Mankind and Environmental Degradation

The actions of human beings and ruthless exploitation of natural resources have resulted in the degradation of environment. The essay discusses the impact of environmental damage caused by individual companies and consumers, and the need to take appropriate measures to minimize it. The discussion covers water pollution, air pollution, climate changes, and natural calamities. The essay concludes that it is the responsibility of all members of society to collaborate to minimize pollution and environmental downfall.

Running head: MANKIND AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
Mankind and Environmental Degradation
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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MANKIND AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
Essay title:
The continuous actions of individuals has resulted in degradation of environment.
Introduction:
The actions of human beings and ruthless exploitation of natural resources have resulted
in the degradation of environment. They have created a never ending maze of chain events like
climatic changes and submerging of countries all together, each of which are fatal to life.
The individual identities like companies are exploiting and consuming the natural
resources at such a fast rate that it is often said that man is ‘eating’ into his life systems by
devastating ecosystems. The researchers are further saying that the rate of environmental
degradation in the major biospheres like the Amazon Rainforests have crossed the ‘safe’ levels
(theguardian.com 2018).
As per reports by the UN, this herculean scale of environmental degeneration by
individual companies have brought about several environmental issues some of which are
extremely severe (un.org 2018). The issues which this human induced environmental destruction
has resulted in are, climate changes at an alarming, loss of biosphere, pollution beyond level of
tolerance of human bodies and marked increase in natural calamities of massive scale.
It has become extremely important to take appropriate to reverse or at least minimize the
impact of the environmental damage which is shooting at a fatal rate.

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Body paragraph 1:
Inconsiderate exploitation of natural resources by water resources has devastated water
resources and caused degradation of the water quality to a horrifying limit. For example, The
ground water and the water resources around mining regions have alarming masses of dissolved
iron, arsenic and other minerals (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 2018).
However, one can contradict this fact by mention that exploitation of natural resources
like mines and water bodies have become important for the mining companies to meet growing
demand for minerals in the global economy.
It would be equally prudent to point out that other manufacturing companies should also
be held responsible for exploitation of natural resources like water. For example, multinational
beverage companies often exploit natural resources like water reserves around their factory. This
activity of theirs have attracted resentment from the society which ultimately led government
bodies take actions against them (hindustantimes.co 2018). The discussion can be summed up by
pointing out that exploitation of water resources is having devastating effect on the environment.
Body paragraph 2:
Individual business organizations during their production operations release immense
amount of poisonous gases which has polluted the atmosphere to an alarming level. Air pollution
has led to the next devastating form of pollution, water pollution.
Air pollution is held responsible for more than 7 million premature deaths around the
world (cbsnews.com 2018). The industries while producing goods release horrifying levels of
gases like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. These poisonous gases dissolve

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in the air water and snow, thus making these sources of water acidic and corrosive in nature. This
corrosive water results in severe damage to forests and standing crops.
This argument can be refuted by stating that industries are not the only sources of
pollutants and acidic gases. The agricultural sector too releases immense amount of poisonous
gases which ultimately contribute to the level of pollution caused by industrial gaseous effluents.
This statement can be supported by fact that the agricultural sector is also responsible for
releasing immense amount of green gases especially methane. The agricultural sector is in fact
held responsible for large scale water pollution. The cattle meat processing units use immense
quantities of water to wash meat and other animal products. This causes immense water
pollution. The fertilizers and pesticides from the fields are washed down to rivers and streams
which ultimately reach the ocean, thus devastating marine life. Thus, it can be summarized from
the discussion that both agricultural and industrial sectors are responsible for causing large scale
water pollution.
Body paragraph 3:
The irresponsible exploitation of natural resources like soil, air and water has resulted in
climate changes which is in turn attracting frequent and devastating natural calamities. The world
is living under continuous threats of sudden hostile climatic conditions which in turn has
attracted chains of destructive reactions like rise in sea level, meting of glaciers and several
important cities reeling under threat of submergence.
The industrial sector around the world exploits the natural resources to an alarming rate.
They pollute the water resources and the atmosphere. They release immense amount if dust
particles which float in the atmosphere, Thus providing the clouds bases to accumulate around

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them. This gives rise to sudden rain fall over cities and towns. The rain washes the accumulated
dirt and pollutants into rivers and other water bodies, thus taking the pollution level to a far more
alarming than could be imagined. The sudden rainfall causes flash floods and devastates
resources. Flash floods drown crops and settlements washing crops and huge amount of soil into
the river and finally into the ocean. Thus leads to further pollution of the water bodies. When the
flash floods occur in the mining areas, they cause erosion of huge amount of soil and drowns the
mines. The water reacts with the minerals, forming poisonous gases. The natural calamities are
showing increasing trend and killing thousands of people every year, making mining one of the
most accident prone industries (Al-Mulali, Saboori and Ozturk 2015). Thus, incidences like flash
floods are impeding infrastructure development in several continents like South America. The
minerals spread over hundreds of kilometers of soil, thus making large tracts practically
unsuitable for settlements. The minerals seep into the soil and make it too poisonous to support
life. Thus, air pollution and water pollution leads to soil pollution.
One can contradict that companies manufacturing of goods are not alone responsible for
the large scale pollution, but in fact irresponsible acts by individual consumers are equally
responsible for environmental degradation. The consumers consume immense amount of
products and dispose their containers made especially from plastic into oceans and rivers. This
irresponsible disposal chokes the water ways and prevents the water from flowing. The
chemicals in those products cause death of hundreds of aquatic creatures living in the water
body, thus devastating the entire system. The degrading bodies of the aquatic animals result in
release of harmful gases and chemicals. This results in further damage. It can also be pointed out
that consumers use cars and other transport modes irresponsibly, thus causing immense amount
of air pollution. The drivers keep the engines of their cars running even when they are stuck in

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traffic congestion. This release immense amount of polluting gas which in turn add to the
pollution caused by gases individual companies’ release. Volcanoes release immense amount of
dust particles, smoke and deadly gases. Thus, natural calamities too contribute towards increase
of pollution and environmental degeneration. This is devastating the global economy by
destroying natural resources worth billions of dollars (Panayotou 2016). Thus, individual
customers are also responsible for intensifying soil and water pollution.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded from the discussion that both industries and consumers are
responsible for the degeneration of the environment. The outcomes of the environmental
degeneration are proving to be fatal to not only the ecosystem but also to the global economy.
Today, drastic climatic changes, acid rain, flash floods, immense volume of poisonous gases in
the air and poisonous water are causing deaths of billions of people every year. The industries
are often attributed solely to this immense level of pollution and its devastating effects. However,
one can point out that the individual consumers cannot avoid their responsibility towards
preservation of environment and lowering of pollution. Finally it can be pointed out that
environmental degeneration is actually a fatal labyrinth which is ultimately suffocating the global
economy (one element the 4Es). It is the responsibility of all the members of the society to
collaborate to minimize this pollution and environmental downfall.

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References:
Al-Mulali, U., Saboori, B. and Ozturk, I., 2015. Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve
hypothesis in Vietnam. Energy Policy, 76, pp.123-131.
Cbsnews.com. 2018. The most polluted cities in the world, ranked. [online] Available at:
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-most-polluted-cities-in-the-world-ranked/ [Accessed 14
Jun. 2018].
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Milman, O. 2018. Rate of environmental degradation puts life on Earth at risk, say scientists.
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Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 2018. Groundwater assessment and environmental impact in the abandoned
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Panayotou, T., 2016. Economic growth and the environment. The environment in anthropology,
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United Nations Sustainable Development. 2018. Rate of Environmental Damage Increasing
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