Environmental Deterioration

We explain what environmental deterioration is and what indicators show it. Also, what are its causes and consequences.

What is environmental deterioration?

Environmental deterioration or environmental degradation is the impoverishment or the destruction of the environment as a result of the depletion of its natural resources and the introduction of changes or alterations in their physical and chemical constitution, all consequences of industrial activities and the way of life of human beings.

To be sure, environmental deterioration can consist of any change or disturbance that is harmful or dangerous to the life or continuity of an ecosystem. This It is determined through the application of the formula:

I = PAT

This formula represents that the environmental impact (I) is equivalent to the sum of a growing human population (P), a sustained increase in local economic activity (A) and the application of technologies that affect nature (T).

According to the United Nations (UN), environmental degradation It is one of the top ten concerns facing humanity in contemporary times . Some current indicators seem to reflect this:

• 13 billion hectares are deforested every year around the world, to obtain arable agricultural land or expand the urban sprawl of cities.
• 500 billion single-use plastic bags are produced in the world each year. The vast majority goes to the sea.
• Around 14 billion liters of drinking water are wasted every year due to poor management, waste and lack of drinking water conservation.
• About 67% of the underwater species that make up the Great Barrier Reef of Oceania are affected by a decalcification process, the result of an increase in the temperature and acidity of the oceans.
• Antarctica temperatures recorded in the first 20 years of the 21st century are at least 20 degrees Celsius higher than usual. This has caused the permafrost to thaw twice as fast as initially anticipated.
• The region of the Arctic covered by ice shrank by 40% between 1979 and 2014. This represents the irreversible loss of entire ice masses.

The fight against environmental degradation is a titanic task, which requires organized work by humanity. Nature's ability to regenerate is slow but continuous, so plans for a sustainable economy will need to meet humanity's needs while giving nature the time it needs to replenish its resources.

Characteristics of environmental deterioration

Environmental deterioration is characterized, in a broad sense, by the following:

• It is about the depletion of available resources of nature and the alteration of its fundamental physical-chemical properties, by direct or indirect action of human activity.
• It is a continuous and diverse process which is transforming the world in a negative way, which reduces its capacity to sustain life as we know it.
• It is the result of human activity especially large industries, agriculture, energy generation and the contemporary way of life. The presence of plastic is particularly harmful.
• Covers various phenomena : resource depletion, ecosystem pollution, habitat destruction, species extinction and global climate change.

It can be classified into:

• Land deterioration . It consists of the impoverishment of soils and the decrease in their capacity to nourish and house animal and plant life.
• Aquatic impairment . It consists of the contamination of waters and its permanent alteration in the medium term, especially through the acidification of the seas.
• aerial deterioration . It consists of the deterioration of air quality in cities and inhabited regions, but also in the upper layers of the atmosphere, such as the destruction of the ozone layer and the emission of greenhouse gases.

Causes of environmental deterioration

The causes of environmental deterioration in the modern world can be summarized in three key factors that occur throughout the world, although at different margins:

• The irrational use of available natural resources which generates a scarcity of resources and creates new problems for human beings and life in general. A perfect example of this is drinking water, which is scarce for some 844 million people (2020), which does not prevent rivers and lakes from becoming increasingly contaminated.
• The sustained growth of the world's human population which demands more and more resources to satisfy its needs. It is estimated that the world population will reach 8.5 billion people in 2030 and 11.2 billion in 2100. This means that the demand for food and therefore for usable soil for agriculture and water available for irrigation will increasingly increase.
• The sustained emission of polluting substances and greenhouse gases which have slowly been changing the physical-chemical constitution of the planet. The historical maximum of carbon dioxide (CO) has been calculated at 15.3 billion tons.₂) emitted into the atmosphere by humans in just the year 2021.

Consequences of environmental deterioration

The consequences of environmental deterioration can be classified into two groups:

Consequences for the ecosystem . The main environmental consequences of the degradation of the natural environment have to do with:

• Habitat destruction . Deforestation and pollution reduce the habitable space for animal species, forcing them to migrate and invade other ecosystems, abandon key habits in their life cycle, or simply become extinct.
• Biome impoverishment . The reduction of species and the loss of biodiversity constitutes an ecological tragedy, since entire species disappear when they cannot adapt to their new environments quickly. This breaks the biological balance and makes the world a more sterile place.
• Desertification and soil destruction . Depleted soils are unable to retain moisture and become less fertile, which reduces the amount of plant life they can support and threatens life in general. In this type of soil, in addition, erosion is much more severe.
• Contamination and adulteration . The presence of substances foreign to the natural ecosystem, such as plastics and many substances of industrial origin, permanently alter the chemistry of the world, which can have totally unpredictable consequences for humans and other living beings.

Consequences for human beings . The main consequences for humanity of the degradation of the natural environment have to do with:

• Decrease in basic resources . The depletion or destruction of soil and water pushes humanity towards a scenario of greater competition for natural resources, such as arable land and drinking water, which in turn can influence the rivalry of nations and the emergence of wars, mass migrations and/or famines.
• Emergence of new diseases . Human contact with new species, the result of the invasion of once wild habitats, as well as with toxic substances in the air and water whose effect is unpredictable on the body, can be a source of new diseases to deal with, which causes deaths and increases the need for global medical resources.
• Impoverishment of societies . The depletion of natural resources brings with it an increase in inequality between nations and a critical situation for the weakest, which can seriously affect the world economy and harm even the most prosperous nations.
• Most adverse climatic phenomena . Climate change brings more extreme climates and weather events, which has disastrous effects on societies, costing not only monetary resources but also human lives.

References

• “Environmental degradation” on Wikipedia.
• “Environmental deterioration” (video) in the Virtual Education Directorate of the IPN.
• “The types of environmental deterioration, their causes and consequences” in Unión Puebla (Mexico).
• “Incidence of environmental deterioration on health” by Emily González Orellana in Ecosystems, environmental projects.