Living Planet Report 2018: Aiming higher
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| Source: WWF |
The Living Planet Report 2018 has been published this week, the twelfth edition of the report. Every two years, the WWF (one of the world’s largest independent conservation organizations with a global network active in 100 countries) publishes the report so as to give an indication of the current health and state of our planet (including biodiversity, ecosystems, and demand on natural resources and what it means for humans and wildlife), the trends in global biodiversity and wildlife abundance, and the impact of human activity. It is a science-based analysis, assisted by multiple indicators including the Living Planet Index (LPI), the Species Habitat Index (SHI), the IUCN Red List Index (RLI), the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), the Planetary Boundaries, and the Ecological Footprint. The report comprises of a variety of research in order to provide a comprehensive view of the health of the Earth. The state of global biodiversity is done by measuring the population abundance of thousands of vertebrate species around the world. The Living Planet Report tracked more than 16,704 populations of 4,005 vertebrate species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. It uses the Ecological Footprint and additional complementary measures to explore the changing state of global biodiversity and human consumption.
Disturbing results and statistics
The results and the scientific evidence are shocking. Nature has continually warned us: unsustainable human activity is pushing the planet’s natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge. The report warns us seriously too: “Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions.” Over recent decades, human activity has also severely impacted the habitats and natural resources wildlife and humanity depend on, such as oceans, forests, coral reefs, wetlands, and mangroves.
According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2018:
· Human activities are primarily responsible for the main threats to species identified in the report, including habitat loss, degradation, and over-exploitation of wildlife, such as overfishing and overhunting.
· On average, we’ve seen an astonishing 60% decline in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians in just over 40 years (between 1970 and 2014). Over-exploitation of ecological resources by humanity is thus worrisome.
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| Source: WWF |
· Current rates of species extinction are now up to 1,000 times higher than before human involvement in animal ecosystems became a factor.
· Species population declines are especially pronounced in the tropics, with South and Central America suffering the most dramatic decline, an 89% loss compared to 1970.
· Freshwater species numbers have also declined dramatically, with the Freshwater Index showing an 83% decline since 1970, due mainly as a result of overfishing, pollution, and climate change.
· The Earth is estimated to have lost about 50% of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years.
· 90% of seabirds have plastics in their stomachs, compared with 5% in 1960.
· A fifth (20%) of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
· African elephants have declined in number in Tanzania by 60% in just five years between 2009 and 2014, primarily due to ivory poaching.
· Deforestation in Borneo, designed to make way for timber and palm oil plantations, led to the loss of 100,000 orangutans between 1999 and 2015.
· The number of polar bears is expected to decline by 30% by 2050 as global warming causes Arctic ice to melt, making their habitats increasingly dangerous.
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| Source: Science Daily |
· Only a quarter of the world's land is untouched by humans, who are increasing food production and use of natural resources.
· America is among the countries using the most natural resources. North America and Canada consume more than seven global hectares per person.
· The report also focuses on the value of nature to people's health and that of our societies and economies: Globally, nature provides services worth around $125 trillion a year, while also helping ensure the supply of fresh air, clean water, food, energy, medicines, and more.
Thus, from the above mentioned statistics, it is clear that the impact human activity (how we feed, fuel, and finance our lives) has on the world’s wildlife, forests, oceans, rivers, and climate is troublesome. It is taking an unprecedented toll on wildlife, wild places, and the natural resources we need to survive. According to Global Footprint Network, humanity is currently using the resources of 1.7 planets to provide the goods and services we demand when we only have one Earth.
Is it too late?
Current efforts to protect the natural world are not keeping up with the speed of this destruction. We’re facing a rapidly closing window for action and the urgent need for everyone to cooperatively rethink and redefine how we value, protect, and restore nature. This generation may be last to save nature, the report warns. But, we still have time to act; there is still hope. In order to ensure a sustainable future for all living things, we need to urgently curtail the loss of nature. In essence, the Living Planet Report 2018 highlights the opportunity the global community has to protect and restore nature leading up to 2020, an imperative year when leaders are expected to review the progress made on landmark multilateral pacts to solve global challenges including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Marco Lambertini, Director General WWF International, is of the belief that “the nature conservation agenda is not only about securing the future of tigers, pandas, whales and all the amazing diversity of life we love and cherish on Earth. It’s bigger than that. There cannot be a healthy, happy and prosperous future for people on a planet with a destabilized climate, depleted oceans and rivers, degraded land and empty forests, all stripped of biodiversity, the web of life that sustains us all. In the next years, we need to urgently transition to a net carbon-neutral society and halt and reverse nature loss – through green finance, clean energy and environmentally friendly food production. We must also preserve and restore enough land and ocean in a natural state. Few people have the chance to be a part of truly historic transformations. This is ours”.
You can read more about the report here: https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/all_publications/living_planet_report_2018/
References
WWF. 2018. Living Planet Report - 2018: Aiming Higher. Grooten, M. and Almond, R.E.A.(Eds). WWF, Gland, Switzerland.
"An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power" Song
OneRepublic recently released the official song for the Paramount Pictures and Participant Media's Film "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power". It's a follow-up to the 2007 documentary about global warming.
The video features people who have been impacted by environmental disasters. It also shows clips about protests and the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The video ends with the message of hope.
Watch the lyric video here:
You can help fight climate change!
The ocean is facing an ocean full of threats!
Oceans are extremely pristine. The oceans are essentially one of the biggest resources for life on earth, but at the same time, one of the biggest dumping grounds. Globally, more than three billion people depend on our oceans and coastal ecosystems for their livelihood. One would think that humans would be more respectful to the ocean, considering that it's a vital source of nutrition for these people. Our gorgeous oceans and their inhabitants are often taken for granted. Our ocean generates 80% of the oxygen we need but the carbon levels in the oceans are at an all-time high. Unfortunately oceans are faced with several far-reaching threats. People sometimes wrongly view the ocean as bottomless and a convenient dumping ground, it’s seen as an inexhaustible supply of food, a useful transport route, immune to all the impacts from people and thus too vast to be affected by humans’ impact but these careless actions have detrimentally affected marine ecosystems. Natural disasters result in temporary destruction of habitat. However, human impacts are more consistent and severe.
The ocean has been irreversibly damaged as a result of these human-induced impacts and unprecedented environmental changes have occurred. The world's oceans are significantly affected by human activities — and few ocean areas remain untouched. Sadly, humans will continue to inflict harm on the ocean, both through day-to-day activity and episodic events like major oil spills. Moreover, scientists have begun to realize these devastating effects on the oceans. As a result of not properly protecting the ocean, over-fishing, by catch, pollution, and other issues have become major threats to the health of our oceans. We have disrupted marine ecosystems everywhere and have driven countless species towards extinction. Thus not only are the marine habitats and species being threatened, it but also our own health, way of life, and security. Even though global fish populations provide a critical source of food for millions of people around the world, they are rapidly declining. Plastic and toxic waste also end up in oceans. Because there’s less than two per cent of our oceans set aside as marine reserves, it has become way too easy to exploit their natural resources. Even though 71% of our beautiful planet is covered by oceans, they are still severely neglected, which, in turn, is harming the innumerable creatures that live in them, and polluting one of our largest resources.
Here’s a look at the most prominent and extensive threats:
Overfishing & Destructive Fishing
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| Source: Venngage |
One of the most noticeable threats is overfishing. Marine scientists consider overfishing to be the worst impact humans are having on the oceans. We’ve now almost emptied the oceans. We have systematically depleted the fish in our oceans. It has environmental and social consequences. Socially, it threatens food security for millions of people around the world and, environmentally, it destroys ocean ecosystems all over the world. By capturing fish faster than they can reproduce, people are essentially harming an entire ecosystem that interact with those species, from the food they eat to the predators that eat them. Two shocking facts are that we have already lost two-thirds of the large fish in the ocean and one in three fish populations have collapsed since 1950. 90% of the world's fisheries are already fully exploited or overfished, while billions of unwanted fish and other animals die unnecessarily each year. In fact, unsustainable fishing is the largest threat to ocean life and habitats. Previously, people caught fish with small boats and rods close to the shore. And then people exhausted the pelagic fish (including herring and tuna). Further, then, people went deeper, catching species, which can live to 150 years and don’t breed until they are 20 years old. People use destructive methods in how they pull catches, such as bottom trawling which destroys sea floor habitat and scoops up many unwanted fish and animals that are tossed aside. They also pull far too many fish to be sustainable, pushing many species to the point of being listed as threatened and endangered. These losses inevitable make the ecosystems more vulnerable to other disturbances, including pollution. Overfishing’s impact relates to wiping out a species, as well as other species of marine animals that are dependent upon those fish for survival. Not only that but it can cause marine animals to starve because people take food from their mouths in too large of numbers for them to be able to get their fill. Knowledge is power. Thus, it is important for people to properly know what types of seafood can be sustainably eaten, whether that is the species of seafood or the method by which it is caught. This will then ensure that the ocean's fisheries are healthy. As a result of technological advances of the last few hundred years, it has resulted in unsustainable levels of harvest, threatening fish stocks and the integrity of entire marine ecosystems. Thus, it not only has ecological impacts, but declining fisheries also result in economic loss and decreased food security. Furthermore, ghost fishing is an environmentally harmful issue. It is caused when lost or discarded fishing gear continues to catch fish and other marine life. The traps frequently trigger a chain-reaction problem when larger predators come to eat the smaller ones that have been ensnared, only to get tangled themselves. It commonly occurs when passive gear has been abandoned. It also poses a serious threat to other ocean vessels.
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| Source: Oceana |
Pollution
While carrying serious consequences, oil spills and other pollution at sea, account for a small fraction of ocean pollution. Approximately half of all ocean pollution comes from land-based activities, like sewage, industrial and agricultural runoff, garbage dumping, and chemical spills. Pollutants from land, including plastics, untreated sewage, garbage, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and fertilizers, frequently end up in the oceans, either by deliberately dumping it or it enters from water run-off and the atmosphere. Moreover, this careless action is harmful for the entire marine food chain with undesirable consequences. One aspect of pollution that detrimentally affects the ocean is major oil spills, periodically causing major incidents. People are still dependent on the ocean to dilute agricultural and sewer runoff. The ocean is the world’s largest “sink”, absorbing about half of the CO2 created by burning fossil fuels and how we manage the ocean can increase that natural absorption rate.
Plastic pollution
This is one of the most noticeable threats. It’s shockingly astonishing to see how much of our trash finds its way into the ocean. Because plastic is so durable (it can persist in the oceans for tens of thousands of years), it has significant ecological impacts as it resists the pull of time and bio-degradation that return most materials back into biologically useful forms. People’s use of plastic has risen, and also, simultaneously, the amount that has been dumped, blown, tossed, or dropped into the world’s oceans and rivers. For example, a Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch exists which is an area in the Pacific Ocean between the West Coast of America and the Hawaiian islands that, due to the circular ocean currents surrounding it, collects and aggregates plastic waste. Worryingly, there are places within the garbage patch that have more plastic than plankton. Plastic in the waters leach chemicals and are frequently mistaken as food by marine wildlife. Marine debris endangers human health and hurt business and tourism by dirtying our beaches and coastlines. An estimated 60-80 per cent of all marine debris originates from land-based sources. Human industry is responsible for dumping an ever-growing amount of trash and pollution into oceans. Over-consumption has led to pollution. The oceanic environment and its wildlife are severely choking on plastic. All plausible solution for this is to stop pollution at the source. Animals become easily entangled and trapped in our garbage, and it can destroy delicate sea life such as coral and sponges. Sea turtles and dolphins often mistakenly see plastic bags as their favorite foods, jellyfish and squids, choking them or clogging their digestive system. Pollution from the land is creating oxygen-deprived dead zones where plants and animals can’t survive. Plastic debris revolves around gyres in the world’s oceans: two in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic, one in the Indian Ocean.
