Global Environmental Issues Free Essays

Global Problems – The Environment Over time, the Earth’s environment has become more and more damaged and deteriorated. Because of this, it is increasingly difficult for both the animal kingdom and the human population to inhabit certain regions of the globe as desired. There are many different issues that can factor into environmental harm. We will write a custom essay sample on Global Environmental Issues or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some examples of these issues are deforestation, desertification, climate change, and pollution. A more general term used to identify these types of issues is Environmental Problems. Deforestation is a massive clearing of the Earth’s forests. Each year, strips of forest equivalent to the size of Panama are cut down and cleared. If these mass clearings continue at the rate they have been, all of the rain forests across the globe could cease to exist within one century. One major cause of deforestation is agriculture. When farmers need more room to plant crops, or more space to graze their livestock, they cut acres of forests down to accommodate themselves. Sometimes, small farmers clear away trees in the forest to feed their families. They do this through a process often referred to as â€Å"slash and burn† agriculture. One country affected by deforestation is Brazil. Farmers often use the slash and burn agriculture method to clear away trees in the Amazon rain forest. After space is made, farmers are only able to settle for one to two years. This is because the rain forest’s soil does not have enough nutrients to keep the crops growing. When crops are no longer able to grow in the area, farmers move on, leaving what used to be acres upon acres of trees to be nothing but a dry and empty piece of land. Desertification is the decaying of the Earth’s dryland ecosystems. It is also the advancement of sand dunes on land. Each year, close to 30 million acres are lost to desertification and drought, that’s about 56 acres per minute. One major cause of desertification is human interaction/humans overusing the land. Examples of how humans overuse land to the point of degradation are farming, mining, over grazing livestock, and clear-cutting. One area that is majorly affected by desertification is sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 70% of the drylands in Africa used for agricultural purposes are being swept away by desertification. This is severely tragic for the people of sub-Saharan Africa because everything they depend on comes from their immediate surroundings. Therefore, if their farmlands are no longer useful, their food source is no longer existent. How to cite Global Environmental Issues, Essay examples Global Environmental Issues Free Essays Environmental issues are a major problem in our world, and all people need to recognize the need for our social obligations. The effect of humans on our planet has increased significantly over the years. Not only is the population constantly growing, there is â€Å"new technical power to dig deeper, cut faster, build larger, and traverse more quickly great distances in automobiles, trucks, and planes† (Brown, 2001). We will write a custom essay sample on Global Environmental Issues or any similar topic only for you Order Now Severe environmental issues have appeared throughout the world as a result. It is very important that environmentalists work to educate everyone so that they can learn how to make the most effective ethical decisions in order to preserve nature. There are ethical and social obligations that the world needs to consider when it comes to environmental issues. People do not have respect for nature because they think they are superior, but everyone should learn how to live in harmony with nature and the environment. It is critical that we learn how to preserve our world in which we live. Climate change and global warming, gas emissions, population growth, and energy security are just a few of the many areas of environmental issues that we need to address in our world. All of these areas could have disastrous global consequences, and everyone should learn how to make the best decisions to try to protect the environment. â€Å"The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet† (Anup, 2009). Global warming and climate change can be best described as an increase in average global temperatures. The increases in â€Å"greenhouse gases† such as carbon dioxide created by human activities are one of the main causes contributing to the increase of global temperatures (Anup, 2009). Many people do not understand exactly the meaning of greenhouse gases. â€Å"The meaning of the greenhouse effect can be defined in these following steps: ? Energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface; ? In turn, the earth radiates energy back into space; ?Some atmospheric gases including water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse; ? These gases are therefore known as greenhouse gases; ?The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature on Earth as certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy (Anup, 2009). † Here is an illustration showing the increased levels of gases that affect everyone on our planet. Gas emissions can be a huge problem that we are facing in today’s world. Human industrialization processes are growing at a very rapid pace. Carbon dioxide is the most significant of the greenhouse gases although it is not the strongest one (Anup, 2009). Most of the industrialized nations are responsible for the carbon dioxide emissions that can cause so much damage. The more underdeveloped countries do not contribute as much to this problem. Global warming affects us in more ways than we realize. Global warming will possibly lead to the following situations: rapid global heating, dramatic increase in greenhouse gas emissions, ozone loss, warming of the oceans, permafrost thawing, oceanic changes, massive extinction of species, and sudden collapse of biological and ecological systems may occur (Anup, 2009). The over population of the planet is also a concern for environmental ethics. The increased population helps to increase the amount of greenhouse gases, but it mainly contributes to the consumption of our world’s natural resources. The more advanced countries like the United States use so many resources. Our people waste so much more than they help to conserve. â€Å"Energy security is a growing concern for rich and emerging nations alike. The past drive for fossil fuel energy has led to wars, overthrow of democratically elected leaders, and puppet governments and dictatorships. † There are many concerns and fears which include oil and other fossil fuel depletion, reliance on foreign sources of energy, energy demands rising from advancing developing countries such as China and India, economic efficiency versus population growth debate, and renewable and other alternative energy sources. Shah, 2009). Many people are scared that we are wasting too much of our fossil fuels. They think that if we keep going at our current rate, we will quickly use up all of our fossil fuels. People need to try to consider all of the facts so that we can make good ethical decisions. It would be very wise to invest in alternatives to fossil fuels. In the present and future, we need to work on preser ving as much as we possibly can. Currently, we are trying to find alternative fuel sources instead of using all of our oil. That is just one example of ethical decisions that we are committing to. If everyone was informed about all of the dangers so that they could better understand the issues we are facing, they might possibly make better ethical decisions in their daily lives. Concluding, everyone in our world needs to wake up and notice what is going on around them. If we want our children to have a safe place to live in this world, we need to start doing everything that we can in order to protect and preserve it. It is our moral and social obligations to make ethical decisions because our decisions affect everyone around us. Climate change and global warming, gas emissions, population growth, and energy security are just a few of the things that we need to worry about. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on these issues so that we can implement better and safer processes to use. Working together, we can help to come up with new ideas and slow down our destruction of our environment and homes. References Anup, S. (2009, December 30). Climate Change and Global Warming. Retrieved January 17, 2010, from Global Issues: http://www. globalissues. org/issue/178/climate-change-and-global-warming Brennan, A. , Lo, Y. -S. (n. d. ). Environmental Ethics. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2009 Edition): http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/win2009/entries/ethics-environmental Brown, D. A. (2001). The Ethical Dimensions of Global Environmental Issues. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from American Academy of Arts Sciences: http://www. amacad. org/publications/fall2001/brown. aspx Ruggiero, V. R. (2008). Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, (7th Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. Shah, A. (2009, Novemeber 20). Energy Security. Retrieved January 16, 2010, from Global Issues: http://www. globalissues. org/artical/595/energy-security How to cite Global Environmental Issues, Papers