Environmental Influence on Human Activity and its Impact

Posted on Oct 29, 2024 in Geography

Item 4. The Natural Landscapes and Nature-Society Interrelationships

Environmental Influence on Human Activity

1. The Natural Environment as a Resource

The environment provides humans with resources to meet their needs and economic demands. Its assessment has changed over time. The existence of certain resources can contribute to socioeconomic development in an area.

1.1 The Relief
Continental Relief:
  • Settlements: Historically, settlements have sought the best sites.
  • Agricultural Activity: Often unfavorable due to altitude and steepness.
  • Mineral and Energy Resources: Vary depending on their age, including coal, metal ores, and certain non-metallic resources.
  • Communications: Plateau areas provide connections between peripheral and coastal regions.
  • Tourist Attraction: Offers unique features.
Coastal Relief:
  • It is less conducive to the establishment of ports and the collection of fishery resources, but the long sandy beaches promote tourism.
1.2 The Climate

Atmosphere: Provides essential gases for life.

  • Agriculture: Crops depend on climate conditions. In Spain, extreme heat or frost and low and erratic rainfall are unfavorable.
  • Energy Sources: Renewable and clean sources like wind, sunlight, and rain.
  • Tertiary Sector: Transport is affected by frost, fog, and rain. Tourism in some regions is based on climate.
1.3 The Vegetation

Essential for life, provides oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide.

Provides Various Resources:

  • Food (animals and humans)
  • Raw materials (wood, textiles)
  • Energy sources (wood charcoal)
  • Leisure

Protects and Improves the Environment:

  • Reduces air pollution by trapping dust on its leaves
  • Acts as a noise barrier
  • Stabilizes the ground with its roots
  • Increases fertility
1.4 The Water and Water Resources
Water:

It is an essential resource used for:

  • Irrigated Agriculture: 80%
  • Energy Production: 6.4%
  • Urban Consumption: 14% (Spain ranks 3rd worldwide in per capita consumption)
  • Waste Disposal: From agriculture and livestock
  • Other Activities: Such as fishing, navigation, and recreational uses
The Water Balance:

Water resources are related to their use. In Spain, the balance is good, but there are several problems, and only a portion is usable:

  • Availability of Water: Rivers originate mainly in areas characterized by seasonal and interannual irregularity and uneven spatial distribution.
  • Demand: Concentrated in the areas with the largest population and economic activity, the Mediterranean area, where resources are scarce.
  • Dam Network: Insufficient for increasing demand.
  • Annual Water Losses: Due to inadequate irrigation systems and leaks.
Water Policy:
  • Regulation of water resources through water law, which states that all surface waters and waterways belong to the nation.
  • Resources management through planning:
    • River Basin Management Plans: Identify infrastructure needs.
    • National Hydrological Plan: Coordinates plans and actions of the general watershed. The new WATER program aims to achieve:
      • Water self-sufficiency
      • Good water quality for drinking and ecosystem maintenance
      • Preventing floods and droughts by conditioning channels
      • Promoting research and innovation
Hydraulic Works:

Infrastructure created to regulate resources and improve their quality.

To Regulate Rivers:

  • Reservoirs: Large areas of artificially stored water through dams. Plans to build more are in place.
  • Distribution Channels: Supply population centers, irrigation, and industries.
  • Transfers: Transfers of water between surplus and deficit basins.

To Adjust Other Water Resources:

  • Pyrenean Lakes: Used for hydropower.
  • Aquifers: Wells and galleries for agricultural, industrial, and even urban use, but not always usable.
  • Seawater: Tapped through desalination. Previously costly and expensive, it has now been simplified and made cheaper. Spain ranks 1st in the EU.

To Improve Water Quality:

  • Drinking Water Plants: Treat water for consumption.
  • Purification Plants: Treat wastewater to avoid pollution.
1.5 The Soil
  • Agricultural Production, Livestock, and Forestry: They depend in part on soil fertility. In Spain, the quality is mediocre.
  • Population: Fertile spaces have traditionally been occupied for food production.
  • Housing and Infrastructure: Affected by some soil characteristics.

