Environmental Science Presentation: Human Impacts Analysis

This presentation examines the multifaceted impacts of human activities on the environment. It delves into various forms of pollution, including air, water, and solid waste, and their detrimental effects. The presentation highlights deforestation, exploring its direct causes like farmland expansion and ...Read More

Human Impacts on the
Environment
Name
Institution

Scope of the Presentation
The presentation will focus on;
 the different human activities that have both
direct and indirect effects on the environment
Pollution, deforestation, ozone depletion,
overpopulation, etc.
Recommendations
Conclusion

Introduction
Humans have conquered the environment and are
interacting with it in several different ways. i.e.
New problems such as climatic change,
population change, pollution, deforestation and
rapid urbanization make it difficult to design a
sustainable living environment.
And to deal with the problem of environmental
degradation and social issues, a new policy of
cause and effect has to be put in place to assist
with decision making for the government and
each and every one of its citizens.

Pollution
These include;
Air pollution- particulate matter, PAHs, lead,
ground-level ozone, heavy metals, sulphur
dioxide, benzene, carbon monoxide and
nitrogen dioxide (Bergstra, Brunekreef &
Burdorf 2018, p. 1).
Water pollution- industrial discharged
effluents, sewage water
Land or solid waste pollution- waste from
landmines, coal, and uranium mines.

Deforestation
Forests provide a natural resource for the ecosystem
in general. The direct causes of deforestation are.
 Expansion of farmland-
 to give more space for food production
 Timber production
Fires- clears large portions of forest for permanent
agriculture and shifting.
Other causes- mining, overgrazing, logging and fuel
wood, the role of the military or war and tourism

Cont.…
Impacts of deforestation include;
 loss of water sources
 flooding
 climate change
 loss of habitat
 reduced biodiversity
 socio-economic consequences (Marcus 2016)

Overpopulation
Marcus (2016) denote that the effects of
human overpopulation are numerous;
 Increase in air and water pollution; increased
human activities leads to pollution of both the
air and water
 Deforestation- increasing as forests are
cleared to give more space for farming and
human development

Depletion of the Ozone layer
The depletion of ozone layer have different impact on
living and non-living;
 effects on animal health- increased penetration of UV
rays causes eye disease, skin cancer and infectious
disease. (Ghose 2015, p. 10).
 Effects on aquatic ecologies- increase in UV radiation
affects the productivity of the seas and spread of
phytoplankton which forms the base of the food chain
 Effects on climate- increase the erosion of the
troposphere, added to the emission from the ground,
it, therefore, contributes to the greenhouse effect (Wu
& Polvani 2017, p. 6433).

Ecological effects of biodiversity
Biodiversity increases ecological stability.
Types include;
 Species diversity- number and abundance of
organisms in the environment
 Genetic diversity- focuses on the differences
in genes of organisms
 Ecological diversity- terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems

Cont.…
Diversity has both direct and indirect effects
on the nature of interaction with human
activities
It creates a defined role of environmental
balance, an aspect that is necessary for the
laws of nature
Is negatively affected by human activities

Global Warming
is the rise of earth temperature over a long
period of time
Occurs as a result of increased emission of
green house gases like;
 Carbon dioxide
 Ammonia
 Sulfur dioxide

Challenges for environmental
management
there are a few challenges that affect
environmental management activities;
 ignorance among the citizens
 inadequate capital
 lack of government support
 Food security

Cont.…
The political settings define how people
should practice farming, use water, and plant
trees to prevent deforestation and further
destruction of the environment
The environmental management systems
largely depend on the political settings of a
nation (Chin 2017, p. 514).

The impact of political, economic, socio-cultural issues on the
environment
Generally, all human activities affect the
environment directly or indirectly.
It is the role of any government to preserve
the environment (Navrotsky 2013)
It sets laws and regulations for its citizens
concerning the environmental conservation
(Naude 2010, p 417).

Recommendations
Strategies to tackle the deforestation
problem cooperation and goodwill.
Successful installation of these strategies
demands;
 stakeholders involvement
 management plans and government
participation

Conclusion
The with the environment have both positive
and negative impacts on the environment
New problems such as climatic change,
population change, pollution, deforestation
and rapid urbanization make it difficult to
design a sustainable living environment
There is need to adopt policies that can
ensure the environment is safe

References
Chin, G. 2017. Warming stresses developing countries.
Science, 358(6370), pp.1551.2-1551.
Conn, DR 2015, 'Overdevelopment, Overpopulation,
Overshoot', Library Journal, 140, 5, p. 129
Marcus, M 2016, 'Connecting the Dots between Species
Extinction, Overpopulation, and the Use of
Resources', Torch, 89, 2, pp. 28-31
Naude, W. 2010. The Global Economic Crisis and Developing
Countries: Effects, Responses and Options for Sustainable
Recovery. Poverty & Public Policy, 2(2), pp.395-419.
Navrotsky, V. 2013. Effects of the World’s Oceans on Global
Climate Change. American Journal of Climate Change,
02(03), pp.183-190.