# data[].attributes.body
Mining operations can lead to deforestation, habitat destruction, soil erosion, water pollution, and air pollution. This can harm ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources.

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Miners often face health and safety risks due to exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos, silica, and coal dust. Accidents, injuries, and fatalities are also common in the mining industry.

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Mining projects can result in the displacement of communities and indigenous peoples from their lands, leading to social disruption, loss of livelihoods, and cultural impacts.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/02/03/how-can-we-survive-here/impact-mining-human-rights-karamoja-uganda

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Mining activities can create conflicts over land use, particularly in areas where mining encroaches upon agricultural land, forests, or water sources that communities rely on for their sustenance.

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Unsustainable mining practices can lead to the depletion of natural resources, including minerals, metals, and groundwater, which can have long-term consequences for future generations.

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Despite generating significant revenue, mining activities may not always benefit local communities or contribute to equitable economic development. Issues such as resource curse, corruption, and unequal distribution of wealth can exacerbate economic inequality.

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Weak regulatory frameworks, inadequate enforcement of environmental and labor standards, and lack of transparency in decision-making can contribute to the perpetuation of mining-related problems.

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The gold extraction causes many environmental impacts such as:

Toxic Trash: In gold extraction is normally used many chemicals, and in most of the cases this chemicals are dropped in the land and doesn't go to the right place, contaminating the space.

Mercury Pollution: To find the gold the miners use mercury, but this substance cause a huge impact on the environment, because it pollutes the water and soil, the animals that live in the rivers are impacted too.

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Animals suffer a lot with the gold extraction, when the miners pollute the rivers and lands, it passes to the animals, because they live, drink or eat water or things in the soil. This toxic chemicals and lead to the death of the animal or a disease.

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Wood extraction is different from deforestation. Wood extraction means taking specific trees to sell their wood. Much of it is legal. Deforestation, though, usually means chopping down the whole forest, often to make space for farming or animals.

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The consequences of wood extraction are very serious, including loss of biodiversity, increased risk of extinction of wild animals, it can lead to soil erosion and loss of ecological services provided by the forest, such as maintaining the climate and hydrological cycle.

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The wood extraction can lead to several negative consequences for communities, including increased vulnerability to natural disasters,displacement and loss of livelihoods.

# data[].attributes.body
Wood extraction often triggers conflicts over land use. Changes in land use caused by wood extraction can generate disagreements between different groups with competing interests. These conflicts can result in environmental problems like loss of biodiversity and soil erosion. Finding ways to handle these conflicts and balance the needs of different parties is essential for sustainable land use.

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Gold extraction causes several social problems. One of them is the exploitation of people who work in illegal mining, they are exposed to substances such as mercury, without due protection, and normally only earn some money if they find something.

Furthermore, there is also a problem with indigenous lands. In Brazil, half of indigenous lands are threatened by mining. Mining can lead to contamination of rivers and soil, and bring diseases to indigenous populations.

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Unsustainable wood extraction can

lead to the depletion of natural resources like, Timber, Soil fertility, Water resources and Biodiversity.

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The petroleum industry is responsible for producing and emitting greenhouse gases, mainly through the burning of fossil fuels. Various environmental impacts are generated directly or indirectly, some reversible and others not, from soil, water, and air degradation, affecting all living beings.

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The economic inequality associated with wood extraction ,are results from the extraction and trade of wood resources. This inequality can manifest in several ways such as distribution of benefits,acess to resources,land rights and ownership and enviromental cost.

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1. https://www.wwf.org.br/natureza_brasileira/areas_prioritarias/amazonia1/ameacas_riscos_amazonia/desmatamento_na_amazonia/extracao_de_madeira_na_amazonia/#:~:text=É%20comum%20que%20pessoas%20e,espécies%20e%20significativas%20perdas%20financeiras.

2. https://noticias.uol.com.br/ultimas-noticias/agencia-estado/2022/10/19/amazonia-tem-quase-40-de-extracao-de-madeira-ilegal-diz-estudo.htm#:~:text=A%20extração%20de%20madeira%20difere,%2C%20porém%2C%20não%20é%20ilegal.

3. https://www.fao.org/3/xii/0122-a2.htm#:~:text=These%20negative%20impacts%20include%3A%20destruction,and%20disruption%20of%20hydrological%20cycle.

4. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3270

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THE IMPACTS OF FOREST INDUSTRIES AND WOOD UTILIZATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT
0122-A2 Joseph Adeola Fuwape 1
Abstract

The impacts of forest industries and wood utilization on the environment were considered. The operational activities of sawmills, plywood veneer, particleboard and pulp/paper mills in Nigeria were reviewed. The effects of tree harvesting and logging operations on forest biodiversity, soil erosion, soil compaction and hydrological cycle are reported. Environmental pollution due to wood processing, wood utilization and waste management in forest industries was discussed. Methods of mitigating the detrimental effect of the operations of forest industries in Nigeria on the environment are suggested.

INTRODUCTION

Forests have been the major source of livelihood for most Nigerian. The forestry sector is one of the main pivots on which the nation's welfare was built. The forest is not only important for material goods but also as a valuable ecological and cultural resource. The forestry subsector has over the years contributed immensely to the socio-economic development in the country. It ranks among one of the highest revenue and employment generating sectors. It also serves as resource base for many forest industries. The raw materials for the production of timber, pulp and paper are derived from the forest.

The demand for wood raw material by these industries in recent times has outstripped the production capacity of the forest. Thus, exploitation of forest resources for industrial purposes if not well planned may be deleterious to the environment. It is therefore necessary to examine the impact of the activities of forest industries on the environment in order not to jeopardize the other goods, services and benefits of the forests. These benefits include: amelioration of weather pattern, provision of clean air, protection of biological diversity, protection of watershed, soil and food crops and provision of recreational facilities.

The objective of this paper is to review the impact of forest industries on the environment. For a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter the write-up has been sub - divided into five complimentary subtopics.

1. Wood utilization
2. Forest, industries in Nigeria
3. Effects of logging and tree harvesting on the environment
4. Environmental pollution due to operations of forest industries.
5. Mitigation of environmental degradation caused by activities of forest industries.

1.0 WOOD UTILIZATION

Wood is the most versatile raw material the world has ever known. Throughout history, people relied on wood for needs varying from farming tools to building materials, from fuel to weapons of hunting and warfare.

Wood remains virtually the most predominant material used for construction and energy generation until the last half of the 19 th century (Douglas, 1995). People used timber in the construction of houses, barns, fences, bridges, furniture items and musical instruments. In contemporary times, wood is still widely used for constructional purposes. It is also a valuable industrial raw material for the production of pulp, paper, paperboard, rayon, cellophane, photographic film, tannin, methanol, ethanol, wood adhesives and chemical derivatives as shown in Figure 1.

The ubiquitous nature of wood has made it a valuable material in every stage of human development. At early age, the baby rests in wooden court, plays with wooden toys, and learns to write on wooden slate and paper when he is of school age. On graduating from school he receives a paper certificate. If he is lucky to secure employment his salary is paid in paper currency. When he is old he uses a wooden walking stick, sleeps on wooden bed and when dies the body is laid in wooden coffin.

Thus, man depends on wood right from the cradle to the grave.

