general studies Notes

Form 5 General Studies (GS) – CONTEMPORARY/CROSS- CUTTING ISSUES IN TANZANIA

msomimaktaba,

STRATEGIES IN PLACE THE COMMUNITY TO COMBAT HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC

Government of different states have taken some steps of fighting against HIV/AIDS pandemic as the ways or measures against its spreads and effect. The following are some of ways;

i)  Provision of education to people on how AIDS is spread and effect to the society at large.

ii) Provision and supply of preventive medication and materials worldwide e.g. the use of condoms or supply of condoms medication.

iii) Implementation of the policy of caring of AIDS victims.

iv) Establishment of NGOs dealing with HIV/AIDS precautions and prevents e.g. USAIDS, TACAIDS.
Role of the individuals in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS
1. To avoid promiscuous sexual intercourse especially with high risk people like prostitutes, commercial sex workers and people with multiple sexual partners. For sexually active people it is important to practice protected sex such as use of condoms.

2. To abstain from sexual intercourse before marriage. After marriage the couples should be faithful to each other
3. To avoid transfusion of unscreened blood for HIV. This should also include avoiding contact with human blood from other people in situations of injuries and accidents.
4. To avoid sharing surgical and piercing instruments such as injection needles, air piercing equipment, and cutting blades. Any piercing or surgical

 cutting instrument should be property be sterilized.
5. To avoid drunkenness and other from of drug abuse that espouse someone to situation of irresponsible sexual intercourse making one vulnerable to infection with HIV
6. To have regular medical check-up in counseling and voluntary testing centers for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. This enables a person to know his or her status so as to take precautions not to be infected, re-infected or infecting others.
7. For pregnant women, it is important to test for HIV/AIDS so as to avoid, transmitting the virus to the fetus or the baby after birth.
8. To abandon bad cultural practices like female genital mutilation, forced marriage, polygamy, etc
9. To avoid the misuse of development in technology. For example, the use of internet and other technological devices for watching pornographic pictures.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environment is the natural surroundings of an organism which directly or indirect influence its growth and development.

These refer to complex or intricate matters concerning environment which is directly to man’s life or are critical matter occurring in the environment and seen affecting human being. This issue can be put into two categorized.

 (i) Natural environment issue. This occurs naturally from the influence of nature

 (ii) Artificial environment issue.

 The natural environment issue are caused by nature of climate and difference force within the earth e.g. Earth quake, volcanism, Flooding, Hurricane, faulting activities are like tsunamis. The main caused issue being by human activities are like desertification, Global warming, environment pollution and some of influence disease.

 COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT
Environmental components can be grouped into two areas which are BIOTIC and ABIOTIC in the sense that biotic area discusses all living things like animals, plants (flora) and (fauna) and micro organism. While abiotic stand to all non livingthings like Air (atmosphere, hydrosphere etc) water bodies, soil rocks, landforms.

Importance of Environment to man

(i)  Environment is only home of all organism ( life supporter function).

(ii) It is resourceful site for all man needs (the resources provide function) all materials for life are obtained on earth environment.

(iii)  Is the home of duties and activities (Productive function) environment support or kind of activities such as transportation, Agricultural activities etc.

Relationship of between development and environment
1. Resources from the environment provide livelihood and play different roles in different economic sectors like agriculture, mining, tourism, etc
2. Environment provides construction materials fuel woods medic, water and food.  
3. Environment provides resources for human development land, minerals, forest, water
4. Development converts the environment into further usable forms. These forms alter and limit further opportunities for future development. In the process of development social, economic changes facing the human capacity of the environment to call the challenges are taken into consideration.

Rationale for studying the environmental issues.
The study of environmental issues is very important to impact to the individual the cross-cutting issue education with the intention of reducing the rate of destruction and increased rate of conservation. This is made through:

i. Getting a profound understanding of the sources nature and scale of the problems related to the environment so that it can be easy to devise some measures towards addressing these problems.

ii. Increasing awareness to people on rapid alarming and dramatic rate of the environmental degradation, man should not stay ignorant of these issues lest the problems results to the total extermination of human existence

iii. Encouraging man to use the resources so judiciously or in the rational way by relating the use of those resources and the effects that kind of use to the environment. This helps in insuring that resources are used with minimum possibility of jeopardizing the chance of existence of the future generation

iv. Uniting people from different parts in the world to consider the protection of the environment is global and collective compaign  in order to ensure free risky living of living organisms, particularly man.

