Read the following excerpts from the e-text and answer below using the RACES method.

Question

Environmental Challenges 
Africa struggles with serious environmental issues. Access to clean water is limited, and water-borne diseases are common. In recent years, a loss of trees has led to drier soils and a growth in desert. Frequent droughts only make survival more difficult in several countries. 
Clean Water Most Africans do not have access to proper toilets or waste disposal systems. As a result, human waste often ends up in rivers and in groundwater that people use for drinking. Water-borne diseases such as cholera-an infection that causes acute dehydration and can kill someone within hours-then spread quickly. The World Health Organization estimates that 115 Africans die every hour from water pollution. 
Only about one-sixth of Africans have access to a clean water supply for drinking, cooking, and hygiene. Given its scarcity, water is often stored in people's homes, where it can become contaminated and attract mosquitoes. These mosquitoes are common carriers of other diseases, including malaria. 
The lack of clean water also makes it difficult to irrigate crops safely. This threatens both Africans' food supply and African efforts to export crops to other countries. 
Deforestation and Desertification Deforestation is the loss of forest cover that results from so many trees being removed that trees cannot grow back. In a tropical rainforest, plants hold most of the environment's nutrients. When too many trees are cleared, nutrients in the soil wash away with rain. The poor soils that remain cannot support tree growth. Once a tropical rainforest is lost, it may be lost forever. 
Traditionally, farmers cut down and burned small plots in the forest. They would farm these plots until soil nutrients were lost, then move on to a different region while the forest in the plot they had just farmed slowly grew back. Over the past 100 years, however, Africa's population has grown so much that farmers have been cutting down too many trees for the forests to recover. The Ivory Coast has a very high rate of deforestation. More than 90 percent of its forests have been cleared by the timber industry since the late 1900s. Deforestation is also a serious problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Burundi. 
Desertification, the change from arable land to desert, is a major problem in the Sahel, a region just south of the Sahara. Here, livestock herders have grown in numbers. 
Too many livestock now graze the fragile grasslands, and people have also chopped down trees for firewood. These actions, combined with drought, have caused parts of the Sahel to dry out and become desert. This leaves less land for farming and grazing and increases the risk of famine. 
Drought Climate change may contribute to the increasing drought that Africans in the Sahel and other regions are experiencing. Between 2010 and 2012, for example, almost 260,000 people in Somalia died from drought and the resulting famine. Half of those who died were children under the age of five. 
For many, drought makes it much harder to make a living. This difficulty causes other problems as well, as groups then often clash over control of territory. Livestock herders migrate from dry areas to agricultural regions, where farmers often resent their presence. In some regions, including Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan, tensions among herders, farmers, and governments have led to long and bloody conflicts, which have driven millions of refugees from their homes.

A. How do you think deforestation AND desertification impacts the environment and people in Africa?

B. What solutions can you think of to address the specific challenge you chose?

GPT-4o mini · Answer

To answer the questions using the RACES method, we will restate the question, answer it, provide evidence from the text, explain the evidence, and summarize the main points.

A. How do you think deforestation AND desertification impacts the environment and people in Africa?

Deforestation and desertification significantly impact both the environment and the people in Africa. These processes contribute to severe ecological degradation, which in turn threatens the livelihoods of many communities.

For instance, the text states, "Deforestation is the loss of forest cover that results from so many trees being removed that trees cannot grow back," which emphasizes the permanency of this loss. When trees are removed, the soil's nutrients are washed away, leading to poor soils that can no longer support tree growth. This loss of vegetation exacerbates desertification, particularly in regions like the Sahel, where "too many livestock now graze the fragile grasslands," further depleting the land.

The consequences for people are dire, as indicated by the text, which explains that deforestation and desertification “leave less land for farming and grazing and increases the risk of famine.” This is particularly troubling since millions depend on agriculture for their survival. Additionally, environmental stresses such as these can lead to conflicts over resources, as highlighted in the final part of the excerpt, where tensions between herders and farmers arise due to dwindling resources.

In summary, deforestation and desertification create a vicious cycle of environmental degradation and social instability in Africa, impacting food supply and leading to violence and displacement among communities.

B. What solutions can you think of to address the specific challenge you chose?

To address the challenges of deforestation and desertification in Africa, one viable solution is to implement sustainable land management practices.

For example, the text notes that in the past, “farmers cut down and burned small plots in the forest” but should be encouraged to adopt agroforestry techniques, which combine agriculture and tree planting. By doing so, farmers can cultivate crops while also maintaining tree cover, which helps to preserve soil nutrients and prevent erosion.

Additionally, reforestation initiatives could be established to restore degraded land and forests. As the text highlights the critical issue that "once a tropical rainforest is lost, it may be lost forever," restoring these ecosystems could play a pivotal role in combating climate challenges. Community-driven projects that empower local populations to take part in reforestation efforts can also foster a sense of stewardship over the land, encouraging sustainable practices.

Moreover, improving education and access to resources regarding sustainable farming techniques can better prepare farmers to cope with changes in the environment, thus mitigating some of the pressures leading to deforestation and desertification.

In summary, by fostering sustainable land use and initiating reforestation projects, Africa can combat the challenges posed by deforestation and desertification, leading to healthier ecosystems and improved livelihoods for its people.