The versatile nature of wood has endeared it to multiple forms of domestic and industrial uses. In this write up, attention would be on forest industries that use forest resources as the major raw materials.

2.0 FOREST INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA

The forest enterprises in Nigeria can be classified into either formal or informal sector enterprises (GWVC, 1994). The formal sector enterprises include the organized wood based industries such as sawmills, plywood mills, particleboard mills and furniture factories. The informal enterprises are small forest based enterprises operating without formal corporate entity, this include enterprises that engage in the production of firewood, charcoal, chewing stick and sculptured wood items. The formal enterprises constitute the forest industries in the country. The number of the wood based mills is presented in Table 1.

There have been some changes in wood based industries in Nigeria between 1974 and 1997. The total number of wood based industries increased from 358 in 1974 to 1483 in 1990 but decreased to 1373 in 1997. The reduction in the number of wood mills between 1990 and 1997 was attributed to deficit in supply of required wood raw material due to over exploitation of the forest for export market. The projected wood requirement for major wood products in Nigeria is presented on Table 2. Although the highest quantity of wood is expected to be consumed as firewood in 2010, the highest volume of industrial wood raw material would be required for production of sawnwood.

2.1 SAWMILLS

The sawmills account for 93.32% of the total number of wood based industries in Nigeria in 1997 (Fuwape, 1998). These mills are concentrated in the southwestern part of the country, with Ondo, Ogun and Lagos states having the largest numbers. The main type of log conversion machine used in these mills is the CD horizontal band saw. The Lumber recovery factor in most sawmills varies between 45 and 50% (Aliviar 1983, Fuwape, 1989). This implies that about 50 to 55% of log input into the sawmills are left as wood residues. The poor log conversion efficiency of the mills is partly responsible for the high pressure on the forest and the destruction of forest cover

2.2 PLYWOOD AND VENEER MILLS

There were ten plywood and veneer mills in Nigeria in 1997 (Fuwape, 1998). The production capacities of the mills are presented in Table 3. The annual wood requirements in plywood and veneer mils are approximately 170,000m ³. The peeling lathe machine in the plywood mills in Nigeria requires large diameter logs for effective operation. The harvesting and logging operation of these mills have adversely affected the forest ecosystem.

2.3 PARTICLE BOARD MILLS

The particleboard mills in Nigeria are integrated with some plywood mills and sawmills. Particleboards are mainly produced from wood residues and plantation tree. The wood requirements of the particleboard mills are not considered to be significantly detrimental to the environment (GWV, 1994).

2.4 PULP AND PAPER MILLS

In the bid to meet the growing demand for paper in Nigeria, three pulp and paper mills, namely: Nigerian Paper Mill (NPM) Jebba, Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC) Oku-Iboku and Nigerian National Manufacturing Company (NNPMC) Iwopin were established. The NPM Jebba was established in 1969 but was expanded in 1983 to produce 65,000MT of Kraft paper, linerboards and corrugated paper per year. The NNMC Oku-Ikobu was commissioned in 1982 to produce 100,000MT of printing and writing paper. However, the mills were functional for only very few years before they stopped production in 1993. Thus the impact of the mills on the environment in terms of tree harvesting is no longer very significant but the clearing of natural forest for the establishment of Gmelina arborea plantation must have disrupted the hydrological cycle of the plantation sites.

3.0 EFFECT OF TREE HARVESTING AND LOGGING OPERATIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The indiscriminate logging in the rainforest and uncontrolled felling of trees for fuelwood are reported to have had adverse effect on the environment (Fuwape and Onyekwelu 1995, Oke and Fuwape, 1995). The adverse effect caused by the operations of forest industries include loss of biodiversity, migration of wildlife, ecological imbalance, soil erosion, flooding, desert encroachment and disruption in hydrological cycle of water catchment area.

3.1 Loss of Biodiversity

The tropical forest provide habitat for two-thirds of all identified terrestial species (Myers 1992).

These plant and animal species serve as source of food, medicine and fuel in most rural communities in developing countries.

Tree harvesting adversely affects the population and variety of plant and animal species in the forest. The removal of forest cover during logging has in some instances resulted in the scarcity or out-right extinction of many important plant and animal species. Some wild animals have also been observed to migrate from areas where tree cover was removed to undisturbed vegetations.

Some plant and animal genetic resources that could be used in producing new pharmaceuticals or traditional medicine are lost as a result of the destruction of forest cover.

3.2 Soil Erosion

Destruction of forest cover during tree harvesting results in the loss of the protection, which the plant cover gives to the soil (Hamilton and Pearse, 1985). Timber harvesting also interrupts the normal nutrient cycle of the forest, promotes nitrification and increases nutrient leaching thereby leaving the topsoil impoverished and susceptible to erosion. Myers (1988) reported that soil under primary forest erodes at an average rate of 12 tonnes per hectare while open vegetation in deforested areas of upland topography erode at the rate of about 84 tonnes per hectare per year. There have been reports of accelerated erosion that resulted in extensive gullies in various deforested parts of Nigeria (NEST, 1991). Eroded soil are often deposited in rivers and fish ponds thereby causing siltation and contamination of such water body. These adversely affect the aquatic ecosystem and disrupt biodivesity by killing fish and other organisms.

3.3 Soil Compaction

Unplanned logging operations have resulted in soil compaction (Greacen and Sand 1980, Froehlich and McNabb 1984). Soil compaction adversely affects tree growth, plant productivity and soil aeration (Gupta and Allmaras, 1987). The movement of wheeled and tracked vehicles on forest soil has been reported to cause increase in bulk density and reduction in air-filled porosity of the soil (Startsev et al 1995).

3.4 Disruption of Hydrological cycle

Changes in forest cover alter catchment water balances and stream flows. The effect of destruction of forest cover on catchment water balance and runoff dynamics depends on the climate, topography, soils and the type of forest (Vertessy and Dye 200). Water quality and yield are also affected by tree harvesting. Flooding seems to increase as result of broad - scale deforestation in catchment zones. Indiscriminate tree felling in hilly areas reduces the ability of soil to absorb water thereby inducing high volume of run off. Oguntala and Oguntoyinbo (1982) attributed Ogunpa flood disaster that occurred in Ibadan in 1981, to the destruction of forest along banks of river Ogunpa.

The removal of forest cover during tree harvesting predisposes the environment to destructive actions of wind and rainstorm. Devastating destruction of farmland and houses have been reported in areas where indiscriminate tree felling had taken place (Oke and Fuwape 1995)

3.5 Desert Encroachment

Clear felling of trees for firewood has been recognised as one of the factors responsible for environmental degradation in arid and semi-arid parts of Africa. When trees in an area are removed the rate of evapotranspiration is disrupted this affects precipitation and makes the area become increasingly and thereby inducing desertification. Couzin (1999) reported that on the average precipitation is 30% lower and temperatures are 1 degree Celsius higher in deforested areas of the Amazon than in forested areas. It was also reported that the indiscriminate felling of trees aggravated the effect of wind erosion and deposition of sand dunes in northern part of Nigeria thereby enhancing desertification (Ezenwa 1986, Gwandu 1990).

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION DUE TO OPERATIONS OF FOREST INDUSTRY.

