Causes, Effects and Mitigations of Environmental Degradation - Literature review Example

Causes, effects and mitigations of environmental degradation Task: Causes, effects and mitigations of environmental degradation Environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the lowering of its quality through the exhaustion of natural assets. These result into the destruction of ecosystems and loss of species variation. The surrounding is considered degraded when habitats are subject to destruction, and the environmental resources are not enough to satisfy the organisms’ needs. Environmental destruction can be triggered by the natural and man’s activities. Causes of environmental degradation Poverty In the third world, poverty has been a serious development obstacle. It is one of the key causes and effects of global environmental problems especially in rural areas. Poverty is linked with overexploitation of resources, which leads to the decrease in productivity. Poverty arises when individuals fail to meet their essential needs. The daily lives of many people are focused on obtaining sufficient food, water, and energy for cooking to survive. Since people are desperate for land to produce enough food, some are increasingly degrading forests, soils, and other resources for survival. Poverty influences population augmentation. Amidst the pitiable, more children enhance the likelihood of endurance. The augmentation of population causes overutilization of resources. Population The levels of population relative to the resources base, and the high rates of augmentation of population in the third world, are considered to be the fundamental cause of environmental degradation. The population growth has lead to the augmentation of demand for food. The high demand leads to the escalation of food production to the neglect of the environmental standards. The high population utilizes a vast amount of water, raw materials, and energy. In the process of consumption, huge amounts of pollution and wastes are produce thus causing environmental destruction. Agricultural practices The farming activities in developed and developing world cause environmental destruction. For many years, soil tillage has been the efficient means to reduce weeds. However, such cultivation can lead to soil degradation, and has the potential to cause soil erosion, reduce soil quality, and harm soil organisms. Land reclamation is also agricultural activities that cause negative effects such as pollution and habitat destruction (Kumar, 2002). Chemicals from the farm are sources of pollutants, which degrade the environment. Surface water carries the farm chemical in the water bodies causing the deaths of organisms. Excessive use of the agrochemicals especially in irrigated land can cause pollution of upper and underground water resources with heavy metals and nitrates (Kumar, 2002). Irrigated lands also cause environmental destruction in many ways. It causes overexploitation of water, transfer of pollutants, and sediments into upper and underground water. Moreover, irrigation causes salinisation and poor aeration of irrigated land. Due to excess water application on lands in addition to lack of drainage facilities, many lands are at risk from water logging and salinisation (Kumar, 2002). Deforestation Due to high population, there is land scarcity, which has lead to forest clearance to create more land for settlement and farming. Deforestation has effected the precipitation levels in many areas globally. The influence of forest clearance on rainfall is not experienced to deforested areas only. It also affects rainfall quantity in other parts away from the deforested parts. Forest clearance has had adverse effects on the flow of moisture in the atmosphere. It has caused the lowering of water retaining capacity of the soil resulting in the extreme water runoff leading to floods, erosion, and desertification. Land desertification has been a serious environmental issue universally (Vajpeyi, 2001). Additionally, deforestation causes high evapotranspiration and as a result, frequent and intensive snowstorms are occurring in some parts of the world. For instance, between 1997 and 1998, snowstorms in southwest China killed many nomads (Vajpeyi, 2001). The impact of forest clearance is also felt on the plants and animals’ species diversification. It threatens the presence of the dominant forest species of plants and animals. Because to human destruction, there is disappearing of forests and hence many plants and animal are experiencing extinction. Reduction in predators results in the augmentation of the number of rodents and other pets and insects, which in turn leads to the degradation of pasture and trees (Vajpeyi, 2001). Urban growth Industrialization has caused the extreme alteration of the environment. For instance, the increase in urban area has affected the local climate. The high growth and expansions of industries have led to the augmentation of pollutant emissions affecting air eminence, wellbeing and the biosphere (Dutt, 2003). Urban expansion has been largely generated by rapid escalation of population. Poverty and lack of jobs in underdeveloped parts trigger outmigration from the underdeveloped to developed areas. The consequent of such migration is the failure of the government to offer sufficient facilities and services to cater for the large population. This affects societal processes and sustenance systems such as sewages (Dutt, 2003). Squatter settlements are present along riverbanks and railroads, or disused mining lands, and other underdeveloped government or private land. Majority persons lack the requisite facilities such as sewages; thus, are easily in contact with waste (Dutt, 2003). Urban areas are the centers of industrial activities. Many of the firms are resource-based, although integrated metal processing, and chemical petrochemical industries have been set up. Whereas industrialization has caused financial prosperity and upgrading in standards of living, it has also caused in natural-resource reduction in the through pollution. Additionally, it has led to the amassing of lethal and perilous wastes, which influence human wellbeing and the superiority of life. In many countries, industrialization has more often shunned technology administration that would accentuate stumpy or no waste and resourceful resource utilization. Novel industries in developing entities often receive obsolete technology, which affects their operational processes and contributes to such a phenomenon (Dutt, 2003). Transportation is also key cause of environmental destruction in metropolitan areas. In addition to particulates and carbon, the high number of automobiles is also responsible for surrounding pollutants like the photochemical smog. With the sunlight present, nitrogen dioxide is disassociated into “nitric oxide and oxygen” (Dutt, 2003). These atoms bond with oxygen resulting into the formation of ozone. The oxidants affect organic substances causing irritant effects on individuals and unpleasant effects on plant (Dutt, 2003). Natural Fire Lightning is the major cause of natural fires, which lead to deforestation. Due the fires, the