Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources

Q37. Why land is considered an important resource?

Ans. Land is considered an important resource because it is used for different purposes such as agriculture, forestry, mining, building houses, roads and setting up of industries.

Q38. Which areas are sparsely populated or uninhabited?

Ans. The rugged topography, steep slopes of the mountains, low-lying areas susceptible to water logging, desert areas, and thick forested areas are normally sparsely populated or uninhabited.

Q39. How much land on Earth is inhabited?

Ans. Ninety per cent of the world population occupies only thirty per cent of land area. The remaining seventy per cent of the land is either sparsely populated or uninhabited.

Q40. What are the major threats to the environment due to over exploitation of land resources?

Ans. Land degradation, landslides, soil erosion, desertification are the major threats to the environment because of the expansion of agriculture and constructional activities.

Q41. What are the reasons for water shortage?

Ans. Water shortage may be a consequence of variation in seasonal or annual precipitation or the scarcity is caused by overexploitation and contamination of water sources.

Q42. What is the major cause of water pollution?

Ans. Discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage, agricultural chemicals and industrial effluents in water bodies are major contaminants. They pollute water with nitrates, metals and pesticides.

Q43. What is ‘water cycle’?

Ans. Water is in constant motion, cycling through the oceans, the air, the land and back again, through the processes of evaporation, precipitation and run-off. This is referred to as the ‘water cycle’.

Q44. What are the major factors affecting soil formation?

Ans. The major factors of soil formation are the nature of the parent rock and climatic factors. Other factors are the topography, role of organic material and time taken for the composition of soil formation.

Q45. What are the uses of water resources?

Ans. Humans use huge amounts of water not only for drinking and washing but also in the process of production. Water for agriculture, industries, generating electricity through reservoirs of dams are the other usages.

Q46. What do you mean by private land and community land?

Ans. Private land is owned by individuals whereas, community land is owned by the community for common uses like collection of fodder, fruits, nuts or medicinal herbs. These community lands are also called common property resources.

Q47. Which countries in the world are facing water shortage?

Ans. There is scarcity of water in many regions of the world. Most of Africa, West Asia, South Asia, parts of western USA, north-west Mexico, parts of South America and entire Australia are facing shortages in fresh water supply.

Q48. What human factors determine land use pattern?
Or
What factors determine land use pattern?

Ans. The use of land is determined by physical factors such as topography, soil, climate, minerals and availability of water. Human factors such as population and technology are also important determinants of land use pattern.

Q49. What are landslides and how do they occur?

Ans. Landslides are simply defined as the mass movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope. They often take place in conjunction with earthquakes, floods and volcanoes. A prolonged spell of rainfall can cause heavy landslide that can block the flow of river for quite some time.

Q50. Why water availability per person in India is declining?

Ans. Increasing population, rising demands for food and cash crops, increasing urbanisation and rising standards of living are the major factors leading to shortages in supply of fresh water either due to drying up of water sources or water pollution.