Natural environment - Assignment Example

Natural Environment s The earth is changing rapidly; however this change is not natural but is a result of anthropogenic activities. If the changes are allowed to take place at the present rate without any mitigation efforts, mankind will face rapid changes in the climate which will have a butterfly effect on life itself as we know it. Other changes that we can expect are increase in natural disasters which is again a result of the global warming phenomenon causing rises in sea level and other disastrous changes (Huppert and Sparks,2006,p1875).. We can also expect to see, deterioration in air and water quality and loss of biodiversity as a result of rapid urbanization.

Another equally disastrous effect of man’s unlimited usage of energy will be exhaustion of earth’s natural resources.Each human activity today will have its repercussions tomorrow. The manner in which man’s life might change because of the change in the environment is complex and quite unpredictable. The rapidly changing climate will have an impact on a person’s life by endangering life itself through natural disasters. It is not only the poor countries that will suffer but rich countries will suffer as well evident from instances such as Katrina and Aila leading to a crash in the world’s economy and creating economic problem for each individual .

Problems in crop production might lead to market politics and decrease in food security. Famines might also result from this. Bad air and water quality will affect a person’s health and reduce the quality of life. Man-wildlife conflict is bound to harm man’s life as well with rapid urbanization and an increase in stress factors on wildlife (Hunter, 2007, p316). Another major problem will be scarcity of water because of rapid decrease in potable water leading scientists to predict as 3rd World War over this precious resource.

Exhaustion of natural resources would bring man’s life to a stand-still since man is over dependent on resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas.Since man’s future depends on the present activities, mitigation efforts and plans need to be constructed to help restore the environmental quality and control anthropogenic activities thereby ensuring continuation of life on earth.ReferencesHunter. (2007). The human impact on biological diversity. How species adapt to urban Challenges sheds light on evolution and provides clues about conservation.

EMBO reports,8(4),316-318. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1852758/Huppert,H.E. and Sparks, R.S.J. (2006). Extreme natural hazards: population growth, Globalization and environmental change. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society A.364 (1845), 1875-1888.