User:Varunbansal17
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earth and Health
Our earth is like a mother to us. She provides us with all we want-in abundance. She fulfills all our needs and tolerates us to the best of her abilities. Working tirelessly day and night, without stopping, she divides her time equally among us all. Yet, what do we give her, needless pain and sufferings, slowly and slowly taking her on the path of death? But don’t be to optimistic, she has suffered too much, for too long being very patient, but the time has come that we that we stop testing her patience because she will soon retaliate with all her might and we will be at her mercy unable to do a thing.
Earth and Health has been a growing topic of concern these days. What with the growing human population, extincting animal and plant species, their inverse effects on biodiversity, global warming, the increasing amount of garbage and trash and the not so pollution free environment causing tens of different diseases and the rapid growth of industrialization leading to the depletion of the earth’s natural resources are claiming earth’s health-bit by bit. It is not too late yet but nature can take it’s claim without a notice. The earth has rules for all those who live in it, but if we do not abide by those rules, then mother earth will not be left with any other choice.
Global warming is a topic that is often talked about these days. It is impossible for a person who is not deaf or blind and has an I.Q. higher then a chimpanzee to miss it. However, before jumping to conclusions we must first know the details of global warming.
Global warming is an increase in the earth's temperature due to fossil fuels; industry and agricultural processes caused by human, natural, and other gas emissions. This results in an increased emission of greenhouse gases. Short-wave solar radiation sinks into the Earth's atmosphere and warms its surface while long wave infrared radiation emitted by earth's surface is absorbed, and then re-emitted by trace gases. Climate changes occur in our earth's atmosphere due to a buildup of these greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can occur naturally as well as a result of human activities. Problems occur when higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are present in our atmosphere because they enhance our earth's heat trapping capability. Thus global warming results in the increase of the earth’s natural atmospheric temperature. This results in an unwanted increase in the overall temperature of the Earth. Scientists say that the Earth naturally increases about 1 degree Fahrenheit every century, but with the pollution that is being caused by humans, the temperature could rise 5 to 10 degrees by the middle of the next century. There are many misconceptions about global warming. Some believe that pollution causes global warming, but the fact is global warming is the result of burning fossil fuels, coal, and oil that release carbon dioxide. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas that were formed from the remains of plant material deposited during the earth's carboniferous period millions of years ago are the main causes resulting in the emission of green house gases. Another misconception is that nuclear power causes global warming resulting in climatic changes, but ironically nuclear power actually reduces emissions of carbon dioxide when used in place of coal.
Global warming can be controlled and sustained if we start now. There are an overwhelming number of issues that need to be addressed in order for us to help improve our environment. But the problem is that even if humans stop burning oil and coal tomorrow-not likely- we've already spewed enough greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to cause temperatures to warm and sea levels to rise for at least another century. A study organized by the Science magazine showed that even if no more greenhouse gases are added to the atmosphere, globally averaged air surface temperatures will rise about 0.5 degree Celsius and global sea levels will rise at least 11 centimeters by 2100.
Are governments doing enough to prevent global warming? NO. They should introduce legislations to stop and reverse emissions of greenhouse gases. They should encourage the development, deployment and diffusion of new climate-friendly technologies.
Apart from global warming, the increasing human population and the threats to the earth’s biodiversity also are the causes of the deteriorating health of our planet. Growing populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet's ecosystems over the past half-century, a trend that threatens international efforts to combat poverty and disease.
A four-year study, conducted by the UN-the largest-ever to show how people are changing their environment-found that humans had depleted 60 percent of the world's grasslands, forests, farmlands, rivers and lakes. Unless nations adopt more eco-friendly policies, increased human demands for food, clean water and fuels could speed the disappearance of forests, fish and fresh water reserves and lead to more frequent disease outbreaks over the next 50 years. The human population in the 20th century has crossed the 6 billion mark, which is responsible for the disappearance of a fifth of coral reefs and a third of the mangrove forests in recent decades.
The diversity of animal and plant species has fallen sharply, and a third of all species are at risk of extinction. Disease outbreaks, floods and fires have become more frequent. Levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have surged, mostly in the past four decades. Earth’s major life supporting ecosystems include clean water, pure air, and a stable climate, which are being degraded due to unsustainable use. Humans have caused much of this damage during this past half-century. Soaring demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel have led to dramatic environmental changes, from deforestation to chemical pollution.
The negative effects of ecosystem strain also include collapsing fisheries, coastal “dead zones” near sediment heavy river mouths, shifting water quality and unpredictable regional climate. Deforestation and other radical ecosystem alterations also promote diseases, such as malaria and cholera, as well as new strains of existing contagions.
The increasing amount of waste and trash in our neighborhoods is also in a way responsible for the deteriorating health of our planet. Waste or rubbish is what people throw away because they no longer need or want it. The increase in human population is the major cause of this ever growing waste. People create waste at home and at work alike. The fact that we produce waste and get rid of it matters because when something is thrown away we lose the natural resource, the energy and the time, which have been used to make the product. If the use of these resources goes on indefinitely, we will one day run out of them. Also when something is thrown away we are putting pressure on the environment’s ability to cope with the impacts associated with getting rid of our rubbish. The waste we create has to be carefully controlled to be sure that it does not harm our and the environment’s health. As industrial activities expand and our population increases we are using more resources and generating more waste. Waste disposal is expensive and causes environmental problems. The less waste we produce, the less we need to dispose off, and the more we use our resources sustainably.
There are different ways for disposing of waste products, one of which being landfills. Landfills are carefully designed structures built into or on top of the ground in which trash is isolated from the surrounding environment. This isolation is accomplished with a bottom liner and daily covering of soil. The purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash in such a way that it will be isolated from groundwater, will be kept dry and will not come in contact with air. The result is that the trash remains there as such without any oxygen and moisture, not resulting in any form of decomposition. Thus landfills are not effective ways for getting rid of waste and trash.
Recycling is the better way out of this problem. In this regard the Mexican are quite creative. Mexican artists are making handbags and fashionable belts out of candy wrappers, potato chip bags and other things, which once littered the Mexican roads. But with careful design and planning they are selling this stuff for as much as $200 and using this money to help poor Mexican Indians become self-supporting through projects which help the environment.
The future of our planet remains in our hands so we must do all that we are capable of doing to preserve our planet’s health and protect mankind from further destroying this beautiful planet, which we should be proud of. We need to the different resources we have so that we can use them sustainably in the future, preserve them for our future generations-because what we do know is really going to harm the future generation and not us-and prevail in an environment which we can be proud of, unlike those of other planets.
