Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
As well as the cost to human life and society, there is a significant environmental impact of war. Scorched earth methods during, or after war have been in use for much of recorded history but with modern technology war can cause a far greater devastation on the environment .
This is an alphabetical list of environmental issues, harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment. They are loosely divided into causes, effects and mitigation, noting that effects are interconnected and can cause new effects.
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.
Air pollution control system, known as a thermal oxidizer, decomposes hazard gases from industrial air streams at a factory in the United States. A dust collector in Pristina, Kosovo. Pollution control is a term used in environmental management. It refers to the control of emissions and effluents into air, water or soil.
Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, [211] and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species. [212] [213] The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. [118]
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters , but spills may also occur on land.
The creators of a superintelligent entity could inadvertently give it goals that lead it to annihilate the human race. [9] [10] It has been suggested that if AI systems rapidly become super-intelligent, they may take unforeseen actions or out-compete humanity. [11]
Attempts to address habitat destruction are in international policy commitments embodied by Sustainable Development Goal 15 "Life on Land" and Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water". However, the United Nations Environment Programme report on "Making Peace with Nature" released in 2021 found that most of these efforts had failed to ...