Posted On: 2022-02-25 17:01:08
Humans influence the environment in many practices: Overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, plastic usage, Disposal of wastes, wastage of natural resources and deforestation Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, acid rain, increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, acidification of lakes, depletion of the ozone layer, climate change, global warming, extinction of species and undrinkable water. These damaging impacts can affect human behaviour and can prompt mass migrations or battles over clean water in the coming years.
Humans have become dependent on many luxuries such as cars, houses, the internet, daily machinery even our cell phones. Humans are currently facing the most critical environmental issues in human history. Our climate, planet, lives, and tomorrow as well-civilized humans are all at risk. Human activities have caused hundreds of more extinctions of plants and animals in the last two centuries than the extinctions that occur naturally.
As we progress through the 21st century, humans have altered the world in unusual ways. Let us look at some major pointers that are impacting the environment on a large scale.
As of February 2022, the current world population is 7.9 billion people and growing. It is estimated to reach over 8 billion by 2025, 9 billion by 2040, and a massive 11 billion by 2100.
Overpopulation is one of the main reasons for the negative impact of environmental imbalance. The population is causing economic outcomes ranging from the impacts of over-farming, deforestation, and water pollution to eutrophication, extra natural resource utilization, waste production and global warming. The population is growing fast, far surpassing the region or planet's carrying capacity: the number of people, other living organisms, or crops that can be supported without environmental mortification. Those suffering may include a shortage of food, limited access to healthcare and other public services, overcrowding, and high unemployment.
Initiatives to switch to clean energy sources such as solar, wind, hydropower, improve agricultural practices, better manage water resources and fully embrace the principles of the circular economy will help us mitigate the impact of population growth. At the other end of the scope, policies that promote family planning, use of protection, education, gender equity and other measures to help slow population growth will help reduce pressure on the planet. This issue will take time to be understood and support the policies that will make a difference.
Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants. These pollutants can enter anywhere: water, air and land, damaging our environment. Pollution is a global problem. Although metropolitan areas are usually more polluted than the countryside, pollution can spread to remote places where no people live. All living things from one-celled microbes to giant blue whales depend on Earth’s supply of air and water. When these resources are polluted, all forms of life are endangered.
The industrial revolution has been a great success in terms of technology, society, and the requirement of multiple services but it has also introduced massive production of pollutants emitted into the air that is harmful to human health.
These pollutants are also the reason for global warming, acid rains, acidic oceans, air, land and water pollution.
Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the pollutants are invisible. It can make people’s eyes burn and make them have difficulty breathing. It can also increase the risk of lung cancer. It also travels miles impacting more lives. Natural disasters can also cause air pollution. When volcanoes flare, they eject volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere which can add-on to air pollution. Volcanic ash can discolour the sky for months.
Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming. People who drink polluted water are exposed to dangerous chemicals that may make them sick years later or can claim their life. Others consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms that have been exposed to the pollutants which can cause disease. More than 8,000 children die every day from drinking dirty water.
Waste is one form of land pollution. Pesticides and fertilizers, deforestation and soil degradation also contribute to land pollution. Around the world, paper, cans, glass jars, plastic products, and junked cars and devices mar the landscape. Litter makes it difficult for plants and other producers in the food web to create nutrients. Animals die when they mistakenly eat plastic. Garbage often contains dangerous pollutants such as oils, chemicals, and ink. These pollutants can leach into the soil and harm plants, animals, and people.
Global warming, the gradual heating of Earth's surface, oceans and atmosphere, is caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels that pump carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Researchers have shown that an increase in UV-B rays causes a higher risk of skin cancer, plays a major role in malignant melanoma development, sunburns, quick ageing, eye cataracts, blindness and weakened immune system. Direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation also leads to skin and eye cancer in animals.
UV-B rays negatively affect plants, crops. It may lead to minimal plant growth, smaller leaf size, flowering and photosynthesis in plants, and lower quality crops for humans. And the decline in plant productivity would in turn affect soil erosion and the carbon cycle.
Already, the effects and effects of global warming are measurable and visual on the planet. At any rate, humans are consistently increasing CO? levels globally. Current measurements of CO? levels have exceeded above 400 PPM, repealing every record dating back 400,000 years.