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| Source: Unknown |
Climate Change
The temperature rise over the past century is estimated at about 0.1 degree Celsius – that’s enough to kill the algae that keep corals alive, move species into new areas, and cause sea levels to rise. It is actually getting warmer faster than predicted. The effects of climate change would continue to play out for a century, even if people stopped pumping additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Global warming is essentially creating a climate time bomb by storing enormous amounts of heat in the waters of the north Atlantic. Climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into our atmosphere – primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, such as petroleum and coal, release carbon dioxide that traps heat in our atmosphere. Warmer waters would receive less protection from sunlight, which would warm them further. Heat stored in the oceans could be released into the atmosphere in the future, lessening efforts to stabilize global temperatures with cuts in man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Warmer air and water temperatures result in loss of sea ice, sea level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather. All these aspects threaten fish and wildlife populations as well as our quality of life.
Acidification
Acidification relates to carbon dioxide, dissolving in oceans to form carbonic acid. The greater the acidity, the less able marine-calcifying organisms are to form shells which disrupt their reproductive process. Oceanic acidity has increased by 25% since the industrial revolution. It will eventually destroy much marine life if it increases at this rate. In the future, there will be a tipping point where the oceans become too acidic to support life that can't quickly adjust. Thus, many species will go extinct, from shellfish to corals as well as the fish that depend on them.
Habitat destruction and degradation
Another way in which ecosystems (which marine plants and animals need for their survival) are systematically destroyed, include clearing mangrove forests for shrimp production and scraping entire ecosystems off seamounts, or underwater mountain ranges via deep-sea trawling. Furthermore, fields of dying coral occur, and the sea grass and mangrove forests get whittled away by human development, wind, and sea.
Inadequate Protection
Even though, oceans cover over 70% of our planet’s surface, only a tiny fraction are protected: just 3.4%. More and better managed Marine Protected Areas are urgently required. Else, the future of the ocean’s rich biodiversity remains uncertain.
Tourism & Development
All over the world, coastlines have unfortunately been gradually turned into new housing and tourist developments. Unrestricted coastal development is severely impacting wetland and coastlines. As a result of this intense human presence, it has taken a toll on marine life.
Shipping
Because the oceans are huge “highways” where people ship all kinds of goods. But due to the heavy traffic, it has left a lasting mark: oil spills, ship groundings, anchor damage, and the dumping of rubbish, ballast water, and oily waste. All of these factors are endangering marine habitats around the world.
Oil & Gas
Important reserves of oil, gas, and minerals lie deep beneath the seafloor. But, prospecting and drilling poses a key threat to sensitive marine habitats and species. When oil is extracted from the ocean floor, other chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and lead come up with it. Furthermore, the seismic waves used to find oil harm aquatic mammals and disorient whales.
Aquaculture
Many times, the farming of fish and shellfish harms wild fish, through the pollution the farms discharge, escaped farmed fish, increased parasite loads, and the need to catch wild fish as feed.
Invasive species
Most aquatic invasive species are spread by human activities such as shipping or the aquarium trade. Once invasive species have been introduced to a new environment, it can negatively impact the environment, economy, and human health, and threatening native ecosystems and biodiversity.
Commercial Whaling
This is still a concern nowadays. The shocking practice was rampant for such an extensive period, that, sadly, many whale species may never recover.
Conclusion
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| Source: Greenpeace |
References
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| Source: Short Day |
Imagine this: A dire world without the tallest land mammal in the world: The Giraffe. This can soon be reality if we don’t stick our necks out for giraffes – we have taken them for granted for far too long!
Unfortunately, the conservation status of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), has, for the first time, been classified as ‘Vulnerable to extinction’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in its Red List of Threatened Species report. These species were previously classified as ‘Least Concern’. But, their survival is in jeopardy as their populations are declining considerably. The animal faces extinction in the wild in the medium-term future if nothing is done to minimize the threats to its life or habitat. It came as a shock to many people as they didn’t see it coming. Julian Fennessy, executive director of Giraffe Conservation Foundation, calls it the “silent extinction”.
Unfortunately, the conservation status of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), has, for the first time, been classified as ‘Vulnerable to extinction’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in its Red List of Threatened Species report. These species were previously classified as ‘Least Concern’. But, their survival is in jeopardy as their populations are declining considerably. The animal faces extinction in the wild in the medium-term future if nothing is done to minimize the threats to its life or habitat. It came as a shock to many people as they didn’t see it coming. Julian Fennessy, executive director of Giraffe Conservation Foundation, calls it the “silent extinction”.
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| Source: ABC |
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| Source: BBC |
The sad fact is that they once roamed extensively across Africa's savannas and woodlands, but now only occupy half of the range they did a century ago. This remarkable yet humble animal is under severe pressure in East, Central, and West Africa, their core ranges. Here, the populations are sparse and fragmented due to i.e. roads and mines. Their woodland habitat has been cleared for farms or burnt for charcoal, they’ve been hunted by poachers for their 'trophy' tails, and a vast expanses of remote, biologically rich ecosystems to new development pressures and increasing human-wildlife conflict have occurred.
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| Source: The Verge |
Their total numbers have declined by 40% in just the last few decades from more than 150,000 in 1985 to just over 97,000 in 2015. Moreover, they have disappeared entirely from seven African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal. Their decline has been so abruptly because they reproduce slowly, occasional attacks by lions and hyenas, and they are unable to effectively adapt to their hostile surroundings.
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| Source: IB Times UK |
We have to stop assuming that giraffes will survive one generation to the next. We all have to ensure that conservation take place while ensuring sustainable societies. Saving the iconic giraffe will be a tall order before we lose them forever, but will absolutely be worthwhile. Your grandchildren will be thankful that you helped these tall, majestic animals so that they, too, can learn more about these stunning animals, but, most importantly, abundantly experience the stunning picture below in real-life:
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| Source: Short Day |
References
Human-environment interactions
Human-environment interaction is an overarching theme in Geography. It can be described as interactions between human social systems and ecosystems. It concerns the numerous relationships (both positive and negative) between people and their surroundings. These systems are complex as they have many parts and are interconnected. Importantly, the type of society strongly influences people’s attitude towards nature, their behavior and, in turn, their impact on ecosystems. Characteristics of human social systems comprise of population size, social organization, values, technology, wealth, education, and knowledge.
The relationship of man and environment is bi-directional, meaning that human beings are affected by the environment and they also affect the environment.
People modify the natural world for their purposes so that can obtain as much benefits from it as possible. Ecosystem services are essential human wellbeing, including the provision of resources like water, timber, food, energy, and land for farming.
Nevertheless, people’s actions have consequences on the environment. Undoubtedly, there exist a link between human activities and environmental degradation. The state of the environment has been significantly changed due to human activities. The activities have also exerted tremendous pressure on our natural world due to driving forces such as socio-economic and socio-cultural forces.
Furthermore, it relates to how people adapt behaviorally and physically to the environment and, conversely, how they depend on and modify it. In fact, people have caused such major environmental change that Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Crutzen suggested, in 2000, that we’ve entered an era known as the Anthropocene.
Depend - How do we rely on our environment to make our lives better?
We depend on the environment for food supply; energy source; air; water; natural resources for industry, and recreation
Modify - How do we change our environment to fit our needs?
Humans can impact our environment negatively, including: energy production; overuse of resources threatens natural balance; intensive agriculture leads to loss of diversity; and industry leads to pollution of air and water.
Adapt - How do we change ourselves to live within our environment?
The constituents of the study of interaction between environment and the human beings include:
1) Physical Environment which is aspect of natural environment such as climate, terrain, temperature, rainfall, flora, fauna, etc.
2) Social – Cultural Environment. It includes all aspects of cultural environment such as norms, customs, and process of socialization, etc.
3) Environmental Orientations which refer to the beliefs that people hold about their environment.
4) Environmental Behavior refers to the use of environment by people in the course of social interactions.
5) Products of Behavior: These include the outcomes of people’s actions such as homes, cities, dams, schools, etc. Thus, these are products or outcomes dealing with the environment.
A relevant example of a human-environment interaction relates to climate change. Scientists wholeheartedly believe that there is evidence suggesting human activities have contributed to continuing changes in global temperatures and climates. Moreover, an attempt has been made by people to change these actions. In terms of adaption, speculatively, people will be forced to adapt to the effects of climate change in the coming decades.
Human-environment interactions entail how the natural environment shape, control, and constrain human systems by referring to natural hazards that disrupt human activity and how human decision-making and processes shape and, even change, the natural environment, including ecosystems, river systems, vegetation, and climate.
Sustainability
One thing is for sure, there is a greater concern about whether social and ecological systems can coexist in a sustainable manner. This has ultimately led to implementing the sustainability concept. It relates to whether and how human activities can exist without disrupting the ability of natural ecosystems to properly function.
The environment is a naturally-given capital, but it is exhaustible. Thus it is our duty to use resources sustainably and judiciously in order to properly conserve it for future generations.
Environmental concern
Nowadays there is a greater and growing concern about the deteriorating quality of environment. Fortunately, efforts have continually been made to improve the quality and to ensure the sustainable use of resources. The effect of human activities is long-term and irreversible and will affect the lives of generations to come.
We don’t always realize that even our simple activities play an inevitably role in degrading the environment. All billions of people living on our planet affect the environment in some form or another. The majority of people, through their unsustainable activities, have a collective, negative effect on the environment in which we live. An appropriate example is air pollution.
Water, a natural resource, is a finite resource that isn’t being replenished fast enough.
We must help to sustain our planet for not only our own lives but also for future generations to come. The only way that this will take effectively place, is if theirs is equilibrium between the humans and their activities and the environment.
References
Man-Environment Interaction – Module V. Social and Applied Psychology.
Websites
Pressing Environmental Issues
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| Source: One in a billion |
There are several environmental concerns the Earth is currently facing. These issues affect all people, animals, communities, and nations around the world. Some of these changes are small and only affect a few ecosystems, but others are drastically changing landscapes. Environmental problems unfortunately make us vulnerable to disasters and tragedies, both now and in the future. Our environment is constantly changing. But human-related activities have certainly contributed towards accelerating such change which has negatively impacted Mother Nature. In fact, our planet is on the brink of a severe environmental crisis. We are heading to a state of planetary emergency. One thing is for sure: Earth is fragile and the need for change is critical so as to ensure a sustainable future.
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| Source: Inhabitat |
The environment is the habitat in which living things maintain their reciprocation and interact with each other throughout their lifetimes. Because life and environment are interdependent, environment is a vital human element. Human life and natural life are based on various balances. The environmental balance that human beings maintain is among the most important. Extraneous effects on the chain links that make up this natural balance will negatively affect this balance and lead to environmental problems. According to Watson and Halse (2005), human beings profoundly affect these environmental problems, and these human effects unprecedentedly reveal themselves in issues such as global warming, rain forest destruction, ozone layer breaches, and biological variety threats (Genc 215).Thus, it is vitally important that all people become increasingly aware about the various environmental problems that our planet is facing.
