Our Dying Home

Global Warming. What first comes into your mind when that word is mentioned? Did you know that severe weather happens more frequently because of Climate Change? Did you know that extremely hot temperatures are already considered a ‘New Normal’? 

Did you know that over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year? Flooding, coral bleaching, all caused by humans. Most of us might already know this while some of us don’t. To the ones that already know this, I want to direct a question at us. Why aren’t we doing anything?

To start it off, we would have to know what we’re trying to stop. The Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming, and Climate Change. Three major problems that our home is facing right now but also the least we care about.

POLLUTION

We can say that it all started with Pollution. Our core problem that humans barely acknowledge. Pollution is a human act that is too normalized. Pollution can cause global warming, rising sea levels, or climate change that can result in bigger problems like the extinction of certain species of animals, and maybe eventually humans

Environmental pollution is when a substance is inserted or gets inserted into a living organism. These chemicals and or substances are called pollutants. 

There are, of course, certain key points for a substance to be able to be identified as a pollutant. Not every random substance or chemical is a pollutant

When can a substance be called a pollutant?

1. Amount of substance that exceeds the normal limit
2. Being there at the wrong time
3. Being where they shouldn’t be

Environmental Pollution can be caused by human activities or even natural factors. They can disrupt the organism’s peace and balance, disturb its growth and many more.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change, one of the many effects of pollution. We’ll be looking into what it is, how it happened and its effects.

Climate Change is caused by many factors, most of them being human actions. Some causes being the increased use of fossil fuels, deforestation. Climate Change is caused by The Greenhouse Effect. The Greenhouse Gases released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels would result in this.

The effects of Climate Change can be endless. Increased heat, insect outbreaks, increased wildfires, health impacts due to the heat, flooding, endangered species in coastal areas and dozens more.

GLOBAL WARMING

The second problem of our environment in the key of events is Global Warming. Global Warming is the heating of the Earth’s climate due to human activities. This has occurred since 1850 until right now. This is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels that also adds to the heat-trapping of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Global Warming can be caused by natural causes and also human influence. Not only is it caused by greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels, but also variations in solar activity, volcanic activity, power plants, industrialization and still many more.

Its effects include melting glaciers and polar ice caps, dirtier air, acidic oceans, severe weather and higher wildlife extinction rates.

RISING SEA LEVELS

Rising Sea Levels, not so popular a problem, yet still, a problem; a worldwide one, actually. This is the rising levels of the world’s oceans due to global warming. Like I said, it’s all just a chain of events. One example is Jakarta sinking. Think about it, if the sea levels all around the world keep rising, what is our home?

Rising Sea Levels isn’t only because of Global Warming causing ice glaciers to melt. Extremely warm temperatures are already a New Normal for the Poles. With the melting polar ice caps, our sea levels rise. Another factor causing rising sea levels is again, The Greenhouse Effect. The gases trapped in the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans and as water becomes warmer, it expands. In this case, it causes rising ocean levels.

Rising Sea Levels is a serious threat to coastal life all over the globe. The effects include flooding to coastal areas, loss of area, increased salinity. It’s impact on humans also include damaged roads, bridges, and other infrastructure by the extreme flooding.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

The Greenhouse Effect. What is it actually? The Greenhouse Effect is the cause of one of our biggest problems in the environment, Climate Change. The Greenhouse Effect causes Climate Change by trapping heat and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Greenhouse Effect happens when gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun. This makes the Earth much warmer than it should be. Effects of the Greenhouse Effect include long-term effects ranging from environmental problems to health problems as well. They can cause respiratory diseases, air pollution, extreme weather and many more.

How is the Greenhouse Effect related to each of our environmental problems? The Greenhouse Effect itself is the cause of Climate Change. It then produces a bigger problem, Global Warming. 

When the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs solar energy, a portion of it is released by land and oceans which will radiate back to the Earth itself, creating a higher temperature. Rising Sea Levels is really just an effect of Global Warming. With the rising temperatures, polar ice caps and glaciers in the North and South pole melt resulting in higher sea levels.

Every one of our actions will have a result, either good or bad. It’s mostly human’s fault that all of this started, we have to take responsibility. It’s all really just a chain of events, we still don’t know what’ll happen next. Better to stop it first than find out, right?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Although it may seem like a problem we can handle, we can always help limit the negative changes and problems. It’s just us and our motives. Do we really have a heart and soul that wants to save our home? The Earth is the one thing we all have in common. It is our home. We should cherish it for the next generations to come instead of laying back doing nothing.

Ways of preventing climate change is using clean and renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. This could also help stop the chain of events after Climate Change. Solar energy, wind, geothermal, biomass, they can all replace fossil fuels. Of course, it would cost more and may not be as advanced as the technology with fossil fuels yet, but how far are you willing to go to save our Earth?

There should be strict and strong policies from the government as well regarding these problems. We should stop normalizing pollution and start viewing this as a serious problem. Is it only when a virus threatening us humans that we panic? What about our home?

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Narrowing it down to the environmental pollution that we might find more common, there are three main types of environmental pollution. Water Pollution, Land Pollution and Air Pollution. Sound Pollution is also a type of pollution that we’ll be discussing.

Environmental Pollution can be caused by the burning of fossil fuels, nuclear accidents, oil spills, exhaust fumes from vehicles, and more. It may be in the form of chemical substances, dust, sound, radiation and even heat. Environmental can be caused by natural causes, however a large percentage of it is still caused by man’s actions. Impacts of Environmental Pollution isn’t only unbeneficial from the environment but for living organisms and humans too.

