Negative Impacts on Our Environment

Nowadays, it seems that every action we take during our daily lives, in some way is affecting and harming the environment. Our Earth is a beautiful planet. The design and makeup of the natural world is an amazingly unfathomable. The world was perfect at one point before we as human beings began to damage and little by little are continuing to destroy the our planet. Examples of Negative Effects For example, typing this very own essay is an ecological negative affect to our environment. Why? Because as I use the electricity and power needed to keep this laptop running and working, the energy and electricity is most likely generated from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and/or oil. Other simple everyday tasks such as using the toilet, driving to McDonalds for dinner, recording tv shows while I’m away from home, riding my friend’s motorcycle late in the evening, and even throwing a piece of paper in the trash can are all examples of small activities or daily routines that we do participate in practically every day of our lives, that in return, unintentionally, is damaging the world in which we live in today. An interesting contributing negative factor to the environment that I never knew about is the source of the foods that we eat. According to Roni Neff, Ph. D. , â€Å"The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 18% of world-caused GHGs (greenhouse gases) come from livestock production alone. The top sources are cow belching, deforestation for cattle grazing and growing soy for feed, methane from manure, and the nitrogen fertilizers used to produce these crops. A major problem is the prevention of livestock contracting diseases and so many potent chemical products are sprayed keep the animals healthy and sufficiently to prevent the loss of money. Many farmers rely much on these industrial fertilizers which unfortunately also require huge amounts of fossil fuels to produce. This is all a part of an ongoing cycle as the chemicals left on these lands eventually ends up in runoff water which from there is then poured onto our very own local water systems. While farm producers only see the positive side from the use of these chemical fertilizers since it is economically beneficial to them, scientists and environmentalists can easily see the negative effects of these chemicals not only to the environment but to our very own health as well. These include the difficulties in handling and proper disposal of the enormous quantities of animal waste, and the numerous public health risks such as antibiotic resistance, respiratory infections, and gastrointestinal effects, as well as health risks for workers and community members. Another environment affecting factor that I thought was interesting, was the business of home construction. Not only homes, but the construction of commercial businesses, shopping malls, etc. Before construction takes place, the deforestation of natural ecosystems and habitats of many animals is destroyed. Many sources of energy such as coal which is one of the main sources of power for homes and all sorts of buildings, are polluting are environment more and more. These actions result in CO2 polluting the land and air of our environment. So as our air and atmosphere layers are becoming more contaminated with gases, the amount of solid waste in our landfills is increasing largely. 25-30% of the entire U. S. ’ annual solid waste is made up from home construction and remodeling projects and the demolition projects as well. To have a better understanding of these statistics, take the average home consisting of 2,200 square feet and know that for a home of that much space would require on average at the very least 13,000 board square feet of lumber. Now, picture laying all that lumber down, its length would reach up to 2. 5miles. Remember that statistic and now observe that on average, every year there are at the very least 1. 2 million construction homes built. Now multiply each home by 2,200 square feet and remember that each of those homes uses 13,000 board square feet of lumber, i. e. , the total amount of lumber used to build all these homes stretches out more than 3 million miles! That’s enough dimensional lumber to get you to the moon and back, not just, nor twice, but six times! These are outstanding facts and it is obvious that we need to find new methods for construction, remodeling, and demolition because it is causing and imposing negative effects on our beloved Earth. Conclusion Whether one is to consider themselves a conservationist or a preservationist, a balance of both is what should be taken into consideration. Natural resources, I believe, such as water and wood, are here so that we may use them to our benefit but ethically I don’t think it gives us the right to overpower and overuse our own natural environment and surroundings. With the high intelligence and advanced technology in the world today, I would support a profound cause in the betterment and research of excavating new ideas to improving the environment’s health while still benefiting from our natural resources, i. e. , a commensalistic relationship. References Christensen, N. (2013). The Environment and You. Boston, MA: Pearson. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4. http://www.livablefutureblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/food-matters.pdf