Worldwide Environmental Issues
The world is facing growing environmental issues due to a combination of human activity, natural processes, and external influences such as climate change. These issues can take many shapes and forms, from air pollution to water scarcity to global deforestation. In spite of the pervading perception of environmental degradation as a modern phenomenon, global environmental issues are age-old predicaments that have been increasingly enhanced in recent years due to exponential population growth. In this still ongoing process, mankind will soon face a critical threshold in which solving existing environmental problems, including those related to climate change, will be the only way of obtaining a sustainable future for humanity.
Starting with air pollution, in 2019 it was estimated that there were 4.2 million deaths related to air pollution all over the world. Recent reports give alarming information on the state of air quality in cities across the planet, with several cities showing air toxicity levels that are far higher than what is considered safe by the World Health Organization. In urban environments, the main sources of pollution are gas emissions from cars and planes, often due to inefficient combustions. Other sources include fossil fuel power plants, incinerators, fireplaces, and the burning of crop residues.
Going on to water scarcity, since the 1970s there has been a marked decrease in the availability of clean water, a phenomenon so severe that some experts consider it a ‘global water crisis’. This is due, both to an exponential population growth worldwide, as well as to the effects of climate change, which has caused droughts in some regions and floods in others. Because of the global imbalances created by this phenomenon, it is clear that a new approach to water management is needed.
Finally, deforestation is a pervasive environmental issue that, alongside other human activities, has been responsible for the loss of around 50 percent of the planet’s forests since the dawn of civilization. The main causes are conversion of forestland into agricultural and urban land, unsustainable logging, climate change, and expansion of infrastructure. The potential effects on the global environment are immense, and include rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, climate instability, and desertification.
All things considered, it is becoming increasingly clear that global environmental issues are some of the most formidable challenges humanity will face in the near future. And, as the population continues to expand, the scale at which these problems are manifested will only increase. To deal with these issues, it will take a global effort from different countries and regions to develop solutions that ensure the planet’s meager resources and biodiversity will be protected for future generations. Only then can mankind be ensured of a sustainable future for all.
