Overgrazing
- Allowing too much livestock to graze on a piece of land which means all the
vegetation is eaten making the ground susceptible to wind and water erosion.
- Overcultivation: If you farm land to intensively and don't have fallow periods then all
the nutrients in the soil get used.
- Overpopulation: As the world population continues to grow (now about 7 billion)
the demand for agricultural products (crops and meat) is increasing, causing more
land to be deforested, overcultivated and overgrazed.
- Fertiliser and Pesticide Use: By using fertilisers and pesticides you can artificially
increase yields of crops. However, the process is unnatural and prolonged periods of
use can all naturally produced nutrients to be used and local water sources to
become polluted reducing the ability of land to cultivate crops and therefore making
it vulnerable to chemical degradation as well as wind and water erosion.
- HYV and GM Crops: Like with fertilisers and pesticides, it is argued that HYV and GM
crops have encouraged overcultivation, diminishing natural nutrients in the soil.
- Unsustainable Water Use (aquifer depletion, unsustainable irrigation): If aquifers
or rivers are used unsustainably then areas can become increasingly arid as water
resources are used up. A classic example of unsustainable irrigation happened in the
Aral Sea.
- Allowing too much livestock to graze on a piece of land which means all the
vegetation is eaten making the ground susceptible to wind and water erosion.
- Overcultivation: If you farm land to intensively and don't have fallow periods then all
the nutrients in the soil get used.
- Overpopulation: As the world population continues to grow (now about 7 billion)
the demand for agricultural products (crops and meat) is increasing, causing more
land to be deforested, overcultivated and overgrazed.
- Fertiliser and Pesticide Use: By using fertilisers and pesticides you can artificially
increase yields of crops. However, the process is unnatural and prolonged periods of
use can all naturally produced nutrients to be used and local water sources to
become polluted reducing the ability of land to cultivate crops and therefore making
it vulnerable to chemical degradation as well as wind and water erosion.
- HYV and GM Crops: Like with fertilisers and pesticides, it is argued that HYV and GM
crops have encouraged overcultivation, diminishing natural nutrients in the soil.
- Unsustainable Water Use (aquifer depletion, unsustainable irrigation): If aquifers
or rivers are used unsustainably then areas can become increasingly arid as water
resources are used up. A classic example of unsustainable irrigation happened in the
Aral Sea.