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| Source: WWF |
Here is a look at the most pressing environmental issues of today that require urgent attention:
1. Climate Change
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| Source: Youtube |
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| Source: Climate Change Central |
Climate change, as a serious environmental problem, has occurred over the few decades. Global warming is a contested environmental issue: many scientists are of the belief that the phenomenon is real. Other people are sceptical. However, undoubtedly several consequences of climate change can already be observed including the melting polar ice caps, gradual rise in sea level, unnatural patterns of precipitation such as flash floods, catastrophic weather, excessive snow, desertification, threatened ecosystems, and change in overall weather scenario. Moreover, humans have undeniably influenced climate change with the production of greenhouse gases (stemming from carbon dioxide and methane). One thing is for sure: Our planet is warming and changes will continue to occur stronger and negatively affecting the ecosystems.
2. Water
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| Source: National Geographic Society |
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| Source: Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation |
In many parts of the world, water sources are scarce. The global reserves of drinkable water are a fraction of 1% and 1 in 5 humans doesn’t have access to potable water. Water pollution is also a worrisome occurrence. Other issues include acid rain, ocean dumping, urban runoff, oil spills, ocean acidification, and wastewater. In essence, potable drinking water is fast becoming a rare commodity.
3. Pollution
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| Source: WWF |
Air, water, and soil pollution have greatly occur all over the world. The number one pollutant is probably Industry and motor vehicle exhaust. Heavy metals, nitrates, and plastic are toxins responsible for pollution. Water pollution is caused by oil spill, acid rain, and urban runoff. Air pollution is primarily caused by gases and toxins released by industries and factories and combustion of fossil fuels. And soil pollution is predominantly caused by industrial waste, depriving soil from essential nutrients.
4. Ecosystems and Endangered Species
Many species are under continuous threat, including indicator species (when this type of species becomes threatened, endangered, or extinct, an entire ecosystem faces collapse) and evolutionarily unique species. The consequences have a global impact.
5. Ocean Acidification
The world's oceans have absorbed nearly a third of the excess carbon dioxide emitted as a result of anthropogenic activities. A side effect of carbon dioxide absorption is ocean acidification. Excessive CO2 production leads to ocean acidification (Sponberg 2007). The ocean acidity has increased by the last 250 years but by 2100, it may increase by 150 %.
6. Ozone Layer Depletion
This is one of the most important and current environmental problem. The ozone layer (an invisible layer of protection around the planet protecting us from the sun’s harmful rays, preventing harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth) is depleted at unprecedented rates which can be attributed to pollution caused by Chloro-floro carbons (CFC’s). After these toxic gases reach the upper atmosphere, it causes a hole in the ozone layer and, sadly, the biggest of which is above the Antarctic. Nowadays, CFC’s are banned in many industries and consumer products.
7. Natural resource depletion
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| Source: Futurism |
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| Source: Emaze |
Natural resource depletion is another crucial current environmental problems. Resource depletion is most commonly used with reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and consumption of fossil fuels. The three main natural resources that are depleted are water, oil, and forests. Thankfully there has globally been a shift towards using more renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, biogas, and geothermal energy.
8. Deforestation
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| Source: Conserve Energy Future |
Forests can be seen as natural sinks of carbon dioxide. It produces fresh oxygen and help to regulate temperature and rainfall. Presently, forests cover about 30% of the land. However, annually high percentage of tree cover is lost due to growing population as they have a greater demand for food and shelter. Thus, deforestation (clearing of green cover, making land available for residential, industrial, or commercial purposes) takes place at unprecedented rates.
9. Acid Rain
Acid rain occurs as a result of the presence of certain pollutants in the atmosphere, either through the combustion of fossil fuels, erupting volcanoes, or rotting vegetation which release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. Consequences of acid rain not only have serious impacts on human health but also on wildlife and aquatic species.
10. Overpopulation
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| Source: Woolman blog |
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| Source: Alternet |
Overpopulation, an undesirable condition whereby the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth, is another serious problem. The population of the planet has reached unprecedented, unsustainable levels which have led to several water, fuel, and food shortages. In particular, exceptional population growth in developing countries is straining the already scarce resources.
11. Consumerism
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| Source: Wilsonlms |
Over-consumption and their effect on the planet are also persistent.
12. Ecosystem destruction
Ecosystem destruction and associated environmental concerns, such as aquaculture, estuaries, shellfish protection, landscaping, wetlands, and ecological restoration has occurred tremendously. Human-induced activities have led to the extinction of species and habitats and loss of biodiversity. Ecosystems are in danger when any species population is destroyed. An example is the destruction of coral reefs in the various oceans, supporting the rich marine life.
13. Carbon footprint
Carbon footprint (and the responsibility of individuals to reduce their effect on the environment, including the use of renewable energy sources (solar power, geothermal heat pumps), recycling, and sustainable living) must also be looked at.
14. Fishing-related issues
Fishing and its effect on marine ecosystems, blast fishing, cyanide fishing, bottom trawling, whaling, and over-fishing require urgent attention and the proper management thereof.
Conclusion
The one thing that is certain is the fact that environmental protection and preservation of the planet is the responsibility of every individual and community on Earth. By raising important environmental awareness, you can assist in contributing towards a more environmentally conscious and friendly place where future generations can live in a clean, healthy, environmentally sustainable place.
References
Genc, M. 2015. The project-based learning approach in environmental education, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 24:2, 105-117.
Sponberg, A.F. 2007. Ocean Acidification: The Biggest Threat to Our Oceans? American Institute of Biological Sciences.
SALINIZATION
Introduction
Salinization
will be evaluated by referring to the causes, humans as contributors, and the
effect of vulnerability and consequences in order to get a better idea of what
the phenomena of salinization entails.
Extensive
land-use changes in dryland regions occur, causing run-off salinities to
increase as salt is mobilized from subsurface waters. Secondary salinization is
caused by irrigation. Natural lakes’ salinities in drylands accelerate as water
is diverted from inflows for irrigation. Deforestation leads to salinization. Mining
activity is responsible for salts that enter rivers. Rising saline groundwater
tables cause the salinization of some fresh waters. In the cold regions of the
world stream salinization is the result of the use of salts as de-icing agents
for roads (Williams et al., 2000; Löfgren, 2001; Ruth, 2003; Cañedo-Argüelles
et al. 2013). Clearing of natural vegetation is another source.
Coal
and salt mining, soda production factories, sewage and industrial effluents,
and increases in river salinities may result from the construction of
impoundments are also sources of salinization. (Williams 2001; Cañedo-Argüelles
et al. 2013). Salinity intrusion can be caused by sea level rise (SLR) and
extreme events such as cyclones. Natural salinity of rivers is complex
including, “weathering of the catchment; sea spray; small amounts of salts
dissolved in rainwater as a consequence of evaporation of seawater
(Cañedo-Argüelles et al. 2013).
Salinization
causes leading to other impacts
Dryland
salinity causes soil erosion. The removal of indigenous plants and the clearing
of forests lead to soil erosion, and amplify the occurrence of more salts
present in the soil. Salinity can be ascribed to prolonged wetness and where
there is limited surface cover. This will lead to soils to erode. Cyclone and
storm surges induced by climate change force saline water into agricultural lands
along the coast, which damages crops not only in the year the cyclone hits, but
for several years afterwards (Rabbani et al. 2013). The risk of flooding occurs
when shallow water tables occur as soils don’t have the capacity to adequately
absorb rainfall, which ultimately leads to higher run-off rates. Terrestrial
biodiversity is also negatively impacted as it’s destroyed at an unprecedented
rate, causing loss of biodiversity in salt-affected areas. Food shortages will
be prevalent and would then ultimately lead to famine.
Spatial
and temporal scale
Spatial
Temporal
Salts
can be stored in soils, sub-soils and groundwater because of aridity previously
experienced and then released after a long period and occurs at different time
scales. Irrigation leads to mobilising large fossil salt storage, dating from
another saline geographical history in the soil. Cyclone and storm surges
induced by climate change force saline water into agricultural lands along the
coast, which damages crops not only in the year the cyclone hits, but for
several years afterwards.
Future
changes will lead to further salinization. Climate change is likely to increase
river salinity in some regions e.g. a decrease in the amount of precipitation.
The Australian Dryland Salinity Assessment (NLWRA, 2000)(as cited in
Cañedo-Argüelles et al. 2013), predicted that 3.1 million ha of land will be
affected by salt by the year 2050 and up to 20,000km of streams could be
significantly salt affected over the next 20 years.
Humans
as contributors
Salinization
can be natural or human-induced. Many inland waters are becoming more saline
from human activities. Change is being brought about by secondary or
anthropogenic salinization. In this process, catchment changes and other
anthropogenic disturbances to hydrological cycles increase salt loads to
water-bodies: fresh waters become saline and saline waters become even more
saline (Rabbani et al. 2013; Williams 2001).
Anthropogenic
salinization is distinct from natural or primary salinization which is
responsible for the development of natural salt lakes. Primary salinization
involves the accumulation in closed basins of salts from rainwater and leached
from terrestrial sources at rates unaffected by human activities. Natural salt
lakes have been the focus of most limnologic studies of saline waters (Williams
2001).
Increasing
energy demands are likely to increase mining activity, e.g. coal consumption
for electricity is expected to increase 42% from 2008 to 2030 (US Department of
Energy, 2008). Therefore, the future predictions clearly indicate that river salinization
will globally increase (i.e. more streams will be impacted and the salt stress
will increase in already degraded streams) (Cañedo-Argüelles et al. 2013).
Poverty,
low-level resilience, and lack of alternative livelihoods, together with
climate-induced hazards, are responsible for huge losses. The proportion of
salinity-free farmland has gone down over the past 20 years, from more than 60%
to nil. Almost all saline-free and low-salinity farmland has turned into
medium- or high-salinity farmland, which has a severe impact on agricultural
productivity. Salinity intrusion is the main cause of declining rice production
(Rabbani et al. 2013).
Climate
change, including salinity intrusion caused by extreme events (e.g., cyclone
and storm surge) and slow-onset events (e.g., SLR) are leading to negative
impacts on almost every economic sector, including agriculture, livelihood
activities, food security and public health. A future cyclone with a higher
level of storm surge could cause saline intrusion further into the landmass,
thus threatening the whole coastal region and its 33 million people. Poorer
households will experience significantly greater loss and damage as a result (Rabbani
et al. 2013).
The extreme
poor are disproportionately affected by salinity as a percentage of their
income, by comparison to non-poor households. About one-third of people living
on the coast will be badly affected. This is mainly because most of the coastal
population depends on rice cultivation for their livelihoods and food security.
Poor farmers are severely affected by salinity intrusion in rice fields (Rabbani
et al. 2013).
By
1980, between 80 and 110 million ha of irrigated land (34–47% of all irrigated
land) had been effected by salinization to some degree (FAO 1990). The impacts
of anthropogenic salinization are far-reaching, increasing, deleterious, and
largely irreparable. Environmental, social, and economic costs are high. In
some countries, anthropogenic salinization represents the most important threat
to water resources (Williams 2001). Economic losses include the loss or a
diminished value of water supplies for domestic, agricultural, and other needs.
