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How can humans impact the fluvial and hydrology cycle? - Coggle Diagram
How can humans impact the fluvial and hydrology cycle?
Urbanisation
Leads to more impermeable surfaces so more runoff and less infiltration into the soil.
Drainage and channels improvements can mean local relief from flooding though may cause more pressure downstream.
Urbanisation: Leads to huge reduction in evapotranspiration due to lack of vegetation. Increase in evaporation because of higher temperatures and increased surface storage.
If a rivers drainage basin or floodplain has been heavily urbanised so a river more prone to flooding.
Urbanisation involves deforestation. This reduces vegetation cover reducing infiltration and increasing surface runoff.
Deforestation and afforestation
A lot of water is stored in trees and so when these are cut down, there is less water storage available so runs off into waterways.
Afforestation means that more water can be stored so there would be more interception of rainfall and less runoff.
Agriculture and urbanisation can lead to overuse of groundwater supplies, depleting them.
Dams cause and prohibit several natural processes sometimes positively or negatively.
It causes a loss of nutrients
Seismic stress
Deposition within the lake as infilling takes place
Helps irrigation of deserts
Improves flood and drought control
Dams: the construction of large dams have increased evaporation. Lake Nasser behind the Aswan Dam loses up to a third of water due to evaporation. Water loss can be reduced by using chemical sprays or covering the dam in a form of plastic.
Agriculture causes pesticides and other chemicals to get into the waterways affecting the biology.
To stop roads and streets form flooding, storm drains collect and channel rainwater into a river or stream. Humans will often send this water to the local river or stream so, although roads and streets won't be flooded by rainwater, the entire town will be as the rainwater enters the river much faster because of the storm drains than it would naturally.