Lesson 3: Various Threats to Environmental Well-being
Climate crisis has many factors that play a role in the exacerbation of the environment, some
warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our
lifetime:
Global Warming from Fossil Fuels
In 2023, the world experienced record-breaking heat, marking it as the hottest year on record
with global average temperatures reaching 1.46°C above pre-industrial levels. This surpassed
the previous record-holder, 2016, by 0.13°C, and the year was characterized by six months
and two seasons that broke previous temperature records. Concurrently, carbon dioxide (CO2)
levels in the atmosphere spiked, exceeding 420 parts per million (ppm), more than double the
levels before the Industrial Revolution.
The consistent rise in CO2 levels is directly attributed to human activities, particularly the
burning of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity, alongside contributions from cement
manufacturing, deforestation, and agriculture. This surge in greenhouse gas emissions has led
to a continuous escalation of global temperatures, triggering catastrophic events worldwide.
Examples include unprecedented bushfires in Australia and the U.S., locust swarms damaging
crops across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and a historic heatwave in Antarctica.
Scientists warn that the Earth has surpassed critical tipping points, such as accelerated
permafrost melt, unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet, an alarming sixth mass
extinction, and escalating deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The climate crisis intensifies
extreme weather events, including tropical storms, hurricanes, heatwaves, and floods.
Crucially, even if all greenhouse gas emissions ceased immediately, global temperatures
would still rise. This emphasizes the urgent need to drastically reduce emissions, invest in
renewable energy sources, and rapidly phase out fossil fuels to mitigate the ongoing
environmental crisis. Immediate and decisive action is imperative to address the far-reaching
and potentially irreversible consequences of global warming.
Biodiversity Loss
The past 50 years have seen a rapid growth of human consumption, population, global trade
and urbanization, resulting in humanity using more of the Earth’s resources than it can
replenish naturally.
A 2020 WWF report found that the population sizes of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and
amphibians have experienced a decline of an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016. The
report attributes this biodiversity loss to a variety of factors, but mainly land-use change,
particularly the conversion of habitats, like forests, grasslands and mangroves, into agricultural
systems. Animals such as pangolins, sharks and seahorses are significantly affected by the
illegal wildlife trade, and pangolins are critically endangered because of it.
More broadly, a recent analysis has found that the sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth is
accelerating. More than 500 species of land animals are on the brink of extinction and are likely
to be lost within 20 years; the same number were lost over the whole of the last century. The
scientists say that without the human destruction of nature, this rate of loss would have taken
thousands of years.
In Antarctica, climate change-triggered melting of sea ice is taking a heavy toll on emperor
penguins and could wipe out entire populations by as early as 2100, according to 2023
research.
Plastic Pollution
In 1950, the world produced more than 2 million tons of plastic per year. By 2015, this annual
production swelled to 419 million tons and exacerbating plastic waste in the environment.
A report by science journal, Nature, determined that currently, roughly 14 million tons of plastic
make their way into the oceans every year, harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in
them. The research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million
metric tons per year by 2040. If we include microplastics in this, the cumulative amount of
plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040.
Shockingly, National Geographic found that 91% of all plastic that has ever been made is not
recycled, representing not only one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime but
another massive market failure. Considering that plastic takes 400 years to decompose, it will
be many generations until it ceases to exist. There’s no telling what the irreversible effects of
plastic pollution will have on the environment in the long run.
Deforestation
Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, another one of the biggest environmental
problems appearing on this list. Land is cleared to raise livestock or to plant other crops that
are sold, such as sugar cane and palm oil. Besides for carbon sequestration, forests help to
prevent soil erosion, because the tree roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away,
which also prevents landslides.
The three countries experiencing the highest levels of deforestation are Brazil, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest – spanning 6.9
million square kilometres (2.72 million square miles) and covering around 40% of the South
American continent – is also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and is home to
about three million species of plants and animals. Despite efforts to protect forest land, legal
deforestation is still rampant, and about one-third of global tropical deforestation occurs in
Brazil’s Amazon forest, amounting to 1.5 million hectares each year.
