Brazil and Pakistan Case Studies

Prepared by undergraduate students at Colby College in Maine is a case asking about the causes of deforestation in Brazil and solutions for it; it brings up consequences like biodiversity loss and global warming. In Brazil, tax incentives and rules of land allocation increase demand for farm and ranch land. For example, 80% of income can be non-taxable, which drives up prices, making it hard for the poor to become farmers. Rather, corporations claim ownership and new roads are built to reach these lands. Furthermore, taxes are higher for land that is unused, further encouraging deforestation. This relates to the environmental possibilism we learned about in the chapter. The environment has its constraints, but social conditions determine the culture. It’s the government policies and initiatives that create a divide between the rich and poor, not the environmental conditions; the emphasis is on the freedom of humans to structure the environment.

http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/defor-brazil.html

Stimson created a case study exploring Karachi’s water troubles (Karachi is located in Pakistan). A large population of the city does not have access to clean water. Therefore, they have to buy water from private companies for much higher prices than what the municipals charge. This situation is not expected to improve either since “52.8 million people in Pakistan will lack access to safe drinking water by 2015 without significant action.” The case declares that the future of the drinking supply depends on the governance at the sub-district level. This case relates to the developed versus developing nations that we learned about in class. Pakistan is one of the developing countries in the world and suffers from a lack of resources like water and electricity.

Click to access Karachi_Case_Study.pdf

I currently live in eastern Pennsylvania, a state named after its supply of trees. Therefore, it deals with deforestation similar to the Brazil case. Pennsylvania also has pipelines for gas, and these are now being built deep in forests. Both Brazil and Pennsylvania encourage deforestation for “beneficial” reasons. Brazil’s benefit is farms (food, economy), and Pennsylvania’s benefit is gas (energy, economy). On the other hand, while Karachi is suffering from low water supply, Pennsylvania citizens have plenty of access to clean water (springs, Lehigh River) as I learned in a previous chapter activity. Most of my community drinks straight from the tap. When it’s unsafe, we are warned not to drink tap water until the issue is taken care of. It is important to be aware of the time and place; although the state is woody, the decline in trees over time should be noticeable. Also, we should compare the water safety now and predict any future threats with global warming and excessive human demand of resources.

3 thoughts on “Brazil and Pakistan Case Studies

  1. Hi! My name is Annaliese and I am also from Pennsylvania, but I am from Pottstown. In my blog post, I talked about the population problems in India and Japan. Here is the link to my blog post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/27/annaliese-long-case-studies-in-development/ I found your post very interesting because we are from the same part of PA. I can relate to many of the problems from your hometown. We are also having a deforestation issue since many trees are being cut down for residential homes. I also talked about that in my blog post. Also, we have the same water situation in our hometowns. Most people can just drink straight from the tap as well unless there happens to be a small problem. You made great connections!

  2. Hey! My name is Shelby and I am also from PA! My entry was about how Ethiopia is on the verge of losing their food aid and how Haiti is developing after its earthquake.
    https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bz0

    Your entry is very interesting how we can relate from our hometowns. PA is also dealing with deforestation because in my area, Doylestown, they are knocking a lot of trees down in order to build more homes. It is very sad that Stimson cannot have clean water when PA has a surplus of it. You made really good connections and differences between the case studies and our hometown! Good job!!

  3. Hi Humna! In my blog post, (http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/26/case-studies-alex-deebel/) I talked about the threats of child mortality in Nepal and water supply problems in Argentina. There are many environmental issues in latin america, such as deforestation in brazil or water shortages in Argentina. I like how you talked about the effects on the economy since deforestation is in a big factor of business and GDP in Brazil. Also, I liked the connections you drew from the water management issues in Pakistan to your hometown and the huge supply of water you have readily available. Its amazing how dependent or independent on water people can be!

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