The Impacts of Environmental Degradation - Case Study Example

Environmental degradation Name Institution Date Environmental Degradation and What Should Be Done Introduction Since industrial revolution in Britain, there has been a widespread environmental degradation in the world. Many changes in our environment have been witnessed. From shrinking forests to melting of icebergs on mountain tops, from the expanding of deserts in the tropics to increasing of sea and ocean volumes, from widespread soil erosion to changes in the aquatic life. All these have been issues of concern to environmentalists. The tragic part of it all is that most of these problems in the environment are caused by human beings (Mani, 2010, p. 15). From the time man became industrial; many changes in the environment have been witnessed. With the advent of machines, work became so easy and this reduced the human effort expended on work. However, this good invention came with its own perils. Since most machines used fossil fuels, it was soon realized that this was having a negative impact on the environment. Since then, a gradual but sure degradation of the ecosystem has been taking place. Many parts of the earth now lie in desolation. Some of them were once very beautiful habitats harboring numerous animal and plant lives. Now all that is gone. The beauty is no longer there. The chirruping of birds, howling of hyenas and roaring of the king of the jungle is no longer heard. An ominous silence now hangs on a once lively and noisy ecosystem (Mani, 2010, p. 26). All that meets the eye during the day are the dry bones of a once muscular and proud lion or a coward hyena. But the questions that remain to be answered are what happened? What or who is responsible for this sudden change of events? Man has all along being the primary enemy of his own environment. Through looking for space for settlement and agriculture, and through building of machines to make work easier, man has gradually but increasingly destroyed the environment. Man has been engaged in logging activities to create space for settlement and agriculture which has resulted into a slow but steady shrinking of forests. Presently, there are very few indigenous trees that the world can boost of. Most of them suffered extinction, thanks to the sharp axe of the logger. Animals were also not spared in the man’s quest for more land and space. Most of them were hunted for meat while others died from starvation due to lack of food. The beautiful old days when you could spot a leopard resting lazily on a tree after a heavy lunch in a hot afternoon in the tropics are long gone. The beautiful shades provided by towering trees are also no more. Now one has to brave the hot afternoon sun as it hits mercilessly and grudgingly on the bare ground. After man had succeeded in destroying large tracts of forests and sentencing many innocent animals to an early death, he embarked on building industries and machines that puffed thick and smelly smoke in the atmosphere. The once clear and beautiful sky suddenly turned to black. These machines and industries are responsible for many environmental problems that are witnessed on the earth’s surface today. The smoke released in the sky is responsible for global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. The rising of the temperatures have caused the ice to recede on mountaintops and deserts to expand, especially in the tropics (Dinar, 2011, p. 45). They are also responsible for the rising sea levels that have been the source of disasters especially in the lowland coastal areas. Loss of human lives and property has been the repercussion of these disasters. The marine life has also not been spared from man’s industrial activities. Most of the industrial wastes end in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Most of these wastes contain poisonous substances that cause deaths to marine life. This has led to extinction of some aquatic animals. The pollution of water bodies has also had an effect on human health. Human beings depend on water bodies for the supply of water. The use of this contaminated water has resulted into many health problems. The impacts of environmental degradation are limitless. They include domestic instability, deterioration of soil and land, loss of biodiversity, increase in international refugees to mention but just a few. Environmental degradation has resulted to dwindling of resources. In some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, water has become scarce due to continued desertification. This has led to eruption of domestic conflicts. Communities now fight over the little remaining resources. Violence and conflicts among communities is now a common phenomenon (Diehl & Gleditsch, 2011, p. 28). To makes matters worse, those conflicts are gaining an international outlook. Presently, various nations are grappling to gain access to the limited resources in the world. This is alarming as it can result to an all out war where countries will engage others in war. With the presence of weapons of mass destruction, we just pray that it should not come to that. This is because it will mean further destruction to the environment, apart from massive destruction of human lives and property. Due to these conflicts, many people have turned into refugees. Others run away from their countries to others due to harsh climatic conditions and lack of food and other basic commodities like water. This has led to increase in the number of refugees in some countries. There are many attempts that are being put in place to save the environment from further degradation. They include adopting the use of renewable resources of energy to reduce overreliance on oil, introduction of reforestation programs, creating awareness on environmental issues, and formulating laws to curb the vice that is destroying the environment. Though all these measures have been put in place, there is continued degradation of the environment, albeit at a slower rate. This implies that not all these measures have being fully implemented. There is still much that needs to be done to completely eradicate environmental degradation and restore it to its original glory (Dinar, 2011). In conclusion, though there have been outcries for governments to stop environmental degradation, it has to be realized that the problem trickles down to you and me as individuals. The little things that we do to our environment contribute hugely in either saving or destroying it. As individuals, we should always ask ourselves what we are doing in order to save the environment. If we take the responsibility as individuals to save the planet earth from further degradation, then collectively we shall be able to meet our goals of restoring the original beauty and glory of this planet. This can be done through each individual taking care of the immediate environment in which he/she lives in. That way, and within no time, we shall have an earth that is paradise-like, where you will wake up to a dose of fresh air and beautiful singing of birds in the morning, a cool breeze of wind in the hot afternoon and be treated to a lullaby at night by the mighty king of the jungle. Bibliography Diehl, P. & Gleditsch, P.N., 2011, Environmental conflict: An anthology, Boulder: Westview Press Dinar, S., 2011, Beyond Resource Wars: Scarcity, Environmental Degradation, and International Cooperation, New York: MIT Press, p.335. Mani, C., 2010, Environmental degradation, New York: Oxford university press Tilman et al., 2011, “Forecasting Agriculturally Driven Global Environmental Change,” Science 292.5515: p 281-84. Read More