One of the most shocking things is that us humans are destroying the very planet we live on as the years go by. As humans become more dependent on luxury valuables such as property, cars and other technology, the detrimental impact on the environment keeps growing. Human activity has led to the extinction of various creatures and increasing endangered species. The extent of the damage can be better understood by all the awareness campaigns, indicating that humans have changed the world in unprecedented ways. In this article, we will discuss some of the ways how humans are actually impacting the environment and hence the world negatively.
Population
Whilst it is indeed true that reproduction is essential for the survival of a species, we seem to have taken things overboard, as with decreased mortality rates we are nearing the maximum the planet can hold. Increased population leads to environmental decline. To accommodate all the people in the world, structured housing needs to be constantly planned for and this normally comes at the expense of trees. This is leading to the rise of deforestation, where many organisms are being destroyed and becoming extinct due to a lack of trees.
Pollution
Pollution is unavoidable. Irrespective of where you live, you will always be exposed to some form of pollution. As the dependency on cars increase, so does pollution and the damage to our lungs as we consume lower quality air. Pollution is so problematic that around two and a half billion people do not have proper access to clean water. Also shocking is the fact that humans are constantly damaging and polluting necessary resources such as air, water and soil which cannot be replaced in a few years. It takes generations to fix the damage. Pollution is also affecting the sea as humans are dumping damaging materials such as plastic which destroys ocean life.
Global warming
One of the most mentioned phenomena in the world today. CO₂ levels are constantly increasing, which in turn adds to the planet’s heat. Global warming is also spurred forth by deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. As the world’s temperature increases, more ice melts, leading to ocean rises. Global warming also impacts weather patterns, leading to risk of hurricanes and heat waves.
Waste
The way we are disposing of materials we no longer need is also destroying the environment. Just have a look at places of entertainment, where people leave different types of waste, which is then consumed by birds and water species.
Human behaviour is indeed problematic as people do not understand the impacts of their individual actions.
