Environmental degradation

 Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation refers to the deterioration of physical components of the environment brought in by human activities to such an extent that it cannot be set right by the self-regulatory mechanism of the environment. It is the result of the developmental processes of the economic and technological activities of man.

It is caused by several forms of pollution, depletion of natural resources; increasing dependence on energy-consuming and ecologically damaging technologies, depletion of forest cover has become a global concern.

The environmental crisis is ascribed to exponential growth in the human population, fast-expanding industries, and the philosophical religious outlook of society.

Man’s cruel behavior with environments accelerated the pace of scientific and technological advancement.

CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Some environmental life species require substantial areas to help provide food, living space, and other different assets.

These creatures are called area-specific. At the point when the biome is divided, the vast patches of living space don’t exist anymore. It gets to be more troublesome for the wildlife to get the assets they need in order to survive.

The environment goes on, even though the animals and plant life are not there to help sustain it properly.

1. Land Disturbance:

A more basic cause of environmental degradation is land damage. Numerous weedy plant species, for example, garlic mustard, are both foreign and obtrusive. A rupture in the environmental surroundings provides for them a chance to start growing and spreading. These plants can assume control over nature, eliminating the local greenery. The result is the territory with a solitary predominant plant that doesn’t give satisfactory food assets to all the environmental life. Whole environments can be destroyed because of these invasive species.

 

2. Pollution:

Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is air, water, land, or noise is harmful to the environment. Air pollution pollutes the air that we breathe which causes health issues. Water pollution degrades the quality of water that we use for drinking purposes. Land pollution results in the degradation of the earth’s surface as a result of human activities. Noise pollution can cause irreparable damage to our ears when exposed to continuous large sounds like the honking of vehicles on a busy road or machines producing large noise in a factory or a mill.

 

3. Overpopulation:

Rapid population growth puts strain on natural resources which results in the degradation of our environment. The mortality rate has gone down due to better medical facilities which have resulted in increased lifespan. More population simply means more demand for food, clothes, and shelter. You need more space to grow food and provide homes to millions of people. This results in deforestation which is another factor of environmental degradation.

 

4. Landfills:

Landfills pollute the environment and destroy the beauty of the city. Landfills come within the city due to the large amount of waste that gets generated by households, industries, factories, and hospitals. Landfills pose a great risk to the health of the environment and the people who live there. Landfills produce a foul smell when burned and cause huge environmental degradation.

 

5. Deforestation:

Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for more homes and industries. Rapid growth in population and urban sprawl are two of the major causes of deforestation. Apart from that, the use of forest land for agriculture, animal grazing, harvest for fuelwood, and logging are some of the other causes of deforestation. Deforestation contributes to global warming as decreased forest size puts carbon back into the environment.

 

6. Ruinous Agricultural Practices:

Intensive agricultural practices have led to the decline in the quality of most of our natural environments. The majority of farmers resort to converting forests and grasslands to croplands which reduces the quality of natural forests and vegetation cover. The pressure to convert lands into resource areas for producing priced foods, crops and livestock rearing have increasingly led to the depreciation of natural environments such as forests, wildlife, and fertile lands. Intensive agricultural practices destroy fertile lands and nearby vegetation cover due to the accumulation of toxic substances like bad minerals and heavy metals which destroy the soil’s biological and chemical activities. Runoffs of agricultural wastes and chemical fertilizers and pesticides into marine and freshwater environments have also deteriorated the quality of wildlife habitats, natural water resources, wetlands, and aquatic life.

 

7. Environmental Pollution:

Most of the planet’s natural environments have been destroyed and a large portion is under huge threat due to the toxic substances and chemicals emitted from fossil fuel combustions, industrial wastes, and homemade utilities among other industry processed materials such as plastics. Land, air, and water pollution pose long-term cumulative impacts on the quality of the natural environments in which they occur. Seriously polluted environments have become insignificant in value because pollution makes it harsh for the sustainably of biotic and abiotic components. Pollution impacts the chemical compositions of lands, soil, ocean water, underground water and rocks, and other natural processes.

Air pollution from automobiles and industries that results in the formation of acid rain which in turn brings about the acidic lakes is a good example of how the environment is degraded by pollution.

