Human-environmental interactions

What is human-environmental interaction?

• Human environment interaction may be defined as the interaction between the
human species with the different local ecosystems.

• Human interventions can impose significant externalities on our ecological systems.

In many cases, human and environmental interests diverge and many profit-
maximizing firms do not care too much about the destruction of ecosystems as long
as they are able to make enough money.

• Therefore, it is crucial to set strict regulations and to take additional measures so that
human-environmental interactions and the implied adverse effects can be limited to
a certain extent.

• In this article, it is examined in detail how human interactions affect our

environmental system and what measures we can take to mitigate the adverse
consequences.
Examples for human-environmental interaction
• Deforestation
• Fishing
• Mining
• Farming
• Energy production
• Meat production
• Water supply and water pollution
• Littering
• Illegal dumping
• Air pollution
• Resource extraction
Deforestation
• Deforestation currently is a big environmental problem.

• Large areas of forest are cut or burned down in several parts of the world.

• Through the loss of habitats, many plant species will die and some which are already
endangered may even become extinct.

• Animals in the affected areas will have to leave and relocate to other areas which are
not yet affected by human interventions.

• If these animals do not find a new habitat, they are also likely to die.

• Deforestation also contributes to the global warming issue. Since trees are a natural
storage space for greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, deforestation leads to the
release of large amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere which in turn
speeds up the global warming process.

• Therefore, the human environment interaction of deforestation can lead to significant

adverse effect for our environmental system.
Fishing
• In order to be able to meet the demand for fish worldwide, large amounts of fish have to be
caught every day.

• This leads some fish species to become endangered.

• In the last decades, the fish populations of some fishes declined in a dramatic way due to
overfishing practices since there had been lax fishing limits.

• Human-environment interactions regarding fishing practices may lead to the extinction of

some fish species if we do not protect them more efficiently.

• If the fish population is decreased too much, we are likely to lose an important food source.

• Moreover, since the marine ecosystems are quite complex, overfishing may also lead to
several other adverse effects.

• All marine life is connected to each other.

• This increase may lead to an ecological imbalance and the overall effects are hard to
predict.
Mining
• Mining is another example for human-environment interactions.

• Since mining often requires large areas of land, it can destroy the habitat for many
animals and plants.

• While many plants may die off, animals may have to relocate to new habitats.

• Moreover, mining can also lead to several kinds of pollution.

• Since in the mining process, precious metals have to be extracted and have to be
separated from useless by-products, this separation is often done with toxic
substances.

• Mining can also lead to soil pollution if these harmful substances are not disposed in a
proper way.

• Moreover, waste from mining activities is often disposed into nearby forests or other
natural places in order to avoid the disposal costs, which also leads to adverse effects
on ecosystems from this human environmental interaction.
Farming
• Another interaction of humans with the environment is farming.

• Farming is quite important to humanity since it can be considered to be the biggest source
of basic food supply.

• Without farming, we would not be able to buy bread or other crop products.

• Moreover, we would also not be able to consume meat since crops are also crucial to feed
cattle.

• Although farming is crucial to meet the basic food demand, it can also have severe
environmental effects.

• Through the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, the soil can be polluted and the long-
term fertility of fields can be reduced because of that.

• Moreover, many insects may die off due the toxic ingredients of pesticides.

• If there are not enough insects, farmers will suffer from a substantial decline in crop yields
and may therefore even lose their livelihood.
Energy production
• In our current age, energy is produced with a significant fraction of coal and other fossil
resources.

• Another big fraction is energy from nuclear power plants, while only a small fraction
comes from renewable green energy sources like wind.

• Therefore, the production process of electricity implies the emission of large amounts
of harmful gases, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane which in
turn contributes to global warming.

• Moreover, we have to get rid of the nuclear waste somehow.

• This is often done by just disposing it into mines deep inside the ground.

• However, by doing so, we risk a contamination of the surrounding areas for a quite long
period of time.

• Therefore, human-environmental interactions in the context of energy production can

impose significant negative externalities on our ecological systems.
Meat production
• The production of meat also involves some human environmental interactions.

• Most of our meat comes from domesticated factory farming.

• However, factory farming often involves the use of excessive amounts of antibiotics in
order to ensure the health of animals.

• This can lead to health problems for humans consuming meat from these animals since
humans can get antibiotic-resistant.

• Moreover, factory farming can also be seen critical from an ethical perspective.

• The conditions under which animals in factory farming are raised are often quite bad.

