GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

  Mining is the extraction of natural resources from the earth's crust for economic use The following Environmental problems caused by mining Mining also leads to destruction of land which could have been used for agriculture e.g. by depositing rock debris after rock blasts. Mining also leads to swamp reclamation hence destructing the water cycle e.g. quarrying of clay and sand. Mining also leads to silting of river valleys which causes floods. It leads to destruction of natural beauty by leaving behind large pits. It has led to loss of property through displacement of people near mining areas. Mining is risky it has involved suffocation of miners underground or burying them underground. It has led to neglect of agriculture which leads to outbreak of famine. It leads to soil erosion especially in highland areas where trees are cleared leading to soil infertility. Mining also leads to landslides in highland regions which destroy human property and life. It leads to air pollutio...

  Most of the land is low lying which causes the rain water of spread over wide area. For example the lowlands in the old stages of rivers Nyando, Nzoia, Tana, Kuja and Sondu Miriu are prone to frequent flooding. The adjacent highlands receive torrential rainfall which releases large volumes of water resulting to rivers overflowing their banks. Silt has filled the river beds making them shallow thus spilling their water over banks The rivers in the flood prone areas are at their old stage, thus they have wide flood plains which allows water to spread over large areas. Most areas have black cotton soil which is non- porous and when soaks up allow water to flow and spread on the surface. The high amount of rain water discharged into lakes like Victoria makes their levels to rise thus flooding the adjacent lowlands. For example in 1962, following the heavy rains that were experienced, the low lying areas of Victoria was flooded. A periodic rise in sea level along the Indian Ocean some...