Human+&+Environment+Interaction+JL+AK







__ Case #1: Monsoons __


 * Issue**: Monsoons are caused by changes in atmospheric pressure and circulation, and are characterized by periods of copious rainfall, usually during the summer in a period called the "monsoon season."


 * When**: The monsoon season differs from region to region, and in Eastern Asia it begins around June and ends around August.


 * Where**: In Southeast Asia, the countries most affected by monsoons are: Thailand, Myanmar, peninsular Malaysia, northern Australia, northern Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, and Brunei.


 * How they affect the people**:

Monsoons affect how farmers cultivate their land - an important factor in a region in which many countries rely upon agriculture for their economic income. Farmers plant seedlings in the second half of May, anticipating the rain that comes in June. The monsoon tropical climate also influences the type of crop produced in these nations, and most nations main cash crop is 'padi,' a type of 'wet' rice which needs conditions similar to a flood for optimal growth. The effect of the monsoon on agriculture is more evident when global warming and climate change cause the monsoons to become erratic. This year in 2009 there has been much less rain than normal, and there was a reported deficiency in precipitation in 70% of the regions that need the monsoon. Statistically rainfall was 43% below average. Consequentially, in many parts rice could not grow as the conditions were not suited for padi growth. Some farmers turned to artificial methods or irrigation, and others accepted the failed crops. As a result of erratic monsoon patterns the overall crop output in Thailand dropped 4% - devastating in a country so dependent on agriculture. The Indonesian government has further invested in a 145 million dollar project involving relocating the rice farms to a location where rainfall is more stable.

Monsoons can further have a dangerous effect on the population. In 2008 the abnormally heavy rain triggered flash floods and a rise in the level of the Mekong river - proving deadly in some countries. The Mekong river runs through six countries in total, including northern Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia, and was at the highest point it had been in a hundred years. Northern Indonesia was the most severely affected by the flash flooding, and 140 people died from the heightened water levels. Four people were killed in flooding in Laos, and Cambodian government issued a flood warning. Since then the Partnership for Disaster Reduction in Southeast Asia (PDR-SA) has begun to focus on elevating communities and educating the public about the dangers of flooding and what to do in a flood.



__ Case #2: Deserts and Mountains __


 * Issue**: Places that are excessively arid with a desert like climate and places that are very high with dangerous terrain - places people do not want to inhabit


 * When**: No time period


 * Where**: A large area of Australia, which is arid with no urban developments is collectively called the outback. Since Australia is such a large country, this desert actually makes up a large, physical amount of Southeast Asia.


 * How it affects people**:

The outback and the mountains have caused a large population concentration discrepancy, and on the map of population distribution, when parts of a country were very sparsely populated it was due to the mountains and the Australian desert. Countries such as Indonesia have a very uneven population distribution because much of the land is mountainous - for instance, much of it is taken up by the Java Peak. In Australia, when settlers first moved there, the high temperatures and lack of arable land in the desert like land of the outback caused them to create communities on the Southeastern coast.

__ Case #3: A Climate with Frequent Earthquakes and Typhoon s__


 * Issue**: An Earthquake is a seismic movement, or tremor in the earth's crust, caused by the stress from the breaking of rock.


 * When**: There is no set time that earthquakes occur although, they can now be predicted a while in advance


 * Where**: They usually occur near the boundaries of tectonic plates, and the region of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific is unfortunately located between many plates. Indonesia lies on the border of the Eurasian plate and the Indian plate, whilst the Philippines is located on the border of its own Philippines plate. New Zealand is located where the Indian plate meets the Antarctic Plate and Papua New Guinea lies on the boarder of the Eurasian plate and the Philippines plate. Thus, earthquakes are common in this region, especially in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea - as these two regions are two of the eight locations where 80% of the world's earthquakes occur. Indonesia is also a frequent target, and other countries in the Southeast Asian region often feel the effects of earthquakes.


 * How they affect people**:

In New Zealand, which endures 14,000 earthquakes a year, the effect this aspect of the environment has on the population is evident. There is a New Zealand Earthquake Comission (NEQ), which provides public education about how to act during an earthquake and how to prevent injury through methods such as: teaching in schools, advertisements, and public broadcasts. Since 1849, when an earthquake caused the entire city of Wellington to have to be rebuilt, there have been more stringent building regulations. Buildings are mainly built in wood, which is more durable during a quake, and have most of their weight located in the center. People tend to buy houses built like these when on the property market due to a desire for safety and durability. Businesses have even been created from this environment, and New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where you can purchase Earthquake Insurance.

