Sustainability Case

Sustainability Essay

Sustainability is a term that has become more popular over the last few decades. What it essentially means is that human survival depends on the natural environment. Sustainability forms and keeps the conditions under which both humans and nature could exist in a natural balance for the present and the future generations. Sustainability is important because of the fact that civilizations have to make sure that we have the resources to protect human health. The reason why sustainability has been on the way to become a big part of our life is because of the raising concerns about the environmental consequences of the fast population growth and the over consumption of our natural resources. The world is in a situation where there are many problems that it has to face. These problems are global, water shortage and deforestation. These problems are more serious than the rest, because the climate, water, and the forests are the vital parts that balance the environment.

Global warming has been a known threat for decades now. The catastrophes that it will cause, how it would affect human life or whose fault it is have been popular topics of conversation for politicians, academicians, environmentalists. The sad truth is that because it is a slow process, most people do not think about the consequences if precautions are not taken immediately. One of the consequences is mentioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "According to NASA, the polar ice cap is now melting at the alarming rate of nine percent per decade. Arctic ice thickness has decreased 40 percent since the 1960s" (NRDC). The reason why sea levels are rising is that cities like New York and countries similar to the Netherlands would become underwater which is an important life threat to millions of people. Another serious consequence would be the extinction of animals. From a research "The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found that approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if global average temperature increases by more than 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit" (NRDC). The extinction of animals would directly disrupt the natural balance of the Earth. Some politicians such as Al Gore have tried increase the awareness of the media and the people, but the governments have not done any significant changes to support such a campaign. The melting polar ice caps or disastrous weather and endangered ecosystems are the clear indicators that climate change is not an illusion. Furthermore, scientists have come to the conclusion that humans are causing this process of destruction. The greenhouse gases emitted from factories, houses and automobiles have been the primary source for pollution in the atmosphere. This is not a local problem which cannot be solved with a few countries trying to support an ecofriendly lifestyle, but with the cooperation of the global community that would make this serious problem solved. Solutions that are possible would be planting trees, the increase use of public transportation, and investing in technology to find new sources of energy such as nuclear energy. The most important two solutions are using solar and wind power as much as possible and the governments passing laws that limit the greenhouse gases released from factories.

Water contamination and shortages are very serious problems not for just human beings, but also every other living being. Water is the source of life that every living being depends for survival, therefore it is not problem that could be overlooked. Of course the earth is mostly covered with