Our environment is constantly changing. There is no denying that.

However, as our
environment changes, so does the need to become increasingly aware of the
problems that surround it. With a massive influx of natural disasters, warming and
cooling periods, different types of weather patterns and much more, people need to
be aware of what types of environmental problems our planet is facing.
The world is facing incredibly serious natural resource and environmental
challenges: Climate change, fresh water depletion, ocean over-fishing,
deforestation, air and water pollution, the struggle to feed a planet of billions.
All of these challenges are exacerbated by ever rising demand over the
next 40 years estimates are that demand for fresh water will rise 50%, demand for
food will rise 70%, and demand for energy will nearly double all in the same period
that we need to tackle climate change, depletion of rivers and aquifers, and
deforestation.
Climate change is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, responsible for rising
seas, raging storms, searing heat, ferocious fires, severe drought, and punishing
floods. It threatens our health, communities, economy, and national security.
Worldwide, nations have begun taking steps to combat this growing threat,
working toward an international agreement in which every country on earth plays
its part. Many of the world's largest polluters have stepped up with significant
commitments, amplified by efforts from cities, businesses, sports leagues, churches,
and many other individuals and groups that have responded to the urgent need for
climate action.
What is Global Warming?
Global Warming is the increase of Earth's average surface temperature due to
effect of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil
fuels or from deforestation, which trap heat that would otherwise escape from
Earth. This is a type of greenhouse effect.
Scientists have confirmed that 2015 was the hottest year yet recorded, smashing
the previous record, which was set in 2014.
During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces
surpassed the previous record, set last year, by 0.29F (0.16C)making it the
largest margin yet. 2015 was 1.62F (0.90C) above the 20th century average,
reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was the highest
among all 136 years in the 18802015 record.
On 12 November 2015, NASA scientists reported that human-made carbon dioxide
(CO2) continues to increase above levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of
years: currently, about half of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil
fuels is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans and remains in the atmosphere.

Photo: Great Barrier Reef Australia

Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land
available for other uses. An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of
forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year,
according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Deforestation occurs around the world, though tropical rainforests are particularly
targeted. NASA predicts that if current deforestation levels proceed, the world's
rainforests may be completely in as little as 100 years. Countries with significant
deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and other parts of Africa, and parts of Eastern Europe, according to GRID-Arendal, a
United Nations Environment Program collaborating center. The country with the
most deforestation is Indonesia. Since the last century, Indonesia has lost at least
15.79 million hectares of forest land, according to a study by US University of
Maryland and the World Resource Institute.

Though deforestation has increased rapidly in the past 50 years, it has been
practiced throughout history. For example, 90 percent of continental United States
indigenous forest has been removed since 1600. The World Resources Institute
estimates that most of the worlds remaining indigenous forest is located in Canada,
Alaska, Russia and the Northwestern Amazon basin.
Causes
There are many causes of deforestation. The WWF reports that half of the trees
illegally removed from forests are used as fuel.

Some other common reasons are:

To make more land available for housing and urbanization

To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes
To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items, such as the oil from
palm trees
To create room for cattle ranching
Common methods of deforestation are burning trees and clear cutting. These tactics
leave the land completely barren and are controversial practices.

Clear cutting is when large swaths of land are cut down all at once. A forestry expert
quoted by the Natural Resources Defense Council describes clear cutting as "an
ecological trauma that has no precedent in nature except for a major volcanic
eruption."

Burning can be done quickly, in vast swaths of land, or more slowly with the slashand-burn technique. Slash and burn agriculture entails cutting down a patch of
trees, burning them and growing crops on the land. The ash from the burned trees
provides some nourishment for the plants and the land is weed-free from the
burning. When the soil becomes less nourishing and weeds begin to reappear over
years of use, the farmers move on to a new patch of land and begin the process
again.
Photo: Amazon Rainforest before and after
Lack of water
Many experts believe that in the near future water will become a commodity just
like Gold and Oil. Some experts say that wars will be fought over who owns the
water supply.
Currently, one third of humans have inadequate access to clean, fresh water. The
number is expected to increase by to up to two thirds by 2050. That is that two
thirds of the worlds population will not have access to clean water.
Over population, demand and pollution from industry is to blame.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that, of 1.4 billion cubic kilometers (1 quadrillion
acre-feet) of water on Earth, just 200,000 cubic kilometers (162.1 billion acre-feet)
represent fresh water available for human consumption.

