You rural environmental problems they are caused by the intensive use of natural resources, which occurs through activities such as agribusiness, mining, mining and plant extraction. In addition, the expansion of urban infrastructure, the construction of hydroelectric plants, the opening and cleaning of areas in rural areas are also causing impacts in rural areas.
Among the rural environmental problems, we have the pollution of water sources, soil, air, fires, contamination of river beds, deforestation, soil compaction and resource depletion, which can have serious short- and long-term consequences for both human populations and the biodiversity.
Read too: Environmental impacts - changes caused to the environment by human action
Summary of rural environmental problems
- Rural environmental problems are caused by the practices of agribusiness, mining and mining, extraction vegetation, opening of areas for urban structures or for planting and pasture, inadequate soil management and others.
- Pollution (of water, soil and air), deforestation, resource depletion, soil compaction, fires and fires are some of the main environmental problems in the countryside.
- All of them are identified in Brazil, appearing more intensely in some specific areas of the territory, such as in regions where the agricultural and mineral frontiers expand.
- The consequences of these environmental problems are: desertification of areas and the death of soils, acceleration of erosion processes, loss of biodiversity, contamination of fauna and flora, damage to human health, changes in the microclimate and, in the long term, intensification of climate change global.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Causes of rural environmental problems
Environmental problems in rural areas are caused by intensive exploitation of natural resources, that is, the one that happens at a faster scale and pace than the replacement and regeneration time of nature. When we think about rural environmental problems, we immediately associate this issue with the agribusiness as its cause. This practice is indeed one of the main causes of damage to ecosystems present in the field, especially when we focus our analysis on the Brazilian territory, but it is not the only one responsible.
Thus, the following agents and practices are the cause of environmental problems:
- agribusiness, which encompasses the practice of monocultures and extensive cattle raising;
- mining and mine;
- wood and charcoal extraction;
- Opening of new areas for planting, pasture or for the construction of urban structures, such as roads and railways;
- improper disposal of waste and other residues (urban, industrial or even from the countryside);
- excessive or improper use of fertilizers and pesticides;
- inadequate soil management;
- construction of dams and hydroelectric plants, among others.
Read too: Environmental impacts caused by mining
What are the main rural environmental problems?
The actors and processes listed above can give rise to a wide range of environmental problems in rural areas. Next, we mention the main ones.
- Air, water and soil pollution: as well as in cities, the pollution has been a growing concern in rural areas. It is generated in many ways, such as through the burned, which release polluting particles into the air, from the undue disposal of garbage and other waste directly on the ground or in the course of rivers and from the excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers and other agricultural pesticides that can leach into the soil and contaminate not only this structure, but also groundwater and springs. Furthermore, the great pollution of urban centers can be carried by the action of winds to the nearest rural areas. It is also important to emphasize the impacts of mining and mining, whose residues can lead to soil contamination and of water with toxic substances such as mercury, which can also happen through tailings discarded in a irregular. In the latter case, the ideal is the construction of so-called tailings dams.
- Soil degradation and compaction: The soil degradation, as the loss of its chemical properties and physical structure, is caused by practices such as extensive monocultures, which notably cause the depletion of its nutrients due to its inadequate management, the trampling of cattle and also through the preparation of areas for mineral extraction, which, over time, causes the scarcity of resources.
- Logging: is characterized by the removal of native vegetation from a given area and is caused by the need to open up new areas for planting or construction, as well as for the extraction of wood.
- Fires: they can be natural in origin, such as through lightning, or anthropogenic, that is, caused by human action. They are used as a method of cleaning and opening areas and have been increasingly common in Brazil and other parts of the world. In dry weather, fire spreads quickly through dry vegetation and causes fires of great proportions, often causing irreparable damage to fauna and the local flora, damage to the human population, deaths in some cases and accumulation of pollutants suspended in the air, which, by the action of the winds, are carried to others locations.
- Resource exhaustion: resource depletion concerns both courses and water sources, a resource used in huge quantities by agribusiness and by industries, regarding materials taken from nature to serve as raw material for industrial activity, such as ores and wood.
Brazilian rural environmental problems
Brazil presents a series of environmental problems in rural areas, and all those we have seen described so far are identified in different areas of the territory. However, some regions concentrate, at the same time, a greater number of impacts that are generated by large projects in the field, which they are linked to both the development of agribusiness and mining, mining and the installation of infrastructure such as hydroelectric plants.