The environmental pollution problems in forest industries include solid waste disposal, air emission of toxic and non-toxic particulates, veneer dryer emission and glue waste disposal. Noise generated during the operation of machines also constitute serious source of health hazard to workers in the forest industry (Harden, 1958).

In converting round log to lumber, sawmills generated vast quantity of bark; sawdust, shavings and trimmings. The solid wood waste may be used in particleboard production while the bark may be used as fuel or in land filling.

The problem of glue waste disposal can be resolved by retaining used water in settling tanks where solid sediments are removed. Waste water from pulp and paper industries are also retained in treatment ponds for a period of time to ensure the decomposition of chemical residues before it is linked into the main river (Haskell 1971). The dust and particulate emission during industrial wood processing can be collected in bag filter, cyclone collectors and wet scrubbers.

Providing personal protective equipment to workers can solve the problem of noise pollution. Noise abatement could also be carried out by installing noise damping enclosure around the machine (Lamb, 1971)

5.0 MITIGATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FOREST INDUSTIRES

The most critical environmental impact of the activities of forest industries that require urgent attention is the destruction of forest cover. Over the years, much exploitation of the forest has been done in order to meet the increasing demand of the teeming population. This has resulted in serious depletion of the resource base to the extent that some favoured timber species have become scarce while others have become scarce in certain ecological zones. Geomatics (1998) reported that the land area occupied by high forest in Nigeria decreased by 11, 254km ² between 1976 and 1995 while the land area occupied by savannah decreased by 90, 593km ² during the same period. This reduction in forest cover has negatively affected the environment and is partly responsible for soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and disruption of hydrological cycle.

Adopting aggressive reforestation strategy could solve the problem of reduced forest cover. Technology that aids forest productivity and efficient utilization of forest resources on sustainable basis should also be employed during forest operations. The use of appropriate tree harvesting and logging techniques will reduce destruction of forest ecosystem. A well planned skidding and haulage of logs will reduce instances of soil compaction (Greacen, 1980). Indiscriminate felling of trees in water catchment areas should be prevented in order to guide against disruption of the hydrological cycle.

Efficient log conversion techniques should be practiced in order to improve lumber recovery and reduce the demand for round logs. The establishment of integrated wood industries should be encouraged while small sawmill holdings should be effectively controlled to minimize wastage of wood resources. Value added products such as particleboards and wood briquettes may be produced from industrial wood residue (Fuwape, 2001). This will improve the efficiency of wood utilization, reduce the demand for round log and reduce the destruction of forest cover.

The problem of the clear felling and destruction of forest vegetation due to fuelwood scarcity can be solved by planting fast growing tree species and establishing rural community wood lot. The example of fast growing species, which have been recommended for fuelwood plantation includes Gmelina arborea. Leucaena Leucocephala, Terminilia spp. Albizia lebbeck Gliricidia sepium, Sesbania grandifolia, Cassia siamea and Acacia albida. These species coppice very well and have good combustion characteristics (Lucas and Fuwape, 1984).

CONCLUSION

The forests are essential for healthy environment. Trees stabilize the forest soil, improve soil fertility, reduce the velocity of wind, protect watershed and reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. When forests are exploited beyond their capacity to regenerate, vicious cycle of environmental degradation could be set in motion.

The activities of forest industry Vis - a - Vis tree harvesting, transportation, wood conversion and processing have some negative impacts on the environment. These negative impacts include: destruction of forest cover, loss of biodiversity, ecological imbalance, soil compaction, soil erosion, flooding, desert encroachment and disruption of hydrological cycle. Environmental pollution resulting from disposal of solid waste, effluent and particulate emissions have also been linked with log conversion operations.

There is the need to ensure that forest industries abide strictly with principles of sustained yield management. Reforestation should be intensified. Forest concession owners should be involved in forest regeneration. There should be equivalent replacement for every tree removed from the forest. Tree harvesting, hauling and skidding techniques should be improved and made environmentally friendly. Forest based industries should strictly conform to guidelines on environmental protection. Government and people should be genuinely involved in forest management to ensure sustainable development and prevent environmental degradation
Table 1: THE MAJOR WOOD - BASED MILLS IN NIGERIA (1974-1997)

Types of Mill

Years

Sawmill
Plywood mill
Particle board
Match splint
Pulp paper mill

Source: Fuwape(1998) (NF - Not Functional)

Table 2. Wood requirements in Nigeria. (000 m³)Table 3: Estimated Capacity and Production of Plywood Mills in Nigeria

S/No

Name

Capacity
(m ³)

Production
In 1996 (m ³)

Utilization
%

1

African Timber & Plywood
Co. Ltd., Sapele, Delta State

15,000

12,240

81.6

Source: Fuwape (1998) (NA - Not Available)

REFERENCES

Alviar, G.O. (1983) Sawmilling industry in Nigeria. Field document No 17, FAO. Rome 53 pp.

Couzin, J. (1999) "Landscape Changes Make Regional Climate Run Hot and Cold" Science 283 (1999): 317-319.

Douglas, W.M (1995) America's Forest: A history of resilency and recovery. Forest Products Journal 45(10) 18-28.

Ezenwa, M.I.S (1986) Impact of deforestation on land qualities in the savanna. In proceedings of the 16 th annual conference of forestry association of Nigeria. pp 72-82.

Fuwape, J.A (1989) An assessment of wood conversion efficiency in some sawmills in Ondo State. Nigerian Journal of Forestry. 20(2): 44-48

Fuwape, J.A and Onyekwelu, J.C (1995). The effect of uncontrolled fuelwood collection on the environment. In proceedings of Man and Biosphere training workshop. Akure pp 239-244.

Fuwape, J.A (1998) Developments in wood-based industries in Nigeria. Foresea. Miyazaki. 2: 575-585.

Fuwape, J.A (2000) Wood utilization: From cradle to the grave. Inaugural lecture delivered at Federal University of Technology, Akure. 1-33pp.

Fuwape, J.A (2001) Forest resources and economic development in Ondo State. Paper presented at Ondo State economic summit. 1-15pp.

Geomatics (1998) A report of forest resources study in Nigeria. Submitted to Forest Management and Co-ordinating Unit. Geomatics Nigeria limited Akure. 60pp.

Greacen, E.L and R. Sand (1980) Compaction of forest soils. A review. Australian Journal of Forestry. Vol. 18, pp 163-189.

Gupta, S.C and R.R Allmaras (1987). Models to assess susceptibility of soils to excessive compaction.

Advances in soil science. Vol. 6 pp65-100

Gwandu, A.A (1990) Fuelwood energy consumption in Nigeria with special reference to Sokoto State. Paper presented at the review workshop for Tropical Forestry Action plan. 14pp.

GWVC (1994) Review of the wood-base sector in Nigeria. Report presented to Forest Management, Evaluation and co-ordinating unit. Abuja. 185pp.

Hamilton, L.S and A.J Pearce (1985). What are the soil and water benefits of planting trees in developing country watershed? In proceedings of International symposium on sustainable development of Natural resources. Ohio US.A. 1995.

Harder, R.H (1958). Wood waste, its collection and uses. Textbook of wood Technology Volume 2. Caxton Publishers. London.

Haskell, H.H (1971). Handling phenolic resin adhesives wash water in southern pine plywood plants. Forest Products Journal 21 (9) 33-36.

