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A United Nations report found that three-quarters of land-based environments, and two-thirds of marine-based environments, have been detrimentally altered by human activities. In order to reduce habitat loss and slow down extinction rates, we need to understand how human activities threaten and endanger the planet’s ecosystems.
Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water.
The loss of ecosystems is caused mainly by changes in land and sea use, exploitation, climate change, pollution and the introduction of invasive species. Some things have a direct impact on nature, like the dumping of waste into the ocean. Other causes are indirect.
How we’re harming the planet—and ourselves. Human-caused changes in the global environment, such as deforestation and air pollution, are increasingly threatening our own health and well-being, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Samuel Myers.
Human activity is causing environmental degradation, which is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution.
We are destroying nature at an unprecedented rate, threatening the survival of a million species – and our own future, too. But it’s not too late to save them and us, says a major new report.
Habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats facing plants and animal species throughout the world. The loss of habitat has far-reaching impacts on the planet’s ability to sustain life, but even with the challenges, there is hope for the future.
Key areas of human activity causing biodiversity loss include: Deforestation. Tropical rainforests are particularly rich in biodiversity and are being destroyed. Habitat loss through pervasive, incremental encroachment such as that caused by urban sprawl.
Human activities are destroying the natural world, leading to the extinction of animal and plant species at an alarming rate. Now, world leaders are promising action to tackle the problem. But...
Up to one million plant and animal species face extinction, many within decades, because of human activities, says the most comprehensive report yet on the state of global ecosystems.