The environment changes all the time – it is in its very nature. However, there are changes that are caused by issues that, if left unchecked, could make life on our planet unsustainable. Here are fiveof the biggest environmental issues that you should worry about.
Climate Change
Greta Thunberg, Marina Abramovic, Vic Barret, and Ellen Page are just some of the activists that are urging us to take action to limit the negative effects of climate change. However, despite the majority of the scientific community proving the existence of this issue and warning about the consequences, there are people, companies, and politicians that flat-out deny the existence of climate change or downplay its importance.
Climate change doesn’t simply mean a few rainy summers and a windy day or two, with a bit of cold weather in unusual places. It means more frequent natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. It means loss of vegetation and animal species, as well as fewer places to live and fewer livable conditions. Climate change is an issue that cannot be ignored.
Population Growth
Well, we say ‘growth’, but what we mean is an explosion. In as little time as a few decades, we may be looking at the global population of 9 or 10 billion. That may sound nice at first until you realize that like in pyramid schemes, this type of growth is unsustainable. Each person is going to need resources. Food, housing, and services are going to be in demand, with an enormous increase in the supply of waste. Population growth leads us to our next issue – urban expansion.
Urban Expansion
A seemingly natural process or urban expansion involves people moving from smaller villages, towns, and cities to bigger ones, in search of better access to amenities and better job opportunities. In other words, cities are growing. Because of this, they are covering more and more arable land and forests, leading to environmental problems like floods and pollution.
With the fast expansion of cities, there are fewer and fewer places that can provide the population with adequate food resources. Furthermore, deforestation is another issue caused by the urban expansion that clears the way for even more natural disasters.
Biodiversity
As its name says, biodiversity deals with the variety of life in the world. With the growing population, the expansion of cities, and the deforestation, along with other factors like climate change and poaching, the variety of life is slowly, but surely, declining. The balance of the earth’s ecosystems is failing and, with it, our future food sources.
Herd Immunity
As unbelievable as it may seem in the modern world, there is an increasing number of anti-vax activists, or anti-vaxxers, in the world. From the people that believe vaccines cause autism to those that claim future vaccines are filled with tracking nanobots (unfortunately, this is not a joke – some people really believe this), some diseases that were all but extinct, like polio, might be making a comeback. With more and more people declining vaccines and protesting the legislation surrounding them, these diseases may mutate to strains that become unmanageable and may put everyone at risk.