Lamb, F.M (1971) Industrial noise and noise exposure. Forest Products Journal 21(9) 84-87.

Lucas, E.B and J.A Fuwape (1984) Burning characteristics of forty-two Nigerian fuelwood species. Nigerian Journal of Forestry. 14(2) 45-52.

Myers, N.A (1988) Environmental degradation and some economic consequences in the Philippines. Environmental conservation. 15 (3) 205-214.

Myers, N.A (1992) The primary source: Tropical forests in our future Newyork: Norton, 50.

NEST (1990) Nigerian threatened environment: A natural profile. Nigeria environmental studies action team. Intec printers. Ibadan. 288pp.

Oguntala, A.B. and J.S Oguntoyinbo (1982). Urban flooding in Ibadan. A diagnosis of the problem. Urban Ecology. 1:39-46.

Oke, D.O and J.A Fuwape (1995). Environmental impact of indiscriminate logging in Ondo State., In proceedings of Man and Biosphere training workshop. Akure. 257-260.

Startsev, A., D.H McNabb, Z. Florence and S. paquin. (1995) Province wide study of soil compaction during forest harvesting. In proceedings of annual soil science workshop. Alberta. March 13-15. 1995

Vertessy, R.A and P.J Dye (2000) Effects of forest cover on catchment water balances and runoff dynamics. In proceedings of xxi IUFRO congress. 3pp.

1 Department of Forestry and Wood Technology,
Federal University of Technology, P. M.B. 704, Akure

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THE IMPACTS OF FOREST INDUSTRIES AND WOOD UTILIZATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT

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THE IMPACTS OF FOREST INDUSTRIES AND WOOD UTILIZATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT 0122-A2 Joseph Adeola Fuwape 1 The impacts of forest industries and wood utilization on the environment were considered. The operational activities of sawmills, plywood veneer, particleboard and pulp/paper mills in Nigeria were reviewed.

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Petroleum is also capable of poisoning marine animals, affecting their nervous and digestive systems. Oil can also affect birds that feed on these fish, as they end up getting dirty with oil when they go to feed, which makes it difficult for them to move.

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When oil is dumped into the water, it not only pollutes the ocean but creates a layer that prevents algae from photosynthesizing.

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The oil refining process involves burning it and producing toxic gases that contribute to global warming. When a car is used, there is also often the burning of oil that produces toxic gases.

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Oil pollution can cause financial problems for populations in affected regions, because it harms tourism and fishing.

There was a case in the Nordeste of Brazil that mysterious oil stains were in many beaches and rivers, and this affected more than 60.000 fisherman in that area.

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Occidental Petroleum's Direct Air Capture facility in Texas

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Occidental Petroleum's Direct Air Capture facility in Texas

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In Texas, usa, the brand, Occidental Petroleum build a Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility amidst fracking rigs in the Permian Basin. This plans to reduce 500,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere a year. This project helps to reduce the greenhouse gases but is not the solution. When we look at this is seems like the brands are buying their right to pollute the air.

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https://www.wwf.org.br/?84444/impactos-ambientais-do-petroleo-pressionam-o-setor-para-a-energia-limpa

https://mundoeducacao.uol.com.br/quimica/danos-causados-por-vazamentos-petroleo-nos-oceanos.htm

https://ejatlas.org/conflict/occidental-petroleum-s-direct-air-capture-facility-texas

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O Diário Oficial da União publicou nesta terça-feira 29 uma instrução normativa do Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Mapa) que restringe a atuação de pescadores nas regiões afetadas pelo petróleo que atinge a costa nordestina.

Na prática, o ministério irá ampliar o período chamado "defeso", em que o pescador não pode realizar sua atividade porque as espécies estão em época reprodutiva. A restrição começa a partir do dia 1º de novembro e abrange a pesca de camarão e lagosta na região.

As áreas de restrição abrangem a divisa dos estados de Pernambuco e Alagoas em novembro e as divisas do Piauí e Ceará, e da Bahia e do Espírito Santo até o fim de dezembro.

De acordo com o documento, a medida decorre da "grave situação ambiental resultante de provável contaminação química por derramamento de óleo no litoral da Região Nordeste, proibindo a atividade pesqueira". Desde o início do acidente, já foram recolhidos mais de 200 toneladas de resíduos de piche do mar e das areias das praias nordestinas.

No dia 24 de outubro, o ministério anunciou o pagamento de uma parcela do seguro-defeso em novembro para cerca de 60 mil pescadores artesanais afetados pelo vazamento de óleo. O valor do benefício é de um salário mínimo (R$ 998).

Segundo a pasta, terão direito ao benefício os pescadores artesanais que receberam seguro-defeso este ano e exercem suas atividades nas áreas atingidas pelo óleo, de acordo com mapeamento do Instituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama).

Nesta semana, manchas de petróleo foram avistadas no Arquipélago de Abrolhos, onde está localizado o parque marinho mais importante do Atlântico Sul. O local é berçário de baleias jubarte e outros animais marinhos, e possui um dos recifes de corais mais raros do mundo.

Ainda não se sabe de onde vazou o óleo que atinge as praias nordestinas, mas pesquisadores já apontaram que o vazamento ocorreu no oceano, em uma área entre 600 e 700 quilômetros de distância da divisa entre Sergipe e Alagoas. Uma das hipóteses é que o óleo foi extraído de três campos na Venezuela e, provavelmente, estava sendo transportado quando ocorreu o acidente.
*Com Agência Brasil

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Ministério da Agricultura proíbe pesca em regiões afetadas pelo petróleo - Sustentabilidade - CartaCapital

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A medida amplia restrição a pesca de lagosta e camarão, e ocorre por 'provável contaminação química por derramamento de óleo', diz a pasta

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Water scarcity can be defined as a lack of sufficient water, or not having access to safe water supplies. In many regions around the world, water scarcity is a pressing issue due to factors such as population growth, climate change, and inefficient water management practices. This scarcity can lead to competition for limited water resources among others sectors like agriculture, industry, and households.

https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-scarcity

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Cotton extraction can lead to water consumption because Cotton is a highly water-intensive crop, a huge use of Pesticide that can also lead to another problem that is water contamination and GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms),soil degradation, a big energy Use and biodiversity loss. ( most of them can also impact the animals to)

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In this video it shows how awful the gold extraction can be. The report shows the contamination of mercury in the rivers and soil, Besides that we can see people from small towns that are attracted by the money they receive if they find money, even if they are doing it illegally.

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Ouro de Sangue: para onde vai o ouro ilegal garimpado na Amazônia?

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Cotton extraction can result in the displacement of rural people from their lands and indigenous communities. This can change social structures and cultural practices, causing social disorder and loss of identity.

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Extraction is the process of removing something, especially by force, During the extraction phase, products are taken from nature and used as raw materials in the production of goods. This Process is very intensive, cause we take more nature resources than its capacity to regenerate.

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Massive cotton extraction can lead to significant resource depletion. Including intensive water use, soil degradation caused by agrochemicals, chemical pollution, substantial energy consumption, loss of biodiversity and land conversion.

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Small farmers and workers receive very little from cotton farming, as large companies or wealthy landowners get most of the money. They may not have enough land or money to farm cotton effectively, and this unequal distribution of wealth means they often endure poor pay and working conditions.

