Answer:
It is undeniable that humans have inadvertently changed the environment around us, from the air we breathe to the foods we eat and beyond. Through the progression of technological advancements in transportation, construction, energy and power, communications, manufacturing and more, humanity has had to find more ways of obtaining Earth's natural resources, including fossil fuels to power their expedition into the unknown. Numerous actions done by humans such as extreme use of fossil fuels, pollution, deforestation and many more have all negatively affected the Earth.
One of the most harmful activities that humans have participated in is pollution. Whether it be air pollution, water pollution, or land pollution, humans have harmed the earth by polluting the environments around them. By destroying the environments around them, humans have harmed and killed the animals and plants that live on Earth with them, and have even harmed themselves as a result of pollution. Through economic and technological developments throughout history, humans have created air pollution such as smog, acid precipitation, and ozone depletion. The same can be said for water and land pollution, with factors such as oil spills, beach pollution, and littering being the main causes of those types of pollution. The pollution caused by humans have not only destroyed environments and habitats but have killed numerous humans as well, as reported in document 4. Annu Nagar is one of the 22 communities in Indua where teh groundwater has been known for nearly 20 years to contain toxic levels of chlorinated solvents. This document gives an example of how water pollution has caused humans living in Annu Nagar to drink polluted water. Water pollution is an effect of coal, oil, and gas developments which poses myriad threats to our waterways and groundwater. Coal mining operations wash acid runoff into streams, rivers, and lakes and dump vast quantities of unwanted rock and soil into streams. Oil spills and leaks during extraction or transport can pollute drinking water sources and jeopardize entire freshwater or ocean ecosystems.
Through excessive digging of fossil fuels, humans have further contributed to Earth's decaying environment. Burning fossil fuels contributes to the environment very negatively including global warming, harmful emissions, carbon monoxide poisonging, etc. Land degrading is one such negative impact of fossil fuels. Unearthing, processing, and moving underground oil, gas, and coal deposits take an enormous toll on our landscapes and ecosystems. The fossil fuel industry leases vast stretches of land for infrastructure such as wells, pipelines, access roads, as well as facilities for processing, waste storage, and waste disposal. In the case of strip mining, entire swaths of terrain—including forests and whole mountaintops—are scraped and blasted away to expose underground coal or oil. Even after operations cease, the nutrient-leached land will never return to what it once was. As a result, critical wildlife habitat ends up fragmented and destroyed. Even animals able to leave can end up suffering, as they’re often forced into less-than-ideal habitat and must compete with existing wildlife for resources.
Agriculture is the number one cause of deforestation, followed by logging and wildfires. Logging trees for wood products or fuel provides economic benefits to communities but also removes shelter and food for plants and animals that depend on forests for their survival. Over 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. Forests provide wood for buildings and furniture, paper and a place for recreation. People in rural areas of the world depend on forests for access to fuel, food, water and medicine. It is critical that forests be managed for sustainability. Deforestation causes soil erosion from the absence of vegetation, decreased ground debris and fewer roots to hold the soils together. Water purification by forests provides economic and public health benefits to communities. Forests help keep the air pure by taking in carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing oxygen for us to breath in the process of photosynthesis. Trees also filter a variety of gaseous pollutants from the air including ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Global warming is the result of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere in the combustion of fossil fuels and by deforestation. It is estimated that 17 percent of carbon dioxide emissions are from deforestation and the decay in peat soils. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, forests cover 31 percent of the Earth's surface, roughly 10 billion acres. The global net loss for forests between 2000 and 2010 was 13 million acres per year.