WATER POLLUTION

Water Pollution. The first type of pollution that we’ll be looking into. This is the contamination of water by certain substances that will deem the water unusable. This can include trash, bacteria or parasites in water. Oil spills, radioactive waste discharge, improper sewage disposal is all causes of water pollution.

There are three indicators stating when a body of water is polluted. Changes in the water itself. The three types of changes are Physical, Chemical or Biological Changes. Physical changes include opaqueness, changes in color, odor and taste. The Chemical change is monitored through the changes in its pH while the biological changes in the water can be through microorganisms that can be found inside the water.

Some effects of water pollution are the destruction of biodiversity, contamination in the food chain, diseases in not only humans but also other living organisms such as animals. Traces of microplastic can already be found in human blood cells. This is due to the contamination in the food chain. Water pollution can also cause diseases such as dysentery, hepatitis A, cardiovascular conditions and polio.

We can stop this by not pouring grease down the drain, eating more organic food and even disposing medical waste properly. This isn’t just a matter of our health but also the Earth and other organisms’ wellbeing.

LAND POLLUTION

Land Pollution is the downturn of the earth’s surfaces either below or at ground level. This is caused by waste materials that contaminate the soil and groundwater. It is caused by human activities like littering. Land contamination is caused when pollutants are randomly dumped on the land endangering the soil.

Land Pollution can impact human health based on how it enters the body and what it affects. It also has impacts to the ecosystem, a change in the metabolism and organisms. The organisms living on the seashore actually also experience these effects.

The impacts of land pollution to human health are skin diseases, cancer, breathing disorders, allergies, acne, dermatitis and still many more.

Two ways of controlling land pollution is bioremediation and remediation. Bioremediation is a process that uses mainly microorganisms to detoxify contaminants in the soil while in remediation, polluted or contaminated soil removed to reduce the impact on the environment.

AIR POLLUTION

Air Pollution is the physical, chemical or biological change in air. The contamination can be caused by harmful gases, dust and smoke. Like any other pollution, it doesn’t only affect humans but also living organisms like plants and animals. The composition of the gases in the atmosphere cannot increase or decrease or it may be harmful. Nature demands balance.

Air Pollution can be divided into two, Primary and Secondary. Primary pollution includes the burning of trash, the increase of CO2, while secondary pollution includes the forming of the ozone layer, a passive pollutant.

Air Pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, wildfires, transportation and even microbial decaying process. The causes of this pollution can either be of human actions or natural causes. It can give health risks and also environmental risks such as heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory infections and asthma. It can also cause acid rain, depletion of ozone layer, global warming and eutrophication.

We can stop this by avoiding burning trash, leaves, avoiding using gas-powered garden equipment, turning off the lights and air conditioners when not in use and even keeping our vehicle in good repair.

SOUND POLLUTION

Sound pollution is unwanted noise that disturbs or harms humans and wildlife. Some major causes being vehicles, aircraft, machines, loudspeakers, construction sites and more. Television and the radio can also become sound pollution when used at a high volume.

Its effects are stress related illnesses since research has also shown that noise and health have a direct link. It creates high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption and loss of productivity and concentration. The normalizing of this level of noise on our ears may cause long-term issues such as hearing loss, decreased sense of hearing and psychological stress.

Noise pollution is really all around us, however we don’t give it much attention since it cannot be seen, tasted or smelled. It also seems like it doesn’t directly impact us on a serious level.

NARROW IT DOWN

An endangered species is the Western Snowy Plover. The Western Snowy Plover is a small shorebird that can be found in the United States’ Pacific Coast from Oregon to California. It would nest along the shores in mating seasons, usually March through September. Plover nests would usually have three tiny camouflaged eggs that is barely visible.

They also have predators such as falcons, coyotes and owls. Humans ourselves can also be thought as predators. Flying kites alone may scare the Plovers who fear they are predators and then abandon their nests. Activities like this harm plovers during breeding season. This is very dangerous since the little energy they have is supposed to be used to maintain their nests. The plovers that have to abandon their nests when a predator approaches them can decrease the number of chicks hatching in a year. The eggs may get cold, get blown over and destroyed by a predator.

The Western Snowy Plover is an endangered species due to loss of habitat and other human disturbances. Their reproduction in the Pacific coast has been disturbed and been in decline for several years. The loss of habitat is due to several reasons including Rising Sea Levels and Water Pollution. The litter washed up in the little areas of shores corners the plovers, not to mention human intervention within the area. The population of plovers estimated along the Pacific Coast are no more than 2,500 birds. Human actions are a threat to this species. What more is there to say?

We can do our part and help these plovers. Beaches with breeding plovers should also put up a strict rule, not allowing anyone to cross that area except staff with special permission. 

The beaches and seashores don’t just belong to humans. Share the Beach. Animals that also need the area exist. Avoid flying kites and playing frisbees near the area where Snowy Plovers rest. Properly dispose of garbage to lower keep the area clean and effective for the Plovers to nest in.

 Leaving kelp and driftwood on the beach also helps the plovers a lot. They pose as resting and feeding areas for the family of plovers. The beaches should put up signs not allowing any human intervention near the areas the birds are resting in. Any rule-breaking should result in a fine. Every one of our actions can cost the life of a plover. 

Humans as a crowned creation should do our job of taking care of our wildlife. Some trips can also be arranged to educate the people about these birds. The staff with special permission should monitor their breeding, making sure nobody is scaring off the species. 

The human influence to this species should be monitored. Instead of scaring them and making them abandon their nests, help provide them with nests, food and shelter that they need from the extreme weather and predators around them. 

Cleaning the beaches, filtering the water can also help these birds. Campaigning for the birds should also work, the people should be educated and should all know the situation of our home right now. The pollution caused by us have impacted species. We are the cause of extinction. What are we gonna do about it?