The 10 Biggest Threats to the Environment and the Devastating Consequences They Pose

By Caelan Schweizer

July 15, 2022

The impact that people have on the environment is getting more and more consequential. We are destroying habitats and putting the lives of future generations at risk by our actions.

No one can deny that our environment is changing at this point. Numerous studies have been done to show that this is taking place and that it is having an impact on the world around us.

Many of these problems are connected to one another, which further complicates the situation. The crucial thing to remember is that each of these problems requires attention.

Here, we look at the most significant environmental issues that are hurting our planet and explain why they should matter to you.

1 – Climate Change

Long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns are referred to as climate change. These changes could be caused by natural processes, such as changes in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities—primarily the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas—have been the primary cause of climate change.

Fossil fuel combustion produces greenhouse gas emissions that serve as a blanket around the planet, trapping heat from the sun and increasing temperatures.

Carbon dioxide and methane are two examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change. These are produced, for instance, while burning coal or gasoline to heat a building. Carbon dioxide can also be released during forest and land clearing. Methane emissions are primarily produced by waste landfills. Among the major emitters are energy, industry, transportation, buildings, agriculture, and land use.

2 – Deforestation

The large-scale removal of trees from forests (or other places) to make way for human activity is known as deforestation. It poses a severe threat to the ecosystem since it can lead to soil erosion, habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and water cycle disruptions.

Our trees serve as natural carbon dioxide sinks, sources of clean air, and regulators of temperature and precipitation.

Currently, forests cover 30% of the land, but due to rapid urbanization and population demands for more food, shelter, and clothes, tree cover is declining every year.

3 – Loss of Biodiversity

Global extinction of human, plant, or animal species is referred to as biodiversity loss. It also involves a species’ population declining in a particular habitat. The loss’s cause, environmental degradation, may be essentially permanent or reversible. However, it has been observed that global extinction is irreversible thus far.

All life forms are sustained in biodiverse ecosystems, which also provide oxygen, clean air, and water and are more resistant to natural disasters and climate change. However, there is a problem in biodiversity right now. Nearly one-third of all tree species, or at least 17,500 tree species, are in danger of going extinct.

Unfortunately, the loss of biodiversity is mostly a result of human activity. Humans use natural resources, such as land and water, carelessly. Both direct and indirect human actions have a negative impact on biodiversity. Changes in local land use, species introductions or eradications, harvesting, air and water pollution, and climate change are examples of direct human drivers. Demographic, economic, technological, cultural, and religious influences are examples of indirect human drivers.

The demand for natural resources is significantly fueled by the rising population. Additionally, it increases garbage output, another significant contributor to pollution. Climate change, which continues to pose a serious threat to biodiversity, is mostly caused by human needs and the rising use of technology to achieve them.

Well-intentioned efforts to combat climate change, such as tree planting programs, are hastening this disaster. This method means hastening the extinction of species and, in many cases, increasing CO2 emissions by encouraging the planting of non-native species that displace or harm biodiversity.

The loss of biodiversity from a healthy, stable state has detrimental impacts on the food web and chain, among many other things. One species can have a negative impact on the entire food chain, which further contributes to a decline in biodiversity as a whole. By lowering ecosystem services and harming both humans and the environment, reduced biodiversity puts food security in immediate jeopardy.

If nature is unable to take care of them, we will have to pay for the costs of pollination, irrigation, soil reclamation, and other activities. The value of biodiversity worldwide is estimated to be in the trillions. Around $2 to $5 trillion is lost annually due to deforestation worldwide.

On farms, where local species are being displaced by imported foreign breeds of cattle, new species are also being introduced. The result is a reduction in the global livestock population. Additionally, they are growing increasingly vulnerable to illnesses, droughts, and climatic shifts.

4 – Water Pollution

The presence of harmful chemicals and biological agents in groundwater that go above and beyond what is naturally present in the water and may be hazardous to the environment and/or human health is referred to as water pollution. Additionally, substances that have been added to water bodies as a result of numerous human activities might constitute water contamination. Regardless of the risk they may represent to the environment and human health, any quantity of harmful substances pollutes the water.

The three types of water pollution are chemical, radiological, and biological. When radioactive substances are the water pollutant’s cause, the water is polluted radiologically. When numerous microorganisms (such as bacterial species and viruses), worms, and/or algae occur in large numbers, this is referred to as biological water pollution. Animal wastes, decomposing organic material in water, inappropriate human waste disposal, and other factors all contribute to this form of pollution. Chemical water pollution is when various chemicals are the cause of the water pollution. For example, crude oil and various petroleum products are one of the most common chemical water pollutants. Since these substances are lighter than water, they always float on top of the water, leaving behind “free product” sheens. However, several of these chemicals dissolve in water and may be dangerous even in trace levels, making them invisible to the naked eye.

Treatment of some of the water before it is reintroduced into the waterways is probably the most efficient technique to prevent water pollution. Because wastewater treatment facilities can almost completely eliminate all pollutants in wastewater through a chemical, physical, or biological process, this is a very effective method. The facility’s chambers will be used to steadily lower the toxicity of the sewage.

