Environmental Hazards and Present Scenario - Coursework Example

Environmental Studies Introduction Environment has not been preserved well and it has lead to severe consequences. Any irresponsibility will make the humans suffer at later date. Now the situation is so bad due to the negligence of the public in preserving the environment. Environmental threats should be properly handled and the environmental officers must develop and implement some plans to avoid these threats. The major destruction was because of Global warming. Anything when properly handled can be used in an effective way. Global warming could have been avoided, if the environment has been well maintained at the right time. The surroundings, natural and physical play a vital role in a human being's life. The ecological system totally depends on how it is being preserved and maintained. Global could have been prevented by taking the measures and following the plans.(Glantz 1999). Pollution is the main reason behind global warming. Smoke form vehicles, factories and manufacturing plants and forest fire are the major cause for pollution. All this lead to global warming which in turn was spoiled most of the species in the world. Discharge of toxic and poisonous gas from the industries also provoked global warming. The green house effect was disturbed due to this. The glaciers in many countries started melting because of these problems. There are various causes of global warming. Emission of gases like methane and gases like nitrous oxide mixed with the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide from the vehicles was also a cause. This problem was common in most of the countries. Deforestation contributed to this problem. Although most of the scientists around the world tried hard to educate people regarding global warming, this was vain. As people were not aware of global warming and its after effects, they did not try to protect the environment. (McDonough, Michael 2002). Environmental Hazards Temperature difference has affected the ecology. Temperature of the earth has been rising and falling which has altered the environment and the ecological system. There has been a drastic change in the rainfall over the years. If the forests have been properly taken care of and maintained, the country would have got the regular annual rainfall. As this also differed, the ecology was altered. The sea level got increased which resulted in natural calamity like tsunami. Other natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earth quake made earth uninhabitable. Due to global warming many species became extinct. But people never thought it would become such a threat. Nearly 40% of the species have been decimated. Global warming showed its nature with the evolvement of new diseases. (Quinn 1995).Many unnamed diseases started to spread and they did not have any proper medicines to cure it. Many people lost their lives during this time. From this, there was a gradual decrease in the population. By this time the level of sea started to rise, as the glaciers melted down and fell into the sea. Though many organizations tried to spread the awareness regarding global warming, only some were able to achieve their goal. They did not know the seriousness of global warming. Other disasters like volcano occurred in many countries. This too resulted in the increase of mortality rate. The diseases that started spreading due to global warming were mainly because of poisonous gas like methane which was emitted by many sources. Organic and inorganic wastes were also a major problem. Industries did not dispose their wastes properly. The factories let out their wastes into the water bodies. Some of the manufacturing plants dumped their wastes in open vast lands and some burnt these wastes. This polluted the atmosphere, which created holes in the ozone layer. Gases like CFC which are being used in refrigerators are the main cause for the problems in the ozone layer. Drought also contributed to the decline in the species. People did not have the facilities to cultivate their land to produce food. It affected large number of people. They did not have money to take care of their livelihood. People started starving and they could not survive with this problem for a longer time. Drought affected many parts of the country. Another major problem was due to water. (Pollan 2008).Water got polluted and people using this water were affected by various diseases. As the water cycle was not proper, it disturbed the balance in the ecological system. Since water cycle was not proper, there was a delay in the rains, which resulted in drought. The environmental happenings are a cycle, if any one of these does not happen it will affect the whole cycle. Acid rain is also one among the environmental hazard. The smoke from various industries contains sulphur dioxide which combines with the atmospheric oxygen to produce sulphur trioxide. During rains, this gas combines with rain water giving rise to acid rain. (Shah 2009). The increase in the population has also lead to these problems. The environment was not maintained properly and the resources were not utilized in a proper manner. People started wasting the exhaustible resources which made them unavailable for the future. Forests were not conserved and thus it resulted in forest fire in some countries. This contributed to the loss of several species. The places which were once forests were then left as plain lands that could not be used for anything. The soil was totally spoiled and this loss of forests had a great effect on the rains. People started cleaning the soil and soil erosion aroused and the species that were inside the soil became extinct. As there was no water supply, people found it difficult to cultivate their lands. They were left unattended and after some time it lead to famine. In some countries people lost their lives due to this.