8. Improper Land-use Planning and Development:

The unplanned conversion of lands into urban settings, mining areas, housing development projects, office spaces, shopping malls, industrial sites, parking areas, road networks, and so on leads to environmental pollution and degradation of natural habitats and ecosystems.

Mining and oil exploration, for instance, renders land unusable for habitation and causes other forms of environmental degradation by releasing toxic materials into the environment. Improper land use has led to the loss and destruction of millions of acres of natural environments across the globe.

9. Natural Causes:

Despite the fact that environmental degradation is under normal circumstances associated with anthropogenic activities, natural causes are also contributors. Natural events such as wildfires, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, and earthquakes can totally lower the survival grade of local animal communities and plant life in a region

 

EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

1. Impact on Human Health:

Human health is heavily impacted by environmental degradation. Reduction in water quality is responsible for more than two million deaths and billions of illnesses annually across the globe. Due to environmental degradation, the results include water scarcity and a decline in quality foods. Reduction in air quality is responsible for more than 300,000 deaths annually and millions of chronic diseases. Landfills increase the risk of hazardous materials getting into the food chain which causes bio magnifications and the ultimate risk of developing chronic diseases. Altogether, the toxic wastes and harmful chemicals from factories, agriculture, and automobiles cause illnesses and death in children and adults.

 

2. Poverty:

In the majority of developing countries, poverty is attributed to poor crop harvests and a lack of quality natural resources that are needed to satisfy basic survival needs. The inadequacy of basic survival resources and lack of quality of food is the direct result of environmental degradation in the regions. Most vulnerability situations brought about by water shortages, climate change, and poor crop yields in developing countries are tied to environmental degradation. Hence, the lack of access to adequate basic needs such as water and food directly induces poverty.

 

3. Atmospheric Changes:

Environmental degradation can alter some of the natural processes such as the water cycle and the normal processes of animal and plant activities. Also, environmental degradation aspects such as deforestation and mining destroy the natural land cover. This, together with air, water, and land pollution pose several atmospheric alteration threats. The alterations include global warming and climate change which can increase the risks of climatic natural disasters, and ozone layer depletion which increases the risk of skin cancer, eye disease, and crop failure.

 

4. Loss of Biodiversity:

Degradation of the environment has recorded the continued destruction of wild forests and the damage of natural ecosystems that have greatly contributed to the mass extinction of species. The number of threatened species persists to multiply worldwide whereas some have completely gone extinct. This is because of human activities such as acidifying water systems, over-exploitation of natural resources, overpopulation, and the deliberate and indirect destruction of natural systems necessary for the survival of different species. These anthropogenic activities simply alter the natural process combined, thus, destroying the natural ecosystems supporting biodiversity.

 

5. Scarcity of Natural Resources:

Environmental degradation through aspects such as over-exploitation of natural resources, pollution, and deforestation can contribute to the scarcity of resources particularly arable land, water, genetic resources, medicinal plants, and food crops.

 

CONSERVATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Our planet is the most important thing in all of our lives, regardless of who we are. Preventing environmental degradation is a journey that we should all take part in. Keeping our planet clean for future generations is one of the most important things we can do.

Erosion is an important part of the Earth’s cycle, but those who don’t care much about the environment itself have forgotten that, too. Air, soil, and water are our most precious resources,

1. Reduce Our Over All Consumption of Resources:

The natural resources that the planet gives us are limited, but many people seem to forget that. If we cut down our consumption by at least 70%, think of how much we could save. This includes cutting down trees to make paper and other materials that we need, as well as fossil fuels, such as oil, to fuel our cars and keep our industries moving. There are many companies who have already made the switch to go green for the purpose of cutting down their overall resource consumption, such as power, which every company should consider doing. Our wildlife and flora rely on their natural environment.

2. Reuse

If people start reusing specific things, environmental degradation will be greatly reduced. We all must remember that we do not use the things that were once used before us, which is a scary thought in itself.

3. Recycle

Recycling is the best way to slow down environmental degradation and is something that everyone should partake in.

Recycling the best way to fight environmental degradation together.

4. Green Transportation:

Cars and other vehicles release pollution into the air, which only causes the slow, deadly process of environmental degradation to speed up, and cut our time on this planet even shorter. Not only would the air be so much cleaner if we all chose green transportation, such as bike riding

When it comes to green transportation is so important and among one of the best ways to combat environmental degradation