5 – Overpopulation

Trends resulting from a surge in birth rates in the middle of the 20th century are largely to blame for the overpopulation problem. Migration can also cause an area to become overpopulated. Strangely enough, a region can become overpopulated without experiencing a net increase in population. It may happen when a population exceeds its carrying capacity and there are few opportunities for migration in an economy that depends heavily on exports. This practice is referred to as “demographic entrapment.”

There are challenges associated with extending the agricultural base to feed a growing global population. Food production must expand as the world’s population does. Such steps might be achieved by more intensive farming or by clearing forests to make room for more farmland, both of which could have unfavourable effects. Around the world, agriculture is to blame for 80% of deforestation.

To feed our fast growing population, the output of current farmland can be improved through intensive farming. The use of mechanisation, herbicides, and chemical fertilisers are hallmarks of this strategy. Such methods may contribute to soil erosion or depletion. The amount of land used now may be equal to the amount of land used and abandoned globally over the past 50 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Additionally, one of the primary causes of eutrophication, which depletes waterways of oxygen and has detrimental effects on marine life, is the runoff of excessive fertilisers from agriculture.

Aquatic animals perish as a result of the dense proliferation of oxygen-depleting plant life brought on by eutrophication. In addition to sewage discharge, other significant eutrophication causes include industry and population increase. In 2013, it was anticipated that preventing eutrophication in the US would cost more than $2.2 billion a year. According to recent studies, there are other significant effects other than food production, such as the creation of clothing and manufactured goods. For instance, the production of cotton or linen may have direct agricultural effects. Combustion byproduct emissions from the usage of fossil fuels to power factories are also produced. These emissions can eventually be absorbed by seas through rainfall.

6 – Depletion of Natural Resources

The idea behind the definition of resource depletion is that a resource’s worth is determined by how readily available it is in the natural world. Many of the resources that were formerly readily available to man are becoming more and more limited. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there were once approximately 3 trillion barrels of crude oil beneath the earth’s crust.

The 56th edition of OPEC’s Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) estimates that the world has 1548.65 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Today, due to the low price of crude oil, we are starting to turn our attention away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources.

When these resources are exhausted, the economies of nations whose economies rely heavily on natural resources suffer. For instance, from 1981 to 2018, one-fourth of Nigeria’s GDP was derived from crude oil. Positive shocks to her economy occurred during the 1970s oil boom. However, because of the decline in the price of oil on the foreign exchange market, Nigeria’s economy has experienced inflation and a recession in recent years.

Angola has been in a recession for a number of years and has been dealing with financial and economic issues since 2014. This is due to a decline in oil prices and a decrease in oil demand from other nations, particularly China.

7 – Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification is the process by which the oceans of our planet become more acidic as a result of an increase in carbon dioxide emissions on a global scale.

According to researchers, the oceans on Earth have absorbed more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. Ocean acidification is a process wherein dissolved carbon dioxide enters the ocean and then performs a series of chemical reactions that lower the pH of the ocean and increase the concentration of hydrogen ions.

According to studies, societies who depend on the resources of our oceans for their livelihoods as well as marine species may suffer severe effects as a result of ocean acidification.

Unfortunately, the foundation of the ecological food web in ocean habitats is often made up of the organisms that are most vulnerable to ocean acidification. The populations that rely on the ocean’s previously abundant resources are put at risk when these species are threatened, along with many more marine animals. Ocean acidification poses a particular hazard to animals like corals, which are already in danger from rising ocean temperatures. Numerous coral species’ capacity to develop their calcium skeletons is badly impacted by rising ocean acidification, according to studies.

Ocean acidification has varying effects. Some areas and organisms will experience the effects more quickly and to a greater extent than others. Ocean acidification is already having a harmful impact on many coastal waters. Rivers can stress coastal habitats by bringing in more acidic, dirty water. The consequences of ocean acidification in coastal areas are also accentuated by ocean upwelling, in which currents transport cooler waters with greater carbon dioxide concentrations from the depths of the ocean to the surface.

The United States’ northern Atlantic and Pacific coasts are particularly vulnerable. The multimillion dollar shellfish industry in these areas are directly impacted by localized acidity. After billions of oyster larvae in the Pacific Northwest disintegrated due to ocean acidification, oyster farms suffered significant output failures. The wild salmon fishery in the area may also be in jeopardy because pteropod shells, which are a primary source of food for young salmon, are known to dissolve in acidic environments.

8 – Urban Sprawl

The term “urban sprawl” refers to the largely suburban development of cities outside of their original limits. Despite the term’s inherent neutrality, it has been heavily politicised and is now primarily associated with negative ideas. The spread of a population without a clear centre, segregation or discontinuity, the loss of city culture, dependence on automobiles, and the degradation of agricultural land and wildlife habitats are a few of these negative meanings.

Urban sprawl is exclusively caused by excessive urban development. However, industrialization is essentially what gave rise to urban sprawl. In the past, as industries grew in cities, citizens gathered in the city centres to have the easiest access to the industries. The need for housing increased over time as populations and industry expanded beyond what could be accommodated in the compact city centre. This was especially true as the middle class expanded and locals began to want larger spaces at lower costs.

