The activities that man carries out have consequences that generate an environmental impact that can be constructive if he benefits, and destructive if the environment is harmed. We offer you in this article everything about the consequences of environmental impact, its causes, evolution and much more!
What is the environmental impact?
Man in his passage through the planet has taken possession of all the natural resources found in the natural ecosystem of planetary life, trying to make the most of all the resources found, to transform them and take them to the level of consumption.
Therefore, the environmental impact is the result of the actions carried out by man, activities that he carries out to satisfy his basic needs, which can affect the environment in a positive or negative way.
There are then two types of environmental impact, the one that brings benefits to the environment and the one that does not, negative interventions are those alterations that harm the environment taking into account the natural environment, as well as human health, its main consequences are:
The contamination of the planet, the earth, the water and the air, added to the loss of biodiversity, plus the increase in diseases and health problems. They translate into devastating consequences that are part of the environmental impact.
It is called a long-term impact with effects that remain in time and space, in some cases they become irreversible generating a permanent impact on the environment.
However, the natural environment may or may not recover completely, in the short, medium or long term, some examples are wars, deforestation and poaching.
In terms of positive environmental impact we take reforestation with native species, the training of the population or the production of jobs, and in terms of negative impacts it develops the production of noise, affectation of the vital liquid and the loss of vegetation. .
The environmental impact and its causes
It can be conditioned by two types of causes, these are: Through the actions that man carries out, in order to exploit natural resources through activities that degrade the ecosystem, most of these exploitations are directed towards the productivity of some services.
An example of this is the creation of a hydroelectric power station on a lake.
Through nature, this impact occurs as a result of the same natural conditions produced by the planet, leaving in its wake an environmental impact with notable physical changes.
An example of this could be a movement in the tectonic plates that produces a change in some ecosystem, which is manifested by earth movements such as the formation or disappearance of ocean basins, transformed into lagoons.
What is the environmental impact classification?
It is classified according to environmental impact characteristics, taking into account its level and its damage or changes generated.
- Environmental impact In a direct way: They are produced through direct contact of a specific project with nature, an example of this is the dissolution of chemical material directly in ocean waters, rivers, Lagoons, among other vital sources of the natural ecosystem.
- Indirect environmental impact: They represent those that are not the direct cause of the consequences produced in the environment.
- Cumulative Impact: It refers to the fact in which two industrial activities coincide, which merge exactly into an ecosystem, producing the accumulation of impacts on the environment.
- induced impact: They represent the development of projects, in order to improve certain environmental conditions of benefit to the population, for example the construction of roads and highways.
- Short term: With a duration of 6 to 11 years, this impact is developed through the realization of architectural works of any kind, its effects are developed in harmful impacts, such as aquatic, air, noise pollution, among others.
- Long-term: They develop from 40 to 50 years, these can be changes of climatic type produced constantly.
Water contamination
It represents another important indicator that reflects the consequences of environmental impact, since through the knowledge that human beings have about the characteristics of drinking water or contaminated water, we assume that despite the fact that the planet has a large amount of water, A percentage of this vital liquid is not suitable for human consumption.
- Main water contaminating factors are:
- Waste dumped in the water
- Fertilizers
- Pesticides
- Chemicals that flow into water and end up polluting salt water. Water pollution is generated by different processes, this is grouped into process water, sewage, and white water.
- process water: they are industrial residues that are mixed in the water. Its level of contamination always depends on the level of industrial activity that is carried out.
- fecal water: Generated by toilets in homes, they refer to domestic wastewater. Another way of classifying water is by detecting its state of contamination. An example of contaminated water is that considered water with a higher degree of contamination of water by organic carbon with a population of specific organisms in which there is mostly an absence of oxygen.
Finally, as human beings we must take care of water, since this is considered a non-renewable resource, it is necessary to do so, not only for future generations, but for all living beings that inhabit the planet.
According to a study carried out in 2016, the result was that approximately eight hundred and forty-two thousand people and three hundred and sixty-one thousand children died due to water contamination.
