ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

By SHARON THOMAS Computer Science

What Is Environmental Degradation?Environmental degradation is a result of socio-economical, technological and institutional activities. Degradation occurs when Earth's natural resources are depleted.Resources which are affected include:WaterAirSoilThe degradation also impacts our:EcosystemWildlifePlantsAnimals

I=PATI = Environmental IMPACTP = Ever increasing POPULATIONA = Per capita AFFLUENCET = Resource depletion due to polluting Technology

Causes of Environmental Degradation

DEFORESTATION• Deforestation is the clearance of forests by logging and/or burning.• Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees or derived charcoal

are used as, or sold, for fuel or as a commodity, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements.

• The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity.

• It has adverse impacts on bio sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

• Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland

POLLUTION• Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is air, water, land or noise is

harmful for 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 degradation of 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 honking of vehicles on a busy road or machines producing large noise in a factory or a mill.

OVER-POPULATION• Rapid population growth puts strain on natural resources which

results in degradation of our environment. • Mortality rate has gone down due to better medical facilities which

has resulted in increased lifespan. • More population simple 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.

NATURAL CAUSES• Things like avalanches, quakes, tidal waves, storms, and wildfires

can totally crush nearby animal and plant groups to the point where they can no longer survive in those areas.

• This can either come to fruition through physical demolition as the result of a specific disaster, or by the long term degradation of assets by the presentation of an obtrusive foreign species to the environment.

• The latter frequently happens after tidal waves, when reptiles and bugs are washed ashore.

The Impact of the major environmental problems on both health and productivity are:

Human HealthPovertyAtmospheric changesLoss of biodiversity

Human Health

Human health might be at the receiving end as a result of the environmental degradation.

Areas exposed to toxic air pollutants can cause respiratory problems like pneumonia and asthma.

Millions of people are known to have died of due to indirect effects of air pollution.

POVERTY In many countries, crop harvests are falling as

consumption increases. People are finding less nutritious food to eat. One

argument held is that while fields in wealthier nations are used to grow crops for biofuel , poorer countries, especially those around the Equator, are vulnerable to weather changes, water shortages, and urbanization.

All of these factors are increasing the health and lives of thousands.

Some scientists and environmentalists are asking that non-food items and agriculture waste be used as alternative fuel for vehicles instead.

Atmospheric Changes

Ozone layer is responsible for protecting earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. The presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere is causing the ozone layer to deplete.

Biodiversity is important for maintaining balance of the ecosystem in the form of combating pollution, restoring nutrients, protecting water sources and stabilizing climate.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

THE 3R’s1. Reduce 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.

2. Reuse Second-hand consumption is definitely looked down upon.

If people start reusing specific things, environmental degradation will be greatly reduced.

3. Recycle Recycling is the best way to slow down environmental

degradation, and is something that everyone should partake in.

Green Transportation If we all rode bikes instead of driving cars, we could combat

pollution quite easily. Cars and other vehicles release pollution into the air, which only causes the slow, deadly process of environment 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 to get to where we all need to go throughout the day, but over time we would all be in better shape.

Meeting the needs of everyone, especially our planet, when it comes to green transportation is so important, and among one of the best ways to combat environments degradation.

Give back to Environment The best possible way to help prevent environmental

degradation, is to give back to the environment. You can do this successfully by planting three trees for every

one that is cut down for the forestry industry. When it comes to the planet’s trees, you can never have enough. Trees give us clean air to breathe, they literally filter out the bad and pump out the good, which is why we’d never survive without them.

Keeping our forests alive are not only important to our ecosystem, but to the wildlife system of the world as well, because it’s their home.

When the food chain is affected, we as humans are all affected.

Thank YouLets Go Green………………