The Impact Of The Environment On The Environment

Overpopulation, pollution, global warming, climate change, genetic modification, ocean acidification, water/soil pollution, deforestation, acid rain, and ozone depletion are among some of the main factors that have a negative impact on the planet. Overpopulation is one the most concerning environmental issues currently. Overpopulation is defined as the human population of a specific area exceeding the carrying capacity. Overpopulation can occur from an increase in births mainly or a decline in deaths. Also, other factors that affect overpopulation can be an increase in immigration or a depletion of resources. It was stated by the United Nations that the worth has a total carrying capacity of somewhere between 4 and 16 billion. Currently we hold over 7 billion humans on Earth. As of 2017 the UN has increased their population predictions to 9.8 billion by 2050 and up to 15 billion by 2100. Pollution we hear about every day.

Cook, D. (2003). Human interactions are crucial for sustainable development. Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 111, pp.322-328.

My first lifestyle behavior that has an impact on the environment is the overuse of bottled water and plastic bags. In our modern society using plastic bags and bottled water became a necessity in our everyday life which is completely unnecessary. I, personally depend on stuff made of plastic for my basic needs. I usually every time doing some shopping every time using new plastic bags. Sometimes these bags gathered in my house that I just throw them into the trash. I use plastic zippers to store food and other things. No doubt it is very convenient to cover the table with a plastic cover sheet before dinner and just take and throw away without a second thought. It is cheap and convenient, I don’t have to spend a couple of minutes to clean it and reuse next time. Unfortunately, the higher prices for our lazy life is paying our environment with global warming.

When it comes to our environment in today’s day and age, citizens only seem to see it becoming worse and worse. In fact, most would even say that the world is beyond saving with all of the impact greenhouse gases and the human way of living is destroying our ecosystems. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Today, we have plenty of efforts in place attempting to reduce, and hopefully reverse, the negative effects on our environment. The transportation industry, one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions, is no exception. Amtrak, being the number one passenger rail system in America, is making it an active goal to help preserve our planet.

Several psychologists have debated the issue of nature versus nurture for many decades. Only to arrive at one reasonable conclusion: Both genes and the environment are important in shaping a person’s behavior. However, individuals are not spared from these and are susceptible to environmental influences. Depending on how their family is structured to how their culture is structured. Nearly every phase of an individual's life teaches a lesson on how to adapt to the world. Parents purposely choose to teach certain ethical views or ideas to their families. These ideas are a crucial part of their heritage or history. Environment can affect morals, etiquette, and quality of life.

Since the very first textile production line in the 1700s to Apple products being made overseas in  China, factories have plays a significant role in our world since the beginning and continues to do so. The Industrial Revolution was a stepping stone in Americas history and opened a door to new inventions to make lives easier. It began with the invention and application of machinery for production and peak in the production of machines made by machines. Factories have indeed made production efficient and increased the number of jobs. However, like all good things there is a negative side. Factories are a source of nonpoint pollution, meaning the pollution affects  a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind-borne debris blowing out to sea. Non-point source air pollution affects air quality from smokestacks. Which is a problem because factories contribute to both water and air pollution harming our environment as it still continues to operate all over the world. So how do we know if factories are doing more harm than benefits for our environment?

The earth is home to millions of species and each one has an impact on the earth's environment whether big or small. In comparison to the earth, humans have only been around for a fraction of time, but have successfully made the largest impact of any species. Although humans have shaped the world through innovations and technologies, we are making a significant, negative impact on the earth and its environment. This paper will outline several ways in which the human’s actions are negatively impacting the earth’s environment and its inhabitants.

Throughout history, the environment around our society has played a large role and has had serious implication on the very existence of humans. From war, peace migration, population growth, disease, along with the rise and fall of many civilizations mother nature has been right along for the ride through the prosperity and as well as the hardship. The environmental problems that occur have been happening due to natural occurrences, but recently since the age of the Industrial Revolution human activity has become a large factor in the increased problems that are present, and the implications of our consequences are hurting not only the environment but also us in turn. The major environmental issues cause by humans are loss in biodiversity, deforestation, ocean pollution, water scarcity and climate change.

