HES4810
Assignment 2
Detailed Answers
Unique No: 571104
Due 2 July 2025
,HES4810
Assignment 2: Detailed Answers
Unique number: 571104
Due date:2 July 2025
Question 1: Human Activities and Their Detrimental Effects on Environmental
Aspects
Human activities profoundly influence environmental systems, leading to pervasive and
often irreversible ecological shifts. A comprehensive understanding of these impacts,
coupled with robust mitigation strategies, is crucial for fostering sustainable
development.
1.1 Climate
Human activities are undeniably reshaping global climate patterns, primarily through the
intensification of the greenhouse effect and disruption of natural climate regulators.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The combustion of fossil fuels across industrial
activities, transportation, and widespread deforestation liberates substantial
quantities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). For example, power
plants fueled by fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 30% of global CO₂
emissions (IPCC, 2014). This anthropogenic forcing dramatically enhances the
greenhouse effect, precipitating altered precipitation regimes, more frequent and
intense extreme weather events, and accelerating sea-level rise.
• Deforestation: The systematic clearing of forests, driven by agricultural
expansion and urban encroachment, significantly diminishes the Earth's natural
carbon sinks. The Amazon rainforest, a critical global carbon reservoir, has
experienced a 17% reduction in area over the last five decades, severely
impairing its capacity to sequester atmospheric CO₂ (Nepstad et al., 2008). This
amplifies the climatic imbalance.
, • Urbanization and Heat Island Effect: Uncontrolled urban sprawl contributes to
localized climatic alterations through the urban heat island effect. Expansive
surfaces of concrete and asphalt absorb and re-radiate solar energy, leading to
elevated ambient temperatures within metropolitan areas. Studies demonstrate
that urban centers can be 2–5°C warmer than their rural counterparts,
fundamentally altering regional climatic characteristics (Oke, 1982).
Critical Analysis: These activities reveal a prevailing societal paradigm that often
prioritizes immediate economic growth over long-term environmental
sustainability. The persistent reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources and the
failure to implement large-scale reforestation initiatives perpetuate climate instability,
disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations who possess limited adaptive
capacities. This highlights a critical disjuncture between short-term economic
imperatives and the imperative of planetary well-being.
1.2 Topography
Human interventions invariably remodel natural topography, frequently yielding enduring
and irreversible geomorphological consequences.
• Mining Activities: Large-scale mining operations, particularly open-pit mining
and quarrying, fundamentally alter natural landforms, creating extensive artificial
depressions and massive spoil heaps. In South Africa, historical gold mining
activities have drastically transformed landscapes, diminishing natural slopes and
escalating the risks of erosion (McCarthy, 2011).
• Urban Development: The construction of extensive infrastructure, including
roadways and buildings, necessitates significant earthmoving, involving the
leveling of hills and the filling of valleys. This fundamentally disrupts natural
drainage patterns, often leading to increased flood risks in urbanized areas, as
observed in Johannesburg during periods of heavy rainfall (Dyson, 2009).
• Agricultural Terracing: While often implemented with the intent of mitigating soil
erosion, improperly designed or maintained agricultural terracing can
Assignment 2
Detailed Answers
Unique No: 571104
Due 2 July 2025
,HES4810
Assignment 2: Detailed Answers
Unique number: 571104
Due date:2 July 2025
Question 1: Human Activities and Their Detrimental Effects on Environmental
Aspects
Human activities profoundly influence environmental systems, leading to pervasive and
often irreversible ecological shifts. A comprehensive understanding of these impacts,
coupled with robust mitigation strategies, is crucial for fostering sustainable
development.
1.1 Climate
Human activities are undeniably reshaping global climate patterns, primarily through the
intensification of the greenhouse effect and disruption of natural climate regulators.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The combustion of fossil fuels across industrial
activities, transportation, and widespread deforestation liberates substantial
quantities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). For example, power
plants fueled by fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 30% of global CO₂
emissions (IPCC, 2014). This anthropogenic forcing dramatically enhances the
greenhouse effect, precipitating altered precipitation regimes, more frequent and
intense extreme weather events, and accelerating sea-level rise.
• Deforestation: The systematic clearing of forests, driven by agricultural
expansion and urban encroachment, significantly diminishes the Earth's natural
carbon sinks. The Amazon rainforest, a critical global carbon reservoir, has
experienced a 17% reduction in area over the last five decades, severely
impairing its capacity to sequester atmospheric CO₂ (Nepstad et al., 2008). This
amplifies the climatic imbalance.
, • Urbanization and Heat Island Effect: Uncontrolled urban sprawl contributes to
localized climatic alterations through the urban heat island effect. Expansive
surfaces of concrete and asphalt absorb and re-radiate solar energy, leading to
elevated ambient temperatures within metropolitan areas. Studies demonstrate
that urban centers can be 2–5°C warmer than their rural counterparts,
fundamentally altering regional climatic characteristics (Oke, 1982).
Critical Analysis: These activities reveal a prevailing societal paradigm that often
prioritizes immediate economic growth over long-term environmental
sustainability. The persistent reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources and the
failure to implement large-scale reforestation initiatives perpetuate climate instability,
disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations who possess limited adaptive
capacities. This highlights a critical disjuncture between short-term economic
imperatives and the imperative of planetary well-being.
1.2 Topography
Human interventions invariably remodel natural topography, frequently yielding enduring
and irreversible geomorphological consequences.
• Mining Activities: Large-scale mining operations, particularly open-pit mining
and quarrying, fundamentally alter natural landforms, creating extensive artificial
depressions and massive spoil heaps. In South Africa, historical gold mining
activities have drastically transformed landscapes, diminishing natural slopes and
escalating the risks of erosion (McCarthy, 2011).
• Urban Development: The construction of extensive infrastructure, including
roadways and buildings, necessitates significant earthmoving, involving the
leveling of hills and the filling of valleys. This fundamentally disrupts natural
drainage patterns, often leading to increased flood risks in urbanized areas, as
observed in Johannesburg during periods of heavy rainfall (Dyson, 2009).
• Agricultural Terracing: While often implemented with the intent of mitigating soil
erosion, improperly designed or maintained agricultural terracing can
