Does human activity play a role in landslides, if so name an activity inwhich this happens.

-- Katie France (loki2cute@yahoo.com), April 07, 2001

Answers

Landslides may result directly or indirectly from the activities of people. Slope failures can be triggered by construction activity that undercuts or overloads dangerous slopes, or that redirects the flow of surface or ground-water.Poorly planned forest clearing may increase rates of surface water run-off or ground-water infiltration. Inefficient irrigation or sewage effluent disposal practices may result in increased ground-water pressures, which in turn can reduce the stability of rock and sediment. People increase the risk of landslides by modifying the landscape, for example, by building on unstable slopes or in the path of potential landslides. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of their exposure to landslide risks.

from:http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geolsurv/Surficial/landslid/ls1.ht m

-- Eric Breindel (breindel@oswego.edu), April 10, 2001.

Human activity most definitely plays a huge role in landslides. A good example of this is clear cutting of the forests for lumber materials. When an area of land has been covered by dense forest and vegetation for years and it is suddenly stripped of all its cover the effect is disastrous. The soil which has been used to moderate rainfall and snowmelt is suddenly open to the full effect of all of the elements. It becomes dried out in the summer and saturated in the winter and spring causing the land to become unstable and slide. Once an area has been cut it takes decades to fully recover.

-- Ian Craig (craig@oswego.edu), May 03, 2001.