Noelle Sophie U.

Baroman
10 – Tau

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

In searching news articles, I always go to sites that are trusted sources of hard-
hitting news and countless exposes like PhilStar.com and Inquirer.net which are
already approved of its credibility. That’s why I can assure that that my sources and
authors and reliable.
The environment is an important issue even when society is faced with
economic crises, wars, and unending social problems. It matters because Earth is the
only home that humans have, and it provides air, food, and other needs. Humanity's
entire life support system depends on the well-being of our environment. But, in the
ongoing twenty to thirty decades the natural atmosphere is being polluted due to
unnatural factors, while natural causes like volcanoes have its own turn in causing
pollution, it is the man-made ones that are more rampant. Human beings are indeed at
the heart of the search for sustainable development, as our very survival depends on a
very narrow range of environmental conditions. Some of the current major problems
of our environment are as follows; air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, global
warming and climate change.
The time has come for us to develop a sense of urgent need to protect our
environment as well as a sense of hope for its future. Plenty of damage has been done
to the earth, the more is inflicted every day. Land is one of the world’s most important
natural resources. It provides humanity with food and shelter, among numerous other
things contributing to human survival. However, it also provides for the existence of
the plant and animal worlds. Therefore, it is important to protect and conserve our
natural resources including air, water, and forest in order to maintain the overall
health of our environment as all these resources are at some risk today.
I think no one benefits from environmental issues. At present the environment
is being threatened by increasing levels of pollution of air, water, land, noise, thermal,
and light to name a few. These not only impact the environment but also human
health, innocent animals, agriculture, and world economy.
A Living Planet report estimates that global demand for natural resources has
doubled since 1996 and that it now takes 1.5 years to regenerate the renewable
resources used in one year by humans. By 2030, the report predicts it will take the
equivalent of two planets to meet the current demand for resources. The world's cities
have seen a 45% increase in population since 1992, according to the Global Footprint
Network, and urban residents typically have a much larger carbon footprint than their
rural counterparts. 
Climate-warming carbon emissions have increased 40% in the past 20 years,
but two-thirds of that rise occurred in the past decade. We can also notice observable
effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking
up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.
This issue is part of a larger trend or problem because these issues affect every
individual, organization, community and country, making it obvious that solving
complex issues requires the cooperation of all sectors.
Consequently, a wide range of environmental problems has emerged; those problems
include anthropogenic climate change ('global warming'), the depletion of stratospheric
ozone (the 'ozone hole'), the acidification of surface waters ('acid rain'), the destruction of
tropical forests, the depletion and extinction of species, and the precipitous decline of
biodiversity. Yet, while all of these problems have physical (environmental) manifestations,
their causes - and their potential solutions - are invariably bound up with human attitudes,
beliefs, values, needs, desires, expectations, and behaviors. Thus, the symptoms of the
environmental crisis cannot be regarded purely as physical problems requiring solutions by
environmental 'specialists'; instead, they are intrinsically human problems and they are
intimately related to the question of what it means to be human. We are the cause of these
issues and we can be the solution of turning the effects of global warming around.
Decisions, of course, are not matters of science, but of ethics. To decide, we consider
the harms and benefits of our actions, understanding in this case that our actions will
restrict the choices of our young: carbon dioxide lasts a long time in the atmosphere,
climate change takes a long time to occur, and loss of species diversity is permanent
on human time scales.
It makes me think that it is not only the duty of environmentalist and nature
activists to protect our environment, indeed, we all are entitled to the protection of our
environment. As a responsible citizen every one of us should have a moral duty to
protect our environment, for without environment, life itself is not possible.
Therefore, our main act and goal is to protect our environment and create awareness
among our community, culture and society, for the security, preservation and cleaner,
greener environment as a legacy and gift to our future generation. Environmental
awareness provides us with opportunities to acquire the required knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and values needed to protect, conserve and improve the environment for its
present and future generations. It should involve planning, action, and communication
of the specific idea concerned related to environmental extension, its logic, and how it
will benefit people. It should involve short-term and long-term measures. The
following can be done in these regards:

 Make it one of the top priorities of the government

 New policies and 100% implementation of these policies.
 Breaking the rules should be punishable
 Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – the three R’s
 Make each community as self-supporting as possible.
 Educate and practice, that is the only way it can be inculcated into the psyche of
people. We all have to contribute to it, not only the government. 
 Planting saplings of trees; every tree cut for development projects must be
replaced by planting at least 50-100 saplings.
 Awards, recognition and incentives for industrial set ups at green sites, and those
who take initiatives for environment protection