Building Sustainable Communities Through Green Action Plans - Research Paper Example

Sustainable communities through green action plans imperative for human survival The idea of sustainable practices to safeguard the planet earth and all that is within it has until recently gained the attention of world leaders. Many contemporary societies are now gifted with technologies of unimaginable capabilities. This has altered the way people interact and exploit their natural environment. Before the advent of modern technology, the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors was so natural and there was little concern of the natural resources running short of supply through over-exploitation. However, this ceased to be the case in the twentieth century. Technology has evolved to such a magnitude that people are now able to intensively and extensively exploit each and every aspect of their environment. This is evidenced by the rapid population increase where it is estimated that the global population would stand at about nine billion by 2070 from the current six billion (Harrell). Another potential negative impacts of over-exploitation of the environment include decline in the vital ecosystems. Thirdly, such over-exploitation of the natural environment has led to global climate change with the climate changing to the extremes. Taking into account the aforementioned consequences of unsustainable human practices, there is no doubt that the human life is jeopardized. For these very reasons, the time is now to take action. If the people of the world want to continue to live on this planet in the future, the creation of sustainable communities through green action plans is an imperative key for human survival. Sustainability initiative through green actions is indispensable for human survival. The UN World Commission on the Environment and Development defines sustainable development as that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). The concept of sustainability thus entail all those efforts to find a mid-point where by there is a balance between what humanity demands from the ecosystem and the ability of this ecosystem to replenish itself. Taking more from the environmental without allowing for replenishment of what has been taken will eventually lead to the depletion of the system. With a depleted environment, the future generations will have to labour in scarcity and these could eventually lead to end to humanity. The unregulated increase in human population puts so much pressure on the environment as people try to seek energy, food for sustenance and land for settlement. Growing human population results to urban expansion as well as an increase in resource exploitation. This trend does not augur well with the state of future generation for two basic reasons. First, increased population puts humanity in a situation where they scramble for the little available resources. The result of this is that the general standards of living takes a downward trend as their will be no enough resources to meet all the human needs. Secondly, over exploitation of these resources may lead to ecological disasters which in their very essence threaten the lives of future generations. Taking the above dangers into account, there is an urgent need for policy makers to adopt green actions which will ensure that the environment remains sustainable even in the wake of growing human population. The idea of population control through birth controls, education, and relevant child policies by some countries have been effective in reducing pressure to the environment. Secondly, understanding that it is only the rate of population growth that can be reduced but not the absolute population, encouraging efficient energy utilization is essential. Humanity can tap on renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. This will reduce overdependence on coal and wood fuel which are destroy the natural environment and deplete the forested lands respectively. The decline in vital ecosystem due to human actions on the environment is the other trend which poses significant threat to human survival. Scientist have generally defined an ecosystem as a natural system comprising of living and non-living things whose interactions lead to a self-sustaining system. Consequently, the idea of sustainable green actions must have borrowed heavily on this natural system. There has been little consciousness of the role of the role played by natural system to human survival due to inability of attaching the face value. For instance, this system comprises of things such as water, vegetation, natural gases, and the rest of biodiversity. Each of the component or member of these system plays its own duty which allow the system to exist in a perfect balance. For instance, the energy gets into the food web through green vegetation. This is how the man and other animals eventually get the energy to move around. Man and other animals equally depend on each other for sustenance. If at any instance of time vegetation declines significantly, there will be no sufficient energy in an ecosystem thus resulting in deaths of many animals. On the other hand, carbon dioxide in the air exists in some perfect balance due to the role played by vegetation. Humanity needs oxygen supplied by the vegetation while these plants needs Carbon dioxide from animals. Quaternary consumers are responsible for decomposing dead matter so that the nutrients can be recovered back into the system. The whole process goes on and forth highlight the significance of vital ecosystem. Therefore, as a measure to preserve these resources, humanity needs to plant more vegetation, avoid waste disposal in water bodies, and minimize the emission of carbon gases which interfere with the perfect balance of the atmospheric gases. Finally, global climatic change due to unsustainable human practices threaten the lives of the future generations. Environmentalists have over the recent years raised their concerns over the extreme changes in the global climate. President Obama of the U.S. has recently been quoted calling on the congress to take note of the climate change that is affecting areas such as California. Goodman (2014) in their video note that scientist have warned