ALARMING ECOLOGICAL CHANGES WITHIN THIS CENTURY
Added on: 26th Aug 2016
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
More than 40 percent of Americans have expressed concern
in the past few years about wildlife conservation and
associated environmental issues, such as endangered
species, animal and plant extinction, coral bleaching, the
introduction of invasive species, poaching, and the loss of
natural animal habitats resulting in relocation and a
break in the food chain.
WATER POLLUTION
Water covers over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface but only
a small part of it is fresh (2.5% to be exact). Consequently,
water pollution is considered one of the most important
ecological problems. Water pollution affects drinking water,
rivers, lakes, and oceans all over the world.
SOIL CONTAMINATION
Soil contamination is when the concentration of chemicals,
nutrients, or elements in the soil becomes more than it
normally or naturally is, as a result of human action. An
official study released by the Chinese government has
shown that almost a fifth of China’s soil is contaminated.
RESOURCE DEPLETION
Our current global population is 7.2 billion and growing.
Earth’s total resources are sufficient for about 2.5 billion
people at the current demand. We are already using two to
three times more of the Earth’s natural resources than is
sustainable. A desolate, dry Earth won’t be a fun place for
our children and later generations to live.
OZONE DEPLETION
Ozone depletion and the damage to the Earth’s ozone layer
caused by CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) has been a problem
worrying the scientific community for a few decades now
but in the past decade its negative effects have been
more noticeable than ever before.
OVERPOPULATION
The human population is growing as never before. We are now
adding one billion people to the planet every twelve years.
That’s about 220,000 per day. Truth be told, human
overpopulation appears to be among the most pressing
environmental issues, silently aggravating the forces behind
climate change, environmental pollution, and habitat loss,
while continued building and burial of humans all over the
world only makes things worse.
OVERFISHING
Over three-quarters of our planet is covered by water. Ocean
biodiversity is unmatched and they contain over 80 percent
of all life on Earth, mostly unexplored. Millions of people
worldwide depend on the oceans for their livelihood but
increasingly this has become endangered because of
ignorance and a lack of global management,
which often leads to overfishing.
NUCLEAR ISSUES
Despite popular belief, the greenhouse gas emissions from
nuclear fission power are much smaller than those associated
with coal, oil, and gas. However, there is a “catastrophic risk”
potential if containment fails, which in nuclear reactors
can be brought about by overheated fuels melting and
releasing large quantities of fission products into
the environment.
NATURAL DISASTERS
The cataclysmic natural disasters that have taken place in the
past fifteen years, such as gigantic tsunamis in Asia and their
terrible impact on all aspects of the environment, are
becoming an increasingly alarming problem that the
scientific community is watching closely.
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