Human Impacts on the Environment: What Are We Doing to Change It

Human Impacts on the Environment
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Introduction
Top of the agenda in the last few months has been the impacts that the human activities have had in the last several decades. Over the years human have had the chance to exploit resources from the environment and turn them into utilities for use in the population. Since the industrial revolution, the environment has been subjected to heavy exploitation of natural resources, with the view of producing goods and services for the consumer markets (Sustainablebabysteps.com, 2016). Industries such as cement making, soap making, textile and information technology have had massive impacts on the environment. Before the industrial revolution, was the agricultural development, as nations worked to make sure that they could provide enough food for their populace. However, with the introduction of the industrialization came the mechanization of the agricultural sector (Conserve-Energy-Future, 2015). Today the agricultural sector is one of the top causes of pollution in the environment, relative to use of chemicals, poor tillage of the land and over exploitation of land resources such as water and soil nutrients. Industrialization has not only led to the exploitation of the natural resources from the environment but also the element of pollution on a global scale. After the industrialization era, relative to the economic boom, the population of the people in the world also increased exponentially, this has further placed much pressure on the resources in the environment and also increased the rates of pollution and magnitude (Bbc.co.uk, 2016). Clearing land for development to house the current population and their needs has further had massive impacts on the environment. As such, there are many impacts that have been felt as a response from the environment, such as floods, diseases, climate change, ozone depletion, death and extinction of animal species, destruction of habitats and ecosystems, heat strokes and melting ice caps among others (Environmental pollution; studies from environment Canada reveal new findings on environmental pollution, 2013). The main impacts are spread out between air, water, soil and noise pollution. It is for this reason that quite a number of strategies, such as carbon credits, renewable energy , reforestation and recycling among others have been implemented to make sure that some of these impacts are reversed and others slowed down.
Anthropogenic impacts on the environment
Water pollution
One of the main impacts that the human activities have had on the environment is on the water. Water pollution accounts for the most subtle impacts on the environment, where most of the water systems have been affected with excess nutrients. One of the main contributors to the nitrification of the water systems, has been the agricultural practices. As agriculture is mechanized and use of fertilizers is advocated in the large scale use platforms, the amount of nutrients that wash off with the surface water and the ground water is immense (Haidar, 2000). The fertilizers that are used on the land and up being washed off into the river systems and later into the large water bodies. This has led to many of the aquatic species dying from the overgrown bacteria and algae on the water bodies destroying the food chains. The industrial and domestic waste that are dumped in the water systems due to poor waste management systems and strategies also low the water quality. The water quality has led to the development of diseases in the population, some of which have had devastating effects such as cancer caused by heavy metals in the water (Conserve-Energy-Future, 2015). When the water systems are not being polluted, they are being over exploited for the tourist and economic purposes.
Air quality
The quality of the air has also suffered greatly from the release of pollutants into the air reducing the air quality. One of the sectors that has been contributing to poor air quality is the transport system. Use of carbon fuels in the vehicles, airplanes, ships and trains has contributed to release of vast amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide which are greenhouse gases and these have in turn caused the depletion of the ozone layer along with global warming (Conserve-Energy-Future, 2015). The energy production industry has had massive impacts in the air quality. Industrial production processes have also lead to the release of poisonous gases in the air along with particulate matter. Air pollution has also led to the development of respiratory diseases such as asthma and lung cancer while others affect the reproductive system causing birth defects in the children for generations in the population (Martonas, 2016). Some of the industrial production systems and power plants have led to the release of large quantities of ozone, nitrous oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, methane and carbon monoxides into the air (Haidar, 2000). Air pollution has been one of the most influential elements in the climatic changes relative to the changes in the temperatures. As such impacts such as floods and heat strokes have been experienced from the deplete ozone layer and the formation of the carbon gases greenhouse effect.
Soil pollution
All the pesticides and the herbicides that are used in the agricultural activities across the world, end up in the soil. Some of which when they combine with the minerals in the soil form toxic compounds. The solid has also been expose...