality rates) also influence urbanization, although generally these act to reduce urbanization. The term urbanization is also used for the expansion of urban land uses.
What are the factors that contribute to the rapid growth of the world’s urban population?
Two aspects of the rapid growth in the world’s urban population are the increase in the number of large cities and the historically unprecedented size of the largest cities. In 1800, there were two ‘million-cities’ (cities with one million or more inhabitants)—London and Beijing (then called Peking); by 2000, there were 378. In 2000, the average size of the world’s 100 largest cities was 6.3 million inhabitants, compared with 2 million inhabitants in 1950 and 0.7 million in 1900.
Which cities had fewer people in 2000?
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Chennai (formerly Madras) and Cairo are among the many other large cities that, by 2000, had several million fewer inhabitants than had been predicted. There are also significant changes in the distribution of the world’s urban population between regions (table 1).
What were the problems of the slums?
Here too there were problems of under-nutrition, lack of education and serious problems with exploitation, as well as deeply entrenched discrimination against women in almost all aspects of life. It was social and political reforms that dramatically reduced these. And social and political reforms are addressing these in many middle-income nations today—as in Thailand, Brazil and Tunisia where housing and living conditions, basic service provision and nutritional standards have improved considerably for large sections of the low-income urban population.
What are the problems of urbanization?
But there are still very serious development problems in many urban areas, including high levels of urban poverty and serious problems of food security and of high infant and child mortality. Many urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa also have very high prevalence rates for HIV/AIDs; where there are large urban populations unable to get required treatments and a lack of programmes to protect those most at risk, these increase urban mortality rates significantly (van Donk 2006). But it is not urbanization that is the cause of such problems but the inadequacies in the response by governments and international agencies. In most nations, the pace of economic and urban change has outstripped the pace of needed social and political reform, especially at local government level. The consequences of this are evident in most cities in Asia and Africa and many in Latin America and the Caribbean—the high proportion of the population living in very poor and overcrowded conditions in informal settlements or tenements lacking adequate provision for water, sanitation, drainage, healthcare, schools and the rule of law. This is evident even in cities where there has been very rapid economic growth. The fact that half of Mumbai’s or Nairobi’s population live in ‘slums and squatter settlements’ is more to do with political choices than a lack of resources.
What is the definition of urbanization?
The precise demographic definition of urbanization is the increasing share of a nation’s population living in urban areas (and thus a declining share living in rural areas). Most urbanization is the result of net rural to urban migration.
How has agriculture increased?
Agricultural methods have intensified continuously ever since the Industrial Revolution, and even more so since the “green revolution” in the middle decades of the 20 th century. At each stage, innovations in farming techniques brought about huge increases in crop yields by area of arable land. This tremendous rise in food production has sustained a global population that has quadrupled in size over the span of one century. As the human population continues to grow, so too has the amount of space dedicated to feeding it. According to World Bank figures, in 2016, more than 700 million hectares (1.7 billion acres) were devoted to growing corn, wheat, rice, and other staple cereal grains—nearly half of all cultivated land on the planet.
How does nitrogen affect the environment?
While these chemicals have helped double the rate of food production, they have also helped bring about a gigantic increase, perhaps as high as 600 percent, of reactive nitrogen levels throughout the environment. The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants. Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall. After soil bacteria convert fertilizer nitrogen into nitrates, rainstorms or irrigation systems carry these toxins into groundwater and river systems. Accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus harm terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by loading them with too many nutrients, a process known as eutrophication. Nutrient pollution is a causal factor in toxic algae blooms affecting lakes in China, the United States, and elsewhere. As excessive amounts of organic matter decompose in aquatic environments, they can bring about oxygen depletion and create “dead zones” within bodies of water, where nothing can survive. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico are regularly afflicted in this manner. Nitrogen accumulation in water and on land threatens biodiversity and the health of native plant species and natural habitats. In addition, fertilizer application in soil leads to the formation and release of nitrous oxide, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases.
What causes algae blooms in China?
Nutrient pollution is a causal factor in toxic algae blooms affecting lakes in China, the United States, and elsewhere. As excessive amounts of organic matter decompose in aquatic environments, they can bring about oxygen depletion and create “dead zones” within bodies of water, where nothing can survive.
What are the causes of the pollution of the soil?
The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants. Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall.
Which country is the leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers?
