CHAPTER 6: IMPACTS ON

THE ENVIRONMENT &

HUMAN HEALTH

Prepared & Presented by:

MARY ROSE P. FAJARDO
MAED PHYSICAL SCIENCE
TOPICS: EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURE
01 AND PEST CONTROL
URBAN LAND
DEVELOPMENT AND
02 TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
MINING AND HAZARDOUS
CHEMICALS IN THE
03 ENVIRONMENT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand the relationship between agricultural practices and their
impact on the environment.

Identify the various environmental challenges associated with

conventional agricultural practices, including soil degradation, water
pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity

Analyze the ways in which agricultural activities can directly and indirectly
affect human health, including pesticide exposure, food contamination,
and diet-related health issues

Assess the human health impacts of pest control practices, including

acute and chronic toxicity, occupational hazards, and the presence of
pesticide residues in food and water sources.

Explore sustainable agriculture practices and their potential to mitigate

environmental damage and improve human health outcomes, including
Integrated Pest Management (IPM), organic farming, agroecology, and
conservation agriculture.
Vocabulary
 Deforestation – the removal of large areas of forests
for human purposes
 Desertification – the development of desert like
conditions due to human activities and/or climate
change
 Urban Sprawl – the development of land for houses
and other buildings near a city
 Reforestation – planting trees to replace trees that
have been cut or burned down
 Reclamation – the process of restoring land disturbed
by mining
INTRODUCTION:
HAT IS AGRICULTURE?
 IMPORTANCE?
AGRICULTURE IN THE
PHILIPPINES:
The Philippines, one of the largest island
groups In the world with over 7,100
islands and a wealth of natural
resources, is prone to seismic and
volcanic activity.

The mountainous island archipelago is of

volcanic origin forming part of the
“Pacific Ring of Fire”, and has a
tropical climate with high annual
temperatures, humidity and rainfall.
 AGRICULTURE IN THE
PHILIPPINES:
Major industries: electronics Agricultural products: Natural Resources: timber,
assembly, garments, sugarcane, coconuts, rice, petroleum, nickel, cobalt,
footwear, corn, banana, cassava, silver, gold, salt, copper
pharmaceuticals, pineapple, mango, pork,
chemicals, wood products, eggs, beef, fish
food processing,
petroleum refining,
fishing
AGRICULTURE: PILLAR
OF PHILIPPINE
ECONOMY
The agricultural sector employs about 30% of the
population but contributes only 12% of GDP.
Almost 5 million farmers cultivate 9.7 million
hectares, or about 30% of the total land area of the
country.
WHAT DOES HUMAN IMPACT
MEAN???
01
EFFECTS OF
AGRICULTURE
& PEST
CONTROL
PESTICIDES
Pertains to the substances used
as insecticides, fungicides,
herbicides, rodenticides,
molluscicides and
nematicides.
AGRICULTURE
WATER POLLUTION
SOURCES OF AWP
 POINT SOURCES
Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a
waterway from a single, identifiable source, such as a pipe or
ditch. A way to remember what point source pollution is that
you can point to where the pollution came from
SOURCES OF AWP
 NON-POINT SOURCES
 arises from a broad group of human activities for which the
pollutants have no obvious point of entry into receiving
watercourses.
 Called as diffuse source of AWP.
 non-point source pollution is much more difficult to identify,
measure and control than point sources
 NONPOINT SOURCES

Rural homes

Urban streets Cropland

Animal feedlot

POINT
Suburban SOURCES
development
Factory

Wastewater
treatment
plant
PESTICIDES
Pesticides and herbicides are applied to agricultural land to
control pests that disrupt crop production.
Pesticide leaching
Pesticide leaching occurs when pesticides mix with water and
move through the soil, ultimately contaminating groundwater.
The amount of leaching is correlated with particular soil and
pesticide characteristics and the degree of rainfall and
irrigation. Leaching is most likely to happen if using a water-
soluble pesticide, when the soil tends to be sandy in texture, if
excessive watering occurs just after pesticide application, if
the adsorption ability of the pesticide to the soil is low
Fertilizers