organisms’ habitats are often destroyed. Furthermore, important trees species and other vegetations are destroyed. Destruction of vegetations by fires leads the emission of polluting gasses in the air. It also leads to loss of soil cover, which in turn escalates the rate of soil removal hence causing environmental degradation (Kumar, 2002). Volcanic activities Volcanic activities lead to the augmentation of polluting gases in the air. The gases reduce the ozone layer and hence causing global temperature augmentation. The gases also cause acid rain, which affects vegetations causing the low agricultural outputs. The acid rains destroy the living organism in the soils, thus causing soil degradation (Kumar, 2002). Impacts of environmental degradation Environmental degradation leads huge economic losses. Due to the destruction, many countries lose billions of income annually. Additionally, it has led to the loss of large fertile lands each year due to soil erosion. The loss of fertile top soil implies the lowering of agricultural productivity. For instance, if there is a significant loss in fertile top soil and if all other inputs of production process are kept constant, the result would be a drop yields. Even if other inputs like capital and labor are augmented to maintain crop yields, the result is still a drop in the output because in actually higher production cost per unit, outputs are incurred in comparison to before the soil erosion occurred. This problem is further intensified when soil erosion occurs in marginal lands where the marginal cost of increasing yield is large and in many instances exceeds the marginal benefits. This is especially true in tropical forests, which are characterized by thin top soil layers (Vajpeyi, 2001). Environmental destruction leads to the lowering of environmental capital for industries that rely on natural capital. Water pollution from industries has killed fish, while forest destruction has caused the scarcity of trees needed in the timber industries. The degradation has led to the deaths of species, thus affecting the tourism sector. The loss of vegetation has led to the loss of aesthetic value causing lower tourists’ attraction. Environmental destruction has also led to the reduction of biodiversity. Some of the species, especially trees, are of medicinal value. Trees are habitats for insects, birds, and many dangerous wild animals. Forest clearing leads destruction of habitat for the animals. This makes the animals to migrate to the human settlement area hence leading to the human-wildlife conflicts. Environmental degradation results in the loss of plant cover which augments the surface runoff. This causes floods at the lowlands hence causing deaths and migration of individuals. Additionally, due to environmental degradation, people have experienced water insufficiency especially in the developed parts. Water scarcity in turn leads to poor hygiene especially in the slum area. Poor sanitation leads to the occurrence of water borne illnesses, which have killed the lives of many people. Furthermore, environmental destruction leads to droughts and poverty. This is because it leads to lower level of precipitation, thus leading to lower agricultural productivity and water shortages. These therefore cause food shortages and low-income levels hence causing poverty. Poverty culminates in elevated crime rate within the societal constraints. Mitigations Governments should set regulations in order to lower industrial pollution, to clean up the worst polluted waters, and to lower the levels of some air contaminants, for instance phasing out the use off CFSs. If rising populations pose a threat to the surrounding, it is essential that very stringent population control policies must be implemented immediately, especially in the poorest and populous states of the world with rapidly expanding populations. Direct involvements by governments will be successful in increasing the amount of natural areas that are preserved where only limited use is allowed to protect environment and biodiversity. While urban waste production continues to augment rapidly, there should be waste reduction policies, which will lead a higher recycling or reusing of waste. Policies that are developed to protect the environmental assets should consider the distributive effects of surrounding standards, and accessibility to environmental assets while ensuring that they do not further exacerbate these effects (OECD, 2001). To encourage species variety, there is the need to plant a large number of tree species around the banks of streams, rivers, and canals. The government should discourage the accumulation and over concentration of people and livestock population beyond carrying capacity of Earth in a particular forest. Additionally, there is the need to implement reforestation programs in order to increase the forest cover. The programs should target the areas of degraded forest areas. The government should limit the utilization of prime forest assets for destructive activities. Additionally, it should provide some alternatives to farmers in the form of developing agro-forestry to meet the local timber and woods needs. This will reduce the reliance of forest trees hence lowering deforestation (Kumar, 2002). Industries ought to reduce wastes of all kinds including solid and liquid effluents. Waste reduction is critical to the control of future hazardous waste problems. By lowering the production of waste, industries can use materials more efficiently and achieve more certain protection for health and environment. At the same time, industries can lower waste management and regulatory obedience cost, liabilities, and risks. Industries can lower pollution by changing the materials of production and changing production technology and equipment. Moreover, the industries can improve their production methods, recycle waste within the plant, and reformulate products. Some of the effective methods entail the usage of mechanical ways in place of the hazardous organic solvents to clean metals. There is also the usage of water-based raw materials instead of materials based on organic solvents. Additionally, it entails changing of plant practices to produce lower hazardous wastewater (OECD, 2001). Conclusion Environmental problems center on human activities, which adversely affect the air, oceans, and land cover. Many developing states are concerned about the environmental issues, which impinge on the connection between poverty and environmental degradation. Rapid population escalation places vast pressure on all aspects of the environment, combined with deforestation, land destruction, and soil erosion, which is in the proportion of persons living in elevated poverty. References Dutt, K. (2003). Challenges to Asian urbanization in the 21st century. New York: NY. Springer. Kimar, A. (2002). Environmental Pollution and Agriculture. New York, NY: APH Publishing. OECD. (2001). OECD environmental outlook. New York: NY. OECD Publishing. Vajpeyi, K. (2001). Deforestation, environment, and sustainable development: a comparative analysis. New York: NY. Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More