Conclusion
The
relative importance of salt lakes is now rapidly and significantly increasing.
Management responses are of several sorts. Cessation of vegetation clearance,
restriction of dryland agriculture, and tree-planting will mitigate further
salinization. Integrated catchment management is the key practice and needs to
be emphasized more than the management of salinized waters (Williams 2001).
References:
Cañedo
Argüelles, M., B.J. Kefford, C. Piscart, N. Prat, R.B. Schäfer and C.-J. Schulz
(2013). 'Salinization of rivers: an urgent ecological issue'. Environmental
Pollution, Volume 173, pp157–167.
AN OCEAN FULL OF PLASTIC
Introduction
Marine animals, already being susceptible to the dangers of other man-made processes, must be also confronted by the threat of plastic debris. The accumulation of anthropogenic debris (in particular plastic pollution) have resulted in huge threats on marine biota. The plastic threat is a growing global phenomenon. People have seen the ocean as an inexhaustible food source as well as a dumping ground without thinking about the consequences thereof. However, the ocean isn’t limitless and sustainability of our seas isn’t taking place. Marine litter is degraded at a very slow rate, and coupled with the exponential pace and quantity of debris that is disposed, ultimately leads to an unfortunate increase in plastic pollution. Thus, greater awareness on this significant problem is required.
Defining marine plastic debris
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| Source: National Geographic |
Marine debris is defined as any persistent manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment. It includes items made or lost by people, and those deliberately discarded into or unintentionally lost in the marine environment (Gall & Thompson 2015). Glass, metal, paper, and plastic are some of the most commonly found marine debris materials.
Ocean plastic statistics
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| Source: Ocean Conservancy |
Plastic debris is of specific concern due to its abundance and persistent occurrence in oceans. One reason for a rapid decline in biological diversity is because of unsustainable human activities and as a result of this have accelerated extinction rates.
Land-based sources are responsible for around 80 per cent of all marine pollution. Global production of plastics has increased considerably over the last few decades from 5 million tonnes per year in the 1960s to 280 million tonnes per year in 2011. There are estimated to be over 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tonnes afloat at sea ((UN, 2004& Eriksen et al., 2014 as cited in WWF Living Blue Planet Report 2015; Gall & Thompson 2015).
It is estimated that about 6.4 million tons of marine litter are disposed in the oceans and seas each year. According to other estimates and calculations, some 8 million items of marine litter are dumped in oceans and seas every day, approximately 5 million of which (solid waste) are thrown overboard or lost from ships. Furthermore, it has been estimated that over 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometre of ocean today (UNEP. 2005 Marine Litter: An analytical overview).
There are approximately 35,500 tonnes of microplastics (tiny plastic particles) floating in our ocean (Eriksen et al., 2014 as cited in WWF Living Blue Planet Report 2015). Even with improved waste disposal management and recycling initiatives, a large amount of plastics will be swept into watercourses, which will eventually end up in the oceans. Over 60% of the world population live within 100km. Furthermore, because of rapidly growing global population, land-based activities it will ultimately lead to marine pollution taking exponentially place.
Reasons why this phenomenon occurs and its various contributors
Reasons why plastic is utilised
Plastic materials are commercially successful as they are durable and economically affordable. Moreover, because they are low cost, plastic is readily available and utilised as a disposable material source. The very qualities of durability that make plastic convenient to use, however, also make it a persistent, non-degradable, permanent presence in the marine environment. When discarded, lost, or abandoned in the world's seas, plastic debris adversely affects living creatures there. (Joyner & Scot Frew 1991).
Plastic materials are commercially successful as they are durable and economically affordable. Moreover, because they are low cost, plastic is readily available and utilised as a disposable material source. The very qualities of durability that make plastic convenient to use, however, also make it a persistent, non-degradable, permanent presence in the marine environment. When discarded, lost, or abandoned in the world's seas, plastic debris adversely affects living creatures there. (Joyner & Scot Frew 1991).
Types, sources, and locations of ocean plastic debris
Plastic pollution poses a serious threat as it is concentrated in areas where marine life is abundantly found. Marine debris can travel vast distances. Plastic fragments on beaches are derived either from inland sources and are transported to coasts by rivers, wind, man-made drainage systems or human activity, or directly from the oceans where low density floating varieties accumulate and are transported across great distance. Marine litter can blow around; remain floating on the water surface; drift in the water column; get entangled on shallow, tidal bottoms; or sink to the seabed at various depths. It is found in oceans and seas, in salt marshes and estuaries, in mangroves, on coral reefs, and on all kinds of shores. Beachgoers also contribute tremendously when they accidentally lose, carelessly handle, or leave behind plastic materials. There are major inputs of plastic litter from land-based sources in densely populated or industrialized areas, most in the form of packaging. Types and amounts of plastic debris on beaches are controlled mainly by topography, current and storm activity, proximity to litter sources and extent of beach use. Deposition and retention of plastics on beaches however, are largely controlled by the composition and degradation rates of the plastic particles (Corcoran et al. 2009; Derraik 2002; UNEP Marine Litter: An analytical overview 2005).
Plastic pollution poses a serious threat as it is concentrated in areas where marine life is abundantly found. Marine debris can travel vast distances. Plastic fragments on beaches are derived either from inland sources and are transported to coasts by rivers, wind, man-made drainage systems or human activity, or directly from the oceans where low density floating varieties accumulate and are transported across great distance. Marine litter can blow around; remain floating on the water surface; drift in the water column; get entangled on shallow, tidal bottoms; or sink to the seabed at various depths. It is found in oceans and seas, in salt marshes and estuaries, in mangroves, on coral reefs, and on all kinds of shores. Beachgoers also contribute tremendously when they accidentally lose, carelessly handle, or leave behind plastic materials. There are major inputs of plastic litter from land-based sources in densely populated or industrialized areas, most in the form of packaging. Types and amounts of plastic debris on beaches are controlled mainly by topography, current and storm activity, proximity to litter sources and extent of beach use. Deposition and retention of plastics on beaches however, are largely controlled by the composition and degradation rates of the plastic particles (Corcoran et al. 2009; Derraik 2002; UNEP Marine Litter: An analytical overview 2005).
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| Source: Denver Post |
Impacts on people and marine species
Unfortunately, plastic debris into the ocean has become an increasingly growing problem and the density thereof has also taken place at an astronomically fast rate.
Unfortunately, plastic debris into the ocean has become an increasingly growing problem and the density thereof has also taken place at an astronomically fast rate.
Human-related impacts
Undoubtedly knowledge about plastic’s harmful impacts on marine biota has increased and relates to environmental, economic, safety, health, and cultural impacts. It also detrimentally impacts human health, while simultaneously damages people’s livelihoods, as well as spoil the beaches aesthetically and for people’s enjoyment, it creates navigation hazards, and negatively affects tourism, too. Therefore it has negative socio-economic consequences.
Undoubtedly knowledge about plastic’s harmful impacts on marine biota has increased and relates to environmental, economic, safety, health, and cultural impacts. It also detrimentally impacts human health, while simultaneously damages people’s livelihoods, as well as spoil the beaches aesthetically and for people’s enjoyment, it creates navigation hazards, and negatively affects tourism, too. Therefore it has negative socio-economic consequences.
Impacts on marine species
Conversely, the marine environment has been perniciously affected by the plastic revolution which have resulted in a serious environmental issue. Marine populations have fallen significantly as numerous important habitats have been destroyed. Importantly, plastic pollution significantly threatens ecosystems and is harmful to organisms, it increases the transport of organic and inorganic contaminants, it smothers coral reefs, disturb habitats from mechanical beach cleaning, and breakdown by chemical weathering and mechanical erosion is minimal at sea. Marine litter is also a source of accumulation of toxic substances in the marine environment, and environmental changes due to the transfer and introduction of invasive species (UNEP Marine Litter: An analytical overview 2005). The biological and ecological performance of certain individuals will unfortunately be compromised.
Conversely, the marine environment has been perniciously affected by the plastic revolution which have resulted in a serious environmental issue. Marine populations have fallen significantly as numerous important habitats have been destroyed. Importantly, plastic pollution significantly threatens ecosystems and is harmful to organisms, it increases the transport of organic and inorganic contaminants, it smothers coral reefs, disturb habitats from mechanical beach cleaning, and breakdown by chemical weathering and mechanical erosion is minimal at sea. Marine litter is also a source of accumulation of toxic substances in the marine environment, and environmental changes due to the transfer and introduction of invasive species (UNEP Marine Litter: An analytical overview 2005). The biological and ecological performance of certain individuals will unfortunately be compromised.
Species of crustaceans, fish, turtles, marine birds, and mammals are affected and the scope and severity of it varies according to the species and plastic type. Species listed on the IUCN Red List are particularly vulnerable as they are at a greater risk of becoming extinct. At least 17 per cent of species affected by entanglement and ingestion of marine debris are listed as threatened or near threatened on the IUCN Red List (Gall and Thompson, 2014; WWF Living Blue Planet Report 2015).
Non-degradable plastic
The greatest threat is the durable properties of plastic as plastic materials persist in the marine environment long after disposal and may take up to 400 years to degrade. What is worrisome is the fact that more and more plastic are disposed of every day, and accumulate in the oceans at an even faster rate. These non-biodegradable items attract encrusting organisms as drift plastics. The drifting debris acts as a kind of oasis, attracting other marine animals in search of prey (Joyner & Frew 1991). Unfortunately, the durable properties of plastic lead to killing repeatedly. Another potential danger is the accumulation of plastic debris on the sea floor as certain seabirds select specific plastic shapes and colours, mistaking them for prey.
The greatest threat is the durable properties of plastic as plastic materials persist in the marine environment long after disposal and may take up to 400 years to degrade. What is worrisome is the fact that more and more plastic are disposed of every day, and accumulate in the oceans at an even faster rate. These non-biodegradable items attract encrusting organisms as drift plastics. The drifting debris acts as a kind of oasis, attracting other marine animals in search of prey (Joyner & Frew 1991). Unfortunately, the durable properties of plastic lead to killing repeatedly. Another potential danger is the accumulation of plastic debris on the sea floor as certain seabirds select specific plastic shapes and colours, mistaking them for prey.
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| Source: Envirocon.org |
The impact of marine debris on marine life is of particular concern, resulting into ingestion of plastic debris and entanglement in packaging bands, drift nets and synthetic ropes and lines. More than half of all known species of marine mammal and sea bird have ingested or become entangled in marine debris. The severity of the impact of it vary according to the type of debris and vary between species, and even between individuals as some are able to withstand it better than others. Furthermore, fatalities of birds, turtles, fish, and marine mammals are well-documented.
(Warning, some of the pictures below are disturbing).
Entanglement
Entanglement in plastic debris, especially with regards to discarded fishing gear, poses a serious threat to marine animals. When an animal is entangled, it may drown, or impair its ability to catch food or to avoid predators, reduce its fitness as it leads to an increase in energetic costs of travel, or incur wounds from abrasive or cutting action of the debris. Sea birds with stomachs full of plastic waste and turtles entangled in plastic bags are a serious marine problem. Lost or abandoned fishing nets pose a particular great risk.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
Sea birds
Recreational fishermen also contribute to the problem as they don’t properly discard plastic line and birds dive beneath the water for their prey but become ensnared in the nearly invisible plastic monofilament line. It also reduce food consumption, limiting their ability to lay down fat deposits and thus reduces fitness.
