INFLUENCES OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENTIN THE TUOMUL AREA

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  • Xinjiang Institute of Environment Protection

Online published: 1981-10-15

Abstract

The author took part in the scientific investigations on Mount Tuomul in 1978and in the additional investigations in 1979 as a member of thc mou-ntaineeringSeientifie Expedition to this monntain, organized by the Comprehensive Research andInvestigation Committee of the Aeademia Sinica. This paper tries to discuss andstudy comprehensively the relationship between the activities of the local people andenvironments.Mount Tuomul is situated within our territory, 20 km south-west of MountHautengeli located on the border line between China and the Soviet Union. It is the highest mountain in the whole Tian Shan System, with an altitude of 7,435.3m above sea level. The geographical coordinate of theTuomul Areais:41°15’ to 43°10’ north latitude and 79°40’ to 81°15’ east longitude. Its area within our country amounts to 15.000 square km or so.As Tian Shan is a natural climatic barrier, the northern and southern sides of Mount Tuomul differ in term of the national composition, the mode of production and the human influences upon the environment. Inhabitants on its northern side mainly belong to Kazak. Han and Mongol nationalities, but on the southern side predominantly dwell Kighurs and Hans. Stock raising is the leading economic activity, and farming is less important on the northern side, while on the southern side things are the contrary. As for industry, the southern side is more developed than the northern side, yet in the respect of forestry, the former is less developed than the latter. As for the influences of human activities, the piedmont area of front ranges on the northern side, show the greatest, whereas on the southern side, the plain are much more influenced by man than the front range regions.The human activities in the Tuomul area result in the changes of the natural ecological environment. Such influences decrease with the rise in altitude above sea level: their long, slow and cumulative effects in history have led to destructive changes for the ecological environment. These changes in their turn are developing from quantitative to qualitative ones. With the constant development of the productive forces, influences of human activities on the environment are intensifying, especially since Liberation, they ai-e even more drastic as a result of the economic development. Because of the spread of air pollution, there are no places, which are absolutely not subject to contamination. The ice-and-snow zone of the Tuomul Mountain area is not an exception.The environment of the Tuomul area is developing in both favourable and unfavourable directions. On one hand, owing to the amelioration of gobi deserts, building water conservancy and oasis projects, the artificial oasis environment has become more favourable for living; on the other hand, due to the destruction of the ecological environment as a result of irrational utilization of natural resources, there has also appeared a tendency to the nature’s retaliation upon mankind. For example, because of the overfell and reckless cuttins? of the forests and the excessive reclamation for farming, the indiscret capture and hunting of wild animals, there has arisen a tendency towards the microclimate’s becoming drier; the decrease or drying up of water sources in the front ranges regions and the decrease in forest area; the aggravation of insect pests and the increase in the resistance of insects to pesticides which have resulted in the decrease in crop yield by a big margin: the reduction of the carrying capacity of pastures due to the deterioration of their vegetative covers; the deflation of the chernozem on the northern slope and the extension of the sand-covered and salinized area on the southern slope; the rapid drop of the variety of wild animals; and so on.Finally, in terms of these existing problems, this paper gives suggestions concerning the maintenance of the balance in the ecological environment and the improvement of its development in the direction favourable to humanity.

Cite this article

Yuan Guoying . INFLUENCES OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENTIN THE TUOMUL AREA[J]. Acta Geographica Sinica, 1981 , 36(4) : 413 -422 . DOI: 10.11821/xb198104007

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