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1- (the link/image)

2- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Impact-of-cotton-production-on-the-natural-resources_fig1_228377230

3 -https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/cotton

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Learning Objectives

Explain the labor-intensive processes of cotton production

Describe the impact of cotton on the economy of the South

In the antebellum era-that is, in the years before the Civil War-American planters in the South continued to grow Chesapeake tobacco and Carolina rice as they had in the colonial era. Cotton, however, emerged as the antebellum South's major commercial crop, eclipsing tobacco, rice, and sugar in economic importance. By 1860, the region was producing two-thirds of the world's cotton. In 1793, Eli Whitney revolutionized the production of cotton when he invented the cotton gin, a device that separated the seeds from raw cotton. Suddenly, a process that was extraordinarily labor-intensive when done by hand could be completed quickly and easily. American plantation owners, who were searching for a successful staple crop to compete on the world market, found it in cotton.

As a commodity, cotton had the advantage of being easily stored and transported. A demand for it already existed in the industrial textile mills in Great Britain, and in time a steady stream of American cotton produced by enslaved labor would also supply northern textile mills. Southern cotton, picked and processed by American enslaved persons, helped fuel the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution in both the United States and Great Britain.

King Cotton

Almost no cotton was grown in the United States in 1787, the year the federal constitution was written. However, following the War of 1812, a huge increase in production resulted in the so-called cotton boom , and by midcentury, cotton became the key (a crop grown to sell rather than for the farmer's sole use) of the southern economy and the most important American commodity. By 1850, of the 3.2 million enslaved people in the country's fifteen slave states, 1.8 million were producing cotton; by 1860, enslaved labor was producing over two billion pounds of cotton per year. Indeed, American cotton soon made up two-thirds of the global supply, and production continued to soar. By the time of the Civil War, South Carolina politician James Hammond confidently proclaimed that the North could never threaten the South because "cotton is king."

Petit Gulf, the type of cotton grown in the South, was said to slide through the cotton gin more easily than any other strain. It also grew tightly, producing more usable cotton than anyone had imagined to that point. This discovery came at a time when Native peoples were removed from the Southwest-southern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and northern Louisiana. Following the displacement of Indigenous peoples, land became readily available for White men with a few dollars and big dreams. This system, enacted through the Indian Removal Act of 1830, allowed the federal government to survey, divide, and auction off millions of acres of land for however much bidders were willing to pay. Suddenly, farmers with aspirations of owning a large plantation could purchase dozens, even hundreds, of acres in the fertile Mississippi River Delta for cents on the dollar. Pieces of land that would cost thousands of dollars elsewhere sold in the 1830s for several hundred, at prices as low as 40¢ per acre.

Petit Gulf dominated cotton production in the Mississippi River Valley-home of the new slave states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri-as well as in other states like Texas. Whenever new slave states entered the Union, White slaveholders sent armies of the enslaved to clear the land in order to grow and pick the lucrative crop. The phrase "to be sold down the river," used by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, refers to this forced migration from the upper southern states to the Deep South, lower on the Mississippi, to grow cotton.

Uncle Tom's cabin

Written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin tells the story of Uncle Tom, an enslaved person, living on a plantation in the South. The novel depicts the reality of life for many enslaved persons. Uncle Tom's Cabin is credited with stoking the growing abolitionist movement in the 1850s because it brought enslaved persons' lives into sharp focus for the first time. More than any other novel of the time, it had a profound impact on attitudes towards slavery and African Americans in the U.S. It was the best-selling novel and the second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible. The novel was also made into a number of plays that further spread the story.

However, in more recent years the novel has been criticized for popularizing negative stereotypes about African Americans. While Uncle Tom is kind and loving to his fellow enslaved persons, he is also dutiful and subservient to his White master and mistress. Another stereotype is that of the caring "mammy" figure taking care of the White children. These depictions helped solidify stereotypes of African Americans.

Producing Cotton

The enslaved people who built this cotton kingdom in the South with their forced labor started by clearing the land. Although the Jeffersonian vision of the settlement of new U.S. territories entailed White yeoman farmers single-handedly carving out small independent farms, the reality proved quite different. Entire old-growth forests and cypress swamps fell to the axe as enslaved people were ordered to strip the vegetation to make way for cotton. With the land cleared, they readied the earth by plowing and planting. To ambitious White planters, the extent of new land available for cotton production seemed almost limitless, and many planters simply leapfrogged from one area to the next, abandoning their fields every ten to fifteen years after the soil became exhausted. As a result, enslaved people composed the vanguard of this American expansion to the West.

Cotton planting took place in March and April, when enslaved people planted seeds in rows around three to five feet apart. Over the next several months, from April to August, they carefully tended the plants. Weeding the cotton rows took significant energy and time. In August, after the cotton plants had flowered and the flowers had begun to give way to cotton bolls (the seed-bearing capsule that contains the cotton fiber), all the plantation's enslaved men, women, and children worked together to pick the crop. On each day of cotton picking, enslaved workers went to the fields with sacks, which they would fill as many times as they could. The effort was laborious, and a White "driver" employed the lash to make the enslaved people work as quickly as possible.

Cotton planters projected the amount of cotton they could harvest based on the number of enslaved people under their control. In general, planters expected a good "hand," or enslaved laborer, to work ten acres of land and pick two hundred pounds of cotton a day. An overseer or "master" measured each enslaved individual's daily yield. Great pressure existed to meet the expected daily amount, and some overseers whipped enslaved people who picked less than expected.

Cotton picking occurred as many as seven times a season as the plant grew and continued to produce bolls through the fall and early winter. During the picking season, enslaved people worked from sunrise to sunset with a ten-minute break at lunch; many enslavers tended to give them little to eat, since spending on food would cut into their profits. Other enslavers knew that feeding the enslaved could increase productivity and therefore provided what they thought would help ensure a profitable crop. Enslaved people's day didn't end after they picked the cotton; once they had brought it to the gin house to be weighed, they then had to care for the animals and perform other chores. Indeed, they often maintained their own gardens and livestock, which they tended after working the cotton fields, in order to supplement their supply of food.

Sometimes the cotton was dried before it was ginned (put through the process of separating the seeds from the cotton fiber). The cotton gin allowed an enslaved laborer to remove the seeds from fifty pounds of cotton a day, compared to one pound if done by hand. After the seeds had been removed, the cotton was pressed into bales. These bales, weighing about four hundred to five hundred pounds, were wrapped in burlap cloth and sent down the Mississippi River.

Watch It

This video shows how cotton is produced and explains why the invention of the cotton gin transformed the history of the South.

You can view the transcript for "The cost of cotton production | Georgia Stories" here (opens in new window).

You can also visit the Internet Archive to watch a 1937 WPA film showing cotton bales being loaded onto a steamboat.

A Booming Economy

Thousands rushed into the Cotton Belt. Joseph Holt Ingraham, a writer and traveler from Maine, called it a "mania." William Henry Sparks, a lawyer living in Natchez, Mississippi, remembered it as "a new El Dorado" in which "fortunes were made in a day, without enterprise or work." The change was astonishing. "Where yesterday the wilderness darkened over the land with her wild forests," he recalled, "to-day the cotton plantations whitened the earth." Money flowed from banks, many newly formed, on promises of "other-worldly" profits and overnight returns. Banks in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and even London offered lines of credit to anyone looking to buy land in the Southwest. Some even sent their own agents to purchase cheap land at auction for the express purpose of selling it, sometimes the very next day, at double and triple the original value, a process known as speculation.