They are particularly effective in the growing of corn, wheat, and rice, and are largely responsible for the explosive growth of cereal cultivation in recent decades. China, with its rapidly growing population, has become the world’s leading producer of nitrogen fertilizers.
How do cattle damage soil?
Cattle and other large grazing animals can even damage soil by trampling on it. Bare, compacted land can bring about soil erosion and destruction of topsoil quality due to the runoff of nutrients. These and other impacts can destabilize a variety of fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Chemical Fertilizer.
What is the impact of livestock on the environment?
Agricultural livestock are responsible for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions, most notably methane. In addition, overgrazing is a major problem regarding environmental sustainability. In some places, stretches of forage land are consumed so extensively that grasses are unable to regenerate.
How does urbanization affect the environment?
Urbanization impacts the environment through the strain of resources, including food, water, energy and the land itself, which increases as the population within the urban area increases. As the resources within a particular urban area are depleted, the area is expanded to accommodate further population growth and provide access to greater …
What is urbanization?
Urbanization is the transformation of an area from an unpopulated or rural area into an urban area. This involves industrialization and introduction of dense populations, which bring with them much higher resource usage than previously anticipated. Urban populations consume far more food, consumable goods, energy and water than rural populations, …
How does urban agriculture help the environment?
Urban agriculture on a small scale can help to localize food production, reducing the overall environmental footprint of our modern food systems. Benefits include lower greenhouse gas emissions, minimal transportation requirements, and reduced energy use for food production.
Why is agriculture important?
Agriculture helps preserve valuable ecosystems. A perfect example is the extensive farming of increasingly rare permanent grasslands in Romania.
Why are soils rich in organic matter and flourishing with life?
Soils rich in organic matter and flourishing with life also contain greater concentrations of the natural enemies of pests, thus supporting the growth of more resilient crops.
What are the key features of sustainable agriculture?
One of the key features of sustainable agriculture is the focus on the health of soils.
What habitats do some species need to survive?
Some species need early successional habitats, such as prairies, to thrive.
Why is maintaining land important?
Maintaining land for agricultural use can also prevent that land from being developed and urbanized, in areas where native species have difficulty finding original habitat. The United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) created seven voluntary land conservation programs for this purpose.
Do deer live in open fields?
One such species is the North American White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which does very well in open farm field habitat .
How does urbanization affect agriculture?
The relationship between urbanization and agriculture is examined. With heavy migrations from rural to urban areas in the United States, there have been significant changes in land utilization. Land converted to urban uses is increasing, though it has little effect on total crop production. The technological transformation of agriculture has had much larger effects and has operated as a push-pull on the cityward movement of people as farm functions have moved to the city. Energy and chemical fertilizers now come from urban bases, with large numbers of urban people working for farmers. Yields per acre and per farm worker have risen sharply so that needs for agricultural products are fully met. Urbanization and rising buying power have moved Americans up the food chain. The demand for expensive animal products grows. These forces have resulted in a dramatic escalation of solid waste production in cities and on farms. Urbanization and transformed agriculture have exploded the organic matter cycle. The nitrogen thrown away in farm and urban organic wastes in the United States each year equals 137 percent of the nitrogen in all chemical fertilizers. In contrast, China keeps her organic matter cycle intact and feeds a population four times as large as ours on an equal cultivated area. Future planning must meet the challenge of wasteful land utilization, the overshift of population to cities, and the problems of restoring the organic matter cycle.
How has urbanization impacted the food chain?
Urbanization and rising buying power have moved Americans up the food chain. The demand for expensive animal products grows. These forces have resulted in a dramatic escalation of solid waste production in cities and on farms. Urbanization and transformed agriculture have exploded the organic matter cycle.
What are the effects of urban sprawl?
Effects of the Urban Sprawl. The first effect of urban sprawl is the consumption of agricultural land. It is a myth that Canada has unlimited agricultural resources, for only three per cent of our land is arable and has a suitable climate for growing crops. The Conservation Council of Ontario states that there are 20 million acres …
How do farmers take advantage of the growing domestic market?
Farmers must take advantage of the growing domestic market by organizing their marketing programs. Up until now the farmer has been too independent, refusing to join in a common marketing plan until his back is to the wall. The time to do it is now, while there is still room to maneuver.
What do rural people do to save themselves?
There are other things which rural people must do if they wish to save themselves from extinction. In view of narrower profit margins, farmers must increase the size of their farms to make them more efficient and farmers must become more efficient managers and businessmen. Otherwise, they will find themselves taken over by big business corporations, losing their managerial status and becoming mere labourers for city companies.
