![Top 10 Major Global Environmental Issues In The World - List Of Global Environmental Problems [2021]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aTrWtFR_FrQ/hqdefault.jpg)
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The environmental problemsare natural (or man-made) phenomena that negatively affect the conservation of ecosystems, or that pose a threat to the life of living beings.
Most environmental problems derive from the unplanned action of man, whose global urban growth demands more and more natural resources of all kinds: water, energy, land, organic and minerals.
Environmental problems often go unnoticed until their consequences become very evident, through natural disasters, ecological tragedies, global threats or severe risks to human beings' own health.
Examples of environmental problems
Ozone layer destruction. This phenomenon of the reduction of the ozone barrier in the atmosphere that filters and deflects the sun's ultraviolet rays is one that has been very well documented for decades, when atmospheric pollution by the release of gases began to catalyze the decomposition of ozone into oxygen, a normally slow phenomenon at high altitudes. However, a partial recovery of it has recently been announced.
Deforestation. The third part of the planet is covered with forests and jungles, which represents a gigantic vegetal lung renewing daily the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. The sustained and indiscriminate logging not only threatens this very important chemical balance, essential for life, but also leads to the destruction of animal habitats and loss of soil absorption. It is estimated that 129 million plant hectares have been lost in the last decade and a half.
Climate change. Some theories suggest that it is due to decades of sustained pollution, others that it is part of a planetary cycle. Climate change as a phenomenon points to the substitution of dry climates for rainy ones and vice versa, to the migration of temperatures and the redistribution of water, all of which has considerable effects on human populations, accustomed for centuries to a stable regional climate.
Air pollution. Levels air pollution They have multiplied in recent decades, a product of the hydrocarbon energy industry and combustion engines, which release tons of toxic gases into the atmosphere, thus deteriorating the very air we breathe.
Water contamination. The release of chemical substances and toxic waste from industry to lakes and rivers, is a triggering factor of acid rains, biological extinctions and the depletion of water, which then requires extreme measures to enable its consumption, necessary for the maintenance of the organic life all types.
Soil depletion. Successive monocultures and forms of intensive agriculture that, through various technological methods, maximize production without considering the need for alternation of the soil, sow a future problem, since the soils tirelessly deplete their nutrients and plant life becomes more difficult in the medium term. Such is the case of the soybean monoculture, for example.
Radioactive waste generation. Nuclear plants daily generate tons of radioactive waste dangerous to human, plant and animal life, also endowed with long periods of activity that exceed the durability of their usual lead containers. How to dispose of this waste with the minimum environmental impact is a challenge to face.
Non-biodegradable garbage generation. Plastics, polymers, and other complex forms of industrial materials have particularly long lives until they finally biodegrade. With tons of plastic bags and other disposable items being produced daily, the world will have less and less room for so much long-lived garbage.
See also: The Main Soil Pollutants
Polar melt. It is not known if it is the product of global warming or if it is the end of an ice age, but the truth is that the poles melt, increasing the water level of the oceans and putting in check the established coastal borders, as well as the arctic and antarctic life.
Expansion of deserts. Many deserted zones They are gradually growing as a result of drought, deforestation and global warming. This is not contradicted by brutal flooding elsewhere, but neither option is healthy for life.
Overpopulation. In a world of limited resources, the unstoppable growth of the human population is an environmental problem. In 1950 the total human population did not reach 3 billion, and by 2012 it already exceeds 7. The population has tripled in the last 60 years, which also augurs a future of poverty and competition for resources.
Ocean acidification. It is the rise in the pH of oceanic waters, as a product of the substances added by the human industry. This has an effect similar to that of human osteoporosis in marine species and the growth of some types of algae and plankton proliferates over others, breaking the trophic balance.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics. It may not be an environmental problem at all, since it mainly affects human health, but it is an evolutionary consequence of the sustained misuse of antibiotics for decades, which has led to the creation of more resistant bacteria that could not only wreak havoc on man, but on most higher animal populations as well.
Generation of space debris. Although it may not seem like it, this problem began at the end of the 20th century and promises to be problematic in future eras, as the belt of space debris that already begins to surround our planet is enlarged by the successive satellites and remnants of space missions that , once used and discarded, remain orbiting our planet.
Non-renewable resource depletion. The hydrocarbonsAbove all, they are organic material formed over eons of tectonic history and have been used so intensively and carelessly that in the near future they will have been used in their entirety. What environmental effects that brings, remains to be seen; but the race to find ways to Alternative energy it doesn't always point to greener solutions.
Plant genetic impoverishment. Genetic engineering work in agricultural crops may seem like a short-term solution to maximize food production to satisfy a growing human population, but in the long run it causes deterioration of the crop. genetic variability of species cultivated vegetables and also negatively impacts competition between species, since it applies a criterion of artificial selection that impoverishes the plant biodiversity of the region.
Photochemical contamination. This occurs in large industrialized cities, where there are few winds to disperse air pollution, and high UV incidence that catalyzes highly reactive and toxic oxidant reactions for organic life. This is called photochemical smog.
See also: Main Air Pollutants
Fragmentation of natural habitats. The growth of the urban area, in addition to mining activities and sustained logging, have destroyed numerous natural habitats, leading to the depletion of global biodiversity at a worrying rate.
Greenhouse effect or global warming. This theory assumes that the increase in world temperature is the product of the destruction of the ozone layer (and a higher incidence of UV rays), as well as high levels of CO2 and others gases in the atmosphere, which prevent the release of ambient heat, thus leading to many of the scenarios already described.
Extinction of animal species. Either by indiscriminate hunting, animal trade or consequence of the contamination and the destruction of their habitats, there is currently talk of a possible sixth great extinction of species, this time the product of mankind. The list of species in danger of extinction is very extensive and, according to surveys of biologists specialized in the area, 70% of the world's animal species could be disappearing by the middle of the century if protectionist measures are not taken.
More information?
- Examples of Technological Disasters
- Examples of Natural Disasters
- What are Anthropic Disasters?
- Examples of Natural Phenomena
