General

Examples Of Environmental Problems

The environmental problems are natural phenomena (or manmade) that adversely affect the conservation of ecosystems, or pose a threat to the life of living beings.  

Most of the environmental problems derive from the unplanned action of man, whose urban global growth demands more and more natural resources of all kinds: water, energy, land, organic and minerals.

Environmental problems tend to go unnoticed until their consequences are very evident, through natural disasters, ecological tragedies, global threats or severe risks to human health.

Examples of environmental problems

Destruction of the ozone layer. This phenomenon of lowering the ozone barrier in the atmosphere that filters and deflects the ultraviolet rays of the sun is one that has been well documented for decades, when atmospheric pollution due to the release of gases began to catalyze the decomposition of ozone into oxygen, a phenomenon that is normally slow in the heights. However, the partial recovery of it has recently been announced.

Deforestation. The third part of the planet is covered with forests and jungles, which represents a gigantic plant lung, renewing daily the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Sustained and indiscriminate logging not only undermines this extremely important chemical balance, essential for life but also leads to the destruction of animal habitats and loss of soil absorption. It is estimated that 129 million vegetable hectares have been lost in the last decade and a half.

Climate change. Some theories suggest that it is due to decades-long sustained pollution, others that it is part of a planetary cycle.

Climate change as a phenomenon points to the substitution of dry climates for rainy and vice versa, to the migration of temperatures and the redistribution of waters, all of which have considerable effects on human populations, accustomed for centuries to a stable regional climate.

Air pollutionAir pollution levels have multiplied in recent decades, as a result of the hydrocarbon energy industry and combustion engines, which release tons of toxic gases into the atmosphere, thus deteriorating the air we breathe.

Water contamination. The release of chemical substances and toxic waste from industry to lakes and rivers is a trigger for acid rains, biological extinctions and the de-destabilization of water, which then requires extreme measures to enable its consumption, necessary for sustaining life organic of all kinds.

Soil depletion. The successive monocultures and forms of intensive agriculture that, through various technological methods, maximize production without taking into account the need for soil alternation, sow a problem to come since the soils tirelessly deplete their nutrients and plant life becomes more difficult in the medium term. Such is the case of soy monoculture, for example.

Radioactive waste generation. Nuclear plants generate tons of radioactive waste daily dangerous to human, plant and animal life, as well as long periods of activity that exceed the durability of their usual lead containers. How to dispose of these wastes with the minimum environmental impact is a challenge to face.

Generation of non-biodegradable garbage. Plastics, polymers and other complex forms of industrial materials have particularly long lives until they finally biodegrade. Considering that tons of plastic bags and other disposable items are produced daily, the world will have less and less room for so much long-lived garbage.

Polar melting. It is not known if it is the product of global warming or if it is the end of an ice age, but the truth is that the poles melt, increasing the water level of the oceans and putting in check the established coastal borders, as well as the arctic and antarctic life.

Expansion of deserts. Many desert areas are gradually expanding, due to drought, deforestation and global warming. This does not contradict brutal flooding in other areas, but neither option is healthy for life.

Overpopulation. In a world of limited resources, the unstoppable growth of the human population is an environmental problem. In 1950 the total human population did not reach 3 billion, and by 2012 it already exceeds 7. The population has tripled in the last 60 years, which also augurs a future of poverty and competition for resources.

Ocean acidification. This is the rise in the pH of ocean waters, as a product of substances added by human industry.

This has an effect similar to that of human osteoporosis in marine species and proliferates the growth of some types of algae and plankton above others, breaking the trophic balance.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics. It may not be an environmental problem at all since it mainly affects human health, but it is an evolutionary consequence of the sustained misuse of antibiotics for decades, which has led to the creation of more resistant bacteria that could not only wreak havoc on the environment. man, but in most higher animal populations as well.

Space debris generation. Although it may not seem like it, this problem has started at the end of the 20th century and promises to be somewhat problematic in future eras, as the space garbage belt that is already beginning to surround our planet grows with the successive satellites and remnants of space missions that, once used and discarded, they remain our planet.

Non-renewable resource depletion  The hydrocarbons, particularly, are organic material formed over eons of tectonic history and have been used so intense and blithely that in the near future will have been fully used. What environmental effects that remain to be seen; But the race to find alternative forms of energy does not always point to greener solutions.

Plant genetic impoverishment  The work of genetic engineering in agricultural cultivation may seem like a short-term solution to maximize food production with which to satisfy a growing human population, but in the deterioration of the genetic variability of cultivated plant species and impacts, in addition, negatively in the competition between the species, since it applies an artificial selection criterion that impoverishes the plant biodiversity of the region.

Photochemical contamination. This occurs in large industrialized cities, where there are few winds to disperse air pollution and high UV incidence that catalyzes highly reactive and toxic oxidative reactions for organic life. This is called photochemical smog.

See also: Main Air Pollutants

Fragmentation of natural habitats. The growth of the urban slick, in addition to mining and sustained logging activities, have destroyed numerous natural habitats, leading to the impoverishment of global biodiversity at a worrying rate.

Greenhouse effect or global warming. This theory assumes that the increase in world temperature is the result of the destruction of the ozone layer (and a higher incidence of UV rays), as well as high levels of CO 2 and other gases in the atmosphere, which prevent the release of heat. environmental, thus leading to many of the scenarios already described.

Extinction of animal species. Whether due to indiscriminate hunting, animal trade or as a consequence of the contamination and destruction of their habitats, there is currently a possible sixth great extinction of species, this time the product of human hands.

The list of endangered species is very extensive and, according to surveys of specialized biologists in the area, 70% of the world’s animal species could be disappearing by the middle of the century if protectionist measures are not taken.

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