Zamil Khan

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H Learning Materials Module 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Environmental Challenges

1.1 Environmental Challenges

Module banner: The Environment

Environmental Challenges: An Introduction and

an Overview
Television and the Internet have brought each of us face to face with
spectacular and often gut-wrenching images of environmental issues. Forest
fires in California, offshore oil spills, explosions at chemical plants, and the
dramatic loss of glaciers are but a few examples of worrisome environmental
change. While scientists acknowledge that the environment is dynamic and in
a constant state of flux, many scientists believe that in the past fifty years we
humans have more fundamentally altered our planet than have all previous
generations of humanity combined (Home, 2009). This is especially alarming
when we consider, as suggested by preservationist John Muir, that "when we
try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the
Universe" (1911; cited in Limbaugh & Lewis, 1980). Through our actions, we
may be sawing off the very limb that we are perched upon.

Photo by Robert Lukeman on Unsplash

Environmental problems can occur at local, regional and international scales

and may impact one or more of the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and
geosphere. Take a moment to consider what types of current environmental
issues are occurring and how they are impacting Earth's spheres.

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Grow Your Understanding
Environmental challenges are complex. Sometimes we find what
appear to be obvious solutions, but when we implement them we
create new, unforeseen environmental problems.

Read the current news article assigned in the Critical Path for this
week’s lesson. Then answer the following questions:

1. What environmental issue does the article discuss?

2. Does the article discuss the cause of the issue?
3. Does the article provide any suggested solutions or approaches to
address the issue? If not, use a search engine such as Google or
Bing to see if you can find at least one proposed solution.
4. Can you think of any potential new issues that may result from the
proposed solution?