Urban sprawl, according to many urbanists, has an impact on those who reside in and near metropolitan centres. For instance, as more roads are constructed and people use their cars more frequently, it results in traffic congestion. As land that could be utilized for agriculture is instead transformed into industries that are a large source of air pollution, it also has an impact on the environment. Urban sprawl may cause habitat loss, which would decrease biodiversity. On top of that, due to an excessive reliance on the automobile, urban sprawl has been connected to health issues including obesity and diabetes.

9 – Ozone Layer Depletion

The lowest part of the earth’s atmosphere is where the ozone layer is primarily located. It has the capacity to absorb between 97 and 99 percent of the dangerous UV radiations that can kill life on Earth. Millions of individuals would get skin conditions without the ozone layer, and their immune systems would be compromised.

However, a breach in the ozone layer over Antarctica has been found by scientists. Their attention has been drawn to numerous environmental problems and solutions as a result. Chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons are the primary causes of the ozone hole.

The upper atmosphere’s ozone layer gets thinned due to ozone layer depletion. This occurs when ozone molecules come into touch with chlorine and bromine atoms in the atmosphere and are broken down. Ozone molecules can be destroyed by one chlorine molecule. It doesn’t get made as quickly as it gets destroyed. When exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation, some substances emit chlorine and bromine, which then helps to deplete the ozone layer. These compounds are called Ozone depleting substances (ODS).

The main cause for the ozone layer to thin out is chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. Solvents, spray aerosols, refrigerators, air conditioners, and other appliances all release these. UV rays degrade the chlorofluorocarbon molecules in the stratosphere and release chlorine atoms as a result. Ozone is destroyed when these atoms interact with it.

According to studies, the ozone layer is destroyed considerably more quickly by uncontrolled rocket launches than it is by CFCs. By 2050, the ozone layer might have lost a significant amount of its thickness if this is not regulated.

Strong UV radiation may prevent plants from growing, blooming, or performing photosynthesis. The detrimental effects of the UV light must also be endured by the woodlands.

As the ozone layer thins, people will be directly exposed to the sun’s dangerous UV radiation. Humans may have severe health problems as a result, including skin conditions, cancer, sunburns, cataracts, rapid ageing, and weakened immune systems.

10 – Melting Ice Caps and Sea Level Rise

The Arctic is warming more than twice as quickly as the rest of the world due to the climate issue. As a result of rising Earth temperatures, sea levels are rising more than twice as quickly as they did for most of the 20th century. Sea levels are currently rising by an average of 3.2 millimetres per year worldwide, and by the end of this century, they will have reached a height of nearly 0.7 metres. Because melting land ice is the primary contributor to increasing sea levels, the Greenland Ice Sheet poses the biggest concern for sea levels in the Arctic.

This is potentially the biggest environmental issue, which is made even more worrisome by the fact that the summer of 2017 caused Greenland to lose 60 billion tonnes of ice, which was enough to cause a 2.2mm increase in sea level worldwide in just two months. One of the major environmental issues with widespread consequences, the Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of ice in 2019: an average of a million tonnes every minute throughout the year. The sea level would increase by six metres if the entire Greenland ice sheet melted.

A third of the annual global increase in sea level is contributed by the Antarctic continent, which raises the water level by around 1 millimetre annually. In addition, the Canadian Ice Service reports that the last completely intact ice shelf in Canada’s Arctic recently collapsed after losing around 80 square kilometres, or 40%, of its area over two days in late July.

According to research and advocacy group Climate Central, sea level rise this century could flood coastal areas that are currently home to 340 million to 480 million people, forcing them to migrate to safer areas and contributing to overpopulation and resource strain in the areas they migrate to. This will have a devastating effect on those living in coastal regions.

Consider the massive city of Shanghai, which is centred on the low-lying Yangtze river delta. Due to its geographic location, the fourth most populous city in the world faces a high danger of flooding. A heavier rainfall could result in flooding, which could be disastrous in terms of evacuation, water control, and property destruction.

It is clear that human actions have an impact on the environment around us, and more research is being done every year to demonstrate the severity of the problem. Future disasters could be caused by the different elements that contribute to emissions and the effects of climate change.

To address the significant environmental problems that currently impact us, more work needs to be done. There is a chance that large portions of the globe could become uninhabitable in the future if this doesn’t take place.

The good news is that a lot of these problems are manageable. Humanity may directly and favorably affect the environment by making changes.

Sources

What Is Climate Change? | United Nations

Deforestation – Causes, effects, Control of Deforestation with Videos and FAQs (byjus.com)

Top 10 Environmental Problems and Solutions 2022 – Environment Go!

Why is Biodiversity Important? – Biodiversity Standard

Loss of Biodiversity: Meaning, Causes, Effects and Solutions – Vocal International

What Is Water Pollution | Environmental Pollution Centers

Environmental Impacts of Overpopulation (thebalancesmb.com)

Depletion of Natural Resources, Causes, Effects and Solutions 2022 – Environment Go!

What is ocean acidification? | Live Science

What is Urban Sprawl? – WorldAtlas