1.
1 | Causes of Environmental
Problems and Development
of Environmental Laws
Causes of environmental problems
1.  Increasing number of humans on earth
2.  Rising standard of living
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.
Partly thanks to the import of goods from abroad,
any particular country is able to maintain its own
welfare. But this cannot go on in an unlimited
way. In fact, the number of inhabitants is rising in
every country. 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.
Our planet can offer a quality of life comparable
to that enjoyed in the European Union to no more
than 2 billion people. With a population of 8 to 10
billion, welfare per person on a world scale will
drop to that of a poor farmer who can scarcely
provide sufficient food for himself and knows
nothing of welfare. And thus we will have to share
everything fairly in order to avoid disputes or war.
The climate is changing – and it matters little
whether this can be blamed on human activity or
on changes in the solar system. The sea level only
has to rise slightly in order to cause a great deal
of valuable agricultural land to disappear. At
present we seem to think that we can keep ahead
of famine with the use of artificial fertilisers, by the
inhumane breeding of animals and other survival
strategies.
Human beings have a tendency to want more and
more welfare. World-wide the numbers of cars
and refrigerators are increasing before our very
eyes. But there will come a time when population
growth and welfare collide. There is a reasonably
good chance that floods of people will trek all
over the world searching for more food and
welfare.
Technicians are only too happy to point to
technology that has solutions to all our problems
up its sleeve. Unfortunately technical solutions
have not as yet been able to combat world
hunger in any significant way. Wherever there is
no recognition or solving of the problems on a
worldwide scale, war and violence would seem to
be inevitable: everyone wants to survive.
The only solution is a population policy applied on
a worldwide scale. This site provides you – per
language and, where possible, per country – with
articles, films and images from all over the world
showing what overpopulation is and why a
population policy is important. Unfortunately too
often any discussion of overpopulation or of
population policies is taboo.
The business world and the religions are generally
only interested in population growth. Allowing
welfare to shrink is often just as difficult for the
rich as fleeing from poverty is for the poor. In
addition the growth scenario continues to
dominate worldwide thinking about solutions for
the problems set out here.
Information sources
Environmental engineers are constantly in need of
up-to-date information on topics ranging from
current federal or state regulatory requirements
(which are constantly changing) to innovative
treatment methods.
Current information about environmental issues
can be found in a variety of publications ranging
from: -technical journals published by professional
organizations -publications by government
agencies mostly coming from US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) -Reference books
Current information about environmental issues
can be found in a variety of publications ranging
from: -technical journals published by professional
organizations -publications by government
agencies mostly coming from US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) -Reference books
Examples of technical journals are:
1. International Journal of Engineering and
Advanced Technology. .
2. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
. agriculture, travel and eventually through
3. IETE journal of research. ...
4. Polymer engineering and science. ...
LAWS and REGULATIONS
Environmental regulations have existed for
centuries. Because of poor air quality near his
palace, about A.D. 1300, King Edward II of
England ordered any person burning coal to be
hanged. However, no major environmental
legislation in any country existed until the second
half of the twentieth century.
The first significant laws were federal statutes
passed in the United States in 1970 dealing with
air and surface water quality and hazardous
waste. Those laws are still in effect in much of
their original form, however they are in a period
of transition. What is legal or accepted practice
today maybe illegal in a few years
Development of Environmental Regulations
The U.S. Congress writes environmental laws, and
for these laws to be enacted, lawmakers must
perceive that environmental regulations benefits
society. There are laws to protect people from
toxic effects of copper and lead in drinking water.
Why are Environmental Laws Passed?
Hazardous wastes became more and more of an
issue during the 1970’s. Although many toxic
compounds existed before 1940’s, but during that
decade, synthetic organic chemistry was born and
with it came the catalytic synthesis of gasoline
from heavier crude oils.
HOW DO HUMANS AFFECT THE
ENVIRONMENT?
Human activity has been affecting the
environment for thousands of years, from the
time of our very earliest ancestors. Since Homo
sapiens first walked the earth, we have been
modifying the environment around us through
urbanization and commercial networks. At this
point in earth’s physical history, our impact on the
environment is so substantial that scientists
believe “pristine nature,” or ecosystems
untouched by human intervention, no longer
exist.1
In ways both positive and negative—and likely in
more ways than you’d even think—human
civilization and technology have affected our
earth, altering our planet forever. Consider these
five tangible impacts our species has had on the
environment, and whether you’re one who will
advance their effects or intercede to halt them.
1. THE POPULATION BOMB
1. Human overpopulation has been a
concern for scientists since at least 1798, when
Thomas Malthus first published his finding
that, without significant and ongoing
technological innovation, the human
population would almost certainly outstrip the
planet’s food supply. In 1968, this concern was
again raised in Stanford professor R. Paul
Ehrlich’s book “The Population Bomb.”2
2. Accommodating population growth has
been a root cause for much of the impact
we’ve had on our environment. Since Malthus
first noted his grave concerns, technological
advances have created a new double-edged
 sword: health and abundance. Our food
supply today can support more lives than
ever, and advances in medical science have
led to increasingly longer lifespans. But this
reality has the profound side effect of
reducing population turnover and leading to
its rapid expansion. So as our quality of life
and life expectancy improve, the challenges
wrought by overpopulation accelerate as well.
2. AGRICULTURE, DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND
GENETIC MODIFICATION
 The demand to feed a growing human
population has facilitated notable advances in
agriculture, which was the first major human
innovation to enable our survival as a species.
Early agriculture allowed hunter-gatherer
cultures to settle an area and cultivate their
own food. This immediately impacted the
environment by transplanting non-native
species to new areas, and by prioritizing the
cultivation of certain plants and animals over
others. And more recently, advances in
genetic modification have raised concerns
about the environmental impact of newly
developed crops.4
 In particular, the domestication of livestock
and other species, including dogs and cats, by
early humans altered the land in significant
ways. Grazing animals contributed to
environmental change by depleting native
grasses and contributing to soil erosion. And
we now know that the rapid expansion of
cattle populations to meet human dietary
demands has contributed substantially to
changes in the composition of gases within
the atmosphere.5
 The industrialization of agriculture in the
last several centuries has exacerbated these
effects, but it has also prompted a subsequent
wave of counter-movements, which seek to
undo the negative effects of human
intervention. People today are increasingly
aware of the impact vast factory farms have
on the environment, and seek to return to
smaller farms and even urban gardens. As
“eating local” rises in popularity, urban land is
being reclaimed for traditional agriculture and
the environment is once again altered due to
human labor.6
3. DEFORESTATION…AND REFORESTATION
1. Growing populations have to be housed,
which means they seek more space to build
homes and cities. This often involves clearing
forests to make room for urban and suburban
development, as well as to provide building
materials. Currently, it is estimated that 18
million acres of trees are clear-cut every year
to create space for development and to be
used in wood products.7
2. Deforestation has many effects, including
decreasing oxygen levels (and increasing
greenhouse gases), elevated risk of soil
erosion and the destruction of animal habitats.
But as is the case with industrial agriculture,
some groups have endeavored to create a
positive counter-impact to deforestation’s
detrimental effects on the environment.
Reforestation efforts seek to replace as much
forest land as possible every year, and it is
currently estimated that about 40 percent of
the trees removed each year are being
replaced.8
4. POLLUTION
 Human activities affect the environment by
contributing to air pollution, or the emission of
harmful substances into the air. While it can
be difficult to understand which pollutants are
associated with specific effects on the
environment or public health, it is generally
accepted that air pollution can indeed cause
public health problems and also harm plant
and animal life.
 
