Hello fellow Steemians,
I'm back at home after my 2 months traveling right in time for my birthday and know I am ready to continue my work here on Steemit. Raising awareness for problems the humans have caused that threatens our Planet is my mission. Today is all about the environment and its biggest threats.
The 15 biggest environmental issues nowadays
There is no denying, that our environment is constantly changing to a worse condition. So it is really important to raise awareness for the biggest threats and to come up with solutions to solve these issues. The following part is a quick summary of these problems.
1. Pollution
Probably the biggest Issues of all is the pollution humans are creating and leaving the planet in a devastating state. Pollution of water, soil and air needs millions of years to recover. Industry and vehicles are the biggest pollutants of all.
2. Global Warming
As a consequence of the human practices constantly polluting the air, the global warming is the second biggest threat to the planet. It leads to rising temperatures of the surface of the earth and our oceans. Furthermore are rising sea levels, due to the melting of polar ice, excessive snow or desertification and flash floods, side effects of the climate change.
3. Overpopulation
The overpopulation causes shortages of the vital resources like water, food and fuel. Damages to the environment are done because intensive agriculture is practiced and insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers are spread all over the planet.
4. Natural Resource Depletion
The fossil consumption of the humans is another crucial environmental problem. It is mainly responsible for the greenhouse effect and therefore for the climate change.
5. Waste Disposal
The excessive consumption of resources and plastic production are leading to a crisis of waste disposal. Dumping waste or garbage of the well developed countries are main reasons for the critical situation. Also the nuclear waste disposal all over the world and tons of wasted electronic devices are causing life threatening conditions for humans.
6. Climate Change
It is another big issue and caused by the global warming due to the burning of fossils. The Effects are besides the melting of polar ice, occurrence of new diseases, overall changing of weather and seasons and frequent occurrence of floods.
7. Loss of Biodiversity
The growth of the population and human activities are causing mass extinction of animal species and loss of biodiversity. It also threatens natural processes like pollination that are necessary for the ecosystem to survive. Also the mass extinction of coral reefs in our oceans is another example of the human threat to the planet.
8. Deforestation
The forests on the earth are producing constantly fresh air and a natural sink for CO2. The overpopulation are causing ongoing decrease of our forests, due to the need of food, shelters and cloth.
9. Ocean Acidification
Ocean Acidification is a direct effect of the overage CO2 in the athmosphere. It leads to poisened oceans, which is has major effects on the shellfish population and plankton.
10. Ozone Layer Depletion
One of the most important current environmental issues is the creation of holes in the Ozone Layer that shields the planet from harmful sun rays. Toxic Substances like Bromine and Chlorine found in many products of the industry are destroying that Layer and expose not only the humankind to dangerous UV radiations.
11. Acid Rain
Acid Rain caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, releasing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere and erupting volcanoes is a major threat to wildlife, aquatic species and on the humans health.
12. Water Pollution:
The most basic resource, clean drinking water, is becoming a rare commodity. Water crisis in underdeveloped countries makes people fight for it and causes wars. The growth of many industrial sectors has led to toxic seas, rivers and oceans due to the trash disposal of toxic substances into nearby waters.
13. Urban Sprawl
The growing demand of land destroys many flora and faunas, shrinks the habitats of other species. Urban Sprawl results in increased traffic, land degradation and health issues.
14. Public Health Issues
All these problems pointed out are causing serious health issues for the humans. The biggest threat is dirty drinking water full of chemicals, diseases and toxins.
15. Genetic Engineering
The modification of our food being done by the industry can cause serious environmental issues. Genetically modified plants can prove toxic to wilderness and may lead to antibiotic resistance.
The consequences our modern society are becoming more visible than ever. We need to start changing our daily lives and start questioning the movements of our governments. The need for a green society is big and growing every day, the conditions are getting worse and worse, people don't even know solutions for some of the problems shown above. You may can not do much to help the planet but what YOU can do is spreading awareness for these Environmental Problems in your local community, your family and friends.
If the humankind won't stop harming the planet and don't come up with ideas of how to fix their mess, there will be no earth like it is today in the future. A hostile environment would be the final outcome.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
