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Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
A wetland (aerial view) Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas of land including marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens that are covered by water seasonally or permanently due to a variety of threats from both natural and anthropogenic hazards. Some examples of these hazards include habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species.
Habitat destruction leading to climate change offsets the balance of species keeping up with the extinction threshold leading to a higher likelihood of extinction. [45] Habitat loss is one of the main environmental causes of the decline of biodiversity on local, regional, and global scales.
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. [1] Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. [2]
Heavy rains, meanwhile, trigger flooding that causes wetlands to expand. Scientists had long projected wetland methane emissions would rise as the climate warmed, but from 2020 to 2022, air ...
Some wetlands are a significant source of methane emissions [6] [7] and some are also emitters of nitrous oxide. [8] [9] Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 300 times that of carbon dioxide and is the dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century. [10] Wetlands can also act as a sink for greenhouse ...
Some loss of wetlands resulted from natural causes such as erosion, sedimentation, subsidence, and a rise in the sea level. [58] Sign at a wetland in Pilliga National Park which is trying to reduce resource depletion and wetland degradation through prohibiting certain activities. Wetlands provide environmental services for: Food and habitat
Sea level rise threatens coastal wetlands with flooding. Decreases in soil moisture in certain locations can cause desertification and damage ecosystems like the Amazon Rainforest. [169]: 9 At 2 °C (3.6 °F) of warming, around 10% of species on land would become critically endangered. [170]: 259