Although we are privileged in many ways to live in such an exciting time, we are also held accountable for many horrible things that take away from our world’s beauty. In a state of oblivion, we are wasting resources and ruining our environment. We are destroying not only our own living standards, but also the standards of millions of plants and animals with whom we share this earth.
Because of many harmful actions we take, such as burning polluting fuels, littering, and removing mountain tops, we are gradually killing vital pieces of what make our world go round. Many people do not realize how serious the issue of protecting our environment truly is.
One concern is the use of dam follies. Dams have the ability to flood areas and increase natural disasters. Throughout history, dams have displaced humans and depleted ecosystems because of landslides. Recently, scientists have linked the use of dams with the increasing number of earthquakes.
Another concern is the way we seek resources. Strip mining and mountain-top removal are techniques used to scoop out coal and valuable minerals. Unfortunately, both of those methods kill trees and animals that live atop mountains. Miners generally end up dumping the remnants of forests, rocks and wildlife in a nearby valley.
In turn, it ruins mountain and stream ecosystems as well as dries up larger rivers and ecosystems. Industrial waste from mines wash into riverbeds. In fact, according to PBS, West Virginia predicts that 75 percent of its water systems are polluted from mining and industrial use alone.
It’s no doubt that our ongoing greed for oil has also caused much harm from both its use and oil spills. The 11-million-gallon Exxon spill in 1989 has had a lasting impact on Alaska’s unspoiled wilderness area. It killed thousands of seabirds and otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, billions of salmon and herring species and 22 killer whales. On top of that, several bird species have not been able to recover from this disaster.
From research made thus far, we know that 2.5 million gallons of oil were being leaked into the Gulf every day, making this the highest volume spill in American history.
Another main concern for our environment is our use of automobiles. Although we have manufactured and produced hybrid cars, only a small portion of people uses these vehicles. A single car produces 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. To offset that amount, it would require 240 trees for just one driver.
Farming is another way that we are seemingly injuring our Earth. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, current farming practices are responsible for 70 percent of our nation’s pollution found in rivers and streams. Runoff chemicals, contaminated soil and animal waste have polluted more than 173,000 miles of waterways. Chemicals used to protect crops from predators, in turn, endanger bird and insect populations drastically. For example, honeybee colonies on U.S. farmland dropped 50 percent between 1985 and 1997. What most people take for granted is the fact that one small species can completely alter an entire ecosystem.
There once was a time when almost three-quarters of our world was covered in forests.
The United Nations predicts that more than 32 million acres of forest are destroyed every year. Because 70 percent of animals and plants live in those areas, when their homes are threatened, so is their existence. Rainforests in particular are hosts to millions of species, and such forests cover about 7 percent of our globe. But with forests quickly being destroyed, it is estimated that we could lose all rainforests within 100 years.
Perhaps one of the biggest concerns for Earth today is our current state of overpopulation. Global population has more than doubled within 40 years. It’s expected that, by 2050, there will be more than 10 billion residents on Earth, with 420 million of these people residing in the United States.
The higher number of people, the more waste, tighter living areas, higher demand for food and electricity and higher risk of disease. Overpopulation forces farmers and fishermen to exploit fragile ecosystems as well as causes natural habitats to die.
All of these issues wear on our planet and truly take a toll on the way we live our lives. We need to be aware of these issues and know how to address them because our generation has the ability to change all of these things if we are armed with the knowledge to do so. Awareness is the first step to making change.
I really believe that environmental issues should be one of our nation’s top priorities because of the impact that the environment has on so many other things.
Olivia Harlow is a sophomore studying journalism and photojournalism and a columnist for The Post. Email her at oh258409@ohiou.edu.
