Problems Affecting Relief and Soil

The Problems Affecting Relief and Soil

Alterations Made to the Relief

Changes to the relief are caused by mines and quarries as well as by transport infrastructure. The landscape is marred, and locations of geological importance are destroyed.

This problem affects natural environments and is more common in poor countries, where mining provides the foundation for their economy.

Alterations Made to the Soil

Two main problems are erosion and pollution.

Erosion and Desertification

Erosion of the soil is due to deforestation and inappropriate agricultural and livestock farming methods. In developed countries, intensive and single-crop farming are common; in the poorest countries, it is due to not leaving farming land fallow and excessive grazing of pasture land.

Desertification is the loss of the fertile layer of the soil. It is caused by erosion and the overexploitation of water resources and affects all the driest regions on Earth. The land's capacity for agrarian activities is reduced or lost. In developed countries, it gives rise to serious economic losses. In the poorest countries, it gives rise to serious problems of famine.

Soil Pollution

Soil pollution is the result of chemical waste substances from agriculture and industry, as well as the dumping of unclean water and refuse. It affects land where intensive agriculture methods are used, as well as major industrial areas and those used for waste management. Agrarian products and living beings in the area are polluted with toxic substances; unpleasant smells and sanitary problems are created; and land becomes less valuable.

• In developed countries, soil pollution is less serious, as environmental legislation measures have to be taken to control agrarian and industrial pollution, and there are treatment plants for wastewater and solid waste management sites.
• In underdeveloped countries, industrial pollution is more serious due to the lack of resources and less stringent environmental legislation. Wealthy countries transfer their electronic or dangerous waste to these countries, including their most highly polluting factories. There are 1.1 billion people who live without sewerage and thus defecate in the open air. There are also enormous unmanaged waste dumps, where hundreds of impoverished individuals earn a living from the waste they find in these dumps.