More than one in every six people in the world is water stressed, meaning that they
do not have access to potable water.Those that are water stressed make up 1.1
billion people in the world and are living in developing countries. According to the
Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, a country or region is said to experience "water
stress" when annual water supplies drop below 1,700 cubic metres per person per
year. At levels between 1,700 and 1,000 cubic meters per person per year, periodic
or limited water shortages can be expected. When a country is below 1,000 cubic
meters per person per year, the country then faces water scarcity . In 2006, about
700 million people in 43 countries were living below the 1,700 cubic metres per
person .Water stress is ever intensifying in regions such as China, India, and SubSaharan Africa, which contains the largest number of water stressed countries of
any region with almost one fourth of the population living in a water stressed

country.The world's most water stressed region is the Middle East with averages of
1,200 cubic metres of water per person. In China, more than 538 million people are
living in a water-stressed region. Much of the water stressed population currently
live in river basins where the usage of water resources greatly exceed the renewal
of the water source.
Photo: effects of dehydration

The loss of biodiversity on the planet can be directly related to the behaviours of
human beings. Humans have destroyed and continue to destroy the habitats of
species on a daily basis.
When we exterminate one species, it has a knock on effect in the food chain which
in turn upsets the Eco-system inter dependent on one another.
The catastrophic impact of loss of biodiversity is likely to affect the planet for
millions of years to come. The current loss of biodiversity is also being named The
Sixth Extinction
Just to illustrate the degree of biodiversity loss we're facing, lets take you through
one scientific analysis...
The rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between
1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.*
These experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species will become
extinct each year.
If the low estimate of the number of species out there is true - i.e. that there are
around 2 million different species on our planet** - then that means between 200
and 2,000 extinctions occur every year.
But if the upper estimate of species numbers is true - that there are 100 million
different species co-existing with us on our planet - then between 10,000 and
100,000 species are becoming extinct each year.
Photo: extinct species
Mitigation
Climate change mitigation
Mitigation of climate change are actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
or enhance the capacity of carbon sinks to absorb GHGs from the atmosphere.There
is a large potential for future reductions in emissions by a combination of activities,

including: energy conservation and increased energy efficiency; the use of lowcarbon energy technologies, such as renewable energy, nuclear energy, and carbon
capture and storage; and enhancing carbon sinks through, for example,
reforestation and preventing deforestation.A 2015 report by Citibank concluded that
transitioning to a low carbon economy would yield positive return on investments.

Near- and long-term trends in the global energy system are inconsistent with
limiting global warming at below 1.5 or 2 C, relative to pre-industrial levels.Pledges
made as part of the Cancn agreements are broadly consistent with having a likely
chance (66 to 100% probability) of limiting global warming (in the 21st century) at
below 3 C, relative to pre-industrial levels.

In limiting warming at below 2 C, more stringent emission reductions in the nearterm would allow for less rapid reductions after 2030.Many integrated models are
unable to meet the 2 C target if pessimistic assumptions are made about the
availability of mitigation technologies.
Adaptation
Other policy responses include adaptation to climate change. Adaptation to climate
change may be planned, either in reaction to or anticipation of climate change, or
spontaneous, i.e., without government intervention.Planned adaptation is already
occurring on a limited basis.The barriers, limits, and costs of future adaptation are
not fully understood.

A concept related to adaptation is adaptive capacity, which is the ability of a system

(human, natural or managed) to adjust to climate change (including climate
variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of
opportunities, or to cope with consequences.Unmitigated climate change (future
climate change without efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions) would, in the long
term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to
adapt.

Environmental organizations and public figures have emphasized changes in the

climate and the risks they entail, while promoting adaptation to changes in
infrastructural needs and emissions reductions.

Climate engineering

Climate engineering (sometimes called by the more expansive term

'geoengineering'), is the deliberate modification of the climate. It has been
investigated as a possible response to global warming, e.g. by NASA and the Royal
Society. Techniques under research fall generally into the categories solar radiation
management and carbon dioxide removal, although various other schemes have
been suggested. A study from 2014 investigated the most common climate
engineering methods and concluded they are either ineffective or have potentially
severe side effects and cannot be stopped without causing rapid climate change.
Deforestation
Ending deforestation is our best chance to preserve biodiversity and defend the
rights of forest communities. On top of that, its one of the quickest and most cost
effective ways to curb global warming. Were campaigning for a deforestation-free
future.
Pressuring Corporations and Markets
If corporations have the power to destroy the worlds forests, they also have the
power to help save them.
Companies can make an impact by introducing zero deforestation policies and
cleaning up their supply chains. That means holding their suppliers accountable for
producing commodities like timber, beef, soy, palm oil and paper in a way that has
a minimal impact on natural forests and the climate.
Companies can also introduce paper procurement policies that set ambitious targets
to maximize use of recycled wood, pulp, paper and fiber in their products and
ensure that any virgin fiber used is certified by a third party certification system
such as the Forest Stewardship Council.
But these corporations havent taken action on their own.
Thats why were investigating, exposing and confronting environmental abuse by
corporations.