The actions that we can carry out on a daily basis to avoid contamination of this resource are:
Plant trees on the banks of rivers or lakes. A river naturally must have a considerable strip of native forests to prevent erosion and thus preserve its natural depth. Likewise, the banks of rivers or trees carry out the important mission of conserving water, flora and fauna that make up natural ecosystems.
The proper use of the products by the refineries, and the prevention of contamination should include new practices that reduce the use of organic matter in order to protect natural resources, in turn, another preventive measure would be the change of products that include the transformation of heavy organic material.
Air pollution
It is defined as the mixture of gases that are generally emitted by automobiles and chemical products that are used by large industries, which with their industrial processes generate solid pollutants that are then inhaled by any living being, thus threatening the most vulnerable species. .
Some of the consequences that occur thanks to environmental impacts are:
- Acid rain: Produced by the polluted clouds that rise from the different rivers, lakes and seas that contain large harmful chemical compounds, which through the evaporation of the water cycle that finally ends up completing a repetitive period.
- The greenhouse effect: It is the one that avoids the sun's rays reflected from the earth into space, thanks to a layer of thick pollutants creating an increase in the planet's temperature.
Soil pollution
It is the introduction of waste or external agents on the earth's surface of substance and elements foreign to it, and that have a negative impact, by becoming toxic to the organisms that inhabit it.
- Polluting agents: They can vary and be liquid, solid and gaseous, which mainly affect plants, animals and even the health of human beings.
- Trash: Garbage thrown in places not intended for it, which causes major pollution problems due to plastics or synthetic materials that take too long to degrade.
- Consequences of soil contamination
- loss of soil nutrients
- Interruption of biological processes
- Extinction of animals, especially marine animals
Whales are some of the animals that suffer most from causes of environmental impact, this through chemical waste, even plastic waste that breaks into the natural habitat that belongs to the resident fauna in seas, beaches or oceans.
- Mining activity: During the metal extraction process, mining companies use substances such as cyanide, lead, arsenic, and mercury, which are toxic to the environment.
- Pesticides and fertilizers: They are generally used in plantations of large crops, in order to exterminate pests. Insecticides, pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers represent a primary source of contamination, which remains in the environment for several years.
- Industrial waste: The uncontrolled release by industries and their polluting waste also pollutes the region's water bodies.
Importance of environmental impact
In general, all the data that we have offered about the environmental impacts and the consequences produced by the different agents allow us to reflect on the care of our spaces and ecosystems.
It is really worrying that, due to the activities of humanity, the planet is in great conditions of deterioration, due to our own actions that lead us to exploit resources, and degrade ecosystems to a certain extent.
It is necessary to lower or mitigate the levels of environmental impact, in order to inhabit this planet rich in natural diversities, and extraordinary ecosystems that are manifested from pole to pole, in our mother earth, and that are spaces that deserve to be healthy, free of everything pollution environment.
For this, it is important to become aware of how valuable and fundamental the planet represents as a shelter and home for human beings. Caring for, appreciating, renewing, and protecting our beaches, oceans, lagoons, seas, rivers, wooded spaces, national parks, dams, waterfalls, basins, and in general everything that represents large spaces full of great biodiversity is the goal of man.
Evolution
As long as the planet and humanity continue in constant evolution, the environmental impact at the global level is becoming more acute, it is a fact that must be reversed as long as the changes are not positive for natural areas.
However, man's efforts to improve their environments, in some cases contribute positively to the recovery of lost spaces and devoid of care.
Many of the world's natural wonders have been considered cultural heritage, and that is a really satisfying fact, since these green areas contribute greatly to the natural processes of planet earth. Guaranteeing oxygen to man and other processes of natural origin that man cannot observe.
That the evolution be directed towards new processes of care and protection of our areas, and not towards the construction and contributions of more environmental pollution.
Let's start now to be generators of positive environmental impacts, let's leave a mark on our environment, let's be aware, and let's start contributing, in order to have a pollution-free planet earth, and full of spaces free of smoke, garbage, industrial chemicals, plastic waste. , among other aspects that do not favor our ecosystems.