The numbers were staggering. In 1793, just a few years after the first, albeit unintentional, shipment of American cotton to Europe, the South produced around five million pounds of cotton, again almost exclusively the product of South Carolina's Sea Islands. Seven years later, in 1800, South Carolina remained the primary cotton producer in the South, sending 6.5 million pounds of the luxurious long-staple blend to markets in Charleston, Liverpool, London, and New York. But as the tighter, more abundant, and vibrant Petit Gulf strain moved west with the dreamers, schemers, and speculators, the American South quickly became the world's leading cotton producer. By 1835, the five main cotton-growing states-South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana-produced more than five hundred million pounds of Petit Gulf for a global market stretching from New Orleans to New York and to London, Liverpool, Paris, and beyond. That five hundred million pounds of cotton made up nearly 55 percent of the entire United States export market, a trend that continued nearly every year until the outbreak of the Civil War. Indeed, the two billion pounds of cotton produced in 1860 alone amounted to more than 60 percent of the United States' total exports for that year.

Link to Learning

Watch this video about the Cotton Revolution from Crash Course Black American History to learn about the demand for cotton and the resulting expansion of slavery.

The Rise of Southern Cities

Much of the story of slavery and cotton lies in the rural areas where cotton actually grew. Enslaved laborers worked in the fields, and planters and farmers held reign over their plantations and farms. But the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s saw an extraordinary spike in urban growth across the South. For nearly a half-century after the Revolution, the South existed as a series of plantations, county seats, and small towns, some connected by roads, others connected only by rivers, streams, and lakes. Cities certainly existed, but they served more as local ports than as regional, or national, commercial hubs. For example, New Orleans, then the capital of Louisiana, which entered the union in 1812, was home to just over 27,000 people in 1820; and even with such a seemingly small population, it was the second-largest city in the South-Baltimore had more than 62,000 people in 1820. Given the standard nineteenth-century measurement of an urban space (2,500+ people), the South had just ten in that year, one of which-Mobile, Alabama-contained only 2,672 individuals, nearly half of whom were enslaved.

As late as the 1820s, southern life was predicated on a rural lifestyle-farming, laboring, acquiring land and enslaved laborers, and producing whatever that land and those enslaved laborers could produce. The market, often located in the nearest town or city, rarely stretched beyond state lines. Even in places like New Orleans, Charleston, and Norfolk, Virginia, which had active ports as early as the 1790s, shipments rarely, with some notable exceptions, left American waters or traveled farther than the closest port down the coast. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, American involvement in international trade was largely confined to ports in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and sometimes Baltimore-which loosely falls under the demographic category of the South. Imports dwarfed exports. In 1807, U.S. imports outnumbered exports by nearly $100 million, and even as the Napoleonic Wars broke out in Europe, causing a drastic decrease in European production and trade, the United States still took in almost $50 million more than it sent out.

Cotton changed much of this, at least with respect to the South. Before cotton, the South had few major ports, almost none of which actively maintained international trade routes or even domestic supply routes. Internal travel and supply was difficult, especially on the waters of the Mississippi River, the main artery of the North American continent, and the eventual gold mine of the South. With the Mississippi's strong current, deadly undertow, and constant sharp turns, sandbars, and subsystems, navigation was difficult and dangerous. The river promised a revolution in trade, transportation, and commerce only if the technology existed to handle its impossible bends and fight against its southbound current. By the 1820s and into the 1830s, small ships could successfully navigate their way to New Orleans from as far north as Memphis and even St. Louis, if they so dared. But the problem was getting back. Most often, traders and sailors scuttled their boats on landing in New Orleans, selling the wood for a quick profit or a journey home on a wagon or caravan.

The rise of cotton benefited from a change in transportation technology that aided and guided the growth of southern cotton into one of the world's leading commodities. In January 1812, a 371-ton ship called the New Orleans arrived at its namesake city from the distant internal port of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the first steamboat to navigate the internal waterways of the North American continent from one end to the other and remain capable of returning home. The technology was far from perfect-the New Orleans sank two years later after hitting a submerged sandbar covered in driftwood-but its successful trial promised a bright, new future for river-based travel.

Investors poured huge sums into steamships. In 1817, only seventeen plied the waters of western rivers, but by 1837, there were over seven hundred steamships in operation. Major new ports developed at St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and other locations. By 1860, some thirty-five hundred vessels were steaming in and out of New Orleans, carrying an annual cargo made up primarily of cotton that amounted to $220 million worth of goods (approximately $7 billion in 2021 dollars). Steamboats, a crucial part of the transportation revolution thanks to their enormous freight-carrying capacity and ability to navigate shallow waterways, became a defining component of the cotton kingdom. Steamboats also illustrated the class and social distinctions of the antebellum age. While the decks carried precious cargo, ornate rooms graced the interior. In these spaces, Whites socialized in the ship's saloons and dining halls while enslaved Black people served them

Coastal ports like New Orleans, Charleston, Norfolk, and even Richmond became targets of steamboats and coastal carriers. Merchants, traders, skilled laborers, and foreign speculators and agents flooded the towns. In fact, the South experienced a greater rate of urbanization between 1820 and 1860 than the seemingly more industrial, urban-based North. Urbanization of the South simply looked different from that seen in the North and in Europe. Where most northern and some European cities (most notably London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Paris) developed along the lines of industry, creating public spaces to boost the morale of wage laborers in factories, on the docks, and in storehouses, southern cities developed within the cyclical logic of sustaining the trade in cotton that justified and paid for the maintenance of an enslaved labor force. The growth of southern cities, then, allowed slavery to flourish and brought the South into a more modern world.

Between 1820 and 1860, quite a few southern towns experienced dramatic population growth, which paralleled the increase in cotton production and international trade to and from the South. The 27,176 people New Orleans claimed in 1820 expanded to more than 168,000 by 1860. In fact, in New Orleans, the population nearly quadrupled from 1830 to 1840 as the Cotton Revolution hit full stride. At the same time, Charleston's population nearly doubled, from 24,780 to 40,522; Richmond expanded threefold, growing from a town of 12,067 to a capital city of 37,910; and St. Louis experienced the largest increase of any city in the nation, expanding from a frontier town of 10,049 to a booming Mississippi River metropolis of 160,773.

New Orleans had been part of the French empire before the United States purchased it, along with the rest of the Louisiana Territory, in 1803. In the first half of the nineteenth century, it rose in prominence and importance largely because of the cotton boom, steam-powered river traffic, and its strategic position near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Steamboats moved down the river transporting cotton grown on plantations along the river and throughout the South to the port at New Orleans. From there, the bulk of American cotton went to Liverpool, England, where it was sold to British manufacturers who ran the cotton mills in Manchester and elsewhere. This lucrative international trade brought new wealth and new residents to the city. By 1840, New Orleans alone had 12 percent of the nation's total banking capital, and visitors often commented on the great cultural diversity of the city. In 1835, Joseph Holt Ingraham wrote: "Truly does New-Orleans represent every other city and nation upon earth. I know of none where is congregated so great a variety of the human species." Slaves, cotton, and the steamship transformed the city from a relatively isolated corner of North America in the eighteenth century to a thriving metropolis that rivaled New York in importance.