the world could be experiencing its sixth extinction which threaten the lives of up to fifty percent of the current species. They further attribute this to human driven climate change. Fears have been raised that global warming is increasingly causing more areas to experience desert like conditions. Understandably, deserts experiences extreme weather conditions which are unfavourable for human settlement. Global warming has also been cited as the reason behind the melting of ice carps in tropical regions. Geographical features such as Mt. Kilimanjaro has been marked by receding ice carps which is a clear indication of the climate change. These changes have further resulted to rising of sea levels and possible submergence of some of the coastal strips and islands. Other negative impacts of climate change include extreme high temperatures in the lower atmosphere which results in sun burns and some forms of skin cancer. Industrial activities have been known to generate high amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide forms a protective layer within the lower atmosphere trapping much of the terrestrial radiation. Also, compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons which are also produced by industrial activities such as refrigeration have been linked to the depletion of the ozone layer. This has in effect allowed the harmful ultraviolet radiations to increasingly reach the surface of the earth. All these pose serious dangers to the human life (Human Health SGCRP 2009). The adoption of green actions is certainly necessarily if at all the human survival is to be guaranteed. A number of measures have already been undertaken and the outcome has indicated significant positive results. Unfortunately, other measures still call for a lot of sensitization if at all reasonable outcomes towards a sustainable world is to be realized. For example, the idea of controlling human population is among the grandest in so far as having a sustainable earth is concerned. Rapid population growth has directly been linked to increased deforestation as more people seek land for settlement. In addition, a bulging global population has put excess pressures on the ecosystem through waste disposal in water bodies as well as releasing to much of waste gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, the green action of minimizing population growth through birth control measures is very laudable. Developed nations have been effective in this as their population are well informed of the dangers of having so many kids. Some nations have gone to an extent of setting a child policy where a family is limited to have just a certain number of children. Also, controlling population would results in the less utilization of non-renewable energy sources as the little energy from the likes of wind and solar would be sufficient. The second idea of green action plan is protecting the natural ecosystem through education and policy formulations. This means that people should be made more aware of the value played by the natural ecosystem for their sustenance. Similarly, government should come up with policies that will seek to ensure activities such as logging, and disposal of waste products into rivers are minimized. In so doing, much of the natural ecosystem would be preserved not only for the current generations but also for the posterity. Finally, on the aspect of climate, there is an urgent needs to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases are undoubtedly pollutants and they end up modifying the global climate. World leaders need to have more conventions such as the Kyoto Agreement which required all the nations, including the U.S. and China which are the leading economic powerhouses, to minimize their emission of Carbon dioxide and other toxic gases. In so doing, cases of global warming due to depletion of ozone layer and formation of protective layer of gases in the lower atmosphere would be avoided. In summary, not unless green action plans are undertaken to guarantee sustainability, the survival of humanity is seriously under threat. Sustainability is an important aspect in the modern world as it ensure that the current generation are able to utilize the resources in their disposal with a clear understanding that the future generations also depend on the same resources for their survival. This thus starts with adoption of a number of green action plan whose sole objective is to prevent misuse of resources. Some of these actions include population control measures such as birth control. This minimizes the number of human population occupying the face of the earth at any moment in time hence reducing stress on the natural resources. The second green action plan is the preservation of vital ecosystem. There is no doubt that is through the perfect balance existing in an ecosystem that human beings have been able to get their food, clean air to breath, as well as some important medicine. These vital ecosystem needs to be protected by consciously taking measures that will illegalize activities such as logging or disposal of waste products that could lead to extinction of some of these key resources. Finally, human life can only be guaranteed if the climate in which they live in is conducive. Appropriate policies have to be adopted to minimize emission of greenhouse gases from industrial processes which eventually lead to global warming. Works Cited Ward, Tony. "Population." The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopaedia. Eds. Cynthia L. Clark, Cynthia L. Clark, and Cynthia L. Clark. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 9 May 2015. Tucker, C. J. "Population and Population Growth." Encyclopaedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Eds. Neil L. Shumsky, Neil L. Shumsky, and Neil L. Shumsky. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1998. Credo Reference. Web. 9 May 2015. Goodman, Amy, and Juan Gonzalez. "The Sixth Extinction: Elizabeth Kolbert on How Humans Are Causing Largest Die-Off Since Dinosaur Age." democracynow.org, 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 May 2015. “Human Health”. SGCRP (2009). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. . Epa.gov. 29 Aug. 2014. Web. 3 May 2015. Read More