what are the most serious errors in land use made by modern man, and how can they be rectified?

Question

what are the most serious errors in land use made by modern man, and how can they be rectified?

Answer 1

One thing would be to allow for much more open green space in developing cities.



Once a city earns the tag of being a desirable place to live, more people come and developers buy land for investment and build on the land to maximize profits. The value of adjacent land rises and local governments can no longer afford to purchase land from private landowners to create parks and open space. The city becomes more dense with people, vehicles, pavement etc.



Current design standards require that erosion be minimized during construction to prevent water pollution. Deforestation is not allowed in many places now so that timber can be harvested as the renewable resource that it is.



It's all a matter of economics and location. "Hot Spots" become expensive and rural areas do not.



More serious errors in land use occurred years ago in the days when waste was not treated and simply dumped in the streams. Areas were strip mined and vacuumed of the natural resources, gold mines etc.

Answer 2

Our first error has been overbreeding. There are just too many of us. Our second error has been overconcentrating. The millions of people in modern cities cause enormous impacts on the environment. And our most fatal error may be using technology indiscriminately with little understanding of its impact on the environment.



We need to reduce our numbers, spread out into small, sustainable communities, and use only those technologies that don't harm the environment.

Answer 3

centralising water into huge dams , that cost the earth to build and then need to be repayed by giving the water to huge mono crops [usually owned by multinationals or power generating companies ] that dont employ local labour yet capture the local recourses



we should create many small catchments [dams ] [wiers]that generate lower power [via local power grids [and water wheels ]to local inhabitants , who own and maintain it as a comunal recource

who farm the waters for food production ] and use the water energy sustainably and slowly ,to support the people not the multynational holders of stocks , and the shares [they dont share ][reaping the spoils they despoil ] reaping the harvest they did not sow

moving water has energy that can be captured , to slow it down , not to keep it just for your use , your windfall , your enrichment , but to the good of all

Answer 4

I lived pretty close to Mt St Helens when she decided to mess with the environment and I must say, "Mother's" know best. 25 years later and the lovliness is amazing. It will be a tourist trap for as long a this generation lives....Just what Mother Nature accomplished with just being loved by the folks trying to Help her recover. The ash is still being sold, but our President thinks we should start using coal again(!)....to see a baby deer, panicking on a freeway because some empty houses "roam in his home"...pitiful. Our lands are going fallow because some fancy DC trash are paying the land to NOT be used....Go back to rewarding ingenuity and thought and stuff the not so all mighty dollar can buy. Our land needs us. Get Active! Start by taking and old broom handle with a nail in it and bag on walks and tidy up around your neighborhood. Challenge your neighbors. Turn off a light, plant a tree Everybody in my neighborhood has one tree in their yard....Mine looks like a rainforest. I don't water except when Fire dept asks us to. I don't mow except in the early spring and late summer. Chemicals belong in labs not lawns. Please, "Timeline MT ST Helelens or The Tillamook Burn fire in Oregon. It doesn't take long we just need to let Mother Nature do her job. Oh and quit starting wars, very bad on the earth... PS, anybody know what happened to all of the oil in Texas?

Answer 5

This question can best answered by defining your world view. Some would take the biblical view to be fruitful/multiply and take stewardship of the land; But what does that mean? One response to your question brought up the question of overpopulation. Should we advocate mass sterilization (sorta being done with the millions of abortions performed each year and the millions killed by Hitler and Stalin.)? Then we should also advocate letting starvation (a natural remedy) happen? Let mankind die out, we can each do our part, eh? Do we not contribute to the problem by demanding Yukons and Escalades cell phones and air conditioned houses? We should praise the homeless who have minimal impact on the environment, as they even fertilize the ground where ever they go. They waste no food, since some of it comes out of the garbage can and they run around town picking up recyclables. They don't waste water washing their clothes either.

Answer 6

In almost every venture into agriculture and settlement of lands has resulted in damage to the environment.



Even if some guy want to green up the grass around his house he will pour chemicals onto it which degrade ground water and cause algal growth in nearby rivers.



Everything that a man touches turns to poo.

Answer 7

I think that egoism is the error number one.



We, as mankind, seem to be unable to go beyond the self preservation instinct - in essence - to think.



Nevertheless no one is stupid.



There are tons of studies about global warming, the viable ways to stop it and return the wilderness to nature but they are not known by the largest majority of people in the world.



We need to spread much more culture, so, thank you very much indeed for the question.



