Essay Sample on Human Impact on Environment: A Historical Perspective

Introduction

Human activities have been of significant impact on the environment for many years. This results from the active involvement in the activities, which directly affect the environmental resources. The interaction with the environment which further affect it is a common feature of every generation which dates back to the time of the earliest human ancestors. The modification of the environment can be traced back to the time human beings began embracing travelling agriculture and urbanization. The human intervention in the environment has therefore been of considerable effect to the ecosystems. Technological advancement and civilization provide the forces behind human activities, and these have affected the environment significantly.

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The Population Bomb

Human overpopulation is becoming a great problem especially now that the population is too much for the resources available. The constant rise in the population may even demand the intervention of proper technological innovation to ensure enough food supply to feed human beings. As a result, human beings have therefore been striving to bridge the gap associated with the adequacy of food resources. According to Brookes & Barfoot (2017) the exploitation of the environment has also reached a level that means rather an overexploitation. This explains why the struggle to accommodate population growth is the root cause for the much impact that humans contribute to the environment.

Technological advances play a great role in the population increase, which subsequently contributes to environmental deterioration. This follows the double-edges effect of the associated technological innovation based on the contribution of the concept of health and abundance. Longobardi aet al. (2016) felt that this provides that the current food supply has the potential of supporting the population more than ever. The subsequent effect is the rapid expansion of the population since the resources are growing adequate to support human beings. As the quality of life improves, overpopulation results, which implies that in the end, exploitation of the environment will occur.

Agriculture, Domesticated Animals, and Genetic Modification

There is an increasing demand for an increase in inadequate food to feed the highly growing human population; this has facilitated advances in Agriculture. Innovation in Agriculture was one of the earliest moves by human beings as a way of guaranteeing survival for the species. This has been a culture of the human beings of hunting and settling in the areas in which they can get sufficient food for their population (Brookes & Barfoot, 2017). As a result, human beings have developed the tendency of prioritizing on some animals and crops, therefore, introducing some non-native species. The current trends in Agriculture; however, which have raised concerns for the environmental issues emerge because of genetic modification.

Domestication, in particular, has been of adverse effect on the environment. Grazing; for instance, led to the depletion of the native grasses in many places. According to Prevedello et al. (2019), the problem is ongoing because humans tend to stick to the rapid expansion of the cattle populations; these contribute to the changes in the environment especially through gases composition in the atmosphere. Besides, industrialization is also a major continuator to environmental degradation; human beings begin to embrace eating local, which leads to the establishment of agricultural activities even in the urban areas risking the safety of the environment.

Deforestation and Reforestation

Deforestation and reforestation are other impacts resulting from human interaction with the environment. The highly growing population implies that the demand for housing human beings is also increasing. Consequently, there is a need to build more homes and cities. This directly involves the destruction of the natural environment by clearing trees to create space for construction and provide raw materials for the urban and home structure (Zeng & Zhang, 2017). Studies reveal that approximately 18 million hectares of land get cleared annually to create space for human constructions.

There are many negative effects of deforestation, including the decrease in levels of oxygen due to the increasing greenhouse gases, elevated risk in the destruction of habitats of animals and soil erosion. However, the advances in industrial agriculture have led to some positive impacts of this activity (Brookes & Barfoot, 2018). Human beings are currently being advised to replace the trees they cut as a way of ensuring sustainability in the given environmental resources. This introduces the concept of reforestation which requires that 40% of trees removed every year to be replaced.

Deforestation has a massive impact on the environment. The land is being cleared by a human being on a routine basis for use in in the production of paper and wood products as well as for agriculture (Takemoto & Kajihara, 2016). NASA refers to this plight as "forest Holocaust," stating that over eighty percent of the natural resources covering the planet has been lost to deforestation. The impacts of deforestation on climate change have aroused the interest of NASA creating documentation concerning its progress across the entire globe. Doughty (2017) argues that having an impact of the loss of trees and other types of vegetation, deforestation has a big impact on climate change, soil erosion, desertification, flooding, fewer crops global warming and a lot of problems to human beings. Research shows that a large amount of greenhouse gases gets into the atmosphere as a result of lack of adequate trees on the environment (Doughty, 2017). NASA indicates that the tropical rainforest South America is attributed to twenty percent of oxygen consumed on earth but disappears at the rate of 4 hectares every decade. This indicates that the consequences can become even more extreme if the rates are not reversed or stopped. Furthermore, trees are responsible for controlling the amount of water in the atmosphere by aiding in the water cycle regulation. Chiarelli (2015) argues that this, therefore, means that with fewer tree resulting from deforestation, the amount of water in the air to be returned to the soil is very minimal.in effect, this results in dry soil and therefore reduced ability for crop growth. Moreover, deforestation causes flooding and soil erosion. Trees are responsible for forming a cover on the soil that is responsible for controlling the soil erosion and conservation of the topsoil which very provides a lot of nutrition needed to support extra forest life.

