Understanding Key Environmental Issues: A Comprehensive Look
Energy Resources
The economic system and our way of life depend on the growing consumption of energy in all human activities. This energy dependence faces two basic problems: the depletion of nonrenewable energy sources and the impacts of widespread energy use. Energy is divided into renewable and nonrenewable types.
Environmental Impact
An environmental impact is a positive or negative effect produced by an activity on the environment, although the term often has a negative connotation.
Deforestation
Forests are complex terrestrial ecosystems, important as a renewable resource for their regulatory, protective, productive, and recreational functions. Deforestation refers to the large-scale destruction of forests due to human intervention.
Loss of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms on Earth, in all its manifestations and relations.
Causes of biodiversity loss: destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of habitats; introduction of alien species; overexploitation of species and resources; pollution of the atmosphere, soil, and water; climate change due to the greenhouse effect; and agricultural and forestry industrialization leading to accelerated deforestation.
The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change
The greenhouse effect is the action of CO2 and other gases in the atmosphere, which prevents the escape of solar radiation reflected by the Earth as heat.
This effect is beneficial for life on Earth. Without greenhouse gases, the Earth’s average temperature would be about -18°C instead of the current 15°C.
The current problem is the rapid increase in greenhouse gases (mainly CO2 and, to a lesser extent, methane).
This increase is due to the world’s population tripling, the world economy increasing by 20-fold, and industrial expansion in the last hundred years.
This increase in greenhouse gases implies a more rapid increase in the average temperature of Earth than past climate changes.
Water as a Limited Resource
Water for human use is obtained from surface or groundwater sources, unevenly distributed. There are large areas where water is a scarce resource.
In some developed countries, water collection is a major problem, making regulation and management essential to ensure access for all, after purification and cleansing treatments.
Water Treatment
Water treatment processes remove pathogens and pollutants, making the water fit for human consumption.
According to UNESCO, two-fifths of the world’s inhabitants lack access to water treatment, a problem more acute in developing countries.
Wastewater Treatment
Urban wastewater must be treated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to clean discharges from cities.
The World Health Organization believes water is polluted when its composition or natural state is so upset that it loses its suitability for intended uses.
72% of rivers, lakes, and streams worldwide are contaminated by urban and industrial discharges. Over half of known infectious diseases are transmitted through unsafe water.