The Primary Forms of Environmental Degradation - Essay Example

?Environmental Problems, Mitigation Measures and Effectiveness Environmental changes result in global climate changes, which increases or decreases environmental sustainability of anthropogenic activities. Environmental challenges facing the planet are caused by natural forces like orbital variation, increase in solar output, volcanic activity, and plate tectonics among others. However, these natural factors change at a slow rate such that they cause negligible effects to the global environment. Anthropogenic activities usually result to huge impacts on the environment which include pollution of the atmosphere, land and sea; this pollution is one of the primary causes of reduction in productivity of the land and climate change. The other anthropogenic activity is destruction of the natural environment by unsustainable use of resources, a factor that has also resulted in world climate changes (Dalby, 2002: 44). Atmospheric pollution is the main cause of global warming; it results from the accumulation of carbon IV oxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, trapping heat from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are by-products of industrial combustion, which means that the extent to which a country contributes to global warming by these gases depends on the level of industrialization; a high level of industrialisation causes increased consumption of fossil fossils. Fossil fuels like natural gas, oil and its products have a high carbon content that is released in huge quantities and at a faster rate than can be sequestered by natural carbon sinks like forests and oceans. In this case, first world nations and rapidly developing third world nations are the main contributing agents to environmental degradation by industrial pollution. On the other hand, environmental degradation can occur due to unsustainable use of natural resources like forests and water bodies; this is a serious problem in developing countries (Adil, 2005: 315). The economies of these countries are primarily agricultural based; the high rate of population growth necessitates high agricultural production for food security. However, deteriorating climatic conditions have reduced the productivity of land in these areas, forcing people to clear more forests for agricultural purposes. Consequently, forests that play a role in precipitation are destroyed, and the areas receive less rainfall; this has a negative effect on agricultural productivity, which forces further clearance of forested areas. This cycle goes on and on until many of productive lands have become barren, especially due to poor farming practices and the dependence on rains for agriculture in these countries. Some of the effects of environmental degradation include loss of biodiversity; decreasing ice coverage on mountain tops and poles that pose a threat to sustenance of the hydrological cycle; and desertification by loss of vegetation cover. Moreover, it causes climatic changes like extreme weather conditions whereby dry areas get drier, hot areas hotter, and wet areas wetter; and a rise in sea level that destroys sceneries and property (Barry and Eckersley, 2005: 255). Based on the economic implications of these changes and their threat to survival of life in the planet, governments and international organisations have taken measures to mitigate the effects of the environmental problems that result from these changes (Carter, 2001: 282). These measures target the two main aspects of environmental degradation including pollution and unsustainable use of resources; there have been some level of success though with some limitations too. This paper discusses the measures taken by governments and international organisations; the extent of success of these interventions; the limitations facing effective implementation of interventions; and the consequences of these measures. Intervention Measures Governments have come up with environmental policies that aim at encouraging adoption of environmentally sustainable approaches by their citizens. For instance, the governments in all leading economies have tax breaks and other subsidies for adopting some of the environment conservation strategies including the use of fully electric or hybrid vehicles and using sustainable fuels. This approach results in positive motivation of people to conserve the environment. On the other hand, governments impose emission tax on individuals or corporates whose by-products have a significant impact on the carbon content in the atmosphere; this is a form of negative motivation (Bulkeley and Newell, 2010: 89). This approach ensures that firms do a cost and benefit analysis to ensure that the benefits of manufacturing their products outweigh the negative effects on the environment. Governments use the proceeds from these taxes on other mitigation measures. Governments have worked together with international organisations by promoting and funding strategies and activities to mitigate the negative effects of environmental degradation. Alternative Energy Sources Fossil fuels form the main source of energy for industries and domestic use; however, their effect on climate has necessitated the identification of suitable alternatives that are more sustainable in the long run. First, there has been a widespread adoption of renewable sources, for example, solar, wind, and other natural sources of energy like geothermal and hydroelectric energy. Secondly, developed nations have increased their use of the controversial nuclear energy for electricity generation, especially since the benefits of using nuclear power outweigh its disadvantages. Thirdly, engines for motor vehicles and industrial machinery have been modified to enable the use of natural gas and fossil fuels that have a lower carbon output per energy unit obtained as compared to petroleum products. Finally, some countries have taken the initiative of capturing carbon from the environment and compressing it for storage (Camilleri and Falk, 2009: 97). Energy Efficiency and Conservation The transport system has been modified such that vehicles burn fuel as effectively as possible, and limitations have been made on the amount of fuel that can be spent on one person’s transport (Conca, 2001: 65). For instance, major cities in the world have shuttle systems that minimise the use of personal vehicles. Moreover, town planning has been done to encourage conservation and efficiency, whereby towns have walkways and bicycle parking lots; both of these transport media have negligible carbon footprint. The construction sector has undergone modifications too, whereby buildings have been built to optimise natural light and heat from the sun; this strategy eliminates dependence on fossil fuel-generated electricity for