FWR Group Sustainability Articles
Major environmental issues
The major environmental problems faced by the planet today are global warming, overpopulation, deforestation, animal extinction, and water pollution. While many other environmental problems have been identified, the above issues are currently the most significant. This article will describe the causes and effects of each of these problems, and also explore some of the related issues arising from each one.
Global warming is generally considered the most significant problem affecting the world today. It is predominantly caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting release of greenhouse gases. These gases trap more of the sun’s heat and prevent it from leaving the atmosphere. This, in turn causes temperatures to rise fuelling a range of other environmental problems. Climate change is a direct result of global warming and will have serious consequences for the all living creatures in the next 100 years. Another effect of global warming is the melting of polar ice caps. The Arctic has been especially affected by higher temperatures with sea ice retreating substantially in the last few decades. The reduced size of our polar ice zones reinforces the global warming process, adding to further climatic changes.
Overpopulation is not strictly an environmental problem, however the effects of our rapidly expanding population is causing considerable environmental damage. A larger population requires more resources to survive and this is putting added stress on many of the world’s resources that are already overexploited. The need for more food and land in which to grow causes more land to be cleared. We also need more energy to run our industries and households, which means more fossil fuel is burned to produce electricity. This releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to the global warming, as well as the formation of acid rain. The increased levels of waste created by humans are also too high for the planet to assimilate.
Deforestation or land clearing is another man-made environmental problem. Our need for more space to support cities and agricultural industries results in the clearing of forests and other land to accommodate human development. Forests provide a home for a considerable amount of floral and faunal biodiversity and their destruction results in the loss of both valuable species and habitat.
Animal extinction is another major environmental problem with anthropogenic origins. To feed our ever growing population we have harvested many of the planet’s species to the brink of extinction. Global fish populations are predicted to collapse by as soon 2050 if our current fishing practices do not change. The destruction of animal habitat is the other principal cause of animal extinctions. Our actions have disturbed or completely destroyed much of the environments that animal species need to survive. The added pressure of anthropogenic climate change has further reduced the amount of suitable habitat for many species. This increases the competition between different species, eventually resulting in death and even extinction of animals that cannot adapt to the changing conditions.
Water pollution is the final environmental problem discussed here, but this doesn’t mean it is less important. In fact, plants, animals and humans all really heavily on water, especially the quantity required for survival purposes. As the quality of freshwater becomes degraded form human activities the amount of potable water available to all living things is reduced. Pollution found in our waterways comes form both urban and rural sources and often ends up in the ocean. From there it can then be transported great distances due to the connectedness of the planet’s oceans. The occurrence of dead zones in many of the world’s oceans has increased significantly in the last few decades. A dead zone is caused release of nitrogen from fertilizers used on agricultural land. When it enters the oceans, the nutrients fuel the rapid growth of organisms in the water column that consume all of the waters’ oxygen. The deoxygenated water is unsuitable for other marine life, resulting in mass fish deaths and largely lifeless expanses of water.
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This work by Michael Duggan is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.