• Meat production is also quite bad for our climate since animals emit large amounts of
harmful greenhouse gases like methane which in turn contributes to global warming.

• Moreover, the production of meat can be regarded as quite inefficient since for one
calorie of meat, multiple calories of plant material have to be used.
Water supply and water pollution
• Water is crucial for all living organisms on earth.

• Through human-environmental interactions, the water supply may become

endangered.

• In many countries, industrial by-products are just disposed in nearby nature areas
since it is easier and cheaper to get rid of the waste compared to disposing it in official
disposal facilities.

• This behavior leads to soil pollution and eventually also to water pollution since
harmful substances will be washed through the soil in our groundwater.

• Water is a precious substance which is often not valued enough in our society.

• Water will become much scarcer in the future due to global warming.

• In many regions of our planet, people will no longer be able to live due to water
shortage since they will no longer be able to tilt their fields or to raise cattle without
sufficient amounts of water.
Littering
• Littering is another form of human intervention with nature.

• People are often in a rush and just throw their garbage on the ground right where they
stand.

• This can often be observed in the form of used cigarettes which are just disposed on
the ground.

• This behavior is quite harmful to our environmental system since it implies a significant
level of soil pollution.

• Moreover, if people dispose their used cigarettes in forests or in natural areas which
are quite dry, this may lead to wildfires.

• In fact, most of the wildfires are started through the uncareful disposal of flammable
material each year.

• Therefore, littering can be a seen as kind of human-environmental interaction which

can turn out in severe adverse effects for our ecological systems.
Illegal dumping
• Illegal dumping is another big problem which is imposed by humans on our
environment.

• This is especially true for poor developing countries where people often lack the
money to dispose their trash in a proper manner.

• Moreover, in these countries, people often have plenty of other problems on do not
consider proper waste disposal as a main priority.

• Additionally, many industries just dump their garbage into nearby rivers, forests, or
lakes, where it can cause all kinds of pollution.

• For example, by dumping trash into water bodies, many water organisms will be
contaminated and will die off.

• Moreover, also the water will get polluted to a severe degree which can lead to
several kinds of human health conditions in later stages.
Air pollution
• Air pollution can come through human-environmental interactions in several ways.

• In our daily life, we quite frequently use our cars which leads to a significant amount
of greenhouse gases which are emitted into the air.

• It also leads to particle pollution and the resulting adverse health effects.

• Moreover, our air is polluted through many industrial processes.

• Air pollution also occurs due to the large transportation distances of goods which are
shipped or carried by plane in order to reach our stores.

• This transportation involves the emission of significant amounts of harmful gases

which in turn can contribute to the global warming issue.
Resource extraction
• The extraction of resources can be regarded as a human-environmental interaction
which can lead to many adverse effects for all kinds of organisms.

• In the resource extraction process, large areas of land have to be used which leads to
the destruction of habitats for many animals and plants.

• Since plants are not able to relocate to other areas, they may die off.

• Animals have the possibility to relocate and find a new habitat, however, many of
them may not be able to do so since they are not able to adapt to new circumstances
and therefore may also die.

• Resource extraction also often involves the use of chemicals in order to be able to
separate useful resources from useless gravel or other dirt.

• If these chemicals are not disposed properly after the extraction process has been
finished, this may lead to significant soil pollution and eventually may also lead to
groundwater pollution.
Measures to mitigate the adverse effects of human environmental interactions

• Reforestation and afforestation

• Fishing limits
• Higher fines and better control of illegal dumping
• Worldwide greenhouse gas certificates
• Stop littering
• Reduce meat consumption
• Reduce your carbon footprint
• Reduce overall consumption level
• Education
• Convince others
Reforestation and afforestation
• Since deforestation is a big issue to our environmental system in the current state, we can
counter this problem through reforestation and afforestation.

• Planting trees is crucial to replace the trees that are cut down in large numbers.

• If we are not able to replace the trees in appropriate numbers, we will experience several
adverse effects.

• Therefore, governments and municipalities should make sure that they plant enough trees.

• Moreover, there are several organizations which aim to plant as many trees as possible in
order to mitigate the adverse effects of deforestation on our planet.

• The most prominent example of these movements is the Trillion Tree Campaign.

• You can support this campaign by donating a tree for as low as one USD per tree.

• Therefore, everyone of us can make a contribution to reforestation, even with limited

amounts of money.
Fishing limits
• Another important measure to mitigate the adverse effects resulting from human-
environment interactions is to set strict fishing limits.

