Although developments and technological advancements have been high grade in the last decade, the world has seen a significant downfall in the quality of environment. Rapid environmental degradation is making the human life on earth less and less sustainable. Here below are some of the current environmental issues that pose a threat to our existence.
Some important current environmental issues
1. The rising sea levels
In the time period between 1993-2012, studies have shown that the sea levels had an increase of about 3.1milimeters every year. This rate has become three times of what it used to be and is a matter of great concern. The rising sea levels are caused due to the melting polar ice caps which again are resulting from rising global temperatures. The humans are solely responsible for this increase in temperatures and the huge amounts of carbon emissions from vehicles and factories are making the world steadily warmer.
Not only is the melting ice cap a problem for the ecosystem of the frigid zone, it also is a problem for those staying far away from the problem. A lot of island nations and islands like Japan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia etc and coastal regions face a threat in the future of being submerged under the waters if this continues to rise. Clearly, this is among the most serious problems among the current environmental issues.
2. Extreme weather conditions
If you thought that the rising global temperatures are only making it hot everywhere, think again! It is resulting in a severe disruption of the prevalent weather conditions all over the world. There is a rising number of instances of extreme weather conditions and they range from excessive rainfall causing floods to severe droughts caused by absolute absence of rain. There are also rising numbers of storms and tsunamis and landslides and all of this indicates a glaring problem. The natural balance has been severely disrupted and is resulting in such occurrences.
3. Threats for the wildlife
Among the major environmental concerns of 2018 is the situation where the wildlife is facing a serious challenge to its existence. With every passing day more and more animals are slipping into the endangered and threatened species categories. Polar bears for example are faced with a serious loss of habitat and prey due to the melting ice caps. In many other parts of the world, loss of forests has endangered several animals like the Giant Panda, Chimpanzees and Gorillas. Although there has been significant attempts at conservation it hasn’t really been much successful in arresting the downward slide.
4. The plastic menace
Little did the creator of plastic know that many years later it would pose for a major environmental challenge and feature in the list of the current environmental issues. But with nine million of plastic waste finding its way to the oceans every year, we could not just turn a blind eye to this very serious problem. To save the planet, this has to be checked as fast as possible or it will spell doom for the marine ecosystem which again will come back to indirectly hurt humans.
5. Threats for forests
The forests act as the carbon sinks helping us deal with the carbon emissions. Of late however, the state of these forests has been alarming to say the least. Except a few handful of forests that have been ably conserved, the state of forest affairs do not pose for a good picture. The forests have been affected by large scale deforestation and diseases of the plants. Many plant species have been unable to adopt to the changing environments and are getting eliminated from the face of the planet. This planet will be a lifeless globe in the universe very soon if this trend were to continue.
6. Environmental Refugees
This not only is an environmental problem but also comes as an economic and social issue. The environmental degradation causes several natural hazards and catastrophic events which leaves millions of people homeless. The already restricted space for living gets further restricted as a result apart from having huge economic consequences and pushing millions into poverty every year.
7. Famines and food scarcity
The population of the planet has been on a steady rise ever since its conception. But food availability has always been limited. One of the major current environmental issues is that food scarcity is more than ever before. The changing climatic conditions are largely responsible for this and the increasing floods and droughts are severely depleting the already insufficient food supplies.
8. Climate related illness
We live in a world of rising lifestyle and environmental illnesses. The situation is so bad that the pollution levels are making kids who never smoked suffer from lung cancer. There are large numbers of respiratory problems being reported and the situation is worsening with every passing day.
9. Water shortage
All environmental articles for students will let you know about this very serious problem that is steadily building up. Water shortage is a genuine issue affecting people and is a huge problem because of how important it is for survival. Water conservation thus should be one of the biggest of our concerns.
10. The ray of hope
All is not lost however and the current environmental issues can all be checked with a bit more consciousness. We have elements to replace plastic with and all we seek is consumer awareness. There are green energy solutions to substitute fossil fuel. The modern world is aware of so many ways of conserving water and energy and all of that knowledge can be put to good use. The problems can all be dealt with, if only we start being aware of the problem at hand.
Final words
In today’s times although the environment is such a concern for us, there is a serious dearth of environmental articles for students. Educating the next generation about the environmental whereabouts should be taken seriously and this is our little effort to contribute to that. The major environmental concerns of 2018 are important to know if we are to find out the solutions to demolish these problems. Cheers to a greener and better earth!