2. The Natural Hazards

Environmental traits that threaten well-being or lives due to their potential consequences.

Geological Risks:

Originate from the Earth’s interior (earthquakes) or exterior.

  • Seismic Tremors: Ground movements due to the Iberian Peninsula’s location at the edge of the African and Eurasian plates.
  • Volcanic Eruptions: Affect the Canary Islands.
  • Hillside Eruptions: Rapid movements of large land masses.
  • Landslides: Common in humid regions with steep slopes where saturated ground loses stability due to rain.
  • Mudflows: Occur in upper catchments where fragments roll and accumulate where the slope levels out.
Climatic Hazards:

The most common are floods caused by heavy rainfall and droughts. Hail, storms, and waves have a lower incidence.

Actions Against These Risks:

  • Construction of Infrastructure: To mitigate the most frequent damage.
  • Creation of Forecasting and Monitoring Systems: In vulnerable areas.
  • Emergency Action: To protect people and reduce damage.
  • Standards for Risk Prevention and Public Involvement: Through education and information.

Influence of Human Activity on the Environment

1. Environmental Problems

The main problems are destruction, overexploitation, and pollution.

1.1 Air Pollution

Caused by primary pollutants discharged directly into the atmosphere or generated by secondary reactions. These include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur oxides.

Principally:

  • Acid Rain: Rain with higher than normal acidity, caused by sulfur and nitrogen emissions mixing with water vapor.
  • Ozone Layer Depletion: Located between 15-55km high, it filters the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Its thinning is due to chlorine, which reacts with ozone and converts it into oxygen.
  • Greenhouse Effect: Triggered by the release of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which allow solar radiation in but trap heat, causing rising temperatures and climate change.
  • Dust and Pollution Dome: Caused by suspended dust and smoke rising in the central areas of cities and descending in the periphery until wind or rain removes it.
  • Noise: Considered a pollutant as it deteriorates environmental quality. Caused by traffic, industry, and certain activities. It can cause health and psychological problems.
1.2 Deforestation or Destruction of Vegetation Cover
  • Agriculture and Livestock: Thousands of miles have been cleared for cultivation.
  • Urban and Industrial Installations Occupation: Second homes and infrastructure have removed large forests.
  • Forest Fires: Affect large wooded areas, more often in the summer due to high temperatures and drought, but 96% are caused by ranchers, speculators, and hikers.
1.3 Pollution, Erosion, and Land Desertification
  • Pollution: Caused by industrial and municipal discharges, but above all, the use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture.
  • Erosion: A significant natural phenomenon in Spain, exacerbated by steep slopes and torrential rainfall. 57% of the area suffers from alarming or extremely alarming soil loss, which can be enhanced by:
    • Deforestation: By logging or fire, as the roots that hold the soil are no longer present.
    • Excessive Grazing: Short rest periods linked to farmland.
  • Desertification: Loss of fertile topsoil resulting from extreme erosion.
1.4 The Exploitation and Pollution of Water
  • Overexploitation: The result of increased water consumption for agriculture, industry, and urban use. This has led to the construction of infrastructure aimed at capturing water, which has altered its channels and flow.
  • Pollution: Disposal of human-produced waste, which prevents oxygenation and natural purification.
    • Rural Pollution: Especially from the cleaning of stables and inadequate use of fertilizers and insecticides.
    • Industrial Pollution: Caused by the expulsion of untreated discharges into rivers and seas, causing toxic algae blooms and the release of poisonous metals. Also, oil spills have dire consequences.
    • Urban Pollution: Discharge of untreated sewage with bacteria and viruses, and nitrates and phosphates from detergents. Also, illegal and uncontrolled landfills contribute to pollution.
1.5 Municipal Waste

Municipal waste also plays an important polluting role due to the non-biodegradable nature of many of its components. Its growth has led to the proliferation of uncontrolled landfills that contaminate soil and water. Controlled landfills also have an impact, as they alter the landscape and produce gases and slurries.

