Environment: Pollution and Human Impact
Human Impact on the Environment
Every living thing has an impact on its environment. Therefore a human impact on the environment is inevitable. By simply existing, all species - including ourselves - will imprint their mark on the world around them.
What differentiates us from other species is our ability to greatly overburden our environment with very few limits.
The information regarding our human impact is vast and impossible to cover in one article but I will attempt to cover a basic overview.
For 200 years we've been conquering Nature.
Now we're beating it to death.
~ Tom McMillan
Water Pollution
Perhaps the most obvious examples of a negative human impact on the environment is water pollution. It's obvious we need water to survive but few people realize how much we need and just how much is available. Consider these facts from the United Nations Environment Programme: * Of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% of it is freshwater. * Of that 2.5%, less than 1% is available to us. * Humans each require up to 13 gallons (50 litres) a day of fresh water for drinking, cooking and cleaning. This does NOT take into account the countless gallons of water needed to grow food or care for animals. * 70% of all freshwater usage goes to irrigation.
According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, only 2% of farms are organic. This means almost 69% of our freshwater supply is being contaminated by chemical pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers, while also compounded with fossil fuels and emissions from heavy farming machinery.
These chemical compounds contribute to acid rain. Since very little can live in an acidic environment, acid rain has harmful effects on plants, animals, and aquatic life, as well as humans and even buildings, statues or other objects. Acid rain also contaminates our limited freshwater supply, and thus the cycle of water pollution continues.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 45% of
Every living thing has an impact on its environment. Therefore a human impact on the environment is inevitable. By simply existing, all species - including ourselves - will imprint their mark on the world around them.
What differentiates us from other species is our ability to greatly overburden our environment with very few limits.
The information regarding our human impact is vast and impossible to cover in one article but I will attempt to cover a basic overview.
For 200 years we've been conquering Nature.
Now we're beating it to death.
~ Tom McMillan
Water Pollution
Perhaps the most obvious examples of a negative human impact on the environment is water pollution. It's obvious we need water to survive but few people realize how much we need and just how much is available. Consider these facts from the United Nations Environment Programme: * Of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% of it is freshwater. * Of that 2.5%, less than 1% is available to us. * Humans each require up to 13 gallons (50 litres) a day of fresh water for drinking, cooking and cleaning. This does NOT take into account the countless gallons of water needed to grow food or care for animals. * 70% of all freshwater usage goes to irrigation.
According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, only 2% of farms are organic. This means almost 69% of our freshwater supply is being contaminated by chemical pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers, while also compounded with fossil fuels and emissions from heavy farming machinery.
These chemical compounds contribute to acid rain. Since very little can live in an acidic environment, acid rain has harmful effects on plants, animals, and aquatic life, as well as humans and even buildings, statues or other objects. Acid rain also contaminates our limited freshwater supply, and thus the cycle of water pollution continues.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 45% of