 Pollution isn’t just limited to the air. It can correct our mistakes and change our
affect soil or waterways and can come from environment for the better.  
human waste, industrial chemicals and other  Please read attached for further lecture
sources. These toxins can exert tremendous  HUMAN IMPACT on the environment
effects on the natural world, leading to
environmental degradation and problems like
acid rain and harmful algal blooms in the
ocean.
 Environmental protection laws on the local
and federal level have been enacted as a
means to stem the ecological damage caused
by pollution, and some communities have
engaged in ongoing conversations aimed
toward promoting sustainable, low-impact
living.
5. GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE
 Among the most critically impactful ways
that humans have affected the earth is our
extraction and consumption of fossil fuels and
their attendant CO2 emissions. Recent studies
indicate that CO2 emissions contribute to the
deterioration of the earth’s ozone layer, which
may, in turn, contribute to global climate
change; this is especially true when emissions
are combined with the loss of the carbon-sink
effect of forest lands (due to deforestation)
and existing particulate matter in the
air.10 Though the scale and impact of such
climate change are up for debate, the
scientific community has reached a consensus
that human activity does have some degree of

impact on the global climate.

HUMAN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT IS A

DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

 The expansion of human population and

the requirements of our growing human
family place strenuous demands on our
environment. Through human intervention, we
have altered our ecosystem forever. However,
though some of these changes may be
negative, humans also have the power to