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Landforms Related To Human Activities
Landforms Related To Human Activities
Man's relation with his natural environment is a complex one. While he is subject to
certain natural controls and events, he also acts as the dominant force in many of the
Earth's physical and biological systems. The relationship has changed with time. For
thousands of years, the direction and extent of his progress were to a considerable
measure dictated by his physical environment, which sometimes presented him with
very difficult obstacles. Increasingly, man has become capable of altering his physical
environment to suit himself. Although the object of these alterations was to improve
his living conditions, in some cases they have created major long-term problems, and
in still others they have been catastrophic, both for the natural environment and
himself.
Modification of Landforms
Mining and quarrying, deforestation, the introduction of exotic plants and animals, the
use of agricultural machinery, the building and use of tracks and roads, and the
overgrazing of pastures, have all, singly and in combination, profoundly altered
landforms and caused accelerated erosion and deposition to occur. Where man
excavates or piles up material himself, he can be regarded as a direct agent of change;
where he causes natural landform processes, such as wind and water action, to
accelerate or diminish, he is acting in an indirect manner.
Atmospheric circulation systems operate on such a large scale that one is perhaps
inclined to doubt that man's activities would have any appreciable effect on them.
However, it is known that the global heat balance has changed over the last few
decades, and we might ask ourselves how much of this- is a result of man polluting
the atmosphere. It is certainly evident that pollution has marked local effects on the
atmosphere. The problem is not so much to establish that man has an impact on the
atmosphere but to evaluate it in comparison with the natural forces of change.
Atmospheric changes induced by man may be grouped into three categories: the
introduction of solids and gases not normally found in the atmosphere (pollutants);
changes in proportions of the natural component gases of the atmosphere; and
alterations of the Earth's surface in such a way as to affect the atmosphere.
Another element that may be modified when man alters the ground surface is the
wind. Trees and hedges effectively brake the wind. causing a simultaneous diminution
in evaporation and in the carbon dioxide exchange close to the ground. Garden walls
or thick tree belts may so effectively still the air immediately to leeward as to cause
frost pockets on cold nights.