From advances in man's social behavior to accomplishing new feats in various fields, we always strive to provide a better standard of living for civilization. However, humans are very much a part of the environment we live in, and our mostly well-intended actions have far-reaching side-effects on the entire ecosystem and environment.
In this article, we explore the various human activities that destroy the environment. Deforestation: Deforestation refers to the clearing of trees from a forest, which is then converted into non-forest use. Deforestation can include forest land being turned into farmland, ranches, or for public usage and urbanization.
Trees take in greenhouse gases and give oxygen to nature, which we use to breathe. Chopping down trees to increase land availability due to an increase in population and bringing up new industries has led to an ecological system imbalance, leading to a decrease in oxygen levels.
Water Pollution: The presence of an excessive amount of toxins in water bodies is referred to as water pollution. Polluted water from large-scale factories, the absence of adequate sanitation facilities, numerous human actions along water sources have facilitated water contamination to a great degree.
Industrial effluents and sewage are directly released into the rivers, increasing this pollution. Seas and oceans also sometimes face oil spills, which have long-term effects on water, leaving it inhospitable to aquatic life.
Air Pollution: The presence of an excessive amount of toxins in the air is referred to as air pollution. Overpopulation has caused a great deal of air pollution, especially due to the use of vehicles for transport. However, though some of these changes may be negative, humans also have the power to correct our mistakes and change our environment for the better. Discover how you can contribute to a thriving future for our planet. How Do Humans Affect the Environment?
April 06, Agriculture, Domesticated Animals and Genetic Modification The demand to feed a growing human population has facilitated notable advances in agriculture, which was the first major human innovation to enable our survival as a species. Deforestation…and Reforestation Growing populations have to be housed, which means they seek more space to build homes and cities.
Pollution Human activities affect the environment by contributing to air pollution, or the emission of harmful substances into the air. Global Warming and Climate Change Among the most critically impactful ways that humans have affected the environment is our extraction and consumption of fossil fuels and their attendant CO2 emissions.
Human Impact on the Environment is a Double-edged Sword The expansion of human population and the requirements of our growing human family place strenuous demands on our environment. Retrieved on April 27, , from washingtonpost. Request Info. Apply Now. Why are you interested in earning a graduate degree in GISc? Advance My Career. Change Jobs. Gain New Skills. In what area would you like to specialize? GISc Master's. Environmental Certificate. At least, you need to be aware of all the factors that contribute to this state and share the knowledge.
Survival used to mean repopulating. That, however, is quickly becoming true for the opposite as we reach the maximum carrying capacity that our planet can sustain.
Overpopulation has grown into an epidemic since mortality rates have decreased, medicine has improved, and methods of industrial farming were introduced, thus keeping humans alive for much longer and increasing the total population. The effects of overpopulation are quite severe, with one of the most severe being the degradation of the environment.
Humans require space and lots of it whether it is for farmland or industries which also takes up tons of space. An increased population results in more clear-cutting , resulting in severely damaged ecosystems. Another issue is our dependency on coal and fossil fuels for energy, the larger the population, the more fossil fuels will be used.
The use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal results in copious amounts of carbon dioxide into the air- threatening the extinction of thousands of species which adds to the effect that forest depletion already has. Although processed materials are necessary to power the cities, the previous assessment tells us that the planet can only sustain so much damage until it will begin to damage us.
Pollution is everywhere. From the trash thrown out on the freeway, to the millions of metric tons of pollution pumped into the atmosphere every year - it's obvious, pollution and waste are inescapable. Pollution is so bad that to date, 2. Humanity is continuously polluting indispensable resources like air, water, and soil which requires millions of years to replenish.
Air is arguably the most polluted with the US producing million metric tons of air pollution each year alone. In , smog was so bad in LA that the ground-level ozone atmospheric gas that is great in the atmosphere, not so much on the ground surpassed parts per billion volume ppbv - well above the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 75 ppbv 6. People thought they were under foreign attack as the smog burned their eyes and left an odor of bleach in the air.
That is when the devastating effect of aerosols was discovered. While air quality in the US has slightly improved, the quality in developing countries continues to plummet as smog continuously blocks out the sun in a dense shroud of pollution.
This is just one of the issues we have to tackle in the near future. Global warming is arguably the greatest cause of impact on the environment.
As the temperature increases, arctic land ice and glaciers melt which causes the ocean levels to rise at a rate of 3.
Climate change is closely connected to the historical development of industry and technology. As global temperatures increase, Earth's weather patterns will drastically change. While some areas will experience longer growing seasons, others will become barren wastelands 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.
But air pollution does not just affect the environment. The evidence is mounting that poor air quality and rising temperatures are ruining delicate ecosystems, even leading to increased asthma and cancer rates in humans. Genetically modified organisms GMOs have been a major contributor to the survival and prosperity of humans. GMO's are selected bred crops or crops that have had DNA directly implanted into it in order to give an advantage to the crop, whether that be to sustain colder temperatures, require less water, or yield more product.
But GMO's are not always intentional. For years humans have used glyphosate , a herbicide designed to eliminate weeds - the biggest threat to any plant. However, just as humans have a learning immune system, certain weeds have developed a resistance to 22 of 25 known herbicides, with species of weeds completely immune according to the latest scientific report.
One of the only solutions is to till the land, turning over the soil to kill the weeds and give an early advantage to the planted crops.
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