Human impact on the earth is inevitable, as all species affect their environment, whether it be positive or negative. Humans have been living with their surroundings since the beginning of their existence, yet it seems only in the past few centuries has the negative effects of human interference become blatantly evident. Even more recently, however, people are becoming more aware of the damages that are being done to the earth. One of the most well known consequences of human activities is pollution. All aspects of the earth can be affected by pollution-- water, air, and land. Water is the most vital thing for all life, yet it is a limited resource. Only 2.5% of water on earth is freshwater, and even that amount is being diminished by pollutants. …show more content…
The illegal wildlife trade is currently a crisis as animal parts are sold through the black market. The documentary The Ivory Game illustrates the reality of poaching elephants in Africa. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for their tusks, which are sold for high amounts within the black market. Elephants are not the only victims of this sad crime; poachers will kill almost any animals to sell them. However, not all wildlife trade is illegal. Many animals are sold, alive and dead, as pets, souvenirs, and decorations. This illegal trade leads to another problem with wild animals: some people buy exotic animals as pets, without giving it the proper care or environment. Eventually, the owners decide they do not want the animal anymore, but there is a problem: once these animals are in captivity, they will most likely never be able to return to the …show more content…
There are two ways to control wildfires: directly and indirectly. Direct control entails putting out a fire with either water or flame retardant supplied through helicopters and hoses. This means of fire control is best on smaller fires as is harder and less effective. Indirect control requires establishing a fireguard in the path of the fire. The fireguard is created by removing fuels from the ground, or covering fuels with flame retardant to reduce the flammability. Controlling wildfires is important as the fires could spread for miles and burn down an entire forest. Another example of positive human interference is the removal of invasive species. Invasive species may come into a new environment and take over, as they have no predators. They have the potential to wipe out other species in their habitat. The removal of these species protects the affected habitat and the organisms within
Exotic animals, such as lions, tigers, and bears, might seem like cute and cuddly pets at first, however, little do people know how dangerous and endangered these furry creatures truly are. In this case, exotic means coming from foreign countries all over the world. The demand for exotic animals in the United States and all across the globe is in very high demand. People take them from their natural habitats and put them in a cage for the rest of their lives. It is predicted that the demand will keep going up and animals will become more endangered, if nothing is done about it.
The excerpt from Rachel Carson’s Silent Springs explains how the human race has used their powers to alter the natural environment. These changes resulted in adverse effects, not only to organisms, but also to mankind. According to the extract, for many decades, life on Earth has been characterized by balanced interaction between the living organisms and the surrounding. The environment controlled the animal life habits and physical forms of vegetation. The situation has changed over time, and now people possess significant powers to change the environment. Human activities has increased to alarming levels in the past quarter century. Such powers have resulted in the contamination of the environment to a great extent: dangerous and even lethal materials are released into the air while others are disposed of in lakes and oceans, resulting in pollution. The pollution causes
Anyone can buy an exotic animal. The exotic animal pet trade is an extremely large business that is harmful to the animals. “Many don’t survive the journey
Elephants are an endangered species and they should not be killed for their ivory or they will become extinct. In the article The Poaching Problem the author writes” elephant populations have declined to dangerously low levels.” At the rate that poachers are killing these innocent animal the entire species of elephants will be extinct in the year 2030! That is only twenty five years, I know that does not seem like a long time but it is going to go by fast and every one will regret killing all those poor innocent gentle creatures. In case study 483 they author writes “ During the 1970s and 1980s elephant poaching had included about 1.3 million elephants killed for their tusks.” It is hard to distinguish between legal and illegal ivory so it is sold easily.
Poaching is making the African elephants go to a dangerously low number. The estimated amount of elephants left is as low as 32,000 in Africa. Another animal group that is being affected by poaching are the African Rhinos. The valuable attachment that the poachers want was the black rhino’s horn. People are seeking the horn because if used properly it can be used for medicine such as recovery from fevers and other illnesses.
There are alternatives animals that can be kept as pets instead such as domestic dogs, cats, birds, fish and many more. Many people overlook the extensive risk they are taking by taking an animal captive, out of their home in the wild, and this is the reason extreme numbers of wild animals are dying. If you care anything of the wild animal species, it is unacceptable that we are one taking animals, but then putting them through painful processes, meaning they can never return to the wild. We have to change the ways of our people if we want a
ATTENTION GETTER: Every day, I see the effects of pollution. From the trash that’s thrown into bushes to the murky lakes to the smog-filled skies, these are examples of the negative human impact on the environment.
Human Impact on the Environment Introduction = == == == ==
Evo Morales stated, “Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans” (Pollution Quotes, 2013). Hence, attention must be provided to this devastating issue. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that causes adverse changes (Wieman, 2013). There are numerous types of pollution, such as light, air, land, water, noise, thermal and radioactive pollution. In an article, the author highlighted that according to Richard Buckminster Fuller, “Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting, we allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value” (Farrell, 1971, p. 52). Pollution is created mostly by human actions, but can also be a result of natural disasters. Pollution can harm the environment of the world and its inhabitants in many ways. Pollution has a detrimental effect on any living organism in an environment, making it virtually impossible to sustain life (Enclyopedia - Pollution, 2008).
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Water is on of the most precious natural resources that exist on our planet. “It is delivered from the atmosphere in the form of rain, snow, hail, fog, and condensation and returns to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration” (Hannigan 1969). Although many of us love activities that have to do with water, we disregard it and pollute out rivers, lakes and oceans. Slowly but surely we are going to harm out planet till no return. Protecting and conserving nature will secure a better future. 71% of earth is covered with oceans. Sounds like a lot right? Imagine ...
Clean and safe drinking water resources are becoming scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important thing needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore residents are suffering the misfortune of not having the reliable source of clean water. Today many countries are having water shortages meaning rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater are not enough to rely on for supplying water demands. For example, California is facing a drastic water shortage, the natural water resources are not enough to fulfill their water demands.
Freshwater in the world makes up only a small portion of the water on the planet. While the percentage of water in the world is nearly 70%, only 2.5% is consumable. Even further, only 1% is easily accessible to basic human needs. According to National Geographic, “by 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.” With this current trend, water will become more immersed in environmental, economic, political, and social changes.
Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 60% of human body is composed of water and 70% of the brain is made up of water. Every day, we need to drink about 2.4 liters of water to replace the water lost in our daily activities. We do have enough water on the earth but we don’t have enough freshwater supply. The earth is covered by 70% of water but only 1% of that is freshwate...