p. 183

Goode's World Atlas

Human Impacts on Renewable Resources:
Water, Air, Soils, and Biota

Quiz Region: Central Asian Republics (p. 183)

The general rule to remember regarding the management of these resources is that they are potentially renewable, but only if humans follow the basic principle of keeping exploitation rates lower than the rates of consumption.

Required

National Geographic recently published a good overview of the world's soil crisis. Make sure you read the accompanying feature about the disastrous state of Haiti's soils.

NG also published an article about the bleak prospects for the world's fisheries.

Read the recent NYT article about invasive species on a small Australian island.

Key Terms

Desertification - the expansion of drylands, often due to poor management decisions such as overgrazing and clearing vegetation for fuel.

Eutrophication - a build-up in the nutrient content of water, usually due to overland runoff of agricultural and other fertilizers, resulting in the prolific growth of aquatic vegetation (especially algae), its subsequent death and decomposition, and ultimately the loss of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water

Salinization - mineral salts deposited on the surface of the soil in areas of low precipitation where irrigation is practiced; since the primary movement of water through the soil bed is upward (due to evaporation), dissolved minerals move upward but crystallize after the water evaporates away

Additional Information

Here's the link I promised about Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch wallet guide.

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has some excellent summary materials regarding water availability and related challenges.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) maintains the Red List of all globally threatened species. A lovely companion site with many gorgeous photographs is the ARKive.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is another leading organization in monitoring, documenting, and countering commercial threats (such as hunting, fishing, poaching, bush meat, pet trade, etc.) to the world's biodiversity.