Environmental Challenges: Pollution, Climate Change, and Biodiversity Loss

Posted on Nov 6, 2024 in Geography

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon where the atmosphere absorbs some of the Earth’s energy, preventing it from escaping back into space. Human activities, primarily the release of greenhouse gases like CO2, intensify this effect, leading to global warming.

Consequences of Global Warming

  • Melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels
  • Loss of biodiversity due to temperature changes that many animals cannot adapt to.

The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations framework convention on climate change, aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EU participated in this protocol, which concluded in 2012 and paved the way for the new UN agreement tackled at the Copenhagen Summit (XV International Conference on Climate Change).

Acid Rain

Acid rain is a pollution phenomenon caused by high concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that react with rainwater to form nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

Causes and Effects of Acid Rain

  • Vegetation loss, particularly leaf loss in trees.
  • Negative impacts on aquatic organisms due to increased water acidity.

Regions Affected by Acid Rain

  • Berguedà (near Barcelona, Spain)
  • Andorra and Teruel (Spain)
  • Sweden (affected by acid rain originating in the UK)
  • Canada (affected by acid rain originating in the US)

Ozone Layer Depletion

The ozone layer (O3) filters harmful ultraviolet rays. CFC gases damage this layer. A 1% decrease in the ozone layer can lead to a 2% increase in skin cancers. Replacing CFC gases is crucial to addressing this problem.

Loss of Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of animal and plant species on Earth. Tropical rainforests, such as the Amazon (South America), the Congo (Africa), Indonesia, and Central America, are biodiversity hotspots.

Threats to Biodiversity

  • Deforestation for the paper industry, timber extraction, and conversion to agricultural land.
  • Mining and infrastructure development.
  • Climate change and altered rainfall patterns leading to droughts.
  • Increasing population pressure and the need for farmland.

Three Phases of Forest Exploitation

  1. Road construction for timber and mineral extraction.
  2. Subsistence farming by landless peasants, leading to deforestation and soil degradation.
  3. Conversion to low-fertility grassland after the soil is depleted.

Importance of Biodiversity

Biomes are vital sources of food, resources for construction and chemicals, and pharmaceutical ingredients. The destruction of biodiversity leads to global impoverishment. Human activity is driving a sixth mass extinction, endangering species like salamanders, frogs, and toads.

Deforestation

Deforestation is the large-scale clearing of forests. Since the Neolithic Revolution (8000 BC), forest cover has steadily declined.

Causes of Deforestation

  • Expansion of agriculture.
  • Exploitation of wood for fuel, paper pulp, construction, and furniture.

Global Patterns of Deforestation

Developed countries, having depleted much of their forests, now exploit forests in developing countries, where deforestation is a major issue.

Desertification

Desertification is the process of land degradation. While seemingly unlimited, soil is a finite resource. Only 22% of the land surface is suitable for agriculture. The rest is under ice, too wet or dry, has excessive slopes, or is unsuitable for agricultural production. Arable land faces constant pressure from residential, industrial, and service development.

Causes of Desertification

  • Overgrazing, exposing soil to erosion.
  • Intensive farming without sufficient recovery time.
  • Deforestation.
  • Forest fires.
  • Industrial waste contamination.

The Iberian Peninsula, particularly the Tabernas Desert in Almería, exemplifies desertification in the Mediterranean basin.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is a major environmental problem.

Sources of Water Pollution

  • Untreated urban wastewater, particularly in developing countries.
  • Industrial waste, especially in industrializing nations like China.
  • Agricultural waste, including pesticides and animal slurry.
  • Marine pollution from urban, industrial, and agricultural sources, impacting fisheries and concentrating heavy metals in the food chain.

The Mediterranean Sea is a significantly polluted body of water.