by Allen Gates

Created on: January 10, 2011   Last Updated: January 12, 2011

Human beings have a potential to be destructive to the environment in a number of ways. Whether they are changing the environment by deforestation, construction, polluting, causing global warming or space debris, much of the actions by humans is harmful to nature.

Human beings have a desire and a need to grow. Technology has caused this growth to take place in a way that the environment has not experienced. Industrialization has led to mining and drilling for fossil fuels such as oil and coal. These fuels are burned to produce electricity and power automobiles, but the waste they leave behind lingers in the environment.

Air pollution has had a profound impact on the environment by causing global warming. Certain bi-products of the burning of fossil fuels such as carbon dioxide become trapped in the atmosphere. These molecules do not allow the Earth to cool as quickly and as a result the climate can drastically be altered. Other pollutants lead to smog and air that is unhealthy to breathe.

Waste finds it way into stream and oceans because of humans. Because the ocean is so vast it is possible for companies to get away with dumping waste. Other companies will accept the fine for dumping waste rather than to dispose of it properly. Oil tankers and drilling rigs can fail and release tremendous amounts of oil into the ocean that ends up on beach shores and destroys the wild life in its path.

Forest trees are continuously removed from the landscape and used as raw materials in manufacturing a variety of items. The impact on the environment is devastating because of the impact on wildlife. Many animals and species have fewer means of survival without the forests and become endangered or extinct. The trees are also what produces oxygen and helps rid the air of carbon dioxide. The lungs of the planet are being destroyed when needed the most.

Humans have also started to pollute the the immediate space surrounding the planet. Unused satellites and rocket stages some times collide at high velocity while in orbit and turn into to many different pieces of small orbiting debris. Large objects can sometimes fall to the Earth and cause further destruction. The debris is of particular concern for shuttle launches that need to pass through the orbit.

The environment is susceptable to change due to the actions of human beings. Everything from energy production to space exploration produces waste and has an impact on the environment. It is the tendency for human beings to put off costs and get results sooner rather than later. Often times it is the environmental impact of man’s actions that cause environmental destruction.

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