Environmental issues and some solutions  

       1. LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

Refer to the range of organism present in a particular environmental part or ecological system, It is the presence of animals and plant species in given area of the survives.
Loss of biodiversity is the disappearance of difference species of organism due to the influence of mans activities and natural influence.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The group of animals which are at risk of becoming extinct, due to factors that they are being few in number and being threatened by environmental changes.

MERITS OF FLORA BIODIVERSITY

  1. Is the protective cover of ground  against erosion, desertification and weathering.
  2. Habitat for wild animals.
  3. Flora bring (forest) influence the formation of rain.
  4. Maintain and preserving water bodies sources.
  5. Plant and trees are building materials.
  6. Plant gives out air e.g. Carbon dioxide, oxygen.
  7. Forest provide food and medicine.
  8. Forest modifies a climate.
  9. Forest are importance in soil formation.

 

Caused of loss of biodiversity

(i)  Poaching: Illegal taking of wild species to other places against the national management law.

(ii)  Exotic species: The new species introduce may being.

(iii)  Rampant bush fire: The burning of bush and forest resulting to killing of organism while some vacate the origin place.

(iv)  Mining activities: The cast and quarrying method kills the organism.

(v) Lumbering: cutting of trees for timber and wood also affect the organism occupation.

(vi) Bad fishing method: The using of blast and bombing and some other chemical.

(vii) Poor farming method e.g. over grazing lead the animal to disappear after being large is number.

2.DEFORESTATION

Is an issue of cutting down trees in forest without replacing them, It is one of the way of exploiting forest product like charcoal, fire wood, fruits, medicine.

Deforestation might be done for different purpose like converting the forested land in to settlement land also making way for pass e.g. road, railway also pasture, Productive activities like Agriculture.

However all such activities result poor protection of forested area thus influencing deforestation completely the report show that 33 million   hectares of Tanzania has 90,000 hectares which is unprotected or deforested area.

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION

(i)  Lumbering: cutting down the trees for wood.

(ii)  Bush fire which is uncontrolled.

(iii) Expansion of settlement.

(iv) Extension of farming activities.

(v) Over grazing.

(vi) Charcoal production.

Effect of deforestation

(i) Climatic change.

(ii) Soil erosion.

(iii) Desertification.

(iv)  Loss of natural land.

(v) Loss of biodiversity.

Halting of deforestation

(i)  Ennglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>courage forestation and reforestation programs.

(ii)  Provision of mass education on important of forest to the environment.

(iii) Control bush fire – Under setting the policy and law.

(iv) Control of slow down population growth and dispersal.

(v) Disnglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>courage shifting cultivation.

(vi) Introduction of alternative sources of energy e.g. bio-gas.


3. DESERTIFICATION

Is the conversion of a grass productive and land into desert which is non productive one as result of poor management. Desertification mainly occurred in semi arid area and about 1/3 world surface is semi arid which it predicted later on to be desert in the coming century.

The report reveals that 70% percent of the world semi arid area will be affected by the ongoing Global warming so bringing to desertification. Desertification now is approximated to take 12 million hectares of the world, the remaining part of the world are taken by water bodies and arid land.

Causes of desertification

(i) Over grazing.

(ii) Deforestation.

(iii)  Global warming.

(iv) Over cultivation.

(v) Nuclei testing and bombing.

(vi) Bush fire.

(vii) Poor forming method.

EFFECT OF DESERTIFICATION

(i)  Accelerate soil erosion.

(ii)  It brings to floods.

(iii)  Loss of land nutrients e.g. nitrogen.

(iv)  Loss of biodiversity.

(v)  Decline of farming activities.

(vi) It initiates other environment problem like Air pollution.

STRATEGIC MEASURE OVER DESERTIFICATION ISSUE

(i)  Introduction of better farming method. Include mixed farming contour farming ,leguminous plants.

(ii)  Encouraging forestation and reforestation.

(iii)  Control population growth and disparities.

(iv)  Establishment and enactment of policies and law on land conservation.

(v) Control over grazing.

(vi)  Control of bush fires.

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Form 5 General Studies (GS) Study Notes General Studies (GS) Study Notes Msomi Maktaba All Notes

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