Some more severe earthquakes have more serious consequences, and affect humans in terms of the sheer horror and death toll. A prime example is the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake. The earthquake was the second strongest ever recorded - a magnitude of 9.3. It triggered a tsunami, with waves up to 30m high, which hit all the countries in Southeast Asia that border the Indian Ocean. Indonesia and Thailand were among the hardest hit. This tsunami carried a death toll of around 230,000 and was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. This event, which occurred in one region of the world, had consequences beyond the number dead in that region, and had much more far reaching consequences - for instance, affecting countries whose citizens had been on holiday in this region. Furthermore, the amount of aid provided by nations around the world was enormous, and around 7 billion dollars of funding was collected around the world, particularly from nations such as: Australia, Germany, UK, Japan, Canada, US, etc. Despite this aid, nations in this region, in particular, Indonesia - which was the hardest hit, suffered economically for some time after this incident as tourism declined rapidly. __ Case #4: Forest Fires __


 * Issue**: Dry winds, high temperatures and lots of vegetative forests often lead to naturally occurring forest fires.


 * When**: In the dry season, during periods of prolonged sun exposure


 * Where**: In countries with an equatorial climate, namely Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Philippines

When forest fires occur they create a "haze" of smoke that contains many minute particles. These particles cause severe health problems when people breath them in, and in countries such as Indonesia the severity of the haze is astounding. The UN recommends that there be no more than 90 nanoparticles per square meter, however Indonesia has 2890 nanoparticles per square meter - by far exceeding the aforementioned figure. When these particles enter the lung cavity, they stay there permanently and may rot over time. In areas with severe degrees of haze, breathing the air for one day is equivalent to smoking eighty cigarettes in one day - having terrible effects on one's lungs. This is further aggravated if the people in question already have breathing problems, such as asthma, and may become potentially fatal - in Malaysia fourteen people died in 2001 from a haze induced inability to breathe. In 1997 the haze caused an Indonesian commercial airliner to crash, after the pilot became so blinded by the thick smog that he was not able to see where he was going. Since then flights are often cancelled in these regions when there is haze, since usually the pilots are not able to see what is 100m away - the absolute minimum that one must be able to see when flying an airplane.
 * How it affects people**:





__ Case #1: Logging __


 * What**: The destruction of large expanses of trees for profit motives. This can be done through the usual methods of deforestation - chopping the trees down - or through starting large and destructive forest fires (slash and burn). The burning technique further aggravates damage done by natural forest fires (see case 4 above). After chopping trees down, the wood is then sold for profit. Most of this wood are bought by China - giving rise to the belief that China is behind a lot of the illegal logging in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, it has been proven that China has actively been encouraging excessive deforestation in Indonesia, Burma and Thailand. Companies also want to use the land for agricultural growth - especially the planting of the palm oil plant, which has grown in popularity in the region.


 * When**: Roughly since the early 1990s

Where: The rain-forests in Southeast Asia are of the oldest in the world. The rain-forests that are being deforested to the degree that it is unsustainable, are located in Burma (e.g. Sein Yey Tiek Forest), Laos (e.g. Photo Lao Forest), Vietnam (e.g. Ngui Rung Forest), Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Although, as of now Brunei is not taking logging to such an extreme level, there is a danger that it may progress to that stage.


 * How it affects the environment**:

These rainforests are crucial to the environment, and many people are already aware of the detrimental affects of deforesting the Amazon. What makes this even more alarming than the situation in the Amazon, is the rate at which the rainforest is being destroyed. For instance, Indonesia has the world's highest deforesatation rate - having lost 270,000 square kilometers of rainforest between 1995 and 2006. The rainforest "the Earth's lungs", and it annually takes in a large deal of carbon dioxide, whilst releasing a lot of oxygen. Their destruction speeds up global warming and climate change, as there are less 'carbon sinks' to absorb carbon emissions of developing countries, and the elimination of such a large source of gas exchange throws off the weather balance of certain regions. Furthermore, these rainforests host an astoundingly large amount of biodiversity, even more than the Amazon, and when the rainforest is chopped down, this biodiversity disappears with it - certain species of plants, or animals for whom the rainforest is their habitat, may be lost forever.

