Water and its importance for economic development Flashcards
what is water vital for?
development
what is an example of how is water directly important for development?
irrigation of crops
what is an example of how is water indirectly important for development?
economic activity- recreational tourism
how is water vital for the economy?
allows a country to development primary industry
where is the irrigation of cops especially important?
dry states
what fraction of the earth is irrigated in some form?
1/5
what has industrial scale irrigation led to?
increased food security
are considerable negative impacts
what is the green revolution? (Agriculture)
breeding high yield varieties (of wheat, rice, maize)
coupled with agricultural improvements
what agricultural improvements came with the green revolution?
mechanisation
fertilisers
pesticides
herbicides
irrigation (produce double crop/ increased yeild)
what is the Aral sea a good example of?
impacts of over-abstraction damage irrigation can do to the environment
Where is the Aral sea?
lies in a depression in Central Asia east of the Caspian sea
what is the Aral Sea?
Landlocked saltwater lake
How large was the Aral sea?
was once the 4th largest inland body of water in the world
68,000 square kilometres
what global power was present in the Aral area?
Russia
what did Russia do in the 1950’s to boost economic output?
took on major water projects
diverted much of the water for irrigation of agriculture
what happened to the agricultural industry around the Aral sea?
converted from pasture to cotton fields
what was happening to the Aral sea in the 1980’S?
the replenishment of the sea was so low it began evaporating away and dropped by more than 50 feet
What 2 rivers feeds the Aral sea?
Amu darya
Syr Darya
what had happened to the Aral sea by 2007?
declined to just 10% of its original size and had split into separate lakes
level fallen to 40m
what are the stakeholders for the Aral sea crisis?
former soviet government
fishing community
local residents
Uzbekistan government
scientists
Kazakhstan farmers
international economists
water engineers
how are the former soviet government a stakeholder in the Aral sea?
communist leaders began an ambitious irrigation scheme to develop fruit and cotton farming in what had been an unproductive region and wanted to create jobs for millions of farm workers
how is the Aral sea fishing community a stakeholder?
once prosperous industry that employed 60,000 people
industry now collapsed
high unemployment and economic hardship
ships lie unused on exposed sea bed
how are the local residents a stakeholder of the Aral sea?
health problems form windblown salt and dust form dried out sea bed
drinking water and remaining sea are heavily polluted (weapons testing, industrial projects fertiliser and pesticide run-off)
infant mortality among highest in the world (10% die in first year kidney or heart failure)
how are the Uzbekistan government a stakeholder in the Aral sea?
irrigation schemes based on Aral sea allowed this poor country with limited resources yo become one of the worlds largest cotton exporters
hopes to discover oil below dry seabed
How are scientists a stakeholder in the Aral sea?
only 160 of 310 bird species
32 put of 70 mammal species
very few of 24 fish species
REMAIN
climate has changed making area more arid and prone to greater temperature extremes