The abuse of the environment

The definition of ‘Environment’ by the Cambridge English dictionary: ‘The air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live.’

Essay on Environment

The environment plays a pivotal role in the existence, growth and development of all living things on earth and importantly to humankind’s daily lives. The condition of the environment is very important for the quality of life that we lead.

The environment is extremely important for the growth of all life on the earth hence it the duty of human beings to protect the environment for their own, all animal’s and future generation’s benefits.

The abuse of the environment is a hot topic for discussion in the recent times. Several man-made activities and the high rate of growth of populations are the most important factors causing harmful effects to the environment. Let us explore some of humankind’s destructive activities: humankind has always cut down trees to make way for farming and or to use the wood and plants.

A few great forests remain, namely the Amazon and Indonesia’s great forests. These are under threat by mankind who are exploiting them for logging or to clear them for farming palm oil which is highly sought after world wide. Brazil and Indonesia should be helped by the international community to save these precious resources.

Humankind is polluting the air with CO2 and other harmful emissions from industry and fuel use such as coal. CO2 in the atmosphere causes heating. The oceans are being polluted by plastic waste which causes sea life like dolphins to die from stomach problems or strangulation.

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What are the impending dangers: Staggering CO2 emissions are higher than the previous 400,000 years according to the official NASA

With other even more harmful emissions such as gasses released by coal and gas the earth heated up by .8 degrees since 1880. According to Business Insider and NASA some scientists believe the earth may heat up by an incredible 6 degrees by the end of the century. What does this mean for life on Earth? The outlook is gloomy to say the least. An unprecedented list of animals will become extinct as oceans encroach the land and their habitat is destroyed.

According to National Geographic, Greenland’s coast revealed it lost 280 billion tons of ice between 2002 and 2016. Newer research revealed by scientists and the BBC is that melting from underneath the surface of Greenland ice is much more severe than thought, causing run offs in to the ocean.

360 billion tonnes adds 1 mm to world sea levels. However Greenland’s ice sheets will continue to melt at more alarming speeds when temperatures soar. If it were to completely melt it would raise sea levels by 7 meters. The Greenland ice sheets are a fraction of the world’s ice. All of the major ice sheets are showing alarming rates of melting. Antarctic ice melting is speeding up at 6 times more than 4 decades ago according to National Geographic. In short the tipping point is nearer than first imagined. 13 years is an estimate by many scientists. By the end of the century if current heating of the planet rises as predicted large areas of every major city will be flooded. Crops will be flooded and human kind will be in a perilous position (will be on very thin ice – excuse my inappropriate pun).

In November 2019 Australia recorded Australia’s 2 hottest days since records began. Weather of 42 degrees was recorded in Sydney. Fires have raged across the nation amid the catastrophic heatwave. More than 100 fires broke out in South Australia.

The status quo of the environment is on a slippery downward path and mankind should try its level best to protect the destruction of the environment. To save the environment is the need of the hour and some active steps or actions should be taken immediately as the world teeters on the brink of environmental doom.