 Leaching, runoff, and eutrophication

The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) applied to agricultural
land (via synthetic fertilizers, composts, manures, biosolids,
etc.) can provide valuable plant nutrients. However, if not
managed correctly, excess N and P can have negative
environmental consequences. Excess N supplied by both
synthetic fertilizers (as highly soluble nitrate) and organic
sources such as manures (whose organic N is mineralized to
nitrate by soil microorganisms) can lead to groundwater
contamination of nitrate. Nitrate-contaminated drinking
water can cause blue baby syndrome. Together with excess
P from these same fertilizer sources, eutrophication can
occur downstream due to excess nutrient supply, leading
to anoxic areas called dead zones.
EUTROPHICATION IN
LAGUNA LAKE
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
 It takes a lot of food to feed 8 billion people
 To meet the food demands of the world’s
population, farmer often add fertilizers that contain
nitrogen to soil to increase crop yield
 Living things must use nitrogen to make proteins
 When living things die and decompose they release
that nitrogen back into the soil and the atmosphere
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
 Although nitrogen gas makes up about 79% if
Earth’s atmosphere, most living things cannot use
the gaseous form of nitrogen.
 Nitrogen must be converted into a usable form.
 Bacteria that live on the roots pf certain plants
convert atmospheric N into a form useful for
plants.
 Fertilizers used today contain a abundant amount of
Nitrogen in its usable form
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
 Scientists estimate that human activities such as
manufacturing and applying fertilizers to crops have
double the amount of nitrogen cycling through
ecosystems.
 Excess nitrogen can kill plants adapted to low nitrogen
levels and affect organisms that depend on those plants
for food.
 Fertilizers can seep into groundwater supplies,
polluting drinking water
 They can also run off into streams and rivers, affecting
aquatic organisms
Other Effects of Agriculture
 Soil erosion can occur when land is overfarmed or
overgrazed
 High rates of soil erosion can lead to desertification
 Desertification is the development of desert-like
conditions due to human activities and/or climate
change
 A region of land that undergoes desertification is
no longer useful for food production
Public health impacts

 Contamination of water supplies

primarily by pesticides and fertilizers.
 Disease outbreak.
 Microbiological contamination of food
crops.
 Contamination of food crops with
toxic chemicals.
Ecological impact

1. Major decline and extinctions of

animal, fish and vegetation species.

