Irreversible Environmental Changes
Ecosystem Changes Could Lead to Permanent Environmental Damage
Feb 10, 2009
Many studies have shown that environmental degradation is occurring at an increasing rate. These changes in the environment could lead to lasting environmental damages.
From climate change to the growing demand for energy, from intensive farming to over fishing of the oceans, from land change use to irresponsible tourism, mankind is putting huge demands on the varied ecosystems that make up the world environment. These rapid and ever increasing demands on the Earth’s biodiversity may be reaching the point where nature is unable to replenish itself, leading to irreversible environmental changes.
Climate Change and Environmental Loss
- “Irreversible Climate Change due to Carbon Dioxide Emissions”, a study by Susan Solomon et al. and published in Vol. 106 of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in January 2009 states that “This paper shows that the climate change that takes place due to increases in carbon dioxide concentration is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop.”
- Another new study from the PNAS highlights the dangers posed by global warming to the long term viability of Antarctic unique species. “King Penguin Population Threatened by Southern Ocean Warming”, by Celine Le Bohec et al. and published in February 2009 states that “The derived population dynamic model suggests a 9% decline in adult survival for a 0.26°C warming. Our findings suggest that king penguin populations are at heavy extinction risk under the current global warming predictions”.
- According to Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, by M.L Parry et al. and published by the Cambridge University Press in 2007 “Significant loss of biodiversity is projected to occur by 2020 in some ecologically rich sites including the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland Wet Tropics. Other sites at risk include Kakadu wetlands, south-west Australia, sub-Antarctic islands and the alpine areas of both countries”.
Human Activity Causing Loss of Biodiversity
Global warming is not the only threat to the environment. Economic development, food production and energy production are other major drivers of environmental degradation.
- Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008, by C.Wilkinson and published by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network in December 2008 states “Expert opinion backed by extensive monitoring and assessment data suggest that the world has lost the goods and services provided by 19% of the global coral reef area. These reefs are either so heavily degraded as to be non-functional, or have been polluted or mined out of existence”.
- Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Wetlands and Water, by Stuart Butchart et al. and published by the World Resources Institute in 2005 states that “The primary indirect drivers of degradation and loss of rivers, lakes, freshwater marshes, and other inland wetlands (including loss of species or reductions of populations in these systems) have been population growth and increasing economic development”.
- Living Beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-being, by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board and published by Island Press in 2005 says “The development of coastlines for tourism and activities such as shrimp farming has also dramatically altered the meeting point of land and ocean. In just two decades, it is estimated that people have removed more than a third of the world’s mangroves—the dense forests growing in the tidal mud of many tropical regions”.
- The world’s appetite for energy is one of the most environmentally destructive practices undertaken by mankind, and none more so than the use of coal as an energy source. The True Cost of Coal, edited by Rebecca Short and published by Greenpeace International in December 2008 states “In the United States coal has meant blowing up mountains, burying streams and contaminating nearby communities. In Germany, reclaiming opencast mines has created dead lakes with water as acid as vinegar”.
The copyright of the article Irreversible Environmental Changes in Environmentalism is owned by Laurence O'Sullivan. Permission to republish Irreversible Environmental Changes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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