Promoting Sustainable Consumer Options

When consumers speak, corporations listen.

Individuals can make a difference in the fight to save forests by setting the best
example. We can all use the power of our purchases to put pressure on companies
that have bad environmental practices.

By buying recycled or certified wood products, only supporting brands with zero
deforestation policies, and getting others to do the same, we can send a message
loud and clear that companies need to be part of the effort to create a
deforestation-free future.

Changing the Politics

If were going to stop deforestation, we need government to do its part.
Specifically, we need world leaders to embrace ambitious domestic and
international forest policies based on the latest science.
In the U.S., we use laws like the Wilderness Act, the Lacey Act and the Roadless Rule
to protect our forests and stop illegal wood products from entering the US
marketplace. We also support and use global treaties like the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to help protect forests and the
endangered plant and animal species that rely on forests for habitats.

And globally, we urgently need commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

from deforestation in tropical forest developing nations.

Solving water shortages:

Educate to change consumption and lifestyles
In the end, changing the face of this crisis involves education to motivate new
behaviors. Coping with the coming era of water scarcity will require major overhaul
of all forms of consumption, from individual use to the supply chains of major
corporations, like GE. Some regions led by India, Australia and the Southwest U.S.,
are already facing the freshwater crisis. The most critical task is making sure the
problem is much better understood worldwide.
Invent new water conservation technologies
In areas where aquifers are drying up and rainwater is increasingly unpredictable,
innovation is needed. But as we attempt to cope with freshwater scarcity and
develop conservation technologies, energy consumption is an important
consideration.
Recycle wastewater
In March, World Water Day panelists urged a new mindset for wastewater
treatment. Some countries, like Singapore, are trying to recycle to cut water imports

and become more self-sufficient. The rich East Asian republic is a leader in
developing advanced technology that cleanses wastewater for other uses, including
drinking.

Improve irrigation and agricultural practices

Some 70 percent of the worlds freshwater is used for agriculture. Improving
irrigation can help close supply and demand gaps. In certain cases profligate
irrigation practices meant for an earlier era has weakened the ability of farmers to
provide food and fiber to a growing world. Examples include the Murray-Darling
basin in Australia, Central Asias Aral Sea, and the American Southwest. Although
new technology has become an appealing solution, global water experts like Peter
Gleick note that in some cases, such as the agricultural systems in California,
success stories can happen by improving whats already in place.
Loss of biodiversity solutions:
Protecting Areas

Creating protected areas where human activity is limited is the best way to prevent
deforestation and exploitation of organisms and the resources they need to survive.
In order to truly make a difference, much planning needs to go into the creation of a
protected area. It needs to consider all elements of the ecosystem it is trying to
protect, so that it isnt too small. It needs to include all resources that are utilized by
its inhabitants; for example, leaving out a stream where half of the mammals go to
drink would not make a protected area very effective.
Preventing Species Introductions
It is often much easier and less expensive to prevent a problem from developing in
the first place than to try to fix it once it occurs. This is the case with invasive
species, which can wreak havoc when introduced to ecosystems that arent
prepared to deal with them. Many governments prohibit bringing foreign plants and
animals into their countries without authorization; some even go so far as to
disinfect landing planes and the shoe-bottoms of people on them.
Informing / Educating
Education is a powerful tool, and the more people know about biodiversity loss, the
more they will be prepared to help slow it. Spreading the word about detrimental
human effects on plants and animals can encourage people to change their ways
and effect changes to preserve biodiversity.

Slowing Climate Change

Climate change is the documented cause of several extinctions that we know about,
and has likely caused hundreds of species to go extinct about which we may never
know. Any efforts as individuals, organizations, or governments, to slow current
human-caused global warming is a step towards slowing biodiversity loss
Promoting Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture is much better for the environment than grazing and
cropping that rely on clearing swathes of forest or field.
Conclusion:
The need for change in our daily lives and the movements of our government is
growing. Because so many different factors come into play; voting, governmental
issues, the desire to stick to routine, many people dont consider that what they do
will affect future generations.
If humans continue moving forward in such a harmful way towards the future,
then there will be no future to consider. Although its true that we cannot physically
stop our ozone layer from thinning (and scientists are still having trouble figuring
out what is causing it exactly,) there are still so many things we can do to try and
put a dent in what we already know. By raising awareness in your local community
and within your families about these issues, you can help contribute to a more
environmentally conscious and friendly place for you to live.