1- ACIDIFYING OCEANS
In the past,
300 million years the oceans have never been contaminated to this level &
in faster rate, which is being done, today, even now…! One of the biggest threats to our oceans is
man-made pollution. Discarded plastics and other residential waste, discharge
from pesticides and industrial chemicals eventually find their way into the sea
with devastating consequences for marine life and the habitats they depend
on. Shipping accidents and oil spills add additional toxins to the mix.
The most toxic
waste material dumped into the ocean includes dredged material, industrial
waste, sewage sludge, and radioactive waste. Dredging contributes about 80% of
all waste dumped into the ocean, adding up to several million tons of material
dumped each year. Rivers, canals, and harbors are dredged to remove silt and
sand build-up or to establish new waterways. About 20-22% of dredged material
is dumped into the ocean. The remainder is dumped into other waters or
landfills and some is used for development. About 10% of all dredged material
is polluted with heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and chromium, hydrocarbons
such as heavy oils, nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen, and
organochlorines from pesticides. Waterways and, therefore, silt and sand
accumulate these toxins from land runoff, shipping practices, industrial and
community waste, and other sources. When these materials find their way into
the ocean, marine organisms suffer toxic effects and seafood is often
contaminated.
We have
discarded, our toxic wastes into the life support systems of thousands of
species, which they call home.
We have been
using plastic to suffocate them to extinction…!
2- CHOKING ATMOSPHERE
Today, carbon dioxide is entering the atmosphere at rates greater than during the largest mass extinction in the history of planet. The atmosphere that protected us from harmful radiations from the sun, today its trapping heat and letting the planet heat up in unimaginable speeds.
We have emitted 1,540 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
Exposure to air pollution is a leading cause of premature death worldwide. An increasing part of air pollution results from industrial activity and the production of energy. When unregulated, emissions of air pollutants constitute a market failure as polluters do not bear the costs imposed on society at large. My dissertation develops empirical methods to test the effectiveness and distributional effects of environmental policies designed to address this externality. To do so, I apply econometrics and data science techniques on large datasets from cutting-edge research in environmental science and engineering that I match with microeconomic data. The dissertation makes use of new datasets on air pollution derived from satellite imagery, as well as micro-level data on power plant operations and housing transactions across the United States.
Along with harming human health, air pollution can cause a variety of environmental effects:
Acid rain, Eutrophication, Haze, Effects on wildlife, Ozone depletion, Crop and forest damage, Global climate change etc.
1.2 billion people will suffer from extreme heat stress by the year 2100
3-KILLING TREES
Compared to trees & other species, we human beings, only add up to 0.0001% of life on earth. Yet we have cut down the total weight of plants by half. More than 50% of remaining half, has been converted into agricultural lands.
Deforestation has had serious environmental effects. While forests still make up 30 percent of the Earth, each year an estimated 18 million acres (or 7.3 million hectares) of forest are lost to Deforestation practices. This has caused land and soil damage while also displacing plants and animals that rely on the ecosystem created by forests. At the same time, the removal of trees means more greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere as trees play an important part in the Carbon Cycle as absorbers of carbon dioxide. The removal of trees can also impact livelihoods because people depend on forests for shelter, water, fuel, food security and jobs. Protecting our forests is extremely important in order to limit the impact of these effects and ensure a sustainable future.
Every year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. Then things started to speed up. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. That’s one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock.
4-HELPING CLIMATE CHANGE
Today, humankind’s activities are altering the world’s climate. We are increasing the atmospheric concentration of energy-trapping gases, thereby amplifying the natural "greenhouse effect" that makes the Earth habitable. These greenhouse gases (GHGs) comprise, principally, carbon dioxide (mostly from fossil fuel combustion and forest burning), plus other heat-trapping gases such as methane (from irrigated agriculture, animal husbandry and oil extraction), nitrous oxide and various human-made halocarbons.
Replacing a forest with agricultural land & industries will generally increase the amount of sunlight reflected back into space
Earth’s temperature depends on the balance between energy entering and leaving the planet. When incoming energy from the sun is absorbed, Earth warms. When the sun’s energy is reflected back into space, Earth avoids warming. When energy is released from Earth into space, the planet cools.
Over the past 50 years, solar energy reaching the earth has actually declined slightly, while temperatures have increased dramatically.
5-CONTAMINATING WATER
Now sip a glass of cool, clear water as you watch this, and you may think water pollution is a not a problem.Millions of people, die each year from preventable diseases, after drinking water from an unsanitary source. 80% of china’s water reservoirs are contaminated.And the rest of the world continues to over consume and contaminate its water supplies.
Water contamination is a common problem to all over the world. These may be geological or anthropogenic. Higher levels of contaminants in drinking water are seldom to cause acute health effects. Of course it depends on individual susceptibility and mode of contact with the body.
Microbial and organic contaminants cannot always be detected by human senses. You might go years before realizing a problem exists. Many folks never become suspicious until people in the community start to get sick. Water near agricultural areas may contain harmful organic material from pesticide or fertilizer application. Chemicals from pesticides and fertilizers in water may increase cancer risk and reproductive problems, and can impair eye, liver, kidney, and other body functions. Similar problems can result from exposure to water near industrial plants.
6-ELIMINATING ANIMALS
Our planet’s, nearly 9 million species are, facing extinction.Plants and animals are dying off, at a rate that humans have accelerated, to be tens or hundreds of times faster than normal.
At the beginning of the 21st century humans slaughtered well over 100 billion animals for food every year, including a billion cattle, sheep and pigs and over 50 billion chickens. Globally, 99 % of all domesticates are commodities in animal agriculture, to be killed and transformed into food products. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 460 million tonnes in 2050. Most of the increased demand for meat and milk will be in developing countries that are increasingly adopting a western diet characterized by a high consumption of animal proteins.
We’re losing billions of bees each year, we rely on bees to pollinate everything, from almonds to strawberries to the alfalfa used to feed dairy cows. What happens if the bees disappear? It’s simple: no bees, no food.
Over-fishing, cutting down, of forests all these, have led to devastating conditions, where thousands of species are, choked to death.
7- WAKING UP HIDDEN DISEASES
The changes in climate, that create, warmer, drier conditions, increased drought, and a longer fire season are boosting these increases in wildfire, risk.
Climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas emissions is forecast to dramatically increase the risk of very large, damaging wildfires over the next several decades, a new NOAA-funded study says. Here is an interesting piece of article that says that the risk of large U.S. wildfires is predicted by mid-century.
Wildfires take away homes, wildlife, as well as vegetation. All of the inhabitants of the wildlife environment now are found homeless. People often lose their houses as well if the fires are close enough to human housing. Vegetation is now obsolete if this area is near a farm or near the food of other inhabitants. Millions of dollars are spent repairing these damages and re-building homes and areas of vegetation.
More than 80 percent of wildfires are caused by people.
Warmer temperatures and drier conditions can help fires spread and make them harder to put out.
This automatically, subtracts the time we have, to save this planet from no point of return.
10- TRAP FOR SELF
Warmer average temperatures, will lead to hotter days and more frequent and longer heat waves.
These changes will lead to an increase in, heat-related deaths.
Exposure to extreme heat can lead to, heat stroke and dehydration, as well as cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular diseases.
Heat waves are also often accompanied by, periods of stagnant air, leading to increases in air pollution and associated health effects.
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