The astronomical rise of American cotton production came at the cost of the South's first staple crop-tobacco. Perfected in Virginia but grown and sold in nearly every southern territory and state, tobacco served as the South's main economic commodity for more than a century. But tobacco was a rough crop. It treated the land poorly, draining the soil of nutrients. Tobacco fields did not last forever. In fact, fields rarely survived more than four or five cycles of growth, which left them dried and barren, incapable of growing much more than patches of grass. Of course, tobacco is and was an addictive substance, but because of its violent pattern of growth, farmers had to move around, purchasing new lands, developing new methods of production, and even creating new fields through deforestation and westward expansion. Tobacco, then, was expensive to produce-and not only because of the ubiquitous use of slave labor. It required massive, temporary fields, large numbers of laborers, and constant movement.

Cotton was different, and it arrived at a time best suited for its success. Petit Gulf cotton, in particular, grew relatively quickly on cheap, widely available land. With the invention of the cotton gin in 1794, and the emergence of steam power three decades later, cotton became the common person's commodity, the product with which the United States could expand westward, producing and reproducing Thomas Jefferson's vision of an idyllic republic of small farmers-a nation in control of its land, reaping the benefits of honest, free, and self-reliant work, a nation of families and farmers, expansion and settlement. But this all came at a violent cost. With the democratization of land ownership through Indian removal, federal auctions, readily available credit, and the seemingly universal dream of cotton's immediate profit, one of the South's lasting traditions became normalized and engrained. And by the 1860s, that very tradition, seen as the backbone of southern society and culture, would split the nation in two. The heyday of American slavery had arrived.

Glossary

antebellum: a term meaning "before the war" and used to describe the decades before the American Civil War began in 1861

cash crop: a crop grown to be sold for profit instead of consumption by the farmer's family

cotton boom: the upswing in American cotton production during the nineteenth century

cotton gin: a device, patented by Eli Whitney in 1794, that separated the seeds from raw cotton quickly and easily

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Explain the labor-intensive processes of cotton production Describe the impact of cotton on the economy of the South In the antebellum era-that is, in the years before the Civil War-American planters in the South continued to grow Chesapeake tobacco and Carolina rice as they had in the colonial era.

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Gold and diamond mining by Chinese companies in Gaga, Central African Republic

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Gold and diamond mining by Chinese companies in Gaga, Central African Republic

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Since the 2010s, gold mining by Chinese companies in Central African Republic has resulted in heavy environmental impacts, in the land, water and human rights abuses.

Some environmental and Health impacts reported:

Accidents

Violence related health impacts

Deaths

Loss of landscape

Soil contamination

Surface water pollution

Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover

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The world natural resources can be renewable, like water, Wood and Cotton. In the other hand Resources such as Petroleum, gold and other mining resources are non renewable. Nowadays we think that all of this sources are infinite, so we can use all of them without caring about it. It's important to be aware about this because if we continue to use this materials as we use today, in many years this Resources will be over.

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1- https://www.ecycle.com.br/ouro/

2- https://earthworks.org/issues/dirty-gold-and-communities/#:~:text=Workers%20of%20America-,Social%20Impacts,the%20character%20of%20a%20place.

3-https://ejatlas.org/conflict/gold-mine-by-chinese-companies-in-gaga-central-african-republic

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Ouro: usos e impactos socioambientais da mineração - eCycle

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Ouro é um metal nobre com diversos usos e aplicações, mas sua extração gera impactos sociais e ambientais graves.

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The world’s main source of available, freshwater is groundwater. In many parts of the world, particularly where there is no supply of surface water, domestic, agricultural, and industrial water needs can only be met by the use of underground water. A key problem associated with groundwater usage is groundwater depletion, a concept often described as long-term water-level declines caused by continuous groundwater pumping. To provide us with groundwater, nature goes through a specific phase. Lowering of the Water Table: The groundwater table can be lowered by heavy drilling and wells are no longer able to access groundwater.

Increased Costs: The water must be pumped higher to reach the surface as the water table decreases, using more energy. Using such a well can be cost-prohibitive in severe cases.

Reduced Surface Water Supplies: Groundwater and water on the surface are related. The lakes, streams, and rivers linked to groundwater may also have their supply reduced when groundwater is overused.

Land Subsidence: When there is a lack of support below level, land subsidence happens. This is most frequently triggered by human activity, as the soil collapses, compacts, and drops, primarily through the overuse of groundwater.

Water Quality Concerns: In coastal areas, excessive pumping will cause saltwater to migrate inland and upwards, resulting in the water source being polluted by salt water.

https://assignmentpoint.com/groundwater-depletion-causes-effects-solution/

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The unavoidable and natural result of extracting water from an aquifer is groundwater depletion. It is a significant environmental threat; water makes up the bulk of our bodies and the Earth. The world's main source of available, freshwater is groundwater. In many parts of the world, particularly where there is no supply of surface water, domestic, agricultural, and industrial water needs can only be met by the use of underground water. Groundwater withdrawals exceed 750-800 km3/year globally. Economic benefits have been dramatic from groundwater use. However, groundwater supplies have been exhausted in many areas to the point that well yields have decreased, pumping costs have increased, water quality has declined, marine habitats have been destroyed, and land has subsided irreversibly.

In order to live, humans and animals need water, as our bodies do not function without it. We also need water to help us grow crops, to power machines, and to keep us comfortable. Societies need much more clean water than we obtain from rainfall and surface water, which is why groundwater is so widely used. A key problem associated with groundwater usage is groundwater depletion, a concept often described as long-term water-level declines caused by continuous groundwater pumping. To provide us with groundwater, nature goes through a specific phase. The surface water that we can see is heated by the Sun and as evaporation goes into the atmosphere. Then water vapor produces precipitation, water that falls as rain and snow from the atmosphere. When water falls from the sky and into the surface, it is absorbed into the earth and then deposited in aquifers as groundwater.

The main regions of North Africa, the Middle East, South, and Central Asia, North China, North America, and Australia, and localized areas around the world are affected by excessive groundwater depletion. Although the scale of the issue has not been quantified globally, the senior author's on-going research indicates that during the 20th century, about 700-800 km3 of groundwater was drained from aquifers in the US. Groundwater depletion has been brought on by the growing population and the careless use of water. When people began wasting water instead of using it wisely, the problem got worse. Quick industrialization has also significantly increased the demand and use of water. Increasing farming practices and certain natural factors, such as global warming, are other explanations for groundwater depletion.

In certain situations, the depletion of the fresh groundwater that is more readily recoverable leaves a residual with a poorer quality of water. In part, this is due to induced drainage from the surface of the soil, confining layers, or neighboring aquifers containing saline or polluted water. The available amount of fresh groundwater in coastal areas, where many of the world's largest cities are located, is limited by seawater intrusion and coning, which are caused by head reductions in the aquifer. Most generally, groundwater depletion happens because of the frequent pumping of water from the field. The more we pump water from the ground at a rapid pace, the harder it is for the groundwater to provide us with the amount of water we need as a growing planet with a population that continues to increase.

