Based on what you have learned about Africa’s physical features, what kind of environmental issues...

Based on what you have learned about Africa’s physical features, what kind of environmental issues might affect the continent and its people?

Based on what you have learned about Africa’s physical features, what kind of environmental issues might affect the continent and its people?

Standards:• SS7G2a. Explain how water pollution SS7G2a. Explain how water pollution

and the unequal distribution of water and the unequal distribution of water impacts irrigation, trade, industry, and impacts irrigation, trade, industry, and drinking water.drinking water.

• SS7G2b. Explain the relationship SS7G2b. Explain the relationship between poor soil and deforestation in between poor soil and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa.Sub-Saharan Africa.

• SS7G2c. Explain the impact of SS7G2c. Explain the impact of desertification on the environment of desertification on the environment of Africa from the Sahel to the rainforest.Africa from the Sahel to the rainforest.

Agenda: Environment Issues in AfricaEQ: Describe the primary environmental issues that face Africa today.

Warm up: Describe the role that you think conflict might play in Africa’s environmental issues. Provide detailed causes and effects.

StandardsSS7G2 The student will discuss environmental issues across the

continent of Africa.

a. Explain how water pollution and the unequal distribution of water impacts irrigation, trade, industry, and drinking water.

b. Explain the relationship between poor soil and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

c. Explain the impact of desertification on the environment of Africa from the Sahel to the rainforest

Environmental Issues

• Africans face many different types of environmental issues– Lack of water– Poor soil quality– Expanding deserts

• Much of Africa has trouble having enough water for people to live.

• Parts of Africa– Arid deserts– Semi arid– Rolling grassland– Humid / sub-tropical

– Climate video- Africa.asx

WHAT DOES THIS MAP TELL US ABOUT WATER IN AFRICA?

What physical feature(s) is located in this area? How

does it relate to the amount of water it receives?

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATERWATER

• SOME PARTS OF AFRICA HAVE AN ADEQUATE FRESH WATER SUPPLY, WHILE WATER IS SCARCE IN OTHER AREAS SUCH AS THE SAHARA.

• AS THE POPULATION GROWS, THE DEMAND FOR FRESH WATER IS INCREASINGLY GREATER THAN THE AVAILABLE SUPPLY.

• WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALK DAILY TO COLLECT WATER, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATER

Walking for Water [3:20]

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATERWATER

• THE INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATER IN AFRICA MAKES IRRIGATION NECESSARY, BUT DIFFICULT.

• WATER SUPPLIES ARE NEEDED IN THE CITIES BECAUSE OF POPULATION GROWTH, WHICH MEANS LESS FOR IRRIGATION.

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATERWATER

SOME RIVERS HAVE LARGE DAMS FOR

WATER DISTRIBUTION AND POWER

PRODUCTION THAT INCREASE TRADE AND

INDUSTRY FOR SURROUNDING AREAS.

EXAMINE THE TWO IMAGES BELOW. HOW DOES ACCESS TO WATER AFFECT

COUNTRIES IN AFRICA? Some of the Major Ports in Africa

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATERWATER

AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITH IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO WATER FOR SHIPPING HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.

THEY CAN TRADE WITH COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD AND USE THE

PROFITS TO THEIR BENEFIT.

MAKING CONNECTIONS…

HOW IS THE SITUATION WITH WATER IN AFRICA SIMILAR TO THE SITUATION OF WATER IN

THE MIDDLE EAST?

WHY OR HOW DO WE USE WATER?

Drinking Hygiene Irrigation Business/Industry

EXPLAIN HOW WATER POLLUTION AND THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATER IMPACTS IRRIGATION,

TRADE, INDUSTRY, AND DRINKING WATER.

• MANY COUNTRIES IN AFRICA DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH CLEAN WATER EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE LARGE RIVERS.

• THE NILE RIVER RUNS THE LENGTH OF EGYPT AND MOST EGYPTIANS LIVE ALONG ITS BANKS. THE RIVER IS USED FOR WATER AND TRANSPORTATION, HOWEVER, OVERPOPULATION AND POOR SANITATION REGULATIONS HAVE MADE LIFE ALONG THE NILE MORE DIFFICULT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8iuyaS16-c&feature=related

EXPLAIN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POOR SOIL AND DEFORESTATION IN SUB-SAHARAN

AFRICA.• THE SAHEL IS AN AREA OF

AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA DESERT.

• IT IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW POOR FARMING PRACTICES AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TREES AND SHRUBS CAN LEAD TO AN EXPANDING DESERT.

• CENTURIES OF FARMING AND GRAZING ALONG WITH LESS RAINFALL HAVE GRADUALLY DAMAGED LAND IN THE SAHEL.

• MILLIONS OF PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO FARM IN ITS POOR SOIL.

