The Effects Of Agriculture On The Environment

Times have changed, and so has the family, the community and our environment. And these changes have impacted our lives and earth immeasurably. This is where the factor greed comes in to play, the need for more. This need for more called for extensive measures, measures like fertilizers, pesticides and equipment to work the ground and harvest the crops became necessity. Agriculture became a booming business that did not and still does not promote the well-being of the employee nor the individual let alone the family unit and community. Since 1950 an average farm size has doubled, but the number of laborers decreased substantially and the number of small local farmers has been cut in half. Farmers have been forced to become more efficient and there 's been a reliance on greater chemicals and technology, which has become very extensive and expensive. Sadly, what has been short term expansion has become a long-term threat (Trautmann, 2012). This greed driven increase has led to subtle damaging ramifications that most people are ignorant to. Their needs are being met as quality is being forsaken. Our environment is being squandered. Selfishness abounds.

After learning about the statistics of how much agriculture consumes our planet, I was appalled to see how destructive it is. Jonathan Foley put into perspective the increase and rapid demand for food. Agriculture alone consumes 40% of our land surface, 70% of our irrigation system, and

To conclude, our current way of agricultural life is not sustainable. The article “What’s for supper” has made me realize that if I hope for a better future for generations to come I should support a locally sourced lifestyle. This article is an eye opener to me and proved to me the importance of supporting locally grown produce. Locally grown produce supports the environment as well as jobs for people in the community. The current system takes a toll on every species on the planet. Humans are overproducing on a massive scale and are wasting close to half of our supplies and

The development of high yield crops have saved huge areas of forests and other environmentally fragile lands that would otherwise have been needed for farming. For example, in Asia cereal production doubled between 1970 and 1975, yet the total land area cultivated with cereals increased by only 4 percent. The passing of laws like the Clean Water Act of 1972 that took steps to insure the increased use of fertilizers and pesticides would not end up in the waterways that so many people rely on for consumption and in the agriculture world of farming. The development of pest-resistant varieties has also helped in keeping pesticides and herbicides out of our waters. All of these advancements and legislation have championed a sustainable way to continue growth in economics and

As the Earth’s population grows at breakneck pace over the next several decades, who will feed the world’s people? Agriculture has undergone an extensive expansion and transformation throughout the last few centuries, beginning with the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s. New technology allowed for better and greater methods of production. With the development of modern technology, people try to think some way can plant less, get more. Many farmers plant only one crop in the same place year after year. However, those against monocropping claim that it is very hard on the environment and actually less profitable than organic means of farming (“Monoculture Crops – Learn About The Effects Of Monocropping”). In addition, the destructive nature of agriculture has recently shown its hand. While our supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants are filled with abundant food options, people forget to ask themselves where all this food comes from. Globalization has opened up economies of scale and has allowed people to tap into different types of products, whether that is food or clothing. But the availability of an increased mass market comes at a cost. However, today, the modern farming techniques have grown into a headache for farmers and governments alike, because they are the consequences of overproduction, industrial waste and other problems arising from the modern methods of agriculture. Thus, modern techniques are harmful to environments, animals, and humans.

Since the beginning of mankind, we have become dependent on animal products as a food source. As population increased, so did the production of animal agriculture and its profitability. Unfortunately, it has grown into an industry that is unsustainable for this planet and is demolishing our environment at an astonishing rate. In the academic article, ‘Cowspiracy’ Strips the Meat Industry Down to the Bone, Ford reports the shocking statistic that “even if all utilities were turned off and every fossil-fuel-guzzling system of transportation ceased immediately, environmental damage that results from greenhouse gases would be irreversible…even with humanity’s greatest efforts, the dairy and meat industries will still eventually destroy life on Earth”. As the environment is at its most crucial and devastating point, the major contribution that animal agriculture has on rainforest deforestation, pollution of our water, and global warming becomes undeniable.

