The living world case studies

• Opportunities in the Western Desert

  • Farming
  • Mining
  • Energy
  • Tourism
• Farming in the Western Desert


  • Produces lush crops of vegetables, lemons, peppers and grapes
  • Most canals are used for large scale industrialised agriculture
  • Farmers are allocated 80% of Colorado water, even though they make up just 10% of the economy
• Mineral Extraction in the Western Desert

  • The Western Desert states are rich in minerals including copper, uranium, lead, zinc and coal
  • Copper mining has taken place for centuries in the Sonoran Desert
• Energy in the Western Desert

  • The Sonoran Solar Project in Arizona is a new solar power plant project that will ultimately produce energy for 100,000 homes and requires 360 workers to help build it
  • Hydroelectric Power (HEP) plants also supply Western Desert communities with some of their electricity
  • Fossil Fuels bring opportunities to the Western Desert too, with 25 active oil production sites, all of which are on land owned by the Navajo people, employing more than 100 people and producing oil worth US $50billion
• Tourism in the Western Desert

  • The national parks offer visitors a chance to experience a wilderness area
  • Important areas include the Grand Canyon and California's Joshua Tree National Park
  • The heritage and culture of Native Americans are celebrated at the Colorado Museum in Parker, Arizona
  • The entire economy of Las Vegas is built around entertainment, attracting 37 million visitors per year
  • Lake Mead and Lake Powell attract 2 million visitors a year and offer sailing, power boating, water skiing and fishing
• Challenges in the Western Desert

  • Accessibility
  • Water Supply
• Accessibility Challenge


  • The low population density of less than one person per square kilometre means that parts of the Western Desert lack surfaced roads
  • The extreme temperatures make it a dangerous place if your car breaks down
• Water Supply Challenge


  • 30 million people in SW USA depend on water from the Colorado
  • Phoenix takes the maximum share of its water allowed, but it is predicted to double its population by 2050
  • The region's water security is further threatened by climate change, with scientists suggesting reduced rainfall could occur in places where water is already naturally low
• How challenges have been overcome

  1. Dams and Reservoirs

  2. Improving Accessibility
• Dams and Reservoirs


  • In 1935, work began on the Hoover Dam, which stores 2 years river flow in Lake Mead
  • The Glen Canyon Dam followed in 1963
  • Together, the two dams smooth out the Colorado's river flow and stop flooding
  • However, dams create environmental problems in an already fragile environment
• Improving Accessibility


  • By the late 1800s, railroad developers moved in, with their choice of sites for stations influencing the growth of future key settlements
  • Better roads were laid in the 1900s, allowing people to drive through the desert in buses or in their own cars
  • Major cities can now be reached directly by air, with Las Vegas airport receiving over 40 million people annually
• Logging


  Accounts for 3% of deforestation. Timber companies are interested in trees such as mahogany and teak and sell them to other countries to make furniture (selective logging). Smaller trees are often used as wood for fuel or made into charcoal. Vast areas of rainforest are cleared in one go (clear felling).
• Mineral extraction


  Some of the minerals that richer countries need are found beneath rainforest. In the Amazon, mining is mainly about gold. In 1999, there were 10,000 hectares of land being used for gold mining. Today, the area is over 50,000 hectares.
• Energy development


  An unlimited supply of water and ideal river conditions have encourage dams to be built to generate hydroelectric power. This involves flooding large areas of rainforest.
• Commercial Farming: cattle


  Accounts for 80% of tropical rainforest destruction in Brazil. However, the land cannot be used for long.
• Commercial Farming: crops


  The forest is being cleared to make way for vast plantations, where crops such as bananas, palm oil, pineapple, sugar cane, tea, coffee and soy bean are grown.
• Road building


  Roads are needed to bring in equipment and transport products to markets, but road building means cutting great swathes of rainforest. The Trans-Amazonian highway began construction in 1972 and is 4000km long. It has played a major part in opening up remote areas of the Amazon.
• When trees are felled

  More carbon dioxide remains in the air. Also, fire is often used in clearing rainforests, which means that the carbon stored in the wood returns to the atmosphere.
• Biodiversity will be reduced and individual species will become endangered or extinct. It is estimated that 137 plant, animal and insect species are being lost every day. This amounts to 50,000 species a year.</b>
• As the species disappear, so do many cures for life threatening diseases.
• New research shows that parts of the Amazon could lose between 30 and 45% of their species by 2030.
• Deforestation disrupts the water cycle

  Evapotranspiration is reducing so there is less moisture in the atmosphere. The local climate becomes drier. Once the recycling of water is reduced, the local climate becomes warmer. This is bad for farming.
• As soon as any part of the forest cover is cleared

  The thin topsoil is quickly removed by heavy rainfall. Bare slopes are particularly prone to soil erosion. Once the top soil has been removed, there is little hope of anything growing again.
• Gold mining not only causes deforestation but the mercury used to separate the gold from the ground is allowed to enter the rivers. Fish are poisoned as well as people living in nearby towns.
• There are now only around 240 tribes left compared with over 330 in 1900. Many have been forced out due to the construction of roads, logging, and the creation of ranches and the opening of mines.