Pollution

The effects of some human activities lead to the emission of harmful substances into the air. While it is not regarding which substances can cause more harm to the environment, it is accepted that pollution is a major force behind the degradation of the environment. it is important to note that pollution is not limited air; it also affects water resources and soil following irresponsible dumping of industrial chemicals and human waste in the environment. Zeng and Zhang (2017) observed that these toxins have a tremendous effect on the nature of the earth world through the occurrence of the acid and the algal growth in the water bodies limiting their ability to serve human beings adequately. As a way of intervention towards the ongoing environmental problem, governments have strived to enact and enforce legal frameworks to oversee how humans handle the environment to reduce the rate of pollution. This is meant to create a situation of the low impact leaving and operation by human beings a strategic move towards reduction of the population of the environment.

Global Warming and Climate Change

Human beings have also contributed considerably to the occurrence of global warming and climate change. This results from the active exploitation and consumption of fossil fuels, which involve the emission of CO2 in large amounts. Studies have revealed that the increase in the rate of the emission of carbon dioxide is a threat to the ozone layer whose depletion may result; subsequently, the world may easily experience a global climate change. This effect is mostly possible when the emissions are mixed with another effective particulate in the atmosphere (Zeng & Zhang, 2017). Consequently, the scientific community recently reached a consensus that human activities are the major contributors to climate change, which is a very dangerous occurrence.

Ocean Acidification

The release of too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by human activities such as charcoal burning and emission of gases from factories contribute a lot to the acidification of the ocean. Carbon dioxide is not something new and its moderate presence in the atmospheres is healthy for plant's consumption and therefore is not a concern (Chiarelli, 2015). The concern is the rate at which it is being injected into the atmosphere. The two major causes of the influx are the emission of fossil fuel and deforestation. The emissions from the fossil fuel are as a result of the gases that are emitted by airplanes, cars, power plants and factories that burn fossil fuel such as coal, gas or oil (Takemoto & Kajihara, 2016). Research shows that fossil fuel consumption registered a substantial increase since the beginning of the industrial revolution. This resulted in an influx of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hence having an overall effect on ocean acidification. Burning forests as a result of deforestation have the same effect as burning the fossil fuel which is responsible for emitting a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which consequently causes the acidity in the ocean (Doughty, 2017). The acidification of the ocean causes corrosion on the rocky surface of the oceans. This makes them unable to withstand the pressure inserted by water mass on such walls. The walls, therefore, crumble thereby destroying the breeding places for some aquatic creatures (Chiarelli, 2015). The ocean acidification causes a lot of problems to aquatic life resulting in their deaths hence resulting in an imbalance in the ecosystem. This, therefore, has a negative impact on the environment at large.

Meat Consumption

CNN reveals that witching to other forms of food other than beef consumption can result in a positive impact on the environment. CNN reports that switching from beef-eating to pork and chicken consumption would have a positive impact on the land-use and climate. Cattle play a unique ecological role as they help in upgrading plats which are inedible to high-quality protein (Chiarelli, 2015). Research shows that beef in one of the most climate-damaging foods. Research has revealed that for every kilogram of beef, 25.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide emission occurs. This is the highest among all foods and five times more than that of pork and chicken meet. CNN reports that animal agriculture is responsible for 14 percent of greenhouse emission of which 64 percent comes from cattle and beef meet. This, therefore, makes beef consumption a significant contributor to climatic change. Doughty (2017) argues that the consumption of beef, therefore, can be attributed to acidification that happens in the ocean hence contributing factors to the threats in the aquatic life. The carbon dioxide emission resulting from the consumption of beef results in acidic rain that is very corrosive when coming into contact with metal and rocky surfaces. The corrosive effects of the acid rain emanating from carbon dioxide weakens rocks hence making them break in smaller granules Doughty, 2017). The overall effect of this is soil erosion since the rocks that were responsible for holding the soil together has been weak...