Farming for our food causes many issues. Growing our food is causing a major decrease in finite resources, like fertile soil and water (Clemmitt 555). Fertile soil and water are being wasted on crops that are not successfully growing. The decrease in finite resources is caused by old, non-efficient techniques, like the throw-and-grow (Clemmitt

Throughout history, land employed for agricultural production has caused greater environmental change to the biosphere than any other land use (Gliessman, 2010).

It is true that we are in a battle of feeding our people while trying to care for our soil and environment. While trying to produce enough food to feed the masses, we are still and will always be damaging the environment in some way. The use of chemicals and pesticides on crops is wonderful for yield, but is toxic and destructive to the soil. It is also a fact that not all farmers can afford to do better practices

Many negative environmental impact from unsustainable farming practices include; Land conversion and habitat loss, Wasteful water consumption, and Soil erosion and degradation (“Environmental Impacts of Farming”).There are many different types of harmful gases are released into the atmosphere. Many of these gases are potent greenhouse gases, which contribute to environmental damage and climate change (“How Factory Farming Creates Air Pollution”) Scientists are still researching, but data shows factory farms create a mass production of manure that they toss into huge lagoons which goes up into the atmosphere. Over 37 percent of methane emissions result from factory farming. Methane has a global warming potential 20 times higher than carbon dioxide. The industrialized animal facilities have caused serious respiratory and cardiac disorders (“Pollution Water, Air, Chemicals”). Most factory farming has a negative effect on our environment, and will affect many forests, animal life, and soil. Many trees are going extinct because factory farms want to expand, and cut down the trees. Trees like the Hinton’s Oak is going extinct because of farmer’s selfishness, and pollution

Increasing human population and industrial agriculture go hand and hand. Currently, there are 7.4 billion people in the world and it continues to grow rapidly and the demand to meet the needs for our growing population remains to be an overwhelming task. Agriculture is the practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products. Deforestation is by-product of agriculture in which we must cut down trees for agriculture. We are losing our natural resources to meet the demands of the population. The pressure to meet the needs is contributing to global warming, animal extinctions and uprooting indigenous people from their homes.

     Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.

Agriculture and herding has had detrimental effects on our environment in numerous ways. Land must be cleared in order to plant crops or allow grass to grow. This not only kills native plants, but it also alters the habitat of the location and destroys the natural homes of many wild animals. By introducing plants and animals that are not native to the area, humans alter the environment in order to suit their own needs. However, human alterations are not always compatible with the ecosystem, which is extremely complex and has evolved into its own sustainable system. As we continue to alter our environment, we are speedily changing the ecosystem with high levels of destruction that it may not be able to cope with fast enough.

The current world has become more crowded day-by-day. The increase in human population and the need for increased living standards has added pressure on the environment. This is because innovations and inventions have been advanced so as to meet the demands of the increased population. For this reason, the new practices have been adopted especially in the agricultural sector so that food production and supply is consistent with the market demand. This has forced agriculture to adopt such practices as mechanization and massive use of farm chemicals. These new adoptions have led to massive land and environmental degradation, and thus the

Agriculture, and the associated consumption of food, has been identified as one of the principal drivers of environmental degradation (Robinson & Harris 2012; UNEP 2010; Brown 2012), with industrial scale agriculture being of particular concern (Robinson & Harris 2012: 135); subsistence agriculture tends to have little environmental impacts, although some alteration to natural landscapes do take place (Robinson & Harris 2012: 135). Since the Green Revolution, these industrial crop systems have aimed to maximise the productivity of the land through the inputs of new technologies (ibid: 135). Such productivity increases are arguably necessary in view of the rising global population, with consumer demands only just being met (Figure 1.). However, this intensification is also unsustainable, and is associated with a number of environmental pressures, most notably soil degradation, habitat changes, climate change, excess water use, and pollution (Robinson & Harris 2012; Brown 2012; UNEP 2010; WWF n.d.).