Human Impact on the Environment
About three hundred years ago there was a definite spurt in the
population of the human race. This was brought about with advancements
in sanitation and technology, as well as a dramatic fall in the death
rate. By around 1850 the world's population had grown to about 1
billion and by 1930 it had risen to 2 billion. The current figure is
around 6 billion and at this rate the United Nations estimates the
population will be at about 9 billion by 2054. This would be a 900%
increase in just 200 years.
This increase in population has meant that the world's resources have
been put under a great strain in order to sustain the human race. But
it has only been in recent years that man has looked to address the
problems he has caused and many of them are irreversible. Ever since
man learnt to hunt with weapons, species have been hunted to
extinction, and as the brain capacity of man increased so did his
expectation of living standards. This has meant an even greater effect
on the planet and has resulted in urbanisation, growth in agriculture,
and the inevitable rise in deforestation.
Deforestation is proceeding at about 17 million hectares per year.
Between 1980 and 1990 the 1.2 per cent in Asia, 0.8 per cent in Latin
America and 0.7 per cent in Africa. Although the most publicised loss
in forest is in rainforests, the UK has also suffered major forest
loss in the past 150 years. About 200 years ago 85% of the UK was
woodland and now the figure is under 8%. The reasons for deforestation
are:
· Fuel
· Urbanisation
· Agriculture
· Wood for building
Deforestation causes soil erosion...
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... are broken
down by sunlight, resulting in the chlorine reacting with and
destroying ozone molecules. For this reason, the use of CFCs in
aerosols has been banned in many countries. Other chemicals, such as
bromine halocarbons, and nitrous oxides from fertilisers, may also
attack the ozone layer. Scientists discovered that the largest problem
lay in Antarctica, where a periodic loss of ozone was located. A
similar problem was found in the Arctic and as a result the "Montreal
Protocol" was signed by 49 countries. Within it the countries declared
that they would phase out the use of CFCs by the end of the century.
In addition to this NASA launched the 7-ton Upper Atmosphere Research
Satellite. This measures ozone variations at different altitudes, and
is providing the first complete picture of upper atmosphere chemistry.
The Human Impact on Rainforests Human Impact on Rainforest is it a necessity? Rainforest are the beautiful gift of Mother Nature. It consists of the most magnificent species and plants in the world. 4.2% of the world’s animals live in the rainforest. This statistic it self shows how bad it would be to destroy such essential part of the worlds biodiversity.
Interactions between human and the ecosystem have been operating for millenniums, and are impossible to eliminate, as each depends on the other in order to survive and flourish. However, as modern technology advances, as well as the increase in the world’s population, the need for natural resources begin to rise to an alarming rate which has started to gradually destroy the ecosystem. Recently, there has been an increase of sea levels in region whilst other rain-bounty areas have begun to experience their first droughts. This phenomenon is known as climate change. Climatologists have concluded that human activity has played a major role in contributing to the changes, therefore requiring extreme measures before this phenomenon evolves into a catastrophe. In this essay, we will discuss human activities that contributed to climate change, as well as addressing possible solutions to the phenomenon.
Oceans flourish through increased productivity, still, potential exhaustion though extinction is casting out a possible “tragedy of commons”, hook, line, and sinker. From thriving to potential empty oceans; the environmental and human impact on our oceans remains extensive, with over one-half of the world’s fish populations being exploited, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Additionally, the expected depletion of our ocean species according to scientists within a 2006 scientific journal, predict the total collapse of all oceanic species by the year 2048 (Withgott & Laposata, 2012). Oceanic productivity may have potential toward recovery by assigning no-fish zones and marine reserves. The capability to shift the tides toward replenishing our oceans should also combine monitoring and protecting its productivity by encouraging oceanic reef systems and decreasing over-fishing.
I believe overconsumption of resources is the most significant impact that human population size and growth have on the environment. As population size gets bigger, people's need of food, water and services also increases. Forests are being destroyed because of human's need of wood, different kinds of animals are getting killed because human's need of goods and food and fossil fuels are being used because of human's need for electricity and transportation. As a result, many habitats and species are lost, which impacts ecosystem a lot.
