Humans: How We Are Destroying the World Around Us

Dave Hennesey

Mr. Gregg

AP Chemistry

2 February 2005

Humans: How We Are Destroying the World Around Us

This generation and also future ones will suffer because of this, and us humans are mostly to blame. What are humans responsible for? We are responsible for endangering the nature and health of our ecosystems.

One way we damage our ecosystem is by polluting the environment. Everyday millions of people use automobiles, trains, and airplanes to travel. This begs the question- how is this affecting the ecosystem? Pollution affects the ecosystem in many ways. One being oxides of nitrogen causes such things as acid rain, which reduces the pH value of soil. Another way is soil can become infertile for plants. In result of this it will affect other organisms in the food web. The last way is smog and haze reduces needed sunlight obtained by plants to carry out photosynthesis. < www.nationalgeographic.com >

Another reason why humans are to blame is the affects of the majority of our society not recycling. When we ignore recycling, it hugely affects our ecosystem. It hurts our forests especially because half of the earth's forests are already gone, and most of the original forest area has been cut down. Animal's habitats and biodiversity as a whole are damaged also. When we do not recycle wetlands, rivers, and other places vital to wildlife are also reduced. Also, we become very dependant on landfills. Landfills are packed full of toxic pollutions ranging from cyanide to mercury to even methane. Not recycling even induces global warming. It increases the energy used in manufacturing processes dramatically, and it adds to greenhouse gases. < www.wikipedia.org >

There are several ways each of us can do our part to help resolve this problem. One technique is to recycle regular household items. These items can include: newspapers, glass bottles, batteries, plastic, metal cans, and even cellular phones. Another step you can take to recycle is when shopping at the grocery store; try to buy items that can be recycled. An additional alternative would be to buy less toxic materials such as less toxic household cleaners. The last good approach to take would be to place recycling bins around your home to remind and encourage you to do your part.

We are damaging our ecosystem majorly by encouraging effects of global warming. The causes are the release of gasses produced by vehicles, power plants, industrial processes, and deforestation. An impact of this is higher temperatures. During the last ten years, the earth's temperature has increased with each passing year. A major impact also is the landscapes changing. The changing patterns of precipitation are forcing plants and trees to move toward polar regions and up mountain slopes. Wildlife is also at risk. The previously mentioned impacts will force animals of all species to migrate to cooler areas in order to survive. Many experts believe that by the year 2050, one-fourth of the earth's species will be headed for extinction. It will also amplify the number of natural disasters. Because of climate change intensifying water circulation, it will cause droughts and floods to be more frequent and severe. Hot temperatures and dry conditions will also lead to an increase in forest fires. The last main impact is thermal expansion. Thermal expansion basically means that sea levels rise because warmer water takes up more room than colder water. (Al Gore, Davis Guggenheim, dir.)

There are ways to help prevent the escalation of global warning that humans ourselves can do easily. Learning energy conserving tips would be a terrific place to start. One step would be to start taking alternatives, whenever possible, over driving. Driving vehicles produces carbon dioxide into the earth's atmosphere. The other alternatives would be to walk, ride a bike, or use public transportation. Another way is just a quick screwing of a light bulb. Changing incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs reduce