South African Environmental Issues PDF

## 3.4 Briefly discuss green and brown issues as South African environmental issues. - **Green issues** - **Increased loss of biodiversity:** in South Africa 15% of plant species, 37% of mammal species, 14% of bird species, 8% of amphibian species and 4% of reptile species are extinct...

## 3.4 Briefly discuss green and brown issues as South African environmental issues. - **Green issues** - **Increased loss of biodiversity:** in South Africa 15% of plant species, 37% of mammal species, 14% of bird species, 8% of amphibian species and 4% of reptile species are extinct of near extinction. - **Climate change:** the change to rainfall and temperature are also prevalent in South Africa. - **Deteriorating freshwater resources:** according to the water research commission, South Africa is projected to run out of water between 2020 and 2030, given the current high volumes of wastage and projected demand. - **Brown issues** - **Increased air pollution:** declining air quality and harming people's health. - **Increased soil erosion:** the annual soil loss in South Africa is estimated at 300- 400 million tons. - **Increased consumption of natural capital:** South Africa is using up its natural capital due to over-consumption. ## 3.5 Analyse negativity of globalisation on the environment? - **Dependency on the primary sector:** South Africa still depends largely on the primary sector as a source of income/ minerals are exported to Northern countries. - **The countries in the South, including South Africa, are still densely populated in certain areas.** - **Large unemployment Levels:** South Africa has a large group of youth which is unemployed- even graduates do not easily find jobs/lack of funds for skills. - **Low life expectancies in the country:** factors such as TB/Malaria/ HIV and AIDS are major problems/ insufficient healthcare, especially in rural areas. - **Increasing levels of poverty:** estimates are that 50% of the South African population is in poverty/ inability of government to create economic growth FDIs. - **Lack of economic growth development:** aspects such as droughts, corruption, mismanagement and disinvestments are major concerns. ## Activity 4 - **Examine in detail the state of environment/problems threatening the environment.** - **Analyse the measures/methods used to protect the environment.** ### Introduction Environmental issues are partly a result of the development of new technologies, which has led to the increase in mineral mining, oil exploration, and the increase in the number of manufacturing plant and factories. ### Body ### Main part #### Natural environmental degradation - Natural environmental degradation includes situations that arise from local influences such as extremes of weather, local infectious agents and physical disasters. - It is estimated that, in South Africa, water erosion affects 6.1 million hectares of cultivated soil. - Of this 6.1 million hectares, 15% is seriously affected, 37% moderately and the rest slightly affected. - Wind erosion has a more severe effect on cultivated soil, estimated at 10.9 million hectares that is currently affected. - In South Africa, the estimated annual soil loss is 2.5 tons per hectare per year with the highest losses up to 60 tons per hectare per year from unprotected pineapple fields. #### Human-induced environmental degradation - This type of degradation refers to the effect of human activities on the natural environment. - Humans are constantly engaged in activities such as agriculture, industrial development, mining activities, rural settlement or urban development. - These human activities often lead to deforestation, land and water degradation, as well as air pollution. #### Poverty and environmental degradation - Poverty is seen as a great threat to the environment. - Poor health conditions limit people's capacity to produce and earn. - When people have to survive from day to day, it makes them less sensitive to maintaining the natural environment resources. - Poor people tend to have large families, coupled with poor health services, which will increase poverty levels and create further environmental pressure. - People are often ill-equipped to deal with the effect on the environment in a manner that limits damage. #### Agricultural development and deforestation - The expansion of agriculture and plantation forestry, as well as other commercial or substance activities, threaten natural resources. - Agricultural development needs large tracks of land that must be developed to meet the demand for food for an ever-increasing population. - This often leads to deforestation, soil erosion, land degradation, desertification and various forms of water and air pollution. - Deforestation reduces the habitats of plant and animal species. - It also influences rainfall patterns and lowers the ability for rain develops. #### Land degradation - Land degradation is a mismatch between land quality, land usage and land productivity. - If land is not used efficiently and effectively it becomes eroded through deforestation, soil erosion, soil infertility and flooding. Soil erosion is the most serious form of land degradation. - At 53% water erosion is the main problem in Africa, followed by wind erosion at 30.5%, chemical degradation at 11.2% and physical degradation at 5.3%. #### Industrial development, mining and environmental degradation - Industrial processes contribute to water, land and air pollution. - In South Africa, the major contributor to air pollution is the country's oil refineries. - These refineries emit high levels of sulphur dioxide and several other chemicals known to cause health problems. - Greenhouse gas emissions as a result of vehicle emissions, power plants, factories and giant livestock farms have a devastating effect on climate change. - Pollution from mining activities is a direct cause of ground water pollution in South Africa #### Human settlement, urbanisation and environment degradation - Rural- urban migration helps reduce pressure on the rural environment, but puts pressure on the urban environment such as demand for land and services. - Unplanned informal settlements are one of the consequences of large-scale rural urban migration. - Government struggles to meet the community needs. - Run-off from storm water is a common problem in unplanned settlements due to the lack of proper sewage and drainage system. - The consequences of urbanisation are overcrowding, poor housing conditions overconsumption of limited resources, uncollected solid waste and untreated waste water, environmental pollution and other forms of social evils, such as child abuse, domestic abuse and child labour. ## Additional Part - Price based charges, such as taxes and subsidies, are used to persuade polluters to reduce the level of pollution. - The use of price-based instruments for pollution control has been advocated for many years, but it is only in recent years that government have come to protect them. - Government also had concerns that additional charges would increase inflation and thereby impact severely on low-income groups. - Market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reduction in the emissions of pollutants. - The central government sets a limit on the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted. - Businesses are required to hold a number of permit equivalents to their emissions. - Firms that need to increase their emission permits must buy permits from those businesses that require fewer permits. - Laws cannot influence the natural processes that cause environmental changes, but it can be used to regulate human behaviour.