The scenario we currently have is that of increased environmental impacts in areas where the agricultural frontier expands. Previously, between the 1970s and 1980s, this process took place towards the Midwest and Northeast regions of the country, overlapping the biome thick. Nowadays, agricultural production based on the agribusiness mode of production expands towards the North of the country, more precisely to the transition regions between the Cerrado and the Amazon. It is precisely in these ecosystems that the acceleration of deforestation and the increasingly frequent occurrence of fires have occurred.
A survey carried out by MapBiomas and released in 2021 concluded that a small number of rural properties in Brazil were responsible for most of the alerts for logging which occurred until 2020, including advancing into areas considered illegal because they are environmental reserves and conservation units. O deforestation in the Amazon in 2020 represented 61% of the Brazilian total in 2020, while the practice in the Cerrado corresponded to 31%, being, therefore, the most deforested biomes that year |1|.
You fires and fires have increased exponentially in recent years, reaching, in addition to the aforementioned biomes, the wetland. Another phenomenon that has occurred in rural Brazil is desertification, which results from the removal of vegetation cover and, therefore, from removal of natural protection, together with climate change that has caused the intensification of droughts, leading to loss of soil activity |2|. This phenomenon occurs in areas with a semiarid climate and affects mainly the states of Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco.
Check out our podcast: Sustainability, environmental degradation and human responsibility
Consequences of rural environmental problems
The consequences of environmental problems in rural areas are:
- loss of biodiversity;
- contamination of fauna and flora;
- desertification of large areas, caused mainly by deforestation;
- intensification of the processes of erosion because the soil is unprotected and fragile;
- changes in the microclimate (local climate);
- global scale climate change;
- damage to the health of the population due to the direct or indirect consumption of contaminated food or water and also due to the effects of pollution.
Solved exercises on urban environmental problems
1) (UFRGS) The months before spring are the ones with the most fires in Brazil. The Amazon and Cerrado biomes have the highest number of monthly fire outbreaks, with 3490 cases (59%) and 1679 cases (28.3%), respectively.
Source:. Accessed on: 06 Sept. 2014.
About the aforementioned biomes, consider the following statements.
I. The expansion of the agricultural frontier, together with the burning of vegetation to produce charcoal, are factors that aggravate the Cerrado's degradation.
II. The Cerrado vegetation is characterized by its predominant coverage of grasses and large trees with large leaves.
III. The regions affected by fires in the Amazon biome are the flooded forests, called Matas de Igapó, which are home to the tallest trees in the forest.
Which ones are correct?
a) Only I.
b) Only III.
c) Only I and II.
d) Only II and III.
e) I, II and III.
Resolution: Alternative A. Fires in the Cerrados are used to open up new areas for planting and also to extract raw materials, with the former being the only correct alternative. The others do not present an accurate characterization of the described landscapes.
2) (Famerp) A new study carried out by the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (ENSP/Fiocruz) in the Yanomami indigenous population found the presence of mercury in the hair samples of 56% of women and children in the region of Maturacá, Amazonas, at levels above those tolerated by the World Organization for Health. “Hercury is disseminated through river waters and the contamination of human beings occurs, especially, through the ingestion of contaminated fish”, stated the coordinator of the research, Paulo Basta.
(Philip Leonel. "Hercury contamination spreads in the Yanomami population." www.ensp.fiocruz.br, 08.16.2019. Adapted.)
The mercury contamination shown in the excerpt is associated with:
a) liming to eliminate soil acidity.
b) terracing without erosion control.
c) illegal mining for the extraction of gold.
d) laterization to extract the yoke.
e) to sanitary landfills without the ground waterproofing.
Resolution: Alternative C. Mercury contamination is one of the consequences of activities such as mining, which occurs in some indigenous communities in Brazil.
Grades
|1| BRIDGES, Nadia. Deforestation jumped 14% in 2020 across Brazil. DW, 11 Jun. 2021. Available on here. Accessed on 29 Aug. 2021.
|2| FELLET, John. Climate change accelerates creation of a desert the size of England in the Northeast. BBC News Brazil, 11 Aug. 2021. Available on here. Accessed on 29 Aug. 2021.
By Paloma Guitarrara
geography teacher