The loss of trees also causes local problems. As a large amount of trees and other vegetation is lost from the ground the soil becomes more prone to erosion due to the fact that there are no more roots holding it together. This causes parts of the soil to be lost as run off far more easily, especially during rainfall, and this usually changes the composition of the soil and weakens the structure - in many cases causing the land not to be arable after a while. Thus, the land gained through such rapid deforestation can only be used for agricultural means temporarily before new land must be found - usually through more deforestation. The loss of such a great deal of vegetation also increase the chances of floods, since there are no plants to take in the excess water.

However, the greatest problem with the deforestation of the rainforests is that some companies are doing this through a method known as 'slash and burn.' This is a problem in itself because burning trees produces carbon - contributing to carbon emissions. Yet the greater problem emerges in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, in which forest fires are already a problem due to the sometimes dry climate and great deal of vegetation. Here the slash and burn method often spirals out of control, starting destructive forest fires that - although clear an extremely large area of land - have a terrible impact on the environment. A 'haze' of suspended particles is formed. Forest fires also destroy the soil the companies want to farm on, just like other methods of deforestation.



__ Case #2: Mining __


 * What**: International companies have begun to come into Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, to the pleasure of the governments of the relavent countries, in order to mine for precious metals. Countries in this region have these precious metals as natural resources.


 * When**: Dates back to the colonial times


 * Where**: Nearly all countries in Southeast Asia are abundant in tin, iron, gold and various other precious stones (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, etc.). Australia has plentiful amounts of metallic ores, including iron, gold, platinum, uranium and copper. Other rocks include coal, silver, lead and zinc. New Zealand has vast underground storages of gold, Papua New Guinea is the world's second largest exporter of tin, and New Caledonia is the world's third largest exporter of nickel.


 * How it affects the environment**:

Despite the fact that mining brings a lot of profitable business to the area and boosts the economy, it is highly protested due to the extremely detrimental effect on the environment. Primarily, simply the creation of the mines themselves may easily disturb natural ecosystems, especially with the amount of land it disturbs and the noise it emits.

Another major cause of environmental damage is a phenomenon known as "acid mine drainage". This a term that refers to when acid leaks out of the areas of the earth that have been disturbed by the creating of underground mines, and occurs due to a chemical reaction that occurs as the exposed underground rocks oxidize and react with the oxygen from the atmosphere. After the acid leaks out it can erode rocks and enter streams, changing their entire pH. If the streams become acidic enough (under pH3), then various iron ores can become dissolved in it, creating a phenomenon known as "yellow boy," in which the river colour changes and suffocates plant and animal life in the stream and on the stream bed. Yellow boy has the potential to destroy entire ecosystems. The Tui mine in New Zealand is responsible for a large amount of acid rain mine drainage, and the government had invested 10 million dollars in cleanup as of October 2008.

The Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea emitted 80 tonnes of pollution. Much of that pollution went into the nearby river in the form of acid, and through erosion and the subsequent change in land formation the river was transformed from a slow deep river to a shallow one with rapid currents. Not only did this kill all life in the river, but the alteration of the river formation caused the river to overflow. The flooding damaged 1,300 square kilometers of land by contaminating the soil with acid. This killed all the crops growing on this land and left the soil not arable.

Chemicals from the mines can also be released into the atmosphere as another form of pollution.

__ Case #3: Urbanization and Development of the Economy __


 * What**: As nations develop and urbanize in order to integrate their economy into the global one, many more factories form and much more machinery is invented and utilized, furthermore, the usage of transportation such as cars and trains increases exponentially. All of this contributes to both air pollution and water pollution.


 * When**: Attempts to urbanize can be traced back to the later part of the 1900s


 * Where**: In most countries in this region, most notably the "tiger cub" economies (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines)


 * How it affects the environment**:

The amount of air pollution is increasing an average of 30% annually throughout the region of Southeast Asia, meaning an greenhouse gases. The simplified version states that these greenhouse gases are added to the atmosphere and contribute to global warming as they create a barrier that prevents heat from escaping. Water pollution is caused by factories dumping waste products such as oil. Australia is the country with the greatest greenhouse gas production per capita, and is one of the few countries that refuses to ratify the Kyoto Protocol along with the U.S.

However, this is a problem affecting many developing nations, and as it is not specific to this region, it seems as though there is no need to go extremely in depth into this issue, and that all that is needed is to alert people that it is indeed applicable to this region.

If you would like more information on this topic of pollution in general please click the illustration of an example of industrial pollution directly below this. To read an article about pollution in Southeast Asia click [|here].





// by // Ashley Kim and Jae Lee // Blog: http://worldgeoakjl.blogspot.com //