Environmental Impact of Humanity in 2019: Analytical Essay

Abstract

In this essay we will talk about what humanity has done regarding the environmental status of the planet this year (2019), how hard have their actions impacted the planet, and what has been done to prevent further damage to the delicate system that is earth’s ecosystem

Keywords: environment, impact, challenges, climate change

A bunch of little problems always creates a giant one

Greed is one of the seven capital sins, and these last decades it has been the most representative one of humanity, capitalism taught a lot of people that is always good to pursue profit not matter what, the only thing that is important is to have giants stacks of bills, even at the cost of our own lives as Grandson, an alternative rock singer, tells in one of his songs “The price of your greed Is your son and your daughter” (Blood//Water, 2018), lately the little greedy actions of each human being have become an uncontrollable snowball towards a deadly climate change that can wipe out humanity, this year hasn’t been different from the others, good actions, bad actions, however in these last weeks something has change and it’s probably a big step in the right direction

The bad things

One of the most notable bad things that has happened this year is the uncontrollable fire that devoured a huge part of the amazon rainforest is not unusual that the amazon burns once in a while due to natural causes, like lighting an similar things, but this year was different, the amazon wasn’t just on fire, it was being burned by people, like books in Fahrenheit 451, thanks to the “support” of the new Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (who recently told the UN that the amazon belongs solely to brazil, almost telling that if he wants to chop it all down to pieces the world shouldn’t say a word) a lot of farmers felt entitled to the amazon forest and decided it was a good idea to burn it down, just to make space for more crops and agriculture.

In addition to that, this year a report from the UN was published which talked about how a lot of mammals and amphibians are threatened with extinction thanks to human activity, an important part of which is the erosion of the soil due to extractive activities such as mining and oil extraction, that erosion makes the soil infertile reducing the available food for wild animals, also a lot of those activities that damage the soil cause contamination in nearby sources of water and even direct pollution as collateral damage.

As always, this year water pollution has been a main concern, plastic use and it ending up in the oceans is a big trouble, one that doesn’t receive enough attention, even worse a more subtle problem; the microplastics (little pieces of plastic that are at maximum 55mm big) is not getting any solution, those pieces pollute the water and make it dangerous for a lot of the ocean’s fauna due to inhalation or ingestion of them.

Another big problem is the ocean levels rising, it is slow but steady and in the long term a lot of seaside cities can end up under water, a clear example everyone will relate to is Venice, the Italian city may end up sinking like the Titanic if water levels keep rising thanks to global warming, not only that but a lot of the oceans wildlife might end up affected by this kind of changes, also every little bit of human urbanization that enters the sea counts as pollution and it will be not only plastic but a lot of things that can harm in a lot of ways the sea, from toxic chemicals to dangerous material, everything will be a potential risk to the ocean’s fauna.

Air pollution is also a serious consequence of human activities and is one of the most deadliest types of contamination, young people and older ones are specially prone to die due to causes related with air pollution, but even with that in mind, a lot of companies just keep burning and burning, cars are made like toxic chimneys and forests burn thanks to human hand. Is it fair to live in a world that is killing you with each breath you take?

Humanity doesn’t realize that they are making their own destruction

A lot of today’s corporations are just trying to make the most profit of everything they can, but they don’t realize that they are just digging their own tomb, when enough people dies thanks to them, there won’t be anyone to buy what they sell, even worse, their precious pieces of money paper may end up without any value thanks to an economy killed be the very own people who wanted the get the most profit out of it.

Other thing that’s good to have in mind is how little consideration the older generations have for the environmental impact that have made, also for the fate of their own children; many of them will die before the real damage starts to unleash serious consequences, their sons and daughters are the ones that will suffer but even with that they don’t seem to care, many of them just don’t do nothing about it, even worse, a lot of them are the owners of the greedy corporations that are ending the planet.

The Good things

However as bad things happens good ones also are happening, one that has been extremely relevant for the last weeks is Greta Thunberg’s actions against climate change, this fierce woman who is just sixteen years old is making a stand for the new generations, hoping to make a change and make the leaders of the world listen, not to her, but to the experts that claim almost screaming that this world is barely going to make it in the next years if everything stays as it is now, she is the voice of new generations that don’t want to live in a world that’s crumbling under its own weight, the ones that want to make a change and are prepared to make it happen.

Also things like electric cars are becoming mainstream, which means that every day the carbon footprint of humanity is reducing, Tesla, one of the most important electric car makers in the world is hoping to provide the market with a lot of alternatives in mobility that are more sustainable than the old fossil powered ones, like traditional cars and motorbikes

Scientists are also trying to find different and more sustainable ways of making a lot of things, a bit example of this is meat, that has been an interesting topic for the last months, thanks to improvements that have been happening around the possibilities of making laboratory-made meat, that tastes the same as normal one but is a lot less contaminating, thanks to it no being produce in agriculture fields that are greatly know for is ability to expel astonishing amounts of methane in the air. Also, for vegans and people who are worried about animal suffering this is big news, since this meat comes from a chunk of animal cells that are taken away from them without any harm made, for example chicken meat can be produce using cells from the feathers.

Conclusions

We can’t expect humanity to solve everything in just a year, 2019 has not been much different from the other last years, and from exception of the fires in the amazon, the same issues that have been for almost a century are the same that humanity is facing this year, the same that they have been causing by their own hand.

This year has been, as always, a rollercoaster regarding the environment, however we can see hope in the future, new environmental leaders rising, changes being made in the way that we move ourselves around the cities and countries, new ways of making the same old things without the sacrifice that making them means.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we as individuals can try to make the most, we can to avoid leading the world to its destruction. Even though the word “impact” seems to mean a not so correct thing, not every impact has to be a bad one, there a good impacts, and is our duty to make the most out of these.

Webography

1. Grandson (2018). Blood//Water [Recorded by Grandson]. Canada.
2. Human Society Under Threat by The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report
3. The Amazon in Brazil is on fire – how bad is it? by the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49433767
4. Amazon rainforest belongs to Brazil, says Jair Bolsonaro by the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49815731