GE1801

Environmental Education

Environmental Degradation

 Environmental Degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as
air, water, and soil. For instance, the destruction of ecosystem, the destruction of habitat, the extinction of
wildlife, and pollution.
 It is also defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
 The primary cause of environmental degradation is human disturbance.

Causes of Environmental Degradation

• Pollution – pollution is the process of making land, water, air, or other parts of the environment dirty and
unsafe to use. It can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural environment, however,
the contaminant doesn’t need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound and temperature can be
considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment. Types of pollution are as follows:
1. Air Pollution – air pollution occurs when things that aren’t normally there are added to the air. A common
type of air pollution happens when people release particles into the air from burning fuels. Another
common type of air pollution may also come from dangerous gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and chemical vapors.
2. Land Pollution - Land can become polluted by household garbage and by industrial waste. In 2010,
Americans produced about 250 million tons (226.8 million kilograms) of garbage, consisting of product
packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and
batteries. That's about 4.3 pounds (1.95 kg) of waste per person per day, according to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). A little over half of the waste — 54 percent — is gathered in landfills. Only
about 34 percent is recycled, which is about double the amount recycled in 1980, according to
the American Society of Civil Engineers.
3. Water Pollution - Water pollution happens when chemicals or dangerous foreign substances are
introduced to water. These includes chemicals, sewage, pesticides, and fertilizers from agricultural
runoff. It could also be metals like lead or mercury.
4. Noise Pollution – Noise pollution happens when the sound coming from planes, industry, or other
sources reaches harmful levels. Research has shown direct links between noise and health, including
stress-related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, and hearing loss. For example,
a study by the WHO Noise Environmental Burden on Disease working group found that noise pollution
may contribute to hundreds of thousands of deaths per year by increasing the rates of coronary heart
disease. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA can regulate machine and plane noise.
Underwater noise pollution coming from ships has been shown to upset whales’ navigation systems and
kill other species that depend on the natural underwater world. Noise also makes wild species
communicate louder, which can shorten their lifespan.
5. Light Pollution - Most people can't imagine living without the modern convenience of electric lights. For
the natural world, though, lights have changed the way that days and nights work. Some consequences
of light pollution are:
 Some birds sing at unnatural hours in the presence of artificial light which can also affect migration
schedules, as they allow for longer feeding times.
 Streetlights can confuse newly hatched sea turtles that rely on starlight reflecting off the waves to
guide them from the beach to the ocean. They may often head in the wrong direction.
 Light pollution, called sky glow, also makes it difficult for astronomers, both professional and
amateur, to properly see the stars.
 Plant's flowering and developmental patterns can be entirely disrupted by artificial light.
 It could also be making smog worse by destroying nitrate radicals that helps the dispersion of smog.

• Overpopulation – occurs when a species’ population exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecological niche.
Overpopulation is a major cause of most of the world’s problems. Whether it is a question of food shortage,
lack of drinking water or energy shortages, every country in the world is affected by it – or will be. The world
population is threatening to rise in the next few decades to 8 or 10 billion. There is a good chance that more
and more countries will need their own products themselves.

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• Deforestation – Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available
for other uses. An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, which is roughly the size of the
country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO).
• Overexploitation of Resources – overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a
renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Sustained overexploitation can lead to the
destruction of the resource. The term applies to natural resources such as: wild medicinal plants, grazing
pastures, game animals, fish stocks, forests, and water aquifers.
• Natural Causes – while environment degradation is most commonly associated with the activities of
humans, the fact is that environment are also constantly changing over time. Things like landslides,
earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and wildfires can completely destroy local plant and animal communities
to the point where they can no longer function.

REFERENCES:

Bradford, A. (2015). Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from:

https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Bradford, A. (2015). Pollution Facts & Types of Pollution. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/22728-
pollution-facts.html
Gerbrands, P. (n.d.). The world is too small for us. Retrieved from http://www.overpopulationawareness.org/en/

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