Ask more, go deeper, for the benefit of the community.

Answer 8

stop stripping land for fuel sources. Build from renewable resources such as grass and sod Work the land for food and fibers. Stop making products that do not biodegrade. Many ideas but all go backwards since man became dominant and greedy. Cemetaries are monuments to individually dead. Let them go.

Answer 9

I believe much of what we see today are the results of the mistakes that were made yesterday such as Burying Millions of tons of garbage everywhere, tires, etc. We can return by producing better bus systems in every Cities that are faster and cheaper, trains that are faster and cheaper, this would reduce a lot of the usage of vehicles.



'-)

Answer 10

Permaculture: Yeoman's keyline system for storage of water by opening up the land.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpAPRlg2Zgs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTaNCpmp7Yk

The cheapest form of storage is the actual soil. Modern agricultural practices involve heavy machinery and plows which compact soil and subsoil creating a plow pan. The work of Peter Andrews on the Australian story demonstrates a better method of using the natural contours and diverting streams to flood what were once flood plains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7pMDHJ1sbY



Permaculture - Bill Mollison is all about capturing energies passing through the eco system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUr4uPe9WBk

Reclaiming the desert by desalting and re-greening the desert. Desertification is caused by the removal of vegetation and subsequent over irrigation of soil. See

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohI6vnWZmk

All water is diverted away from property and roads due to planning and building regulations. This legislation prevents water from being put to its full potential. It would naturally be stored in the soil, trees, and in other plants.



What about small scale rainwater harvesting? Water use including agricultural, manufacturing, building and residential use of potable water when grey water could be used. If we did not rely on chemical cleaners, additives, processing methods and products.



Obvious answer to deforestation is to replant deforested areas with trees. Erosion - coastal erosion is caused by altering the natural flow of water by erecting inappropriate sea defenses. Soil erosion would be cured by attention to all of the above.



As far as returning the wilderness to nature and supporting ourselves there is still a lot of work to be done on this subject. However, good Permaculture Design is a start.

Answer 11

Modern man in his greed to make more and more MONEY has spoilt the earth in every possible way. In fact HE has abused this planet to the maximum extent. What he can do now ? 1. De-congest the cities. 2. Plant more & more trees -create more forests. 3. The Early man - who was more wise definitely - set an example of living along the river basins. Follow that example. 4. Connect the rivers - 5. Stop the wastage of precious water. 6. There are some people & organisation who are continuously striving for upgrading the Environment, support then in a BIG way. One such organisation in Bangalore, India is UNNATHI founded by Sri. V. Srinivasa Raju. 7. Finally, if you can not HELP atleast DO NOT SPOIL it should be the motto of every one.

Answer 12

Hello.

I don't knovv vvhat are the most seriovs errors in land vse made by modern man are as I believe there are too many and all seriovs. I believe they may be rectified by going back to basic natvre.

Great video: Part 1,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUr4uPe9WBk&mode=related&search=

vvhole video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6370279933612522952&q=Permaculture&total=181&start=20&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4



Take care and help as mvch as yov can.













Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

-Francis Bacon

Answer 13

I grew up in Oregon at a time when the mountains were covered with trees, real honest to god Douglas Fir Trees, old growth trees. When trees were logged for lumber, they were replanted at the rate of 2 to 1, on the chance that 1 of the trees would survive and regrow the forest. Also, underbrush was regularly cleared fromthe forests as they were logged.



That became too burdensome for modern day logging operations, and instead they want to clear cut all mountains, making them look as if a gigantic razor came along and shaved off the mountains.



Result: TOTAL EROSION of the mountainside, polluting all the rivers in the mountains, running off into the Oceans.



Simple solution, but no one will do it. Reforest the mountains, and go back to logging responsibly if and when the mountains ever reforest themselves.

Answer 14

A long time ago, around the 60's, a collage student from New Jersey, designed this "ribbon city". It entaled a long super structure that contained everything nessesary to sustain life, The underground was for transportation of products, manufacturing, etc. The next level was manufacturing, etc. then came commercial business, etc. Next level, shopping, schools, etc. The next upper floors were living quarters, as many as was needed to house the humans. Each horizontan "segment " supported 500,000 people and contained everything needed. The sports arenas, were satilites branching off of the main ribbon. The rest of the surrounding land was for farming, power generation, forestry, etc.



Eliminated was, private homes in the suburbs.

All highways and roads.