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| Source: Earth Rangers |
Ingestion
Ingested plastic particles regularly remain inside species, leading to harmful effects. Many organisms ingest small plastic particles, working their way up to the food chain. Among seabirds, plastic ingestion is directly correlated to foraging strategies and technique, and diet. The durable properties of plastic prevent species from easily digesting it. Small fish and seabirds who ingest plastic debris lead to a reduction in food uptake, cause internal injury, and, sadly, death following blockage of intestinal tract. While feeding on schools of fish, whales can unintentionally ingest plastic debris. Other species mistake translucent plastic bags for squid. Afflicted animals may be eaten or sink to the sea bottom.
Ingested plastic particles regularly remain inside species, leading to harmful effects. Many organisms ingest small plastic particles, working their way up to the food chain. Among seabirds, plastic ingestion is directly correlated to foraging strategies and technique, and diet. The durable properties of plastic prevent species from easily digesting it. Small fish and seabirds who ingest plastic debris lead to a reduction in food uptake, cause internal injury, and, sadly, death following blockage of intestinal tract. While feeding on schools of fish, whales can unintentionally ingest plastic debris. Other species mistake translucent plastic bags for squid. Afflicted animals may be eaten or sink to the sea bottom.
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| Source: Shutterhead |
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| Source: Wikipedia |
All known species of sea turtle have ingested or become entangled in marine debris. Sea turtle hatchlings, which spend their juvenile stage along ocean fronts, can unintentionally consume plastic pellets. In later life, sea turtles sometimes frequent ocean fronts in search of food. These turtles are known to ingest plastic bags, which are mistaken for jellyfish which can be fatal (Joyner & Frew 1991). Young sea turtles are significantly vulnerable and their survival is at risk.
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| Source: Energy Digital |
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| Source: Project Aware |
Solutions to the problem
Plastic pollution has severely affected the marine environment. Usage of plastics continues to increase, while simultaneously accelerating the amount of plastics polluting the marine environment. The fact is that marine debris does not belong in the marine environment. The threat of plastics to the marine environment has been ignored for a very long time and its severity and serious have only been recognised recently. However, solutions have so far only been a drop in the ocean and more effective solutions are required. Gall & Thompson (2015) suggest that “finding effective solutions requires a holistic approach, considering the entire life cycle of items that become marine debris including green chemistry and design and manufacturing as well as effective waste management and prevention and removal of marine debris”. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to conserve the world’s oceans by way of international legislation. The biggest challenge here is to enforce it effectively in such a vast area as the world’s oceans.
Plastic pollution has severely affected the marine environment. Usage of plastics continues to increase, while simultaneously accelerating the amount of plastics polluting the marine environment. The fact is that marine debris does not belong in the marine environment. The threat of plastics to the marine environment has been ignored for a very long time and its severity and serious have only been recognised recently. However, solutions have so far only been a drop in the ocean and more effective solutions are required. Gall & Thompson (2015) suggest that “finding effective solutions requires a holistic approach, considering the entire life cycle of items that become marine debris including green chemistry and design and manufacturing as well as effective waste management and prevention and removal of marine debris”. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to conserve the world’s oceans by way of international legislation. The biggest challenge here is to enforce it effectively in such a vast area as the world’s oceans.
Education is another valuably powerful tool and can be particularly effective in schools. Through this way children can change their own habits while concurrently positively impacting their local community, too, starting with their family and friends. Thus, they can be a catalyst for important change which would lead to a community be willing to act sustainably in order to make also an eco-friendly contribution and foster an enhancement of ecological consciousness. Derraik (2002) notes that “thinking globally and acting locally is a fundamental attitude to reduce such an environmental threat”. He further notes that “the general public and the scientific community have the responsibility of ensuring that governments and businesses change their attitudes towards the problem”.
These two aspects can successfully and effectively be the best way forward to solve such a dire environmental problem.
Conclusion
Beaches across the globe are strewed with plastic debris and pose an imminent and global threat to marine species. Marine habitats, including shorelines, estuaries, and the sea surfaces, are negatively impacted by man-made debris. An ecosystem degraded by pollution and fragmented by development will recover slower from the effects of overfishing and less resilient to the impacts of climate change (WWF Living Blue Planet Report 2015). It is axiomatic that plastic debris pollution, being an environmental hazard that threatens our oceans’ biodiversity, must be urgently addressed.
References
Derraik, J.G.B. 2002. The Pollution Of The Marine Environment By Plastic Debris: A Review. Marine Pollution Bulletin 44 842–852.
Corcoran, P.L., Biesinger, M.C., & Grifi, M. 2009. Plastics And Beaches: A Degrading Relationship. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58 80–84.
Gall, S.C., & Thompson, R.C. 2015. The Impact Of Debris On Marine Life. Marine Pollution Bulletin 92 170–179.
Joyner, C.C. & Scot Frew, S. 1991. Plastic Pollution In The Marine Environment. Ocean Development & International Law 22:1, 33-69.
WWF. 2015. Living Blue Planet Report: Species, Habitats And Human Well-Being.
UNEP. 2005. Marine Litter: An Analytical Overview.
Fighting over our valuable finite natural resources
Environmental change impacts resource availability in specific areas and resource availability communities’ risk, vulnerability, and quality of life. Furthermore, scarcity of natural resources would ultimately lead to environmental conflicts in countries rich in natural resources. |
| Source: Sustainable Brands |
Value of the Earth
This range of ecosystem services shows how critically important these processes are to the functioning of the Earth’s systems and to human survival, livelihoods and lifestyles, and vice versa. Nature as a resource therefore provides, either directly or indirectly, material needs for food production, living space, health maintenance, and supply of energy and livelihood materials. Ecological processes are important, from a human-needs perspective, for the goods and services they provide. The majority of people living in developing countries (especially the forest-based livelihoods of the rural people) are dependent on the access of natural resources (providing food, water, fuels, biodiversity, and raw materials) for their survival, livelihood security, basic living requirements, development, and to make a living as it enhances their lives. Many rural households struggle to meet daily sustenance needs and cannot afford electricity. A decline in natural resources, either through restricted access or a diminishing resource base, will impact local livelihoods negatively. Fuelwood is a primary energy source for cooking and heating. Fuelwood is a key common property resource (brining value to the household economy as it is an opportunity to generate income from trade in raw or processed natural products), as it is typically gathered from communal lands surrounding villages. Natural resources offer a financially inexpensive alternative to otherwise purchased goods. Deforestation has resulted from the excessive fuelwood harvesting driven by the energy demands of an impoverished, growing population. Local supplies are in high demand, often resulting in unsustainable harvesting (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Kirkland et al. 2007).
Human activities are unsustainable
Civilisation has reached a scale at which it has begun to influence dramatically the crucially important planet-wide system that supports us: the biosphere. The earth is dominated by human beings and their unsustainable activities which have led to unprecedented environmental degradation rates. People are the main custodians and consumers of the natural environment. The abundance of nature and its ability to adapt to and absorb human impacts are under serious pressure. Economic activity has increased nearly tenfold between 1950 and 2000. During the same period, the world’s population doubled from less than 3 billion to 6 billion. Livelihood activities can often destroy the natural resource base by over-use and degradation, which can contribute to desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, declining water tables and other types of environmental damage – that in turn affect livelihoods (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Ehrlich & Ehrlich 2012).
Causes of natural resource depletion
People are exerting increasing control over the natural environment with a range of consequences. Humans have and continue to compete for control of the natural environment, while it is used as a sink for the effects of global economic growth. The Earth’s resources are finite. The planet is unable to support a growing population size (due to urbanisation) and profligate consumption of resources by the rich countries and resource degradation (as a result of economic growth) will occur. Furthermore, this will lead to exceeding the planet’s ability to provide such valuable natural resources. It is exacerbated by environmental mismanagement and climate change. There is therefore an intricate and inextricable relationship between Homo sapiens and the development of societies. Scarcity of arable land and other renewable natural resources will ensue and the planet will be unable to sustain the sustenance of our society. An environmental change will bring about an increase in the demand for natural resources as well as lead to an unequal distribution thereof and includes land and water decline, exhausting aquatic resources and climate change. The effect of deforestation, land degradation, and scarcity of freshwater will be apparent. Those with the fewest resources will be most susceptible to its negative effects. Rural areas are also likely to experience increasing conflicts rooted in natural resource scarcity (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Binningsbø et al. 2007).
Causes of environmental conflict
There is growing competition over scare environmental resources. When there is some kind of change in economically valuable resource systems, conflict will prevail over resource access. Environmental crises and problems throughout the world are increasing rapidly. Competition over natural resources is a complex phenomenon and global environmental change (thereby competing over resources) is a security (local, regional, national, and global) and livelihood issue as it means a threat to availability and access. Ultimately limited natural resources (including minerals, forests, and water) will lead to conflicts (both in frequency and intensity) as scarcity will prevail. Environmental degradation, population pressure, and diminishing environmental resources have contributed to several conflicts. The main triggers for conflict is poverty, vulnerable livelihoods, social inequalities, weak institutions, and poor service delivery and infrastructure.
Types of environmental conflicts
Environmental conflicts have varying impacts in different contexts and people attempt to secure control over natural resources. Competition for finite environmental resources, divergent attitudes and beliefs as well as institutional factors trigger and exacerbate it. The issue of scarcity, whether perceived or actual, is a crucial component of understanding environmental conflicts. The dimensions, level, causes, and intensity of conflicts vary across the globe and their manifestations differ considerably. The intensity of conflict may vary enormously from control over vital environmental resources such as fossil fuels, increased household and community conflicts as individuals compete over declining resources, confusion and frustration among members of a community over poorly communicated development policies (disagreement at local level), to violent clashes between groups over resource ownership rights and responsibility. Impacts differ from context to context, such as physical harm to both humans and the natural resource base, reduced productivity levels and declining economic development more generally. Whatever form conflict takes, it is likely to have several impacts at different geographical scales. Environmental change and conflicts affect livelihoods and health, and exacerbate poverty (Jaggernath 2014; Kajembe et al. 2003; Bob & Bronkhorst 2010).
Several reasons that natural resource conflict can occur include: natural resources are embedded in an environment or interconnected space where actions by one individual or group may generate effect far-site; they are embedded in a shared social space where complex and unequal relations are established among a wide range of social actors. Those actors with greatest access to power are also able to control and influence natural resource decisions in their favour; natural resources are subject to increased scarcity due to rapid environmental change, increasing demand, and their unequal distribution. Environmental change may involve land and water degradation, overexploitation of wildlife and aquatic resources, extensive land clearing, drainage or climate change; increasing demands have multiple social and economic dimensions, including population growth, changing consumption patterns, trade liberalization, rural enterprise development, and changes in technology and land use. Natural resource scarcity may also result from unequal distribution of the resources among individuals and social groups or ambiguities in the definition of rights to common property resources. The effects of environmental scarcity such as constrained agricultural output, constrained economic production, migration, and disrupted institutions, can either singly or in combination, produce or exacerbate conflict among groups; Natural resources are used by people in ways that are defined symbolically. Land, water and forests are not just material resources people compete over, but are also part of a particular way of life (farmer, fisher, logger, and pastoralist), an ethnic identity (Kajembe et al. 2003).
