The United States
By: Aaron Jackson, Trista Gates, and Bethany Mawman
Impact on Environment
The United States land use has changed very drastically through out the last 25 years. Pastureland, Cropland, and rangeland has decreased by 78 million acres. The amount of urbanization, development, and deforestation has had a huge impact on almost every place around us. This affects not only the people, but the environment. Too much of anything can have a negative impact on the environment. For example, urban development may be unavoidable, but it causes major damage to the earth. It puts pollution in the air, causes us to lose a lot of wild life, and creates problems for the water that we are putting into our bodies. The United States is a very developed country in many different ways. Although, as citizens, we need to do our part in helping it remain a healthy place to be. Not just for us, but for the things and animals around us.
- Watershed = The land area that drains to the body of water such as lake, stream, wetland, or ocean.
- Natural events such as storms, fires, and droughts can affect watershed conditions at a large scale.
- Because we are a developed country its is going to be way better than a developing countries. We have Irrigation and Agriculture flourishing which help us be a developed country and have better water quality
- The drinking water quality in America is 99% better than other drinking companies around the world. In America we have technology advancements to help our water quality get better.
- America has Drinking water quality regulations (By state and federal law codes) which allows all the cities to know how well their water quality is, and if it is polluted than the city would have to change it before anyone could use it.
- We do have some problems, like when we had the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. When that crisis happened it polluted out water badly enough to where living species had a hard time living in this area. It also made the people who use the water not be able to use it for a long period of time till it was all clean.
How You Can Help
- Conserve water by turning off the faucet when running water is not necessary.
- Be careful about what you throw down your sink or toilet.
- Use environmentally friendly household products.
- Be careful not to overuse pesticides or fertilizers.
- Don't throw litter into rivers or lakes.
- Make sure to recycle.