Elimination of oil for fuel.

Cars, trucks and busses, trains, airplanes.(The transportation system was incorporated in the ribbon city via high speed underground railways, and vertical, horizontal and diagonal transportation pods throughout the complex).

Any and all things that we normally see in our everyday lives today.



I really do not have the time to describe the pros and cons in this answer, but my intention is to give all of you the idea of a new concept to think about.



When you look at the Canals on Mars, could they be the remains of the ribbon cities of their time?



Think about it!

Answer 15

Well, the most serious errors occur when humans think that they can change nature, when they actually can't change nature.



When that occur, usually humans have to pay a big price.



Humans should realize that they are part of nature, therefore they can't change nature either for the best or the worst.



The easiest way for humans to be part of nature is to live from nature and not nature live from humans.







As for pollution, erosion, deforestation, and so on.



Nature do those things all the time, with and without humans.

Answer 16

The way I feel that in today's society...some people really wants to get out of the city and concrete establishments and move to a more greenery place.

I, myself is one of those people. When I was young, I lived at a farm where my parents used it for raising chickens and also selling the chickens for food and other things. We lived in houses that are made of wood, but the interior I couldn't say any less then what the modern type of living would be like at that time. Since, I moved to Singapore and Canada in my early years, I lived in concrete blocks everyday. Leaving me wanting the greenery. As I grew up, I got used to the concrete and yet felt comfortable with it until one fine day, I went home when I was 20, and then that changed my feelings again for living in a natural way. I never thought today, I would move back to my home country and traveled around to countries that actually had houses that are built with natural materials like wood as the house and bamboo as my furniture. I am currently living in one of them. I am loving the nature, even though I still have to work in the city. But this is something that is a start for me. So, if the people who wants to get into this kind of living style, we can't change all at once. Start by living in a natural house and then slowly build your own future and sustainability of your own living so that we all can return to the nature one more time to save our Mother Earth.

Answer 17

the most serious errors have already occurred, and for the most part have been rectified. that of leaving mine tailings on the land. that is no longer legal. we have done many things to reduce pollution, required emissions controls on automobiles, requiring cafe standards, requiring emission systems to be installed on industrial plants, requiring environmental impact statements before choosing new building locations, etc. erosion is being worked on by reinforcing hte banks of rivers with old tires, and chain mats along with natural grass and other plants. deforestation isnt the problem it once was, at least not in this country. we have new ways of fighting forest fires, companies that cut down trees, also replant new trees to rebuild the forests on private land. it would do no good to cut down every tree in the US because many industries would then die. on public land trees that are sick are cut out of the forest and new plants are allowed to grow.



can we do more? yes we can, BUT we HAVE to be responsible in how we use our resources, and we have to be responsible in laws we make regarding how we manage those resources. we have to honor the land, but we also have to continue to advance.

Answer 18

I think the worst use of land has been the building of high rise condos along the beautiful coastal beaches of the world. Beaches were not meant for development and by constructing huge blocks of concrete it creates a total dispuption of the natural wind/wave action thus causing massive beach erosion. Then the owners ask for help after hurricanes/storms to rebuild beaches! Also, how can they justify placing thousands of residents in one large building where they create traffic problems, sewage problems, etc. It is an example of total greed between developers and the planning officials who allow this crime to occur.

Answer 19

Probably pollution, by far. Even baby's diapers take thousands of years to decompose back into the environment. I mean if the U.S. (or any other country using Huggies) were to be taken over by aliens then our culture might still be possibly uncovered millions of years after, just from our garbage alone.

I've been contiplating what type of container is worse on the environment and it's like plastic and glass take forever to decompose. Aluminum cans have to be made at the expense of tons of energy. I keep thinking glass pollutes worse because I keep thinking of how it turns into shards when broken but never ever rusts, like aluminum.

Answer 20

We need ZPG, zero population growth. Too many people leads to overuse of resources. In the long run, those problems will be rectified when our species destroys itself and the planet will just recognize our presence as a small blip in time. Read "The Lorax."

Answer 21

In a developing country like ours, we fell victim to the dominance (arrogance?) of the developed countries. By influencing (dictating?) the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of our country, these developed countries has managed to reduce us into mere sources of raw materials in the guise of comparative advantage. These countries controlled the used of most of our natural resources and used their MIGHT to continue to do so.