lighting and heating purposes. Finally, since methane is a worse greenhouse gas than carbon IV oxide, industries have mechanisms to prevent its release into the atmosphere; however, a better approach would be to limit industrial methane generation in the first place. Sinks and Negative Emissions There are programs in place to encourage reforestation and limit deforestation, whereby the role of the role of forests as carbon sequestrating sinks is optimised; a considerable portion of the carbon in the atmosphere is primarily due to deforestation. In addition, industrial processes have been modified to induce negative carbon emission; this is modifying emissions to ensure that the by-products of industrial processes result in absorption of carbon from the environment. Geoengineering is another approach to environmental conservation, which involves modification of the environment to counter the effects of environmental degradation (Camilleri and Falk, 2009: 180). Screening out some sunlight using chemical substances or physical objectives in the atmosphere reduces the impact that sunlight has on the globe; however, this approach is still under research and has not yet been adopted. Societal Control These mitigation measures involve limiting the negative impact that each person has on the environment; the primary approach is the reduction of the rate of population growth. Population growth has been termed the primary culprit in the degradation of the environment since more people require more resources and release higher levels of waste. According to Cudworth (2003: 153), this strategy has not been successful, especially in developing countries since birth control is a taboo in some cultures and faces opposition from leading religions. Limitation to Mitigation Measures Governments and international organisations have all the data on what should be done to counter environmental problems; however, the levels to which these strategies have been implemented successfully remain at less than average. This gap results from some political, social, cultural, ecological and economical limiting factors; these underlying factors have to be considered by all stakeholders before significant progress can be made (Arnold, 1997: 228). Governments of many countries have made environmental conservation a local endeavour, whereby each of them makes intervention efforts in isolation. Consequently, there is a lack of coordination in these mitigation measures, especially since each of them takes a different approach to conservation; countries should work together in this one since it is a universal problem (Chase, Brown and Dowie, 2006: 176). Many countries have environmental conservation policies; however, there are low levels of implementation of such strategies due to lack of political will because of conflicts of interest among the ruling elite (Barnett, 2001: 43). In addition, implementing these policies requires a considerable investment in respect to time and finances; these resources are scarce especially in developing countries that are plagued by perennial droughts. Governments make efforts to conserve the environment; however, these efforts do not produce significant results since majority of the people do not have a concept of the connection between their activities and changes in the environment. Finally, environmental conservation and economic growth are two conflicting interests, whereby each of them has an inverse effect on the other one. The targets set for economic growth and development for countries cannot be achieved with the current technologies without destroying the environment. Effects of Conservation Measures During implementation of mitigation measures, there have been associations that would have otherwise occurred to a limited extent; for instance, governments have worked in conjunction with the private sector and other governments for a common cause, thus strengthening diplomatic ties (Paterson, 2001: 55). Cutting emissions and reversing environmental degradation has borne some positive fruits for the environment too; this is seen as microclimate changes in various areas all over the world where the effects of degradation have been reversed. These effects would have been more profound if governments worked together, there are enough funds and political will towards environmental conservation. Finally, conservation measures have resulted in rapid development of alternative technologies, which not only increases environmental sustainability but are more effective and efficient than conventional technologies. Conclusion Pollution and unsustainable use of natural resources are the primary forms of environmental degradation; both of these are the consequences of anthropogenic activities. However, there are natural causes that contribute to environmental degradation but the extent to which they do so is affected by anthropogenic activities to a large extent. Governments and international organisation have come up with measures to promote environmental conservation, most of which target the abovementioned aspects of degradation. Though there have been positive effects of these intervention measures, the effects have not been as profound as would be expected due to limiting effects of the economy, culture, and politics among other aspects of modern-day society. In order for intervention processes to succeed, these limitations must be overcome by all stakeholders. References Adil, N. (2005) ‘Developing countries and global environmental governance: from contestation to participation to engagement’, International Environmental Agreements, vol. 5, pp. 303-321. Arnold, R. (1997) Ecology wars: environmentalism as if it matters, The Free Enterprise Press, Bellevue, WA. Barnett, J. (2001) The meaning of environmental security: ecological politics and policy in the new security era, Zed, London. Barry, J., and Eckersley, R. (2005) The state and the global ecological crisis, MIT Press. Bulkeley, H., and Newell, P. (2010) Governing climate change, Routledge, London. Camilleri, J.A., and Falk, J. (2009) Worlds in transition: evolving governance across a stressed planet, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham UK. Carter, N. (2001) The politics of the environment: ideas, activism, Cambridge University Press, Policy Cambridge. Conca, K. (2001) ‘Consumption and environment in a global economy’, Global Environmental Politics, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 53-71. Cudworth, E. (2003) Environment and society, Routledge, London. Chase, P.S., Brown, J.W., and Dowie, D.L. (2006) Global environmental politics: dilemmas in world politics, Westview Press, Boulder, Co. Dalby, S. (2002) Environmental security, University of Minnesota Press. Paterson, M. (2001) Understanding global environmental politics, Palgrave, Basingstoke. Read More