Globally, civilizations have practices that have caused irreparable damage to our environment. Irreparable damage to the environment in this paper is defined as a loss of environmental wellbeing due to an anthropogenic cause that cannot be reasonably fixed through human or natural process. Anthropogenic desertification, species extinctions, and persistent organic pollutants are three examples that will be explored in this paper as proof of irreparable environmental damage.
As opposed to naturally occurring deserts, anthropogenic desertification is a human process caused by land use (e.g. agriculture) and land use change (e.g. deforestation), causing a land to adopt desert-like qualities, such as a lack of nutrients and organic matter to support vegetation. Anthropogenic desertification is primarily caused by animal overgrazing, over-cultivation, deforestation, increased soil salinity, and climate change. This process is detrimental and irreparable to the environment for it erodes the soil’s capability to sustain vegetation growth, which in effect limits potential reintroduction ...
Time and time again it has been seen that human interaction with his/her environment and it’s ecosystems has shown to be increasingly arrogant and self-serving. These endless accounts are proven by the amount of important biological diversity that is being lost to the surrounding environment due to these threats of human development and population growth. There are two forms of these losses of diversity by human hand: direct and indirect. Direct losses would be the destruction of an area needed for human requirements be it social or economical. Examples of these losses would be housing, agriculture, and others. Indirect losses would be those caused by the destruction of an area also needed for the same requirements but the area’s commodities which are valued, water, food, land in general, is needed elsewhere. These losses are few in number compared with those of direct losses yet they are of the greatest importance. They are important because they involve the removal of resources of an area in which other inhabitants are dependent upon. A great example of this regrettable indirect expansion is the loss of the rich habitat of the area known as Owens Valley.
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
Dry lands is a previous stage into what can develop the atrocity of desertification. These plains of ground lack moisture. These areas lose it either to evaporation or by transpiration of plants. Generally the land that is considered dry lands is still used by primitive technologies within herding and farming. This weak land is put on even l...
Goudie, Andrew. (2000) The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 511 pp.
At our current rate, humankind is speeding towards a frightening and destructive inevitability. Endangered species and biodiversity are sacrificed to line the pockets of billionaires; urban sprawls are favoured over natural land; new coal mines are opening; and indigenous cultures are being drowned in cement. Our environmental ecosystem is fragile to begin with, and we are steadily and masochistically doing more and more irreversible damage.
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
In order to understand how desertification is in relation to the world, it must be defined first. To be completely clear, desertification is the process of fertile grasslands becoming unusable desert because of natural causes and poor land use (Collins). This is a widely recognized problem since it is happening so rapidly around the world, not to mention it affects so many people. The numbers are astonishing. Worldwide, two billion people suffer the consequences of desertification (Roos). Not only that, but according to Bogumil Terminski, “Desertification of soils appears to be one of the fundamental causes of hunger in many regions of the world” (Current Dynamics). More deserts equals less land area to plant crops and tend animals. This creates a problem with food shortages in certain areas of the world. Roughly twenty-fou...
Land Degradation in Arid regions Environmental science in the 21st century –and online textbook. available at: http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/aridlanddegradation.html (accessed 16/02/2014)
In an effort to save the human race, humanity has almost been lost. Humans destroy nature in a futile attempt to conquer it, by doing so they begin to lose their own humanity and their natural connection to the environment. While some believe that attempts to control the environment, such as pesticides, affect only the desired nuisance, the truth of the matter is that they affect everyone. Barbra Kingsolver, author of “High Tide in Tucson,” Aldo Leopold of A Sand County Almanac, and Rachel Carson of Silent Spring agree that the way many humans treat nature is worsening and needs to be reexamined.
Exclusive of the largest mountain ranges and oceans, earth’s most well-known physical features are its great desert regions. The word desert often conjures up ideas of open expanses of sand and towering dunes blown by perpetual wind and dust storms. Moreover, deserts are often categorized as being strictly sandy, hot, and extremely dry. Only part of this assumption is correct. Furthermore, the categorizing of deserts as such illustrates how little knowledge many people in fact have of desert regions of the earth.
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 2006: The Consequences of Desertification Fact Sheet 3. (available at http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/factsheets/showFS.php?number=3)
Saier, M. H., Jr. (2010). Desertification and migration. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 205(1-4), S31+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA359852755&v=2.1&u=oran95108&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=d58e000340b9e00632d610b6b1c2b1e4
Man-made cause includes: Water pollution, Air pollution, Soil pollution, Urban Development, Agricultural Run-off, Habitat Fragmentation.
According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).
The huge obligation of these resources influences the environment in terms of two receptors biosphere and lithosphere. Its primary and specifically secondary impacts generally tends the future creation to similar uses. Environmental accidents tend the irreversible damages that are associated with project. The commitments related to irreversible resources are analysed to make sure the present consumption is justified (Glasson et al., 2013).