ENVIRONMENTAL

PROBLEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
◦ Environmental problems are consequences of human intervention in
the environment perceived and interpreted by human beings. They are
defined as “changes of the environment which are both caused by
and considered as problematic by human beings”.

◦ Environmental problems may be human induced or natural

occurrences.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
◦ As social problems – it threatens the quality of life for people in a
society and their most cherished values. It is a condition that a
significant number of people believed should be remedied through
collective action
 TYPES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROBLEMS
1. EXHAUSTION
◦ Exhaustion refers to the depletion of resources in the environment.
◦ The environment is considered a storehouse but should be utilized sustainably.
Resources in the environment are either renewable or non-renewable.
◦ The stocks of non-renewable resources are fixed like minerals and fossil fuels. Thus, activities like
quarrying and mining should be regulated and efficiently managed. The use of non-renewable
materials often leads to their dispersal in air, water, and soil and more often no longer
available for human use.
◦ Renewable resources, on the other hand, can be exhausted also if human beings consumed more
than what the resources can generate.
2. POLLUTION
◦ In the case of exhaustion the environment is used as a storehouse which is depleted. In the case
of pollution the environment functions as a garbage that can overflow. Pollution is defined as the
release of harmful substance into the environment.
◦ Emission of substance into the air, water and soil is a permanent and natural process. Waste
substances are used as nutrients by bacteria. Human intervention can stimulate natural processes.
People can compost, human wastes can be used to enhance soil fertility. But waste accumulated
can exceed the capacities of the environment to renew substances and to degrade substances
respectively.
◦ Nowadays many substances are produced which do not exist in nature. Some of theses substances
cannot be degraded by natural processes at all or only very slowly. Examples of non
biodegradable substances are insecticides, herbicides and fungicides.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE
◦ The concept of exhaustion and pollution were elucidated with the images of the storehouse and
the garbage can respectively. Environmental problems do not only originate in taking too much
out of the environment (exhaustion) or dumping too much in it (pollution) but also in the
disruption of human activities.
◦ Example of environmental disturbance is change of land use.
 WHY SOLVING
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
IS OFTEN DIFFICULT?
◦ NON-LINEAR RESPONSES – the exponential growth which can
occur over short periods, especially for species and population.
◦ LAG TIME – is the delay between a cause and appearance of its
effects. If the lag time is long, especially compared to human lifetime,
then we can’t identify the cause and effect
◦ IRREVERSIBLE CONSEQUENCES – adverse consequences pf
environmental problems could lead to environmental change
especially if it cannot be rectified on a human scale or hundred of
years
◦ Interconnectivity of problems – as much as components in the
environment are interconnected, thus problems of the environment
are also interconnected
◦ Environmental problems are interconnected that no single institution
can solve them alone. To reduce or temporarily solve environmental
problems needs collaboration among the government agencies,
interest groups, sectoral groups with available funds