5 Ways That Humans Affect the Environment
As humans, our love for manufactured metals and plastics is at an all-time high. We seem to be blind to the way things like deforestation, overfishing, and overconsumption are impacting our world. Human activity accounts for the hundreds of extinctions in the last two centuries versus the millions more that happened naturally. Humans have changed the world in ways that are unheard of, and if left unchecked, it will get worse.
Research is being conducted globally on the appropriate approaches to this risk. In the meantime, you need to understand the factors that lead to this to take the necessary measures.
1. Pollution
Think about the millions of metric tons of pollution being released into the air each year and the trash being thrown out carelessly on the freeway. It shows that pollution is everywhere, and we cannot escape it. It is so bad that over 2 billion people still have no access to clean water to date. Pollution to indispensable resources like water, air, and soil is one area that must be promptly addressed. Such resources take millions of years to replenish. Therefore, corrective and deliberate measures must be taken to curb it.
2. Global Warming
Global warming is one single factor that has the most impact on the environment. Human activity, such as burning fossil fuels, is pumping methane, carbon dioxide (C02), and greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, resulting in gradual heating of the oceans, earth surface, and atmosphere. The increased C02 emissions explain why the planet’s temperatures have risen to a full degree.
3. Water Pollution
The ocean has billions of plastic debris pieces, thanks to careless human behavior. There is so much garbage and excessive fertilizer introduced into the oceans through the winds, rains, and floods. Since the garbage mostly contains indissoluble plastic, marine life makes it for food and ingests it, ending up dying of suffocation or starvation.
4. Overfishing
The pollution resulting from human activity is a major threat to aquatic life and is also the primary cause of reduced biodiversity. While fishing is not inherently bad for the oceans, it is detrimental to the people when left unregulated. Also, most people depend on fish as a protein source, pushing the demand for fish through the roof. Without proper protection mechanisms, some fish species are on the brink of facing extinction.
5. Deforestation
International data indicates that over 18 million acres of trees are clear cut every year to accommodate new developments and wood products. This is clearly not in order considering that trees are the largest oxygen producers that humans need to stay alive. Deforestation is threatening the survival of different species of animals. As we all know, trees provide a habitat for wildlife. It also increases greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming. Such human practices need to stop for our survival to be guaranteed.