Environmental conflicts are often interrelated and impact on each other. For example, water related conflicts can undermine agricultural practices which either reinforce existing conflicts or generate new forms of conflicts. The losses sustained through climate change risks and potential damage to climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture (including forestry) or fisheries have significant repercussions for primary sector employment, which retains much of the workforce in Africa, and the second economy which includes natural resource harvesting and fishing. These risks undermine social and economic security, human development, and well-being, thereby presenting potential areas for conflict (Jaggernath 2014).
Bob & Bronkhorst (2010) explain several types of environmental conflicts:
· Biodiversity conflicts: conflicts between people about wildlife or other aspects of biodiversity. This includes conflicts relating to conservation of protected areas, green technologies as well as fair trade and patenting rights in relation to biodiversity and indigenous knowledge linked to natural resources.
· Coastal zone conflicts: they could develop from a combination of other types of conflicts, highlighting that coastal areas are unique in the dynamics they produce around environmental conflicts. This has to do with high development demands, high population density, environmental degradation and importantly, poor and disjointed management to balance conservation and development.
· Conflicts about air quality and noxious pollutants: it relates to issues pertaining to social justice and the right to live in a healthy environment.
· Fuelwood conflict - Resource harvesting is probably the safety net that allows many households to survive in areas of poor agricultural potential, high human populations and low employment. As a result of increasing demand and growing scarcity, competition for fuelwood resources has increased because the remaining sources are now shared among residents from many different villages and tension can rise between individuals and villages are rising. Communal woodland resources are being depleted by unsustainable fuelwood harvesting with serious implications for both biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Forest-related conflicts are often linked to forest management as well as access to and use of forestry resources (Jaggernath 2014; Kirkland et al. 2007).
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| Source: The Guardian |
Land conflict
Access to and control over land resources are particularly important to decrease vulnerability. But, anthropogenic activities have caused a transformation and alternation of the land surface, specifically for food and shelter. Land change has manifestly affected other natural resources on the surface of the earth. The root cause for the increased conflicts over land use is the increase in the human population, which has doubled over the last 25 years (Kajembe et al. 2003). As land and water scarcities are increasing, more tensions and contestations related to agricultural livelihoods and practices (such as pastoralism and forestry plantations) have emerged (Jaggernath 2014).
Land scarcities can be linked to insecurity of tenure and the privatisation/ commercialisation of land, land degradation and agricultural development. These challenges are further compounded by increasing population pressure which places more demand and stress on land resources and water supply. Resource use conflicts between pastoralists and crop cultivators are linked to environmental problems resulting from irrigation development, land alienation, uncontrolled immigration, demographic pressure, insecure tenure and ineffective resource management practices. The main current land use conflicts at a microscale are between crop production and pastoral systems. Farming communities encroach on the drylands and compete for resources, creating more pressure on the ecosystem, conflict between the two groups becomes inevitable (Kajembe et al. 2003; Jaggernath 2014).
Water conflict
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| Source: National Geographic |
Freshwater is vitally important for drinking, agriculture and industry and sanitation systems but it is a scarce natural resource and due to climate change (due to greenhouse gas emissions will affect the variability of water resources globally), population pressures and growth, and environmental degradation, the sustainability of water resources is under threat. By 2050 the increased demand for water could produce intense competition for this essential substance in all but a few well-watered areas of the planet. Water is likely to be a source of strategic rivalry depending on the degree of scarcity, the extent to which its supply is shared by more than one state or region, the relative power relationship of the sharing states, the accessibility to alternative fresh water resources and the degree to which a particular country’s international boundaries are aligned with, or located along, shared river systems. Prolonged droughts, complex water rights issues, rapid rates of urbanisation estimated at a regional average of 3.5% over the next 15 years, and burgeoning populations could lead to water conflict. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted that water conflicts will increase in number and intensity due to water scarcity concerns, higher energy demands, and climate change. Water poses critical challenges in the region that relate to water shortage and availability; water supply and quality; and rapid population growth, cross-border migration and urbanisation threats (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Kaniaru 2015; Jaggernath 2014).
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| Water Scarcity around the world. Source: Wikipedia |
The conflicts over water are expected to be contestations over communal water resources at the local level and trans-boundary water resources such as rivers and lakes and countries that share rivers therefore have a higher risk of military disputes or water wars Water-related hunger and conflicts are of particular concern in Africa where water collection is often from communal source. Conflicts also occur over the management and use of coastal and marine resources which many Africans depend on for their livelihoods. Water distribution and access remains a critical challenge in many parts of Africa. Several countries rely on water sources from outside their boundaries. Local and international competition over water resources will increase. This is likely to have impacts on national security as well as threaten livelihoods at the local level. Water conflicts are also directly linked to food security and the provision of fresh water. Water is a crucial resource for agricultural productivity and contestations over water rights and access can (and do) undermine agricultural productivity levels. The exclusion of the poorer segments of society will contribute to water hunger. The resources in the water bodies, specifically fish, are also points of contestation. Conflicts are also expected to increase in coastal areas and in the fisheries sector, in particular, as resources shrink due to ocean acidification and the drying up of lakes (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Jaggernath 2014).
The overwhelming increase in population growth will have drastic implications for water usage given other competing uses for water such as agriculture and industry. Consequently, the rising demand for increasingly spatially distributed water resources is leading to a growing concern about future access of and control over water resources (Kaniaru 2015). Impacts on human health and general well-being will be detrimental.
Fresh water scarcity is often related with other factors such as poverty, population growth, infrastructure problems, and environmental degradation, and can escalate the ‘human security’ problem into a national security issue (Kaniaru 2015). The Scottish Proverb rings true here: We never miss the water until the well runs dry.
Climate change conflict
When the planet undergoes change and warms, terrestrial and marine ecosystems also undergo change. Climate change will engender resource scarcities and it is increasingly being called a ‘security’ problem because there is concern that climate change may increase the risk of violent conflict. The underlying proposition is that climate change is likely to undermine human security by reducing the natural resource base and limiting access to existing natural resources which are central to sustainable livelihoods, especially in developing contexts as indicated earlier. It is now widely recognised that climate change is having and will have significant impacts on social, economic and ecological systems and processes as socio-economic inequalities widen locally as well as globally (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010). There exist a relationship between conflict and climate change-induced problems, such as food and other shortages and high food prices.
Climate change is estimated to raise the global mean temperature by between 1.0 and 3.7 degrees by the end of the twenty-first century, compared to the period 1986–2005.
Binningsbø et al. (2007) state that climate change “increases environmental scarcities through mechanisms such as sea level rise, drought, and hurricanes”. Land, water, agricultural and forestry-related environmentally-induced conflicts are linked to climate change. Climate change/variability will lead to conflicts, but not through a direct singular causal mechanism. Climate change is a threat multiplier in relation to environmentally-induced conflicts has the potential to worsen existing environmental conditions such as droughts and floods (Jaggernath 2014).
Several proximate/direct and underlying drivers will intensify climate change. Proximate/direct climate change drivers (immediate human activities that drive a particular change) include: land clearing (especially removal of forests/natural ecosystems) and land cover conversion, introduction of alien species, agricultural practices, fossil fuel and biomass burning, and poor water use and management practices (including groundwater removal).
Underlying drivers (fundamental needs and desires of individuals and groups) include: an increase in demand for a wide range of goods and services including basic needs (food, water, clothing, shelter, health and employment), transport, recreation and leisure activities, safety and security, and entertainment and luxury items (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010).
Extreme weather changes conflict
Related to climate change (as it partially lead to the occurrence) is extreme weather events. Extreme weather events can interrupt livelihoods and destroy the resources base from which livelihoods are derived, creating conditions for conflict and struggle over available resources. Climatic factors played and continue to play a role in worsening conflicts over resources, and their socioeconomic impacts (Jaggernath 2014).
The most important climate or weather events that drive or exacerbate environmental conflicts are changes in rainfall (declining freshwater supply, the availability of arable land and agricultural productivity and include floods and droughts (increasing the scarcity of resources that are important for income and food provision), change in temperature and rising water levels. Extreme rainfall may result in floods and landslides that destroy crops, property and infrastructure and food shortages associated with changes in temperature and rainfall can lead to unrests. Drought and/or flooding from temperature changes will have several negative impacts including decreased soil fertility; decreased crop yields or crop failure; resource scarcity; and scarcity of clean, potable water (Jaggernath 2014).
Climate and weather variability poses a long-term threat to both livelihoods and capacity for day-to-day survival and can be a critical source of vulnerability and insecurity for people Poor communities in particular are at risk because they are exposed more frequently to such shocks and they do not usually have the necessary infrastructure and resources to cope with them (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010; Jaggernath 2014).
Results of conflict
Several consequences of conflict include environmentally induced civil conflict, displacement, urbanisation, and migration. There will be a rural-to-urban increase as a result of conflict over resources and environmental degradation. Migration was considered one of the pathways of linking environmental degradation and violent conflict and occurs as a result of the severity of the impacts. Thus, environmental change is a proximate cause of migration. While fundamental environmental factors for environmental migration are land degradation, droughts, deforestation, water scarcity, floods, storms and famines linked to food insecurity (Bob & Bronkhorst 2010).
Due to food and water crises linked to climate variability, vulnerable communities are relocated and changed migratory pastoral routes which caused tensions among local communities in the region and conflicts that have also arisen over water resources. The migration of people in search of better sources of water is a widespread phenomenon. Water degradation and conflicts are also linked to the migration of biodiversity (including people)( Many of the conflicts have led to desperate groups choosing to migrate when conditions become untenable or endanger their lives, joining the growing number of environmental refugees in Africa. Local and regional competition over resource control and use have contributed to displacement and migration of groups who no longer have access to the natural resource base needed to sustain primary activities such as agricultural production or pastoralism (Jaggernath 2014; Bob & Bronkhorst 2010).
Thus it is evident that environmental conflicts, occurring as a result of scarcity of natural resources, affect communities’ quality of life and leave them more vulnerable because of it. Countries must respond adequately to the rapid occurrence of environmental change. Environmental conflict management is required in order to curtail conflicts.
References
Binningsbø, H.M., de Soysa, I., & Gleditsch, N.P. 2007. Green giant or straw man? Environmental pressure and civil conflict, 1961–99. Popul Environ (2007) 28:337–353. Springer Science + Business Media.
Bob, U., & Bronkhorst, S. 2010. Environmental conflicts: Key issues and management implications. African Journals Online.
Ehrlich, P.R. & Anne H. Ehrlich. A.H. 2012. Solving the human predicament. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 69:4, 557-565.
Jaggernath, J. 2014. Women, climate change and environmentally-induced conflicts in Africa, Agenda: Empowering women for gender equity, 28:3, 90-101.
Kajembe , G.C., Mbwilo , A.J., Kidunda, R.S., & Nduwamungu, J. 2003. Resource use conflicts in Usangu Plains, Mbarali District, Tanzania. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 10:4, 333-343.
Kaniaru, W. 2015. From scarcity to security: Water as a potential factor for conflict and cooperation in Southern Africa, South African Journal of International Affairs.
Kirkland, T., Hunter, L.M., & Twine, W. 2007. The Bush is No More: Insights on Institutional Change and Natural Resource Availability in Rural South Africa, Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal, 20:4, 337-350.