Environmental impacts refer to the effects on the environment as resulting from both human and non-human activities. The events by people have been the leading causes of effects such as degradation of the environment. Some of those deadly operations include industrial activities, the creation of settlements, improper waste disposal, and farming among others. Despite the many concerns that have created an impact on the environment, industrialization and rapid population growth are the leading causes of environmental impacts.

Humans are greatly impacting our environment today. These impacts are both for better and for worse, but, unfortunately they are mainly for worse. Because of humans, there are countless issues for the environment, including deforestation, global warming, and water pollution. Each of these problems have created a huge and negative outcome on the environment, different animals, and the Earth’s ecosystem. However, science is being used to address these problems and to help resolve these issues.

Society must consider ancient history and texts to navigate the treatment of nature. As countries around the world continue to develop, it becomes important to reflect on history to see how the environment was preserved. In the bible it is evident that God intended humans to preserve His land. After the creation of the world, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:5). In studying this passage it becomes clear that God placed people on Earth to enjoy it, but at the same time “keep it, revealing that the environment has been a priority since the beginning of Earth. Later in the Bible, Moses shares God’s command that we “shall not pollute the land in which you live” (Numbers 35:33 ESV). This verse encouraged many people in ancient times to preserve the environment as it was created. As a developing society, we can reflect on communities as old as 1450 BC to see how the environment was treated and preserved for the future. Society must reflect on ancient history and texts to guide the decision of how to preserve the environment for future generations.

Americans became concerned about the environment in the latter part of the 20th century. Victory over Nazi-Germany was a result of industrialization; however it was detrimental for the environment. With industries booming, meant more pollution affecting natural resources. DDT was helping to save millions of lives from fatal disease, but there was minimal evidence as to how harmful this insecticide was for both humans and animals. Throughout the 1960’s new research was discovered as to the impacts destroying the environment. Activists as well as politicians began to incorporate the value of protecting the environment into mainstream events. This gave the perfect opportunity for new organizations to arise, which over a dozen did. The most influential one being Greenpeace as it was the first organization to spread awareness about environmental issues, and is now the largest organization promoting a green and peaceful world.

In our study about human impact on the amount of plastic in the environment, we discovered some very interesting results. In our study, we walked through the streets of Sisters, Oregon. We went into the local businesses to talk to them about their usage of plastic bags or paper bags. We wanted to see just how much of Sisters was using only paper bags. We asked them to provide an approximate number of paper and plastic bags that they give out to customers on a daily basis. We explained to them some of the bad effects of plastic bags on the environment. If the owner was only using plastic bags, then we suggested ideas to limit the plastic bags, such as a punch card for those who choose to avoid the usage of plastic bags. We will highlight three of our interviews in this article, as well as highlight the results of our study. Let us begin with the three interviews we would like to highlight.

Making decisions that will prevent environmental destruction are quite important if we want to continue thriving as a species. We need to become better at coexisting on this planet, because if we keep ravaging the environment like we're doing, there will be nothing left destroy. Our current consumption will start to take a grander toll on our climate, thus causing even more problems; therefore, it is important we address this issue now and don’t brush off the decisions that are causing our environment to crumble. We need to take action before it gets any worse because I think we are rapidly getting closer to a point where irreversible damage to our planet will ultimately induce our own demise as a species.

Pollutants are impacting aquatic organisms disposed by daily human activities and natural occurrences. An extensive amount of pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons can result in direct significant damage, e.g. death. However lower levels of these harmful substances can be stored in an organism and increase as it continues and follows up the food chain, a process called biomagnification or bioaccumulation, having the greatest effect on the top predator of that food chain. A common result of the pollutants can lead to stress, changing of the immune system, inhibit lysozyme activity, damage gills, metabolism, and growth. Other factors include an excessive amount of nutrients in the environment. Nitrogen can make its way into aquatic ecosystems when there is an increase in nitrous oxide in the air, allowing eutrophication. Algae and bacteria feed off the nitrogen, so a high number of these organisms appear and use oxygen around them as the feed, causing hypoxic zones, or dead zones. Acidification, an increase in the ecosystem’s pH acidity from acid rain, which occurs from an increase in CO2 from air pollution. Aquatic organisms have a range of tolerance, and water with high acidic pH will lead the organism out of the range of tolerance, resulting in stress of the organism, and eventually death. Further studies are being pursuited to see larger impacts of globalized pollution on aquatic species and their ecosystems.