Land Use: America - Chase Rankin
As you can see in the picture diagram above, forests make up approximately 27% of the Earth's land. You might think this is a lot, but you would be mistaken in thinking that. The reason being is because although forest land has the largest percentage, it used to be even higher. throughout the years of human evolution, agriculture, grasslands and pastures have grown to combine for about 34% of Earth's land. This isn't bad because we are using the the land in good ways that will help us with growing food and becoming more efficient in that way, but something that has also seen a steady increase is urban areas. Yes, urban areas only seem to take up 2% of the land which in fact, is the lowest. This group has also been steadily rising through the recent years. All I'm saying through this picture is that we as human need to keep the natural areas in the country at the top because this would be the best for our environment. Some of the areas that need to stay at a relatively high percentage are forests, scrublands and wetlands. The reason I say this is because these are the habitats for the plants and animals that shape our environment. If these habitats and areas continue to stay at a decent percentage, then our environment should be in an excellent position to stay healthy. Along with us taking care and being smart with it of course.
I really like the picture that you put up, its cool to see the different percentages in how we use our land for certain things. I also liked how in your statement you named some of the positive things that we are doing for our environment. For example, our Urban Areas take up least amount of space on the picture diagram. And because of that it leaves more space for our forests, wetlands, and scrub lands. And when these areas are in high percentages, in helps us to be able to maintain a more healthy and sustainable living environment for us and the plants and animals all over.
ReplyDeleteI like this post because I feel like a lot of people but them blame on big cities when it comes to the environment, but this map kind of makes you wonder what other things than big cities are effecting us in such a negative way.
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