National Geographic
The Guardian
Wikipedia
DEFORESTATION AND DESERTIFICATION:
A comprehensive look at its causes, contributors, spatial and temporal characteristic and human impacts thereof
A comprehensive look at its causes, contributors, spatial and temporal characteristic and human impacts thereof
Two of the most important and widespread environmental changes will be discussed in detail. The first is the occurrence of deforestation which is globally a problem and desertification also occurring on the majority of continents. Deforestation has an impact on desertification. Various aspects such as the spatial and temporal scale, the causes, and contributors of such manifestation, as well as human impacts and whether all types of global environmental change can be generalised, will be comprehensively considered.
Introduction to Deforestation
An important environmental issue, deforestation, is both a complex global and local problem and Africa, being a developing continent, is being most widely and devastatingly affected by such rapid occurrence. It compromises the notion of sustainable development by impacting the environment in a very immediate and detrimental way. Even though forests play an imperatively environmental vital role, as it supports vital ecosystems and houses a myriad of fauna and flora, it is being destroyed and cleared at an astronomically fast rate without having enough time to restore itself, causing inestimable habitat changes, as well as reducing carbon storage. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that, from 1990 to 1995, the annual loss was estimated at 12.7 million hectares Furthermore, deforestation account for roughly one-sixth of total anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and degradation may account for 10% of total emissions in the tropics. Tropical deforestation is responsible for 6–17% of global carbon dioxide emissions that affect climate change (Angelsen & Kaimowitz 1999; Pfaff et. al 2013; Cassea et. al 2004).
Spatial characteristics
It is widely known that deforestation occurs in both developed and developing countries, but at different geographical contexts in specific localities and are characterised by different regional aspects, such as aridity, as well as diverse human-environment conditions. For example, deforestation occurring in Africa will markedly differ from that occurring in Asia because of factors such as poverty and a more arid climate. Each type experiences deforestation at a different rate and extent. Within Brazil, as in most tropical countries, the native forests are being lost through conversion to agriculture”. Brazil and Indonesia have accounted for a large portion of the global deforestation totals. The scale (magnitude) at which it occurs also significantly differs as it can either be on a small or larger scale, depending on what kind of activities (e.g. agricultural and logging) take place. Tropical forests are disappearing as a result of many pressures, both local and regional, acting in various combinations in different geographical locations. Some of the most important places where deforestation is taking place, specifically in developing countries, include Africa, in particular the Congo, in South America, referring to Peru and Brazil, and India, Indonesia, and China as well as developed countries, such as Russia, Canada, the USA, and Australia (Pfaff et. al 2013; Geist and Lambin 2002).
Map 1: Deforestation data on occurrence around the world (Source: The World Bank 2011).
Deforestation, concisely described as the permanent clearing of forests, takes place as a result of myriad activities, most notably include agricultural expansion, such as permanent and shifting cultivation, cattle ranching, and wood extraction for commercial use as well as fuelwood and charcoal production.
Causes and contributors of deforestation
Deforestation occurs at different times at different regions around the world as land use changes, leading to deforestation, varies over time. Forests are depleted over a few years and are used for different activities. As a result of multifaceted socio-economic and geographical problems, especially faced by Africa, deforestation is taking place. Mostly notably the highest contributors to deforestation are small farmers, forest-dependent people, loggers, ranchers, as well as plantation companies.
There are several explanation as why forests are shrinking significantly. However, Cassea et. al (2004) argue that “it is more difficult to establish links between underlying factors and deforestation than between direct or immediate causes and deforestation”. Nonetheless, a clear distinction can be made between direct, proximate causes that directly impact forest cover, that originate from intended land use, pertaining from agriculture activities and expansion, wood collection, infrastructure extension, pasture land as well as indirect, underlying causes underpinning the direct causes which include social processes, referring to migration, human population dynamics, export prices, property rights, and government policies. This clearly indicates that socio-economic considerations impact deforestation considerably. Deforestation is driven by identifiable regional patterns of causal factor synergies, referring to economic factors, institutions, national policies, and remote influences driving agricultural expansion, wood extraction, and infrastructure extension (Cassea et. al 2004; Geist and Lambin 2002; Pfaff et. al 2013; Angelsen & Kaimowitz 1999).
There is one primary and direct factor which contributes the most to deforestation and land-use changes, namely, agricultural expansion. It includes forest conversion for permanent cropping, cattle ranching, shifting cultivation, and colonization agriculture. In permanent cultivation, the expansion of food-crop cultivation for subsistence is three times more frequently reported than the expansion of commercial farming (less than 25% for all regions). This is particular true for developing countries. Land is frequently converted to pasture or crops when forest is cleared. At the underlying, indirect level, deforestation can be attributed to driving factors that act synergistically and being driven by the interplay of economic, institutional, technological, cultural, and demographic variables.
Economic rationality
It is no surprise that economic factors, too, lead to deforestation as commercialization and the growth of timber markets and market failures drive deforestation. Such economic variables can include low domestic costs (for land, labour, fuel, or timber), product price increases (mostly for cash crops) and the requirement to generate foreign exchange earnings also has an impact. By clearing forests it is possible to create agricultural land, higher prices for agricultural products, produce staple food, commodities (e.g. biofuel), and even profiting from timber sales. Thus, there are socio-economic incentive to exploit forests in this way. As frontier agriculture becomes more profitable, both the existing population and migrants from other areas begin to shift resources into forest clearing. Development also impact the rate at which deforestation occur. Ecosystem services don’t generate revenue, thus aren’t part of many countries’ decision-making processes (Angelsen & Kaimowitz 1999; Geist and Lambin 2002).
Institutional factors
These relates to formal pro-deforestation measure including land use policies and economic development of colonisation, transportation (for agriculture and logging and fuelwood collection), and policy failures (e.g. corruption).
Technological factors
These include agro-technological change, with agricultural intensification having no distinct impact separate from agricultural expansion, and poor technological applications in the wood sector (leading to wasteful logging practices). Technology has both a direct effect on farmers’ behaviour and an indirect effect resulting from its impact on product and factor prices (including wages)(Geist and Lambin 2002; Angelsen & Kaimowitz 1999).
Cultural or socio-political factors
These include variables such as economic and policy forces and attitudes of the public.
Demographic factors
In-migration and population pressures also lead contribute to it. An increase in population density is also stressful on forests as this land is used for construction, fuel, and agriculture.
Other discernible causes can also be included, such as land use and clearing for housing and as a result of urbanisation, wildfires and overgrazing can unintentionally lead to the clearing of forests, fire charcoal and palm oil production (especially in Indonesia and Malaysia and in some parts of Africa), and mining are also a contributor, farmers clear forests to plant and cultivate staple crops or to let livestock graze on land. When land productivity declines, the land is furthered exploited for cattle grazing. People, especially poor people, who live close to forests are dependent on it to sustain themselves, as their subsistence depends on the source of forests as it provides critical fuelwood and food sources. Therefore, their livelihoods depends on an unlimited forest resource.
Human influences on phenomena
It is indisputable and inevitable that anthropogenic activities can, and have, caused deforestation to take place at an accelerated rate. In fact, humans are the primary cause of such clearing of forests. Many people, especially in the poorer, more developing parts of the world, forests are a source for survival and subsistence and rely totally on it and therefore are forest-dependent people. Farmers, loggers and ranchers modify the land to suit their needs, and forging and collecting wood from the land, thereby altering the quality of the forest.
Introduction to Desertification
Desertification is principally a man-made phenomenon and a widespread and irretrievable type of land degradation which occurs primarily in dryland environments. Desertification is linked to global environmental change through climate, biodiversity loss, human dimensions, and land change”. Over the last couple of years, desertification has rapidly occurred which has led to the considerable loss of arable land, leading to marginalisation. Desertification is the spread of desert-like conditions in arid and semi-arid conditions. It is a result of pressure from both climatic and human factors (Laki 1994; Middleton 2008; Phillips 1993). Phillips (1993) further elaborates, stating that “it may be the result of inherent biophysical feedbacks in dryland systems”. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (as cited in Middleton 2008) defines desertification as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. At least 35% of the earth’s land surface is threatened, inhabited by 20 % of the world’s population.” Many earth surface systems are unstable, and thus such aspects would inevitably lead to permanent decline. Natural vegetation clearing has taken place at a considerably fast rate, especially over the last couple of years which leads to desertification.
Spatial characteristics
Desertification specifically occurs in drylands, including arid, semi-arid, and dry subhumid zones. For example, in the Sahel, high pressure air-mass movement is thought to have contributed to desertification (Laki 1994). Food security inexorably affect desertification. Phillips (1993) notes that “this degradation occurs on all continents (except Antarctica)” indicating just how extensive and its reach truly are and that it takes place in spite of geology and temperature variances.
Map 2: Global Desertification Vulnerability - Source: United States Department of Agriculture 2003.
Causes and contributors of desertification
Land that are extensively used, contribute to desertification and as Middleton (2008) note, “they can be classified in intensive grazing, wood cutting, livestock overpopulation, over cultivation, overexploitation of vegetation, and a high demand for water resources”. These worries then lead to an inherent instability in vulnerable areas. These all have an exponential and long-term impact on the environment. Salinization of irrigated cropland is also responsible. Laki (1994) notes that the main factors contributing to desertification include “drought, population growth, the spread of extensive agriculture, deforestation, rapid urbanization, the erosion of local political power, the lack of economic institutions and the absence of social institutions which have tended to reduce the capacity of the local people to cope with the resource degradation problem”. Thus, like in the case of deforestation, it is widely influenced by human-induced activities, but also because of climatic factors such as climate change. It also, in turn, causes weather fluctuations especially drought. This have an enormous detrimental impact on valuable ecosystems. As such, desertification is a serious ecological problem and as Laki (1994) argues “the rate at which the process has been occurring has been estimated at 5-10 km per year”. Furthermore, erosion will take place as there is no vegetation cover. Land-ownership patterns also lead to desertification.
An enormous human population growth has occurred in the areas that are facing desertification, coupled with the inevitable need for natural resources, but the land can’t sustain all of these demands. Drought, naturally occurring or exacerbated by the human stresses and exploitation of land resources, have also resulted in greater occurrences of desertification. Different physical factors of soil are influenced by desertification, including depth, organic matter and the fertility of soil.
Desertification can thus be divided in three broad causes: continuing climatic changes; short-term weather oscillations; and human factors. In these regions, the ecological balance between climatic conditions, soil, vegetation cover, animal life and soil biota is so precarious that any incidental vicissitude may upset it’. The damage may be irreversible with severe and continued misuse (Laki 1994). Phillips (1993) argues that “the two-way relationships between seven key components in desertification (vegetation, albedo, temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, wind erosion, and water erosion) result in inherent instability”.
Arid areas are exceedingly influenced by climate. The climate of these arid lands is characterized by highly variable rainfall, high temperatures, strong winds and high evapotranspiration rates that exceed annual average (Laki 1994). Desertification leads to significant changes in microclimates. A reduction in rainfall, also unavoidably causes desertification. Soil worsening can be ascribe to human settlements but also their animals. Sand encroachment also lead to a decline in vegetation. Resource abuse (over cultivation, overgrazing, and woodcutting) is primarily responsible for desertification. Agricultural activities are exposing the soils to water and wind erosion.
