human/environmental interaction. human/environmental interaction describes how humans use, affect,...
TRANSCRIPT
human/environmental interaction describes
how humans use, affect, and are
affected by their environment.
Three major industries in West Virginia were created because unique
geographic conditions exist in the state.
• Coal• Chemical• Lumber
Humans, however, had to alter the natural surroundings somewhat in order to make mining the mineral
profitable
the lack of roads and navigable streams delayed the region’s
development. It was not until the coming of the railroad in the mid- to
late 1800s that the area began to grow and become economically
successful.
This type of mining actually strips the land, uproots trees, destroys
land, and pollutes streams, increasing the potential for erosion
and flooding.
The state contained almost limit- less quantities of five of the six
elements needed for the production of chemicals.
carbon from coal, hydrogen from water, oxygen and nitrogen; from the air, and chlorine from salt brines.
The availability of these elements as well as an abundance of natural gas were major factors in Union Carbide’s decision to locate in the state.
5. Although the chemical industry has brought economic growth and
prosperity to the state, it has endangered the environment at
times.
chemical waste was accidentally or deliberately poured into the state’s rivers and streams, killing wild- life and making some waterways unfit
for human use.
chemical leaks and the machinery used to make the chemicals polluted the air, endangering the lives of those nearby.
6. When the first white men came, the entire state was covered with
natural forests containing some of the finest hardwoods in the eastern
United States.
In 1805, stagnant water associated with the tanning industry created the right conditions for the outbreak of a
fever that killed a number of people in the eastern panhandle town of Bath.
Floodwalls, like the one completed in the year 1996 in Matewan, have
been built to protect areas from flooding.
floodwalls and dams were built on West Virginia’s smaller rivers. Some of these dams include those on the Tygart, Bluestone, Elk, and Gauley rivers.
The reservoirs created by the dams not only provided a way to control the level of water in the rivers, but
also formed lakes that could be used for recreational purposes.