It is possible to view groundwater depletion from two distinct viewpoints. In one, depletion, regardless of water quality considerations, is taken literally and simply as a decrease in the amount of water in the saturated region. A second viewpoint sees depletion as a decline in the fresh groundwater available volume in storage. Water flows freely into the aquifers known as saturated rocks. There are big and small aquifers, and they are the deepwater reservoirs that collect water and retain it, allowing us to pump it for use. The quantity of water kept by aquifers is beyond amazing and can give us billions of gallons of water a day. Although this volume of water appears abundant, groundwater is a significant contributor to the supply of fresh water to the Planet and is responsible for supplying up to 40% of the world's freshwater. It does not, therefore, have the capacity to recollect fast enough to be continuously sourced for our use.

Some groundwater depletion causes and impacts are neither clear nor easy to determine. Integrating maps of head shifts over the aquifer region is the most direct way to quantify the amount of water depleted from an aquifer. In order to compute the corresponding volume of water, the resulting aquifer volume is multiplied by an acceptable storage coefficient. A significant amount of groundwater goes to irrigation, but there is a slow decrease in groundwater supply. Without it, it would be incredibly difficult to supply crops and livestock with drinking water and water that would support people in periods of drought. The less water that is available, the less food we have and we will be faced with the problem of great demand and very little supply.

Some of the negative effects of groundwater depletion:

Lowering of the Water Table: The groundwater table can be lowered by heavy drilling and wells are no longer able to access groundwater.

Increased Costs: The water must be pumped higher to reach the surface as the water table decreases, using more energy. Using such a well can be cost-prohibitive in severe cases.

Reduced Surface Water Supplies: Groundwater and water on the surface are related. The lakes, streams, and rivers linked to groundwater may also have their supply reduced when groundwater is overused.

Land Subsidence: When there is a lack of support below level, land subsidence happens. This is most frequently triggered by human activity, as the soil collapses, compacts, and drops, primarily through the overuse of groundwater.

Water Quality Concerns: In coastal areas, excessive pumping will cause saltwater to migrate inland and upwards, resulting in the water source being polluted by salt water.

Groundwater in most physiographic and climatic settings contributes to streams. The proportion of stream water that comes from the inflow of groundwater varies depending on the geography, geology, and environment of an area. A lack of groundwater prevents extra water from flowing into reservoirs, rivers, and seas. This implies that over time, as the current surface water begins to evaporate, less water can enter. As the water becomes shallower, it will affect everything, including fish and wildlife, in that specific area. Future advances in water-level data collection and telemetry, database management systems, and information system networking are likely to make it easier to track water-level changes in the future.

Everyone should do their part to use less water wherever possible, given the imminent crisis of a mass water shortage. Water is so freely used that it is also part of ideas for outdoor decor and used for important attractions, such as amusement parks. By changing management priorities from identifying and creating new resources to growing, conserving, and reallocating existing supplies, communities respond to water resource depletion. At the same time, social priorities are shifting to value water for non-traditional purposes, such as the preservation of in-stream flows for aquatic habitats. These multifaceted problems will have to be dealt with by potential groundwater management.

Many people may not pay attention and are completely unaware of how necessary it is to avoid under-the-ground contamination from happening. Chemicals are usually laden with water from businesses and private homes that flow through the streets and drainage systems. These contaminants make their way into larger bodies of water, killing animals and the atmosphere and absorbing them into the soil. We discourage them from adding hazardous products to our water supply by carefully using less chemicals and discarding them. To help replenish aquifers, we may use alternative sources of water. Instead of pumping so much water from them at once, water from other sources will also allow aquifers time to refill.
Information Sources:

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The unavoidable and natural result of extracting water from an aquifer is groundwater depletion. It is a significant environmental threat; water makes up

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Industrial activities, agriculture runoff, untreated sewage, and mining operations can contaminate surface water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and streams. This pollution not only affects aquatic ecosystems but also compromises water quality for human consumption and recreation.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311572

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Alterations in water availability and quality can harm aquatic ecosystems, leading to declines in biodiversity, loss of habitat, and disruptions in ecological processes such as nutrient cycling and sedimentation.

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Verify that water sources are extracted in a sustainable way, using groundwater monitoring for aquifer capacity and recharge rate and determining safe limits for extraction. Water demand should be compared with the recharge/flow/yield rates of water resources.

Systems should be designed to cater to projected future increased demand over the lifespan or to be easily upscaled. This minimizes the likelihood of potential future unsustainable water abstraction/extraction, as well as the need for future WASH interventions. National or local water authorities can be a knowledgeable source of information on water sources, usage patterns, learned experiences, etc. and permissions for water infrastructure development or any water extraction may be required, such as relevant regulatory environmental requirements.

It is recommended that the requirements of a well (depth, type of pump to be applied) be defined, not as a result of a "golden rule", but considering the hydrogeological context and using all available hydrogeological data.

Promote water-saving behaviors wherever necessary and identify alternative sources of water where local abstraction is unsustainable - consider rainwater harvesting, greywater capture, and re-use for gardening; temporary bowstring whilst constructing new water abstraction, treatment, and pipeline facilities.

Water Safety Plans should be developed together with community representatives, so they can understand the causes of pollution and the need for water point protection, and the need for ongoing maintenance of that protection.

Springs and wells should be properly lined and sealed, while fences around the water extraction points can prevent waste, defecation, and other pollutants from collecting at the surface and entering the well. The area around the extraction points should be appropriately leveled with properly designed drainage to avoid the pooling of water.

Gravity-fed water abstraction and distribution systems are sometimes possible from river sources. Extraction points located at higher elevations reduce energy consumption during operation as gravity can be leveraged for flow distribution and minimizes the need for constant operation of pumps to provide water supply, thus reducing energy usage.

Renewable energy options should be explored for both temporary and permanent water abstraction and low energy consumption pumps should be explored.

The environmental, social, and economic impacts of electricity production should be considered, and appropriately prevented or mitigated. For example, the use of generators can create air and noise pollution from combustion, mainly due to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) products.

Ministries of environment may well have data on areas where wind power potential or other renewable energy has been assessed and can be used.

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Water extraction for water consumption and hygiene activities - EHA Connect

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Verify that water sources are extracted in a sustainable way, using groundwater monitoring for aquifer capacity and recharge rate and determining safe limits for extraction. Water demand should be compared with the recharge/flow/yield rates of water resources. Systems should be designed to cater to projected future increased demand over the lifespan or to be easily upscaled.

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Water problems can have profound social and economic impacts, particularly in communities that depend on water resources for agriculture, fishing, tourism, and livelihoods. Water scarcity and pollution can exacerbate poverty, food insecurity, and social inequality.

https://www.scirp.org/html/39132.html

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The effects of climate change, including altered precipitation patterns, droughts, floods, and rising temperatures, further exacerbate water-related challenges, necessitating adaptive strategies and resilience-building measures.

https://www.scielo.br/j/pat/a/QTVRCT5pXYKwqPkk6NtZKnb/

# data[].attributes.body
Effective water governance frameworks, integrated water resource management practices, water conservation measures, and stakeholder engagement are essential for addressing water problems and ensuring sustainable use of water resources.

https://www.watercentre.org/study/information-for/integrated-water-governance/