As Laki (1994) explains, “marginal areas are brought into cultivation during periods of high rainfall. When dry years follow wet, the ploughed loose soil is susceptible to wind erosion, where the clays and silts are carried away as dust and the sand drifts to form dunes”. Deforestation contributes to desertification by making the microclimate more arid. Burning of grasslands is also a major contributor to desertification. Laki (1994) notes that “fire destroys forage and induces changes in the botanical composition of the predominant vegetation formations and communities”. The impact of desertification is also widespread which include hunger and thirst, as crop and animal production deteriorates. Which in turn leads to poverty and a loss of home, and can lead to a loss of life too.
Human influences on phenomena
Even though desertification can be triggered by climate variability (e.g. drought), it is irrefutable that form the above-mentioned statistics and data, desertification inevitably and inextricably are influenced by anthropogenic activities. Numerous examples such as overgrazing, intensive grazing, wood cutting, overpopulation, over cultivation, overexploitation of vegetation, and a high demand for water resources all occur as result of medication or altering the land for human’s needs. One thing is sure, desertification is highly unpredictable and is certainly exacerbated by human-induced land activities.
Conclusion
For deforestation it would be wrong to assume that it will and have the same causes and contributors. Many parts are primarily concerned with technological and economic advancement (thus capital-driven) and in other parts, like Africa who is a developing world, many people solely rely on forests for their fuelwood and food. Thus different causes will result from this. Different localities experience different causes, for example, in Africa it is more arid and poverty will also occur more frequently. The rate and extent of the occurrence of deforestation will also vary tremendously among differ parts of the world.
Both deforestation and desertification are two of the most important (and detrimental) environmental changes facing the world today. The poorer communities which live close to forests and deserts are the most vulnerable to such changes. It is clear that desertification can both be influenced by biophysical and socio-economic factors. It is intensified and exacerbated by human-induced land activities that are taking at an unsustainably rate place.
References
Angelsen, A., & Kaimowitz, D. 1999. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Rethinking the Causes of Deforestation: Lessons from Economic Models. The World Bank Research Observer vol. 14, no. 1. pp. 73–98.
Cassea, T., Milhøjb, A., Ranaivosonc, S., Randriamanarivoc, J.R. 2004. Causes of deforestation in southwestern Madagascar: what do we know? Forest Policy and Economics 6 (2004) 33–48.
Geist, H.J., & Lambin, E.F. 2002. Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Deforestation. BioScience Journal Vol. 52 No. 2 p. 143-150.
The World Bank. 2011. Data and Statistics: Deforestation.
Laki, S.L. 1994. Desertification in the Sudan: causes, effects and policy options. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 1:3, 198-205.
Middleton, N. 2008. The Global Casino: An introduction to Environmental Issues. 4th Edition. Hodder Education: London.
Pfaff, A., Amacher, GS., Sills., EO., Coren, MJ., Streck, C., & Lawlor, K. 2013. Deforestation and Forest Degradation: Concerns, Causes, Policies, and Their Impacts. Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics.
Phillips, J.D. 1993. Biophysical Feedbacks and the Risks of Desertification, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 83:4, 630-640.
Reynolds, J.F., D. Mark Stafford-Smith, D.M., & Lambin, E. 2003. Do Humans Cause Deserts? An Old Problem Through The Lens Of A New Framework: The Dahlem. Proceedings of the VIIth International Rangelands Congress August 2003, Durban.
United States Department of Agriculture. 2003. Natural Resources Conservation Service: Soils- Global Desertification Vulnerability.
THREATS TO ELEPHANTS
Although elephants are some of the most majestic animals, their numbers are declining at a rapidly accelerating and unprecedented pace. Reasons/Threats include:
· Poaching in Africa is a huge concern. If the current rate takes place, elephants will be extinct within the next 10 years.
· As human populations increase, forest-cover decreases which lead to elephants to be in close proximity with humans. African elephants’ habitats have decline as a result of the land being converted for development, agriculture, and settlements, thus habitat loss has occurred as there are space limitations. Habitat fragmentation makes it nearly impossible to breed and also elephants are easily spotted and traps are set by poachers.
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| An example of habitat loss. Source: WWF. |
· A decline in elephant numbers are particular of concern in in central Africa and parts of East Africa and there about 500,000 elephants left on the continent.
· Elephants are a huge target as there is an ever-increasing demand for ivory in China.
· Abuse and exploitation also unfortunately occur.
What you can do to protect elephants
Take part in conservation efforts, and be Herd! Encourage other people to also get involve in order to conserve this important species. Educate yourself and become knowledgeable about animals and their habitats. Here is how you can also help elephants as an individual: http://worldelephantday.org/how-to-help-elephants
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| Source: World Elephant Day (http://worldelephantday.org/) |
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Defining Environmental Change
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| Source: Geo Connexion |
Environmental change can be gradual occurrences (e.g. movement of tectonic plates) or events that takes suddenly and frequently place and are catastrophic (earthquakes and tsunamis). Human-induced environmental change, such as habitat loss, climate change, acid deposition, and burning fossil fuels occur. Many people see environmental change as discrete, but environmental change is continuous and takes place every day, albeit at a small, intangible way. All systems and species (humans and non-humans) of earth are interconnected and interdependent, and influence each other in a complex way through human-induced change or natural change. Human activities influence the earth and its ecosystems. When something change in one system, it inevitably lead to a chain reaction in another. Environmental change doesn’t take place in isolation, it takes place, either gradually or fast.
Environmental changes affect all of us and has already begun and changing weather patterns will prevail. The difference is how one will respond to it by either trying to protect the environment or to accelerate such change by continuing with an anthropocentric approach. Whether people give a priority to the protection of the environment and to change their environmental behaviour to counteract environmental change and their overall habits, is based upon individual values and an individualistic environmental worldview.
Today environmental change is a hot discussion topic. Environmental change is such a vast, complex concept. Peoples’ perspectives with regards to environmental change and its impact vary greatly. To some it can be seen as an obstacle and challenge and influences one’s overall thinking about environmental change and believe that any earthshattering change in the environment will have a significantly negative effect on species. However, in contrast some people also view it in a positive light with an abundance of creating new opportunities.
One thing is certain, environmental change adaptation is increasingly seen as both a necessary and urgent.
Is environmental change always damaging and destructive in nature?
We live in an absolute breathtakingly beautiful world with an abundance of natural landscapes, ecosystems, and species. Unfortunately human beings are destroying our natural home by daily making the wrong environmental choices and by living unsustainably. Environmental change is twofold. Natural environmental change can take place through different timescales, including long-term and gradual occurrences (e.g. changing geographical phenomena such as movement of tectonic plates and mountain building) and events that takes suddenly and frequently place and are catastrophic by nature (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis).
Today environmental change is a hot discussion topic. Environmental change is such a vast, complex concept. Peoples’ perspectives with regards to environmental change and its impact vary greatly. To some it can be seen as an obstacle and challenge and influences one’s overall thinking about environmental change and believe that any earthshattering change in the environment will have a significantly negative effect on species. However, in contrast some people also view it in a positive light with an abundance of creating new opportunities.
The general perception is that environmental change is always destructive and damaging as evident by the numerous media coverage (videos, articles, and photos) on the topic and people are just being made highly aware of overall increasing environmental changes and its accompanying changes and what this could mean to them recently through media and greater knowledge. However, it isn’t as simple and environmental change can’t be solely classified as damaging. It is widely accepted that climate is always changing, albeit at a slow and gradual (natural progressive changes) or fast (human-induced changes) pace which is either caused by natural events or manmade activities (rapidly accelerating the change).
The earth and climate has always evolved and takes naturally and gradually place for example, slow movement of the continents (plate tectonics). All of the environments on Earth change over time. Certain geological and climatic forces have shaped the Earth’s environment over the last millions of years. We have had ice ages and warmer periods. Natural systems are extremely adaptable and resilient to these changes are caused by variations in Earth's climate.
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| Source: PA Times |
Humans have always had a significant impact on the environment. Because people are emitting CO2 at an astonishing fast rate, so too has environmental change taken rapidly place at an astonishingly unprecedented rate. An aftermath of making the wrong environmental choices is the occurrence of environmental change on a large scale. Many times people perceive environmental change as infinitely devastating which causes detrimental damage to, i.e. human beings and animals living in the vicinity but also on a global, wider scale. People view present-day global environmental change as an indirect impact of climate change. The current rise in temperature is significantly higher than previously because there is a higher level of greenhouse gas emissions which leads to higher atmospheric CO2.
One of the greatest strengths human beings possess is our fantastic ability to adapt. But, due to the rapid acceleration of technological and environmental changes, a rapidly escalating population (exceeding the carrying capacity), we won’t have enough time to adapt to the sudden changing conditions and will not be resilient enough to cope with it. The natural environment doesn’t have enough time to replenish and restore itself.
The composition of the Earth’s landscapes and its essential life support systems are dramatically altered by human interference and the climate system is also changed on a global scale. It has detrimental implications for humans and other life on earth. These changes modify the ecological relationships between living things and influences the overall value and quality of ecosystems.
Species are affected by environmental change, so much so that it could lead to their extinction. Even though species are acceptably adaptable, they are still vulnerable when there is a sudden change in the environment. Their survival depends on their manner in which they are able to adapt and tolerate environmental disturbance, if they are able to evolve concurrently with these changes, and to reproduce satisfactorily. Slow changes give these species time to adapt to these changes.
Large-scale human-induced environmental stresses (which are hazards for humans and other living organisms), lead to environmental change, such as habitat loss, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, acid deposition, burning fossil fuels, conversion or clearing of forests, irrigation, loss of biodiversity and destruction of ecological habitat, mining, manufacturing and consuming chemical products, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, stresses on food-producing systems, urbanization, altering temperature (low and high), changes in global precipitation, gases (e.g. ozone, CO2, methane, oxides of nitrogen), land degradation, fuel wood crisis, and water variation (drought and flooding). Human behaviour (and our resource consumption) is negatively influencing the atmosphere, oceans and landscapes.
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| Source: ICJ Project |
The most vulnerable people to changing environmental determinants live in developing countries where subsistence agriculture is the main source of their livelihood and poverty prevails. Many parts of the world are low-lying and would have to relocate to higher areas as a result of the rise in sea levels.
As previously stated environmental change has always occur on the Earth’s surface. But, environmental change can be damaging and destructive as a result of human beings’ behaviour and interference, but it can also be part of a naturally occurring process taking slowly place over a long period of time.
Devastatingly powerful earthquake hit Nepal
On Saturday, the 25th of April 2015, Nepal was hit by a powerful earthquake. Approximately 3,617 people have died in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and more than 6,500 people have been left seriously injured.
Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, has been hit the hardest. It is an area which is one of the most seismically hazardous regions in the world. An earthquake's power increases by 10 times with each increase in the number of its scale. As many as 900 of the 1000 homes of Laprak and Barpak, situated near the epicentre, were destroyed.
The quake resulted in an avalanche on Mount Everest and at least 18 people have died. 200 climbers have been rescued. Hundreds of people were trapped under the rubble.
According to officials, the number of causalities can possibly still rise, especially in the more remote, mountainous area in the western part of Nepal. Nepal wasn’t the only place that was hit. Many people in China as well as India have also been reportedly killed.
On Sunday people feared aftershocks that could possibly hit overnight and slept in parks and on streets for fear of being crushed indoors.
For more information and photos, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-katmandu.html?_r=0
