Analysis Of The Past, Present And Future To Prevent The Environment
According to a study, the world’s 7. 6 billion people represent just 0. 01 percent of all living things. Yet, overpopulation, environmental accidents and global warming caused by this 0. 01 percent has adversely affected the environment. Hence, environmentalists and scientists are becoming more concerned about the increasing controversies of global warming. Several measures have been effective by the government, however there are solutions to the phenomenons that cause some negative effects on environment. The mankind has adversely affected the environment, which can be supported by looking at the past, present and future.
What has happened in the past
One of the largest environmental disasters happened in Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011. A major earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear accident, which led to the evacuation of approximately half a million citizens. However, the disaster was enormous due to the fact that the damage to three nuclear reactors caused the release of radiation. As a result, a wide area of Fukushima was contaminated. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is owned by The Tokyo Electric Power Company. The Japanese company is known as the distributor and generator of electric power, which is used for human activities. Besides, the main reason to build reactors has been the increasing demand for power. Hence, the combination of building reactors in order to fulfil the energy demand of humans and changes in the environment has lead to accidents and therefore damage to the environment. Furthermore, another factor called global warming has contributed to the damage in the environment. According to the Intergovernmental Panel, 95 percent of global warming has been caused by mankind since 1950. This can be supported with evidence, for instance, a California-based energy corporation Chevron has recently contributed 3, 52 percent to global warming emissions. The oil company Chevron produces oil, gas and energy in order to fulfil the demand made by humans. Global warming has been produced by human activities, for instance, agriculture, deforestation and the use of fossil fuels. The burn of fossil fuels creates electricity and power for cars and homes. However, this also releases CO2 pollution into the atmosphere. Plants and trees are known for absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in the air. Yet, humans are causing deforestation, which leads to fewer plants and trees and the increases in the amount of CO2 left in the air. Furthermore, deforestation can be linked to agriculture, as parts of the forest are often replaced with farms that plant crops or have a livestock. However, these farms go through processes in which plants and trees are removed or burnt. These processes cause the release of CO2, hence producing global warming. Nevertheless, overpopulation can similarly be seen as a factor that has harmed the environment. Overpopulation has led to the overuse of coal, oil and natural gasoline and consequently increased the production of carbon dioxide. As a result, overpopulation contributed to global warming. Furthermore, improved medical facilities, better hygiene and decreased mortality rates have caused overpopulation. For instance, greater medical facilities have led to decreased mortality rates and hence increased the lifespan of mankind. In addition, the poor use of contraceptive has led to overpopulation, as it has resulted in unexpected pregnancies. Moreover, overpopulation happens mostly in underdeveloped areas, as poverty leads to higher birth rates. Therefore, Overpopulation, global warming and environmental accidents are caused by human activities and can be seen as the reason for environmental accidents and implications in the past.
At Present
Many scientists think Earth has a maximum carrying capacity of 9 billion to 10 billion people while there are now more than 7, 500, 000, 000 people on planet Earth. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, the global population will reach 9. 6 billion. With the development of technology, people tend to live longer, and the death rates has decreased, the population growth of a country can easily exceed the level of sustainable development. According to the Schneider(2012)Carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. Because human sources of carbon dioxide - mainly from fossil fuel burning, cement production and changes in land use, such as deforestation - and it is found that half of the carbon dioxide emissions from human activities increase atmospheric concentrations. As the population goes up, global warming and some ecological problems becomes more and more frequently.
Hence, Overpopulation is one of the serious issue that the world is facing today, however, governments implement some new governmental policies. According to world population review (2017), the most overpopulated countries now are China and India which are both having populations of well over a billion. In order to mitigate this problem, the government set up a series of policies. For instance, Chinese government created a policy named “one-child- policy”. This policy was introduced in 1979 which means most family only allowed one child at the time. Due to this policy, fertility rate dropped from 6 children per woman in the 1960s to 1. 5 children in 2014. Furthermore, in a lot of low income and backward countries, because of the high price of birth control pills and devices women cannot obtain them which causes pregnancies occur simply. So, government should respond to this problem by creating a free or discounted birth control product program. According to Positive News (2017), In Rwanda, similar measures have tripled contraceptive use in just five years. Finally, government promotes family planning and makes it more available. For example, government builds family planning clinics to educate couples of steps they can take to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Due to these information, couples can effectively plan how they have an ideal number of children. In 1989, Iran implemented a national family planning program with a fertility rate of 5. 6 children per woman from 2. 6 to 2. 6 in 10 years. As a result, the government has some solutions to alleviate this problem, in terms of create policies, make birth control products more available and promote the family planning. All of these solutions have decreased the rate of overpopulation to some extent.
Future expectations
The earth’s average surface temperature increased about 1. 62 degrees Fahrenheit (0. 9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a major change has taken place by rising number of carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. In addition, Future radioactive forcing from carbon dioxide is expected to continue to rise if emissions increase (analysis why scientists think 100% of global warming is due to humans). However, if we recall to the past events, overpopulation and environmental accidents contributed to the global warming happens nowadays and in the future. According to a new study, number of carbon emissions emitted by human activities growth vertically as the population grows. By far, the biggest ultimate impact to reduce the overpopulation is by having one fewer child, which the researchers calculated equal to a reduction of 58 tons of carbon dioxide for each year of a parent’s life. Furthermore, environmental accidents also plays significant role on causing global warming. Since the Industrial Revolution, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gasoline have greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. These environmental accidents may worsened the effects of global warming in the future. Nevertheless, some scientists have predicted the long-term changes caused by climate change such as more floods and droughts in Africa, less fresh water available and the spread of rare diseases (global warming effects). Most of the projected changes will occur in the 21st century, but temperatures will keep rising after that if greenhouse gas levels aren't stabilized. However, that increases the risk of more drastic longer-term shifts. For example, if West Antarctica's ice sheet started crumbling, for instance, that could push sea levels up significantly. Additionally, as the world warms, many plant and animal species will need to shift habitats at a rapid rate to maintain their current conditions. Some species will be able to keep up; others likely won't. Coral reefs, for instance, will have difficulty adapting if the oceans continue warming and become more acidic. The National Research Council has estimated that a mass extinction event "could conceivably occur before the year 2100. " In order to diminish the global warming effects in the future, one of the main ways we can address is by reducing the amount of electricity generated from coal and gas. Moreover, increasing the amount of electricity from clean, renewable energy sources like solar and wind would cause less carbon pollution being emitted.
Conclusion
To conclude the mankind has adversely affected the environment through environmental accidents, global warming and overpopulation. Recent news articles suggests that human activities have caused global warming and environmental accidents. In addition, ecological problems has brought alterations to the earth’s elements which has resulted in the global warming issue. Moreover, it becomes clear that the overpopulation has caused a negative effect on the environment, Hence, the government should set up a series of policies. However, In order to prevent accidents caused by global warming and environmental accidents, we need take action and raise people’s awareness.