On our end, we are doing everything to reverse this trend and to minimize the abuse of our natural resources and save our rich biodiversity. We have waste segregation at the household level, reforestation, soil and water conservation practices, coastal resource management program and we are also into launching campaign and adovocacy on the defense, protection and promotion of our precious environment.



But i think that unless something can be done with the dominant economic system in the world today, that is, capitalism, our efforts might not be enough.

Answer 22

Hydroelectric dams in the west are one of the biggest natural disasters that every scared or land and disrupted our natural habitats.



The Bureau of Reclamation should be given the funding and political support to reverse this plague on our beautiful land.

Answer 23

One of mankinds greatest achievements has been his ability to alter the landscape to suit his needs; this allowed him to spread into areas where he wouldnt have previously survived. However this was also the biggest curse: it allowed mankind to dominate the whole planet and thrive in numbers that were completely un-natural. This of course puts an enormous amount of unsustainable pressure on land and environment. THERE SIMPLY ISNT ENOUGH ROOM ON THE PLANET FOR 6 BILLION PEOPLE.

Answer 24

When farmers irrigate their fields they cause salinity in the soil and salts get trapped under the topsoil killing deep rooted plants So fields need to be flushed and water needs to flow through and off the plantations.Also chemicals used to fertilize soils gather in puddles and slowly though the years concentrate there.Farmers should be educated about this and erosion and deforestation too.

Answer 25

The most serious land use error in the U.S. has been suburbia. So many cars, so much fuel to burn, so much time wasted in traffic, so many McMansions to take the farmland and forests.



As world oil production decreases, as it is now doing, we will see most of it abandoned.



We must relocalize our communities.

Answer 26

The most serious error i would think would be when america was testing the power of a nuclear weapon they completely destroyed a island how to fix this is to not be stupid and blow up a island

Answer 27

1. Stop using oil and petroleum based products. Divert oil subsidies to research and development of green energy and reforestation/revegitation. 2. Tax the rich. In 1979 the U.S. had 15 income tax brackets with the top bracket taxed at 70%. Now the U.S. has 3 brackets with the top bracket paying 35%. That's allot of money that could be used for environmentally sound policies rather than making the wealthy wealthier. 4. Rethink capitalism and consumerism. We need to get back to "Find a need and fill it." as opposed to "Create a need and fill it." The Earth provides plenty for our needs, but not nearly enough for our desires. 5. It has been shown that two of the greatest contributers to overpopulation are unstable governments and lack of education for women. These issues need to be addressed on a global scale. Cultural and religious beliefs and practies that encourage large families must be reversed. I have many more ideas along these lines, but unfortunately limited time and space to express them.

Answer 28

Yes, the land that occupies the UN building. It should be torn down, membership withdrawln and turned into a park!

Answer 29

I think it is toxic waste dumps, but deforestation is a very close second. We need all those trees for our air and also for animal habitats. Deforestation is one of the reasons for global warming, erosion and loss of many kinds of wild life including certain herbs found only in dense forests.

Answer 30

Plant one tree or grass if you must remove either and lets stop dumping toxic substances on the land.

Answer 31

Pouring chemicals on the ground, using too much chemical fertilizers. To support ourselves we much plant trees and vegetables, trees for fuel consumption and trees bearing fruits.

Answer 32

More people need to plant and grow their own food. No work=no food. No exceptions. Not even for Paris Hilton.

Answer 33

I'm glad to see all this deep thought being posted on this subject. I need to do some studying. I got old and gave up.

Answer 34

if we cut one tree , we must plant ten trees.by that way we can give most of the homeless birds a shelter' there by we can protect our endemic species.and maintain ecological balance

Answer 35

Sprawl is our worst enemy. Soon all of our natural land will be covered by concerete. It's sad. The only solution is to make people care...which often seems hopeless. :(

Answer 36

Stop having babies. There are simply too many people in the world.

Answer 37

hydroelectric power....clean burning alternate fuels...carpooling...recycling plastic and metals....cultivating the land...using garbage as compost....breaking it down to fertilize the land.....of course , recycling paper..so we don't cut down all those trees.

Answer 38

plant new trees use something different for fuel and save the earth.

Answer 39

say NO to deforestation and YES to forestation

Answer 40

www.powerfromgravity.com , they are invented producing power from gravitational force , there is no pollution, erosion, deforestation.

Answer 41

belive it or not the answer is in the bible. it tells you when and when not to use the land.

Answer 42

Mountain Top Removal!!! for mining!!

Answer 43

Leave It be, and look for another country to ruin.