In theory some parts of the world might benefit, from a human point of view, due to global warming. However, at current rates of warming, local ecosystems will collapse and any objective measure of global benefits versus suffering would show much more suffering than benefits gained.
In the mid 1970's and early 1980's, the field of clinical psychology underwent a revolution with the emergence of family therapy. Therapists initially understood disorders as being the result of a linear chain of causality. For instance, one theory of schizophrenia held that the disorder resulted from exposure to a certain pattern of behavior on the part of the patient's mother. Mothers of schizophrenics were often found to be particularly cold, unresponsive, dominant, and conflict-inducing towards their children. Researchers argued that such "schizophrenogenic" behavior was the direct cause of the disorder. Successful treatment, then, required the patient and mother to examine their relationship and seek out better, more positive methods of interaction.
There is no hesitation when it comes to whether humans impact the global environment. However, it is questioned in whether human’s ecological footprint is either negatively or positively impacting. In clear perspective, humans share from both sides and their ecological footprint is noted towards whether it will benefit or harm the environment around them. Topics such as overpopulation, pollution, biomagnification, and deforestation are all human impacted and can harm the environment, but some include benefits into helping the world around us with solutions to their problems.
“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?”(Stone). Our environment affects us all in many different ways, just because we are all human and have different ways of adapting to specific situations, our reactions can be based upon how we were raised we have seen throughout our lives. But it is not arguable that we as intellectual beings adapt, but the next question is where does the border lie between adaptation and submission.
Environmental hazards are an unavoidable aspect of contemporary life. Whether they peturb a region, nation or continent, their effects are nonetheless devastating to those involved. Environmental hazards lie at “the interface between the natural events system and the human use system.” (Burton et al, 1978:25), interacting with global change and sustainable development. Disrupting social, economic and political organisations, these hazards are phenomena that damage and strain human infrastructures. Differentiating between ‘natural’ (geologic, atmospheric, hydrologic, epidemic and biologic) and ‘technological’ (industrial, infrastructural and engineering) hazards, Smith (2013) provides a framework through which hazards can be categorised, emphasising their multifarious nature. This essay will argue that humanity must learn to live with environmental hazards, developing methods of prediction and mitigation in order to reduce their effects. Focussing on three key case studies, this essay will analyse Myanmar’s Cyclone Nargis, Japan’s Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and India’s Gujarat Hepatitis Epidemic of 2009. These diverse examples demonstrate the extent to which the impacts of hazards vary across different spatial scales, and manifest themselves at differing levels of economic and political development.
Humans Damaging the Environment We, humanity, have a remarkable ability to define the world in terms
Human Impact on the Environment Introduction = == == == ==
...(definition)...This means that it is the process of finding new solutions to human sustainability problems by applying the already active solution nature has created. In layman's terms it is the idea of getting inspiration for new inventions from nature itself.
As humans approach a future of uncertainty, enigmas are unraveling all around the globe. Climate change is one of the most influential concerns to humankinds, since there seems to be a dramatic change in the Earth’s climate such as noticeable increase in temperature.According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), climate change may be defined as the change in atmosphere that results from indirect or direct contribution to the climate by humans in which affect the modification of the Earth’s atmosphere and additionally may introduce to the inconsistency of the natural climate ("United nations framework," 1992). Even though the UNFCCC puts all the blame for climate change on human activities, ones might undoubtedly argue that nature is accountable for the climate change since ‘climate change is a part of atmospheric cycle’ in their belief. However, the main contributor to climate change is actually mankind.
The environment at large plays a significant role in individual development and career ideations/opportunities by providing both planned and circumstantial experiences. Each facet of one’s environment -geographic location, natural events, primary spoken language, technology, etc.- interact with the individual to create a uniquely influencing atmosphere (Krumboltz, 1976; Feller & Honaker, 2001).
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is assessment of impacts on the environment due to proposed activity and finding ways to mitigate the environmental impacts.