2. The Protection of Natural Areas and Environmental Policy

Awareness of environmental degradation has led to the adoption of measures for its protection, planning, and management.

2.1 The Creation and Expansion of Protected Natural Areas

In Spain, this began in 1916 with the National Parks Act, which focused on scenic beauty. However, by mid-century, other biological or geological aspects were considered. In 1975, the Protected Natural Areas Act was created, and in 1989, the current Law on the Conservation of Natural Areas and Flora and Fauna was adopted. Its objectives are the conservation and restoration of natural areas and the prevention of deterioration. Types of protected areas:

  • Parks: Areas of high ecological value and little-transformed natural landscapes.
    • National Parks: Relatively large and with unique characteristics, their conservation is of national interest. Since 2004, they have been managed by the autonomous communities.
    • Natural Parks: Smaller areas that maintain the exploitation of primary resources and promote rural tourism. They are managed by the autonomous communities.
  • Nature Reserves: Protect ecosystems that deserve special attention due to their rarity or fragility.
  • Natural Monuments: Natural formations of notorious uniqueness or rarity.
  • Protected Landscapes: Areas preserved for their aesthetic and cultural values, combining use with environmental conservation.
2.2 The Spanish Environmental Policy


Pick the right of everyone to enjoy an adequate environment and provides sanctions for those violating it. The policy is determined by the Spanish environment ministry and the EU that aims to:
“Conserve, protect and improve environmental quality
“Helping protect the health of people
-Ensure the prudent and rational utilization of natural resources



Policy on air pollution
Spain participates in EUROAIRNET network created by the EU to assess the air quality.
Acid rain: In 1991, pledges to reduce their sulfur emissions by 42% compared to 1980
Ozone layer: Spain is affected by the agreements of the EU in the Montreal Protocol, which commits him to ban the production, marketing and use of CFCs except essential issues. It has monitoring stations on the layer.
Greenhouse effect: it has signed the Kyoto Protocol which requires it to control their CO2 emissions and not exceed a limit which allows increased 15%. You must control vehicle emissions, energy conservation and clean technologies
Bell dust: promotes public transport in cities and energy savings
Environmental noise: it is finalizing a new bill that takes into account the views of citizens and incorporates noise in land planning. Also seeks to recover degraded sound environments
Policy on deforestation
Spain is integrated into the European network for monitoring forest damage. Actions:
Programs for the conservation of genetic resources of endangered species and pest control and forest fires, through information, surveillance, increased penalties
Increased afforestation, according to native species
Policy towards land degradation
In pollution was adopted in 1995 National Recovery Plan for Soil Contaminated with performances in several communities
As part of the project erosion LUCDEME to combat erosion of the Mediterranean to protect soil and desertification
Policy regarding overfishing and water pollution
– Planning debugging infrastructure to be made until 2005 in accordance with EU guidelines
“Surveillance and control of inland water quality using the automatic information system of water quality
Rivers: there are plans to identify areas of overuse and degradation and has comprehensive projects to prevent flooding and erosion
Aquifers: exploited rationally without seeking to exploit and control the quality of its water through a network of quality control of A subt
Wetlands: Spain is part of an organization that oversees the protection of wetlands
Costa: A variety of projects for prevention and recovery of beaches
Policy on Municipal Solid Waste
Its objectives are to reduce, recover, recycle waste. Major efforts have been to retrieve and use them to produce biogas, electricity or composting (fermentation of organic matter that regenerates the soil). Continues to stimulate the recycling of paper and glass and promote the batteries


Public awareness policy
It is about increasing public participation in caring for the MA:
Ecolabelling: Identifies friendly manufacture products to encourage their consumption
Environmental audits: the E to assess and improve the impact of their activities on the environment
Promoting environmental education in school
2.3 The environmental organizations
An increasing number of environmental organizations that seek to balance development with nature. Highlight Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. In Spain, the Spanish Ornithological Society dedicated to the protection of nature and especially birds