Consequences of Agricultural Practices
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| soil erosion/sɔɪl ɪˈrəʊʒn/ | The removal and movement of soil by processes such as flowing water or wind. |
| eutrophication/ˌjuːtrəfɪˈkeɪʃn/ | Nutrient enrichment of water that can cause excessive plant or algal growth and oxygen depletion as organic matter decomposes. |
| desertification/dɪˌzɜːtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/ | The degradation of dryland environments that reduces their productivity and vegetation cover. |
| biodiversity/ˌbaɪəʊdaɪˈvɜːsɪti/ | The variety of life, including genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. |
Farming changes the environment
- Modern agriculture feeds billions but harms the environment.
- Soil erosion 土壤侵蚀 strips fertile topsoil when land is overused.
- Fertiliser run-off pollutes rivers and causes eutrophication 富营养化.
Fertiliser run-off causing algae blooms that starve fish of oxygen is called...
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Eutrophication is nutrient pollution that depletes oxygen in water.
Land and water
- Clearing land for farms drives deforestation and loss of habitat.
- Overgrazing and overfarming in dry lands cause desertification 荒漠化.
- Irrigation can drain rivers and aquifers faster than they refill.
Overgrazing and overfarming in dry lands can turn them to desert, a process called ____.
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Desertification degrades dry land into desert.
Chemicals and diversity
- Pesticides can harm helpful insects, birds, and human health.
- Growing only a few crops reduces biodiversity 生物多样性.
- Monoculture leaves crops more vulnerable to pests and disease.
Which environmental harm?
Sort each impact by the environmental harm it describes.
Growing only a few crop types reduces biodiversity and increases pest risk.
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Monoculture lowers biodiversity and makes crops vulnerable.
Select all environmental harms of modern farming.
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Erosion, pollution, and biodiversity loss are harms; farming does not create clean rivers.
Match each harm to its category.
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Erosion = land; eutrophication = water; lost variety = biodiversity.
These harms are the price of high output, not accidents. More food from the same land often means more chemicals, more water, and more cleared habitat. Sustainable farming tries to keep the yield while cutting the environmental cost — a genuine trade-off.
Heavy fertiliser use boosts yields, but the run-off flows into a river, feeding a huge algae bloom (eutrophication) that starves fish of oxygen. The same practice that grew more food damaged the water — a direct environmental consequence.
Modern agriculture causes soil erosion, eutrophication from fertiliser, deforestation, desertification, water depletion, and lost biodiversity. These are the environmental price of high output — sustainable farming aims to keep yields while cutting the cost.
Write from salinized soil
- Irrigation water evaporates in a hot dry field.
- Salt is left behind in the topsoil and crops begin to fail.
What environmental consequence is this?
Salt buildup from irrigation is salinization.
What happened to the irrigated soil?
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Evaporation left the salt in the field.