7 Environmental Mortal SINS PDF

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Robles, Marianne A.BSA-1C7 Environmental Mortal Sins1. Air PollutionAir pollutants are gases and particles in the atmosphere that harm organisms and affect climate. Air pollution, then, is the release of these particles and gases into the air. Worldwide air pollution is responsible for large numbers...

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Robles, Marianne A. BSA-1C

7 Environmental Mortal Sins 1. Air Pollution Air pollutants are gases and particles in the atmosphere that harm organisms and affect climate. Air pollution, then, is the release of these particles and gases into the air. Worldwide air pollution is responsible for large numbers of deaths and cases of respiratory disease. While major stationary sources are often identified with air pollution, the greatest source of emissions is actually mobile sources, mainly automobiles. Gases such as carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming, have recently gained recognition as pollutants by some scientists. Pollutants can be classified as either primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are substances directly produced by a process such as ash from volcanic eruption or the carbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust. Secondary pollutants are not emitted, but they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. Smog is an example of the effect of air pollution. 2. Waste Disposing of waste has huge environmental impacts and can cause serious problems. Some waste will eventually rot, but not all, and in the process it may smell, or generate methane gas, which is explosive and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Leachate produced as waste decomposes may cause pollution. Badly-managed landfill sites may attract vermin or cause litter. Incinerating waste also causes problems, because plastics tend to produce toxic substances, such as dioxins, when they are burnt. Gases from incineration may cause air pollution and contribute to acid rain, while the ash from incinerators may contain heavy metals and other toxins. Because of these problems there are active campaigns against waste incineration. (from https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/teacher_resources/webfieldtrips/waste_disposal/ ) 3. Food consumption Food consumption and production have a considerable impact on the environment. To be good, food needs to be responsibly sourced and consumed, as well as healthy. Food production contributes, for example, to climate change, eutrophication and acid rain, as well as the depletion of biodiversity. It is also a considerable drain on other resources, such as nutrients, land area, energy, and water. In Finland, approximately half of the amount of both phosphorus and nitrogen that ends up in the Baltic Sea due to human activity is attributable to agriculture. Farming techniques have evolved, and the use of fertilisers has decreased considerably during the last few decades. Despite this, there appears to be no decrease in nutrient loading attributable to agriculture. (from https://www.luke.fi/en/natural-resources/food-and-nutrition/effects-of-food-productionand-consumption-the-environment-and-climate/)

4. Development Development activities are carried out by converting natural land into a developed one. Industrialization and urbanization are all part of it. When we build dams, roads, buildings etc. we usually remove the trees and plants, the wet lands, and all that serve humanity with essential commodities for every day life. By removing forests we destroy the natural source of oxygen, water, fertile topsoil, living space of animals and plants or the living organisms. The web of life is interconnected and interdependent. If a chain loses one link it becomes weak. Likewise a link in web of life disappears the whole living world is affected. The diverse forms of life whether it is plant or animal, one celled or many celled give strength to each other. We know only a fragment of the living organisms and their role in the kingdom of life. From our limited knowledge it is clear that what ever be the circumstances the degradation or destruction of natural environment affects the normal life of humans as well as other living things in general. Every developmental activity affects natural balance. Managing the use of natural resources, development, protecting or conserving nature enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural well-being and for their health and safety by adopting methods that cause least imbalance or negative impact on nature. (from https://www.quora.com/How-does-development-affectthe-environment) 5. Resources The way we use resources provokes often irreversible ecological change. Extraction and processing of non-regenerative raw materials are often energy intensive activities involving large scale interventions in ecosystems and the water balance and result in air, soil and water pollution. Even the extraction and production of renewable resources often involve extensive use of energy, materials, chemicals and in some cases water; and all this translates into pollution. Greenfield land is often transformed to create arable land and in some cases whole ecosystems are destroyed in the process. In short, raw material extraction and processing always impact on the environment, resulting as they do in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and global warming exacerbation. And that’s not all. For the use of products made of raw materials almost always results in greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, ecosystem damage and/or biodiversity loss. Products need energy and water, as well as land for shipping, marketing and use. Improper product use provokes noxious emissions that can end up in our water, soil and air. The very infrastructure elements that we take for granted such as our homes, not to mention countless daily activities, often involve extensive resource use and result in greenfield land being paved over, damage to ecosystems and spoiling the beauty of nature. (from https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/waste-resources/resource-use-its-consequences) 7. Water Use The Earth might seem like it has abundant water, but in fact less than 1 percent is available for human use. The rest is either salt water found in oceans, fresh water frozen in the polar ice caps, or too inaccessible for practical usage. While population and demand on freshwater resources are increasing, supply will always remain constant. And although it's true that the water cycle continuously returns water to Earth, it is not always returned to the same place, or in the same quantity and quality. (from https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water) Water can be used for direct and indirect purposes. Direct purposes include bathing, drinking, and cooking, while examples of indirect purposes are the use of water in processing wood to make paper and

in producing steel for automobiles. The bulk of the world’s water use is for agriculture, industry, and electricity. The most common water uses include:     

Drinking and Household Needs Recreation Industry and Commerce Agriculture Thermoelectricity/Energy (from https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/other/index.html)

6. Over Population Human overpopulation is among the most pressing environmental issues, silently aggravating the forces behind global warming, environmental pollution, habitat loss, the sixth mass extinction, intensive farming practices and the consumption of finite natural resources, such as fresh water, arable land and fossil fuels, at speeds faster than their rate of regeneration. (from https://www.everythingconnects.org/overpopulation-effects.html)...