Can farmers and agriculturalists remain aloof from city folk?
Farmers, agriculturalists and other rural people can no longer afford to remain aloof from city folk. Artificial boundaries must be dissolved. Rural municipalities must either amalgamate and absorb the cities, perhaps making the county the supreme unit of municipal government; or at least they must join with the cities in regional planning units and endeavour to work out a co-ordinated plan for urban development.
How much land was lost to agriculture in Ontario in 2000?
The Conservation Council of Ontario estimates that by the year 2000, 1 ½ million acres, or approximately one-quarter of prime agricultural land in Ontario, lost to agriculture. Let us look at some of the effects of urban sprawl: (1) high land prices, good only for speculators, not for farmers; (2) farms divided into sub-economic units, …
Can technology increase crop production?
Some people think technology is the answer. It is true that technology can increase crop production but, up to the present it has not been able to keep pace with increases in population and the increased demand for certain types of food. Another solution is to import food.
Will the world population double in the next 40 years?
It is estimated that the world population will double within the next 35 or 40 years. Canada will be one of the last surplus food producers. If we continue to squander our best agricultural land, by the year 2000 we will be reduced to a nation of cereal eaters, since we will no longer be able to afford the luxury of feeding grain to livestock. We will have to change our entire living habits.
Why are natural ecosystems lost?
For agricultural land demand, people tend to clear forests. Therefore, natural ecosystems lost. For palm oil, for instance, people convert natural ecosystems into palm tree plantations in Far Eastern Countries. Natural ecosystems have been diminishing in size and their functions. Often, this is irreversible.
Is DDT harmful to agriculture?
We use lots of chemicals and agricultural aids. Even though these products help us improve our agricultural harvest, they might be harmful to water resources or natural air/soil quality. Their harm can be shown many years later (such as in the case of DDT). Therefore, natural life is harmed/damaged when we use such chemicals to improve our efficiency in agriculture.
How does the urban environment affect native species?
Many studies have shown that the expansion of the urban environment causes declines and local losses of native species including plants (1) and insects (15). As native species decline the number of non-native species rises. For example, as of 2006 New York city has lost 578 native species and gained 411 non-natives meanwhile, Massachusetts has lost over 330 native species and gained over 200 non-native species (16). It has been suggested that the increase of non-native species in urban areas may be due to one of two factors, (i) the importation into cities of non-native species and (ii) the city providing a favourable habitat for non-native species (16). Human settlements have been shown to provide ideal conditions for invasive and exotic species due to high levels of disturbance which tends to favour non-native species at the expense of native species (17).
How does the expansion of cities affect the natural environment?
The expansion of cities causes the fragmentation of large areas of natural habitat through the construction of roads, houses and industry. In many cases all that remains are small remnant patches of the original habitat contained within the confines of the city. Biodiversity is greatly reduced when large areas of natural habitat are fragmented.
What is the threat of global biotic homogenization?
The trend towards global biotic homogenization of urban areas poses a serious threat to local, native species in countries around the world. The importation and introduction of exotic species is changing biological communities by forcing out local indigenous species, which may not be so well adapted to the urban environment, and replacing them with globally common and widespread species. If we are to preserve distinct regional species the importation of non-natives species should be discouraged and the diversity of native and indigenous species promoted and protected.
Is there evidence of biotic homogenization?
However, there is no evidence that this is happening. Many studies have shown that the extirpation of native species in urban environments and the influx and non-native invasive species is leading to global biotic homogenization.
How does the removal of native species from urban areas affect the ecology of cities?
The removal of native species from urban areas and their replacement with non-native species drastically alters the composition of urban biological communities, the ecology of cities is therefore very different to the surrounding undeveloped areas. For example urban bird communities are often composed of granivorous (seed eating) rather than insectivorous species (18), while insect communities have been shown to become more generalist towards the urban centre and more specialist in less urbanized environments (7).
Can species tolerate fragmentation?
Different species have different requirements, some may be able to tolerate high levels of fragmentation and isolation while other more sensitive species may not. However, if we are to preserve biodiversirty for the future reducing habitat loss and fragmentation should be priorities.
Do smaller patches have fewer species?
Smaller patches therefore typically contain fewer species than do large patches. As an example, a study in the US looking at forest birds in fragmented and contiguous forests found that in fragmented forests brood parasitism and predation on the birds significantly increased whilst reproductive success declined (10).