One of the most immediate and obvious consequences of global warming is the increase in temperatures around the world. As the temperature increases, arctic land ice and glaciers melt which causes the ocean levels to rise at a rate of 3.42mm per year.
Climate Change
Contemporary climate change includes Global warming caused by humans and the natural weather pattern changes of the earth. Climate changes have kept changing in previous periods, but the current changes are more rapid than any known events in Earth's history. The changes and the developments are causing a lot of damage to the existing climate. Temperatures have risen about twice as fast as the global average. Deserts are expanding, on the ground. Heatwaves and wildfires are becoming more common, claiming more than 1000s of innocent lives including animals, birds and humans in the recent past.
As global temperatures increase, Earth's weather patterns will drastically change. While some areas will experience longer producing seasons, others will become barren badlands as water will deplete in vast areas, turning once floral regions into deserts. The increase will impact weather patterns, promising more intense hurricanes in both size and frequency, as well as intensifying and prolonging droughts and heatwaves.
Read more about Climate Change on https://filaantro.org/blog/index.php/post/the-change-that-may-end-the-world-as-we-know-it./72
Water Pollution / Ocean Acidification
Water pollution is also one of the main environmental issues that we are facing, as more than 70% of the Earth’s surface is water-covered out of which only 3 % is drinkable water. Acidification is caused when CO? dissolves into the ocean bonding with seawater creating carbonic acid. The acid reduces the pH levels in the water, essentially changing the Ocean acidity by 30% in the last 200 years according to analysis - a level that the ocean has not been at in over 20 million years.
As per the scientists, with the global temperature rise of one degree and the ocean acidification, a quarter of all coral reefs are considered damaged beyond repair, with two-thirds under serious threat. The death of coral reefs is a serious concern.
Coral reefs are home to 25% of aquatic life, out of which some are responsible for the natural filtration of the ocean and the production of necessary nutrients that are vital for life under the sea.
There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Not only is garbage introduced into the oceans, but also the excessive amounts of fertilizer that finds their way into the ocean through rains, floods, winds, or dumped in excess right into the largest producer of the oxygen we have. Over 700 marine species, including half of the world's cetaceans (such as whales and dolphins), all of its sea turtles and a third of its seabirds, are known to ingest plastic or get tangled in it. Sharp pieces of plastic can also pierce the gut wall, causing infection and sometimes death. Year after year, ocean bodies are treated like garbage dumps where millions of tons of garbage are dumped. The garbage accumulates in large whirls across the ocean.
Contaminated water can disseminate diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 4,85,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year. As per WHO, by 2025, half of the world's population will be living in water-stressed areas. Inadequate administration of urban, industrial, and agricultural wastewater means the drinking water of hundreds of millions of people is dangerously polluted or chemically contaminated.
Some 8.29,000 people are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene. Read more on Plastic and the 3Rs- Refuse, Reuse and Reduce on https://filaantro.org/blog/index.php/post/plastic-ending-lives/64
Deforestation
Forests and trees store carbon. When they are tarnished or fully cleared, e.g. by a process referred to as deforestation (done through fire) – this stored carbon has the potential to be discharged back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change. When forests are cleared, we’re not only knocking out our most useful ally in capturing the staggering quantity of GHGs we humans create (which we do primarily by burning fossil fuels at power facilities, and of course, in cars, planes, and trains). Deforestation causes about 10 percent of worldwide emissions.
About 31% of Earth’s land surface is covered by forests. Deforestation can directly link to biodiversity loss when animal species that live in the trees no longer have their habitat, cannot relocate, and therefore become extinct. Deforestation can lead many tree species to permanently disappear, which affects the biodiversity of plant species in an environment.
While the extent of that belief can be extremely overwhelming, don’t allow yourself to feel helpless, not knowing where to begin. Making small steps and adjustments in your daily routine will give you a sense of success and a yearning to attempt more.
Human impact on the environment has become one of the main topics for university teams all over the world. While they search for the answer, the public needs to do its part. At least, you need to be aware of all the factors that contribute to this state and share the knowledge.
Author : Lubdha Dhanopia
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