A gloomy pictureThe environment is everything that surrounds and affects the character and growth of living things. When talking about environmental problems, ecological issues cannot be separated from their effect on mankind, nor can human actions be separated from their effect on the ecology. The condition of life, our daily actions, and the state of the global environment are interdependent, yet often this interdependence is overlooked. What follows is a summary of the environmental issues. Population Explosion Today the planet holds more than 6 billion people. Global population has doubled in the last 40 years and is expected to double again by 2050, with 90 percent of that increase occurring in developing countries. African nations are expanding at the fastest rate. In the year 2000, Africa will have 900 million people: with an annual population growth of 3 percent. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, will soar from 112 million to 274 million. China, now the most populous country in the world with 1.2 billion people, will retain the lead with a population expected to reach over 1.5 billion by the year 2050. Hunger Despite claims that there is less famine in the world today, over 150 million children go to bed hungry every night. According to a United Nations report, 37 percent of people in India cannot buy enough food to feed their families, and in the Horn of Africa, it is estimated that more than 20 million people, mostly women and children are at risk of starving. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization reports that there are more than 786 million underfed people in developing nations. But the developing countries are not alone. The United States is not exempt. Due to the recession and structural changes in the economy, a record number of 23 million people, or 10 percent of Americans, were dependent on food stamps in 1992, over half were families with children under the age of 5. We are looking at one-quarter of the globe plagued with hunger and lacking the most basic needs in life. Pollution For many people, the most alarming of all human assaults on the environment is the contamination of air, earth, and water from dumping. Evidence of dumping can be found everywhere, done by individuals and large corporations alike. Hong Kong dumps more than 1,000 tons of plastic a day. Americans throw away 16 billion disposable diapers each year. Open sewage drains and festering landfills are common sites in many parts of the world. In a small Malaysian village, babies are born deformed and children die of rare illnesses, which their doctors claim are caused by exposure to radiation from a multinational company that set up business in this small community. Creatures of the sea are also vulnerable to pollutants that enter the rivers, lakes, and oceans of the world. Over half of the world's population lives along coastlines that are being increasingly polluted by sewage, industrial waste water, and runoff from cities and farms. Half of the fish in these areas polluted by toxic chemicals fail to spawn, and many die. Those that are fished may pass on high levels of cancer-causing chemicals to the consumer. It appears that humans are polluting at the expense of their own lives. Deforestation The rapid reduction of forest land around the globe appears on every list of critical environmental issues. Its effects are of importance to all living things. Forests absorb carbon dioxide from the air and supply oxygen. They are home to fragile plants and fascinating creatures, and they have provided people with fuel, food, and shelter for centuries. But with the growth in human population, forests have been converted into farms, commercial enterprises, and industrial developments. It is estimated that every year 6.3 million hectares of tropical forest alone are cleared for agriculture and that 4.4 million hectares are used in commercial logging. This involves big corporations buying large chunks of forest in order to fell and export timber to Europe, Japan, and North America. One-tenth of all the timber for this market comes from tropical forests from such countries as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Extinction Biological diversity — the variety among living organisms and their habitats — is more threatened now than at any time in the past. Tropical deforestation is the main reason behind this crisis, but the destruction of temperate forests and the pollution of rivers, lakes, and oceans also plays an important role. The total number of species is not known. Biologists estimate that there are between 5 and 30 million species, many of them insects, tiny sea creatures and lesser known plants and animals. As these species become extinct, they in turn take with them more of nature's wealth. The removal of a single species, no matter how tiny, can set off a chain reaction affecting many others. It has been estimated, for example, that a disappearing plant can take with it up to 30 other species, including insects, higher animals, and even other plants. Each species, no matter how small or obscure, plays an essential role in maintaining the balance of nature. Global Warming Human activity is altering the composition of the atmosphere in ways that could bring rapid changes in climate. Although naturally occurring greenhouse gases keep the Earth's surface warm by trapping infrared radiation given off by the sun, human activity is increasing the concentration of these gases, as well as adding new, more dangerous chemicals to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, has increased in the atmosphere over the past four decades from the burning of fossil fuels and, more recently, from deforestation. Carbon dioxide is pouring into atmosphere from motor vehicles and factories. But perhaps the most dangerous is the production of chemically synthesized chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used in cooling systems and aerosol spray cans and in the production of some fast food containers. This greenhouse gas has been blamed for heating up the atmosphere as well as thinning the upper level of the atmosphere, the ozone layer. Many scientists are predicting an increase of about 1 degree Celsius in the global mean temperature by 2025 and a 3-degree increase by the end of the next century.
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