2. Destruction of major ecosystems.

Solutions
 Nutrient management: Applying fertilizers in the
proper amount, at the right time of year and with
the right method can significantly reduce the
potential for pollution.
 Cover crops: Planting certain grasses, grains or
clovers can help keep nutrients out of the water by
recycling excess nitrogen and reducing soil erosion.
 Buffers: Planting trees, shrubs and grass around fields,
especially those that border water bodies, can help by
absorbing or filtering out nutrients before they reach a
water body.
 Conservation tillage: Reducing how often fields are
tilled reduces erosion and soil compaction, builds soil
organic matter, and reduces runoff.
 Drainage water management: Reducing nutrient
loadings that drain from agricultural fields helps
prevent degradation of the water in local streams and
lakes.
 02
URBAN LAND
DEVELOPMENT AND
TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
Construction and Development
 Land itself is also a very important resource.
People use land for living space.
Urban Sprawl
 The development of land for houses and other
buildings near a city is called urban sprawl.
 Urban sprawl impacts the environment by habitat
destruction and loss of valuable farmland
 As more ground is paved for sidewalks and streets,
runoff increases because rainwater cannot drain into
the soil.
 Typically runoff from cities and suburbs contain many
pollutants, like sediment and chemicals, which can
reduce the water quality in streams, rivers, and
groundwater
Roadways
 The history of transportation in the Philippines
dates back to the era of horse-drawn carriages.
Roadways
Recreation
 People also use land for recreation
 What are the specific
consequences of urban sprawl on
biodiversity and natural
ecosystems?
Positive Actions
 Human actions can have negative effects on the
environment, but they can have positive impacts as
well
 Governments, society, and individuals can work
together to reduce the impact of human activities
on land resources.
Protecting the Land
 Protected forests and parks are important habitats
for wildlife and are enjoyed by millions of visitors
each year
 Mining and logging are allowed on some of these
lands
 However, the removal of resources must meet
environmental regulations
NATIONAL/NATURAL PARKS
NATURAL MONUMENTS
 PROTECTED
LANDSCAPES/SEASCAPES
Reforestation and Reclamation
 A forest is a complex ecosystem,
 With careful planning, it can be managed as a
renewable resource.
 For example, trees can be select-cut
 That means that only some trees in one area are cut down,
rather than the entire forest.
 People also can practice reforestation
 Reforestation involves planting trees to replace trees
that have been cut or burned down
 Reforestation can keep a forest healthy or help
reestablish a deforested area.
Reforestation and Reclamation
 Mined land also can be made environmentally
healthy through reclamation.
 Reclamation is the process of restoring land disturbed
by mining.
 This happens by reshaping the area, covering it with
soil, and replanting trees and other vegetation.
Green Spaces
 Many cities use green spaces to create natural
environments in urban settings.
 Green spaces are areas that are left undeveloped or
lightly developed.
 They include parks within cities and forests around
suburbs
 Green spaces provide recreational opportunities for
people and shelter for wildlife
 They also reduce runoff and improve air quality as
plants remove excess CO2 from the air
MAKATI CITY
AYALA TRIANGLE GARDENS
QUEZON CITY
RIZAL PARK
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
How can you help?
 Individuals can have a big-impact on land use
issues by practicing the 3-Rs.
 Reusing is using an item for a new purpose
 Reducing is using fewer resources
 Recycling is making new products from a used product
 Composting also lessens land impact
 You can compost food scraps into a material that is
added to soil to increase its fertility
 Compost is a mixture of decaying organic matter that
improves soil quality by adding nutrients.
 https://secret-ph.com/from-horse-drawn-carriages-
to-modern-buses-the-evolution-of-philippine-
transportation/
 http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/
 www.epa.gov
 www.wikipedia.org
 http://npic.orst.edu/envir/efate.html
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IndPs2XobLs
Environmental Impact of
Agriculture – Key Takeaways
 Agriculture is disrupted  Agriculture puts
by environmental significant pressur eon
‘fickleness’ war, and freshwater and forest
other natural or resources, especially in
artificial factors the tropics.
worldwide.  Agriculture can also
 Agriculture impacts the positively impact the
environment through environment, heping
pesticide and fertilizer reduce air pollution and
use, air pollution, providing a resource-
deforestation, etc. rich habitat to certain
wild species.
Mining
 Many useful rocks and mineral are removed from the
ground by mining
 For example, copper is removed from the surface by
digging a strip mine.
 Coal and other in-ground resources also can be removed by
digging underground mines
 Mines are essential for obtaining much-needed
resources.
 However, mines disturb habitats and change the
landscape.
 Runoff that contains heavy metals can also pollute
water sources if not regulated.
Underground Mining
Hazardous Waste
 Some trash cannot be placed in landfills because it
contains harmful substances that can affect soil, air,
and water quality.
 This trash is called hazardous waste.
 The substances in hazardous waste can also affect the
health of humans and other living things
 Both industries and households produce hazardous
waste
 Medical hazardous waste includes used needles and
bandages
 Household hazardous water includes used motor oil and
batteries
IMPACTS ON THE LAND
Using Land Resources
 Obtaining resources from nature for books, pens,
everything requires people to use land for timber
production, agriculture, and mining.
 All of these activities impact that environment
Forest Resources
 Trees are cut for fuel and to clear land for
agriculture, grazing, or building houses or highways
 Sometimes large portions of forests are cleared
 Deforestation is the removal of large areas of
forests for human purposes.
 Approximately 130,000km2 of tropical rainforests are
cut down each year.
 Tropical rain forests are home to an estimated 50% of
all the species on Earth.
 Deforestation destroys habitats, which can lead to
species’ extinction.
Deforestation in the Philippines
Forest Resources
 Deforestation can also affect soil quality.
 Plant roots hold soil in place.
 Without these natural anchors, soil erodes away.
 Deforestation can also affect air quality
 Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air when they
undergo photosynthesis.
 With fewer trees more CO2 remains in the air.