• In the past decades, the number of fishes declined in a dramatic way due to
overfishing.

• There were just no or not strict enough fishing quotes present in the past.

• We have to change this in order to ensure that the stock of fishes is able to recover.

• Only by doing so, we can ensure the supply with enough fishes for future generations.

• A loss of fish as food source would result in severe issues since many people rely on
fishing as a single source of income and would therefore be hit in a dramatic way if
fishing would no longer be an option in the future.

• Therefore, setting strict fishing limits is crucial to ensure the recovery of populations
and thus to ensure our supply with fish as a food source.
Higher fines and better control of illegal dumping
• Illegal dumping is a big problem, especially in many developing countries where
control mechanisms are not sufficient and fines are rather low.

• To take the incentives from industries for illegal dumping, the fines for illegal
dumping have to be increased significantly.

• Additionally, governments or municipalities have to make sure that there are better
controlling instances.

• By doing so, industries will lose the incentive for illegal dumping since they have to
fear high fines and will therefore be more eager to dispose their trash on official
waste disposal sites.
Worldwide greenhouse gas certificates
• Since global warming is a big issue which is significantly enhanced through human
behavior, we have to price greenhouse gas emission in order to give industries an
incentive to reduce their greenhouse gas emission.

• As long as the price for carbon dioxide emission is zero or quite low, industries will
not care at all and continue to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.

• If there are greenhouse gas certificates that have to be bought at a high price,
industries are likely to adjust their production since they now would have an
incentive to decrease their emission levels.

• Therefore, greenhouse gas certificates are crucial to mitigate the global warming
issue.
Stop littering
• Littering can lead to soil pollution and several other kinds of environmental issues like
wildfires.

• In order to prevent littering, we have to show people how damaging littering can be
for our environmental system.

• You can also make a contribution to a cleaner environment by simply using trash bins
to dispose your trash instead of just throwing it on the ground right where you stand.

• With this small effort, you can make your contribution to mitigate littering and the
environmental issues related to it.
Reduce meat consumption
• You can also contribute to enhance your environmental footprint by reducing your
meat consumption.

• Especially in our Western world, large amounts of meat are consumed on a daily
basis.

• This leads to several kinds of environmental problems, including soil pollution and
global warming.

• Moreover, too much meat is also harmful to your health since it can lead to a
number of serious diseases.

• Therefore, you can improve your ecological footprint and also increase your health
level by reducing your meat consumption.
Reduce your carbon footprint
• Through the use of cars, we emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other
harmful gases.

• The emission of carbon dioxide in turn contributes to the global warming problem.

• Therefore, in order to mitigate global warming and the related adverse effects, we
have to take measure to reduce our greenhouse gas emission.

• Switching from cars to public transport you can take on a daily basis.

• Moreover, you can walk short distances in order save additional carbon dioxide and
thus to reduce the adverse impact from human-environmental interactions.
Reduce overall consumption level
• Since the industrial revolution period, our consumption levels skyrocketed since
material goods became quite cheap due to the mass production and the resulting
low unit price.

• However, this development also leads to a significant increase in several kinds of

emissions from production processes.

• In order to mitigate these kinds of pollution, we should lower our consumption

levels.
Education
• Education is key to change the behavior of people.

• This education should start pretty early in school or even preschool.

• We have to show children how our actions affect our environmental system.

• By doing so, children will become aware and will take measures to mitigate their
adverse impact on the environment.

• Moreover, they are also likely to convince their parents to be more environmentally-
friendly.
Convince others
• Your contribution is a first important step!

• However, in order to multiply your positive impact on our environment, you also
have to convince your family, friends and as many other people as possible about the
importance of saving our planet.

• Only then will it be possible to mitigate our biggest environmental problems.

Conclusion
• To understand human-environmental-interactions is crucial since humans impose
several adverse effects on our environmental system.

• By understanding these adverse effects, we can take counter measures in order to

mitigate our adverse impact.

• There are several tasks that you can make every day to improve your ecological
footprint.

• By convincing others, you can multiply your positive effect on our planet.

• Since we only have one earth, it is crucial that we take suitable measures and that
everyone makes his or her contribution in order to secure a livable future for the
next generations.
Sources
• https://www.trilliontreecampaign.org/

• https://www.pik-potsdam.de
/research/climate-resilience/research/urban-transformations/teaching/
referate_sose2010/ecosystem-services

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920802001077

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environment