Urbanization and Environmental Degradation

The destruction of various ecosystems through modalities such as bulldozers, cranes, and irrigation systems have shaped the current state of the world. As countries continue to industrialize many parts of the world are becoming increasingly urban. The desire to turn undeveloped areas into bustling cities has been exorbitantly transformative in the state of the world's ecosystems. Increasing populations resulted in a greater amount of socio-economic, agricultural and industrial activities (Schultz). Therefore, a high stress was placed on local ecosystems to meet those demands. Cities now lack

When humans develop land for houses and building, they cut down trees and changed animal and plant habitats. Some animals, like the raccoon and the skunk, can adapt, but other animals can’t adapt and their population is

Actually, habitat fragmentation occurs when urbanization occurs. Fragmentation is when infrastructure increases and becomes more advanced, biological entities such as forests and plains are broken up. When these areas go from one large being to multiple smaller ones, the population of species splits up. Small habitat patches are usually not able to support the same level of diversity as they were when the area was a whole, and this ends to some species becoming endangered, even sometimes extinct (Kapoor). A study conducted in a Michigan forest that was fragmented due to rapid urbanization showed that predation increased for many bird species and

The main problem is that with urbanization people can really stop building our community. One solution is that we can preserve lands to keep them safe. There is also another solution of a bigger issue that may affect all animals, pollution. The problem of pollution is also another factor that affects all animal. There are somethings that people doing to stop this problem. In Pennsylvania the Eastern Spadefoot toads are considered to be a threatened

Extinction: Most species become extinct because they can’t cope with the environmental change, and also because of introduced species that turned into competitors for

Although the amount of pollutants from a single town or construction site may seem insignificant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, streams and wetlands. When things such as: human and animal waste, decaying plants and animals, discarded litter, or food waste enter surface waters, either dissolved or suspended in stormwater runoff, they can deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen is reduced below a certain critical level, it can impair or kill aquatic plants and animals (CNYRPDB, 2011).

Habitat fragmentation, loss and degradation - fragmentation, loss, and degradation of natural habitats, and has also contributed to habitat and species isolation.

Increased surface water flooding in low lying areas or heavy rainfall may overcome the capacity of the drainage system. There can also be damage to coastline structures due to storm surge, flooding and salt water intrusion.

Urbanization takes about a new set of difficulties to the environment. These difficulties contain land pollution and air pollution. As new roads and builds are built the capability of soil to engross water is reduced. However, these are not the only issues. As the population growths it begins to invade on the land that is occupied by native species. As a result, bigger predators several be scared off by the growing population throwing off the balance of natural selection. This is the case with Sparksville and the prairie dog population.

The quality of the U-High creek was identified as excellent. However, water quality is not excellent in all areas. There are many ways that water is polluted by humans, including pesticides and fertilizers from farming. Farmers use chemicals to help their crops grow better, but those chemicals are washed through the ground when precipitation comes, causing the levels of nitrate and phosphate to increase in the creek (Lenntech, 1998-2016). These chemicals allow for more algae to grow in the process of eutrophication (Lenntech, 1998-2016). When that algae dies, lots of dissolved oxygen is needed to form bacteria. Thus, there is less oxygen in the water for the organisms to breathe, causing them to die. Bioaccumulation can occur, where

Additional factors that can contribute to flooding include: storms, global warming, the capacity, amount, length and spread of rain over a particular area, the size of waterway to hold excess water, the catchment and climate conditions preceding rainfall, ground cover, topography and tidal impacts.

has decreased land available for native species of plants and animals as well as a loss

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them.

Information that was used to develop my conclusions were relative to the history of Clearwater River such as the average normal discharge of 40,000cfs, the fact that the river can accommodate 55,000cfs before flooding will occur, and that with every increase of 2600cfs the river rises one foot. For example, this information helped to determine that four of the thirteen noted Peak Flood Discharges listed on the worksheet were not at flood stage as the river is able to accommodate discharges less than 55,000cfs. However, nine of the thirteen Peak Flood Discharges listed on the worksheet were at flood stage or drastically above; with the maximum rise of 17.77 feet above and a discharge rate of 101,200cfs. The average discharge rate of the top three noted floods per information on the Stream Gauge Data of Peak Flow Discharges is 93,613cfs, which is resourceful later in determining the extrapolated 75-year flood.

Urbanization, which is becoming a buzzword during the last few decades, is enlarging at a booming speed. It is predicted that 93 percents urban growth will occur to the year 2020, in the developing world (Elliot J.A, 1999). Generally speaking, more than half of the people around the world have been moved to cities, which led to a series of “matters” connected with people’s life that changed in a dramatical way. In this period, sustainable development, another buzzword during the past few years, came into people’s view and gradually became the mainstream of society development. Its definition is to make the development continue in a long term, which means allowing appropriate economic growth and industrialization without