Write an article for your school magazine about the advantages and
disadvantages of spending time in a remote area, such as a rainforest, mountain
island, either alone or with other people.
You could include some of the following ideas:
Spending time without electrical devices
Enjoyment of everyday necessities, such as clean water
Survival skills, such as getting food.
Answers
Answer:
Advantages and disadvantages of human intervention
Advantages
Improved transportation - new roads and airports. Better transportation means easier access to raw materials like minerals and timber. Rainforest resources can be transported away and sold.
Infrastructure, hospitals and education can be improved from the money gained from selling natural resources.
Profits from selling resources can be used to improve a country's infrastructure. For example, profits from the sale of rainforest resources can be used to build schools and hospitals.
Raw materials, eg tropical hardwoods such as ebony and mahogany, can be sold for a good price abroad.
Mineral deposits in the Amazon include bauxite (the main constituent of aluminium), iron ore, manganese, gold, silver and diamonds. Minerals can be sold for high profits.
Large-scale farming brings money into the country and provides food and jobs for the country's growing population.
Small-scale farming provides food for rainforest communities and the landless poor of Brazil.
Disadvantages
Large scale deforestation to make way for a new dam in the Amazon
Commercial logging activity
New roads divide up parts of the rainforest and can cut off connections between different biotic and abiotic systems. For example, a road can stop monkeys such as the golden lion tamarin from travelling to gather food and, in turn, distribute seeds to re-sow plants in the forest.
Land clearance for farming, transportation and mining can lead to deforestation. Hardwood trees take many years to grow so can be difficult to replace.
Fertile soils that make farming possible are quickly washed away when the forest is cleared. If soil ends up in rivers, this can lead to flooding.
Loss of animal habitat occurs when trees are cut down. Hence, deforestation can result in endangering animals and plant life, or even causing them to become extinct.
Profits from large-scale farming and selling resources often go back to MEDCs or large companies and don't benefit the rainforest communities.
Explanation:
Advantages and disadvantages of human intervention
Advantages
Improved transportation - new roads and airports. Better transportation means easier access to raw materials like minerals and timber. Rainforest resources can be transported away and sold.
Infrastructure, hospitals and education can be improved from the money gained from selling natural resources.
Profits from selling resources can be used to improve a country's infrastructure. For example, profits from the sale of rainforest resources can be used to build schools and hospitals.
Raw materials, eg tropical hardwoods such as ebony and mahogany, can be sold for a good price abroad.
Mineral deposits in the Amazon include bauxite (the main constituent of aluminium), iron ore, manganese, gold, silver and diamonds. Minerals can be sold for high profits.
Large-scale farming brings money into the country and provides food and jobs for the country's growing population.
Small-scale farming provides food for rainforest communities and the landless poor of Brazil.
Disadvantages
Large scale deforestation to make way for a new dam in the Amazon
Commercial logging activity
New roads divide up parts of the rainforest and can cut off connections between different biotic and abiotic systems. For example, a road can stop monkeys such as the golden lion tamarin from travelling to gather food and, in turn, distribute seeds to re-sow plants in the forest.
Land clearance for farming, transportation and mining can lead to deforestation. Hardwood trees take many years to grow so can be difficult to replace.
Fertile soils that make farming possible are quickly washed away when the forest is cleared. If soil ends up in rivers, this can lead to flooding.
Loss of animal habitat occurs when trees are cut down. Hence, deforestation can result in endangering animals and plant life, or even causing them to become extinct.
Profits from large-scale farming and selling resources often go back to MEDCs or large companies and don't benefit the rainforest communities.