How do Humans Affect the Environment?

Years of thoughtless exploitation of nature by man has led to terrible things, like deforestation, pollution, climate change, reduction of the ozone layer and so much more.

Pollution is one of the terrible effects that humans have on the environment.  Pollution is increasing around the world and results in loss of biodiversity which is the variety of life in the world or in a certain habitats or ecosystems.  Vehicles, trains and planes let out toxic gases that include particles that cause cancer and irritants, creating air pollution. Humans have also dumped large amounts of substances that are harmful to plants and animals, onto crops and then the chemicals migrate into groundwater and bodies of water, poisoning ecosystems. Plants and animals die from exposure to pollutants such as excess nutrients from chemical fertilizers and other harmful chemicals.

Another terrible effect that humans have on the environment is climate change.  Climate change or global warming refers to the increase in the temperatures of the earth due to release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane from industries and vehicles. This event is causing glaciers to melt at an alarming rate.  Even the polar ice caps are melting at a faster rate than they can form. The result is an increase in sea level, and it creates a danger of drowning the low-lying areas. Some of the areas that may go under the sea if the sea levels keep increasing include Bangladesh, parts of Africa and even major cities like London and New York.  

My last example of how humans affect the environment is the reduction of the ozone layer.  The stratosphere has a layer of ozone that protects us from the harmful ultraviolet also known as UV, rays of the sun. Exposure to these rays cause skin cancer and cataracts which is a medical condition where the lens of the eye becomes increasingly opaque, resulting in blurred vision. However, the ozone layer filters out the dangerous UV rays from sunlight as it enters the earth's atmosphere. The man-made chemicals are released in the atmosphere. As these chemicals are released, they rise into the atmosphere and break down the ozone molecules that form the ozone layer. There is an ozone hole in the Antarctic stratosphere that is causing concern to environmentalists all over the world. Because of the ozone holes in the upper atmosphere, the Earth receives excessive UV radiation from the sun. This is harmful for trees and plants and for animals and human beings who depend on plants. The UV rays can destroy a certain type of bacteria known as Cyanobacteria that are important for a number of economically important crops. Researchers are even predicting that excess level of UV rays could lead to the death of the phytoplankton's, that are an important component of the food web of the oceans.

In conclusion humans make such a big impact on this world and we are changing it for the worse. Human survival depends on the health of the ecosystem. An ecosystem is made up of groups of plants, animals and other organisms in a particular area that interact with each other and their surrounding environment.  Humans threaten ecosystems by producing waste, damaging habitats and removing too many species without giving the ecosystem time to naturally regenerate.  So basically along with killing so many parts of the environment humans are also killing themselves.