long essay environment

Essay on Environment for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environment.

Essay on Environment – All living things that live on this earth comes under the environment. Whether they live on land or water they are part of the environment. The environment also includes air, water, sunlight, plants, animals, etc.

Moreover, the earth is considered the only planet in the universe that supports life. The environment can be understood as a blanket that keeps life on the planet sage and sound.

Importance of Environment

We truly cannot understand the real worth of the environment. But we can estimate some of its importance that can help us understand its importance. It plays a vital role in keeping living things healthy in the environment.

Likewise, it maintains the ecological balance that will keep check of life on earth. It provides food, shelter, air, and fulfills all the human needs whether big or small.

Moreover, the entire life support of humans depends wholly on the environmental factors. In addition, it also helps in maintaining various life cycles on earth.

Most importantly, our environment is the source of natural beauty and is necessary for maintaining physical and mental health.

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Benefits of the Environment

The environment gives us countless benefits that we can’t repay our entire life. As they are connected with the forest, trees, animals, water, and air. The forest and trees filter the air and absorb harmful gases. Plants purify water, reduce the chances of flood maintain natural balance and many others.

Moreover, the environment keeps a close check on the environment and its functioning, It regulates the vital systems that are essential for the ecosystem. Besides, it maintains the culture and quality of life on earth.

The environment regulates various natural cycles that happen daily. These cycles help in maintaining the natural balance between living things and the environment. Disturbance of these things can ultimately affect the life cycle of humans and other living beings.

The environment has helped us and other living beings to flourish and grow from thousands of years. The environment provides us fertile land, water, air, livestock and many essential things for survival.

Cause of Environmental Degradation

Human activities are the major cause of environmental degradation because most of the activities humans do harm the environment in some way. The activities of humans that causes environmental degradation is pollution, defective environmental policies, chemicals, greenhouse gases, global warming, ozone depletion, etc.

All these affect the environment badly. Besides, these the overuse of natural resources will create a situation in the future there will be no resources for consumption. And the most basic necessity of living air will get so polluted that humans have to use bottled oxygen for breathing.

Above all, increasing human activity is exerting more pressure on the surface of the earth which is causing many disasters in an unnatural form. Also, we are using the natural resources at a pace that within a few years they will vanish from the earth. To conclude, we can say that it is the environment that is keeping us alive. Without the blanket of environment, we won’t be able to survive.

Moreover, the environment’s contribution to life cannot be repaid. Besides, still what the environment has done for us, in return we only have damaged and degraded it.

FAQs about Essay on Environment

Q.1 What is the true meaning of the environment?

A.1 The ecosystem that includes all the plants, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, water bodies, fishes, human beings, trees, microorganisms and many more are part of the environment. Besides, all these constitute the environment.

Q.2 What is the three types of the environment?

A.2 The three types of environment includes the physical, social, and cultural environment. Besides, various scientists have defined different types and numbers of environment.

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Environment Essay | Essay on Environment for Students and Children in English

Environment Essay: The world environment day is celebrated every year on 5th June. The environment represents the living and non-living elements present on the earth. It additionally alludes to a specific topographical region. The plants, air, water, creatures, individuals, and other living things exist in the environment. Climatic interaction, Geomorphic measure, Hydrologic measure are the variables influencing the environment. The Biotic cycle includes living life forms. Living beings are firmly associated with the environment which is known as Ecology.

An environment is a nature that supports our life on the earth. Everything which we feel, inhale, and eat in our life comes from the environment. Like land, plants, water, air, daylight, timberlands, food, waterways, and other common things draw near the environment. In addition, the earth is viewed as the solitary planet known to man that upholds life. The environment can be perceived as a cover that keeps life in the world-wise and sound.

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Short Essay on Environment 300 Words in English

The environment is all the things around us on the earth. What we see, feel, inhale, eat establishes the environment. The trees, the air, the food, the waterways, the streets, the plant life, the pastries, the deforested patches of ground, every one