(Glantz 1999). They could not get proper food and all this decreased the population. Due to all these kinds of natural calamities and disasters, earth became an unfavorable place. The smoke from vehicles contain toxic element like lead which causes various diseases affected the people. Air pollution and water pollution were the main cause for most of the environmental problems. The after effects of all this is very severe. Most of the countries are facing a tough time after these disasters. The environmental balance was totally disturbed which in turn affects each and every happening in the world. Environmental degradation is a serious hazard to the environment which spoils the ecological system. (Shah 2009).The environment should be preserved to avoid problems in the future. Due to the negligence and carelessness, the world is suffering today. People find it difficult to lead a life without problems. As the ecological balance is lost, the entire cycle has undergone a change. Present Scenario People are suffering from diseases at a very earlier stage of their life. Even people who are young are prone to heart attacks and major ailments. They are more vulnerable to these diseases. Cancer has started affecting people in large number. American's are going through a very bad time, since many among them are being treated for cancer. It is affecting young people and they lose their lives even before they reach sixties. Not only adults, but small children are prone to several diseases. Birth defects have become common. Children are born with some disability and other problems. They are born with either mental or physical disability. Children are affected by various factors during their birth itself. It has increased so much that people do not remember how a child looks after birth. Michael Pollan, Daniel Quinn, Majora Carter and William McDonough were the Environmental leaders during the year 2010. Each of them was a professional environmental expert. They proposed plans to conserve and save the environment. Only some of them were implemented while others were left as such. (Quinn 1995). People failed to co operate. Any environmental negligence will become a health hazard. They tried their best to save the environment. Though these people had an experience in environmental field, they could not predict the baseline for these problems. Their proposals did not help in a long run. The plans served and helped only for a period of time. It was done just to tide over the prevailing situation. If it has been correctly analyzed and planned according to the needs of the environment and the world as a whole, earth could have been saved from these hazards. Their ideas and approach were not able to save the people for a longer period. Any system should be effective and must help the people as well as the environment. They did not think about the future effects and hence they decide to cope up with the things for a limited period of time. This was not efficient and could not stop or prevent any of the disaster. Government should have taken measures to protect the environment and the habitants. As they failed to do so, it totally affected the whole world. Today people are suffering from various diseases, disabilities and other problems. If the government or the voluntary organizations had taken proper steps to control the degradation, the situation today would have been better. They should have analyzed the condition of environment and must have planned accordingly. The proposals must suit the needs of the ecology. Environmental leaders are responsible for deciding on which plan to be implemented and they must also check whether that plan will help to improve the situation. It should be carried out so that it will give proper results. They should ensure people are made aware of the prevailing situation, so that public can also help them. These plans must sustain for some time in the future, else it is going to be a waste. The problems that took place during that time could have been prevented, if timely actions were carried out. It would have saved lives of many people. The problems that are being faced today are the after effects of improper planning. Now people should be educated on the importance of the environment and its protection. They should be aware of the severe consequences they may have to face if environment conservation and protection is not done. The history of environment and how it is preserved is not known to many people and this leads to environmental hazards. Any such hazard will have a very bad effect on the lives of all the species. It will not only spoil the existing environment, but will result in an irreparable loss in the future. References Glantz M., (1999). Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development.Cambridge University Press. McDonough W, Micheal B., (2002). Cradle to Cradle: Remarking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press. Pollan M., (2008). In Defense Of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. New York: PenguinPress. Quinn D., (1995). Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. New York: Bantam Press. Shah A., (2009). Environmental Issues. Retrieved from: http://www.globalissues.org/issue/168/environmental-issues Read More