WHAT IS IRRIGATION?

IRRIGATION IS THE WATERING OF LAND TO MAKE IT READY FOR AGRICULTURE

(GROWING CROPS AND RAISING ANIMALS)

WATER POLLUTION WATER POLLUTION

IN AFRICAIN AFRICA

WATER POLLUTION WATER POLLUTION

IN AFRICAIN AFRICA

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

PESTICIDES, FERTILIZERS, HUMAN WASTE, STORM WATER RUNOFF, MINING, AND MANUFACTURING CONTRIBUTE TO

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA.

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

WATER IS OFTEN POLLUTED WITH OIL SPILLS THAT AFFECT TRADE BY RUINING THE LAND FOR FARMING AND THE WATER

FOR FISHING

OIL SPILLS IN NIGERIA AND ON THE NIGER DELTA

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

MANY COASTAL BEACHES ARE NO LONGER SAFE FOR SWIMMING DUE TO WASTE FROM INDUSTRY AND SHIPS

• LESS THAN 50% OF THE POPULATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN HAS ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER FROM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. THIS HAS CAUSED A DECREASE IN THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC GROWTH.

• SOME GOVERNMENTS IGNORE INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION OF MAJOR RIVERS AND WATERWAYS BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR INDUSTRIES TO MAKE MORE PROFITS.

MAKING CONNECTIONS…

COMPARE AND CONTRAST WATER POLLUTION IN

SOUTHERN & EASTERN ASIA WITH WATER POLLUTION IN

AFRICA.

CLEAN WATER CLEAN WATER ACTIVITIESACTIVITIES

CLEAN WATER CLEAN WATER ACTIVITIESACTIVITIES

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

UNCLEAN DRINKING WATER IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN AFRICA. AS THE POPULATION GROWS, THE AMOUNT OF CLEAN WATER

IS DECREASING

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

THERE ARE FEW PLACES IN RURAL AFRICA THAT HAVE PLUMBING FOR WATER OR SANITATION TO PURIFY THE

DRINKING WATER.

WATER POLLUTION IN AFRICA

WATCH ONE OF THE VIDEO CLIPS BELOW ON WATER IN AFRICA

WATER CHANGES EVERYTHING [3:23]

WATER: A GLOBAL CRISIS [3:47 BUT STOP AROUND 3:20]

Deforestation

The clearing of trees

Deforestation

Effects of Deforestation

• When the trees are cut down, nothing remains to hold the soil in place.

• Wind and rain then erodes what is left of the soil washing away important nutrients.

• Then the sun heats the exposed soil.• In effect, Deforestation leads to soil that is

poor in nutrients and unable to support agriculture.

Causes of Deforestation

• Road building

• Agriculture

• Logging

• Mining

• New settlements

Deforestation in Africa

Deforestation [4:28]

Deforestation in Africa

• Deforestation is the destruction of trees and other vegetation. • This continues to be a problem in the Sahel and elsewhere in

Africa.• Animals have been allowed to graze too heavily in an area and

strip all the vegetation from the soil.• People who need fuel, need timber for houses, want to sell timber

for profit, or who hope to be able to clear new farmland cut down the trees that help hold the soil in place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq2UHiyYwLo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyR9HPAtFGc&feature=channel

• Droughts, or periods of little rainfall, have hurt the Sahel, too.• The people who live in these areas often face starvation and poverty.

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

• In recent years, the UN and the World Food Bank have come to the aid of those living in parts of the Sahel. They have worked to find solutions to help the people survive and live a better life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ih9kqZIyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC9Be3vO5JA&feature=related

Explain the impact of desertification on the environment of Africa from the Sahel to the rainforest

• 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.

• Periods of drought have made this situation worse.• As the desert expands, people are less able to grow food to

feed themselves.• In the Sahel, however, a majority of the desertification is

the result of the actions of people, deforestation, rather than climate.

– Another place where rapid desertification is happening is East Africa.

– In Ethiopia, people who have lived for generations by farming and raising grazing animals like sheep and goats are finding they have less and less land available to them.

– The Kalahari Desert is a desert that covers part of the southern tip of Africa.

– The people around this desert face the same problems.– Pressure from increasing populations, the need for fuels like

firewood and brush, and the constant grazing of animals have worn away soil and introduced desertification.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGGctK4aWGg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DrZMo03OS0&feature=related

Desertification

The process by which a desert spreads

Causes of Desertification

• Poor farming practices

• Land clearing (deforestation)

• Overgrazing of livestock

• Depleting (removing) surface and underground water for industrial and home use

Desertification• Desertification, along with drought, has

led to a constant spread of desert areas.

• Population growth has made the problem worse. People and animals compete for an already limited water supply.

• Threatens 1/3 of Africa

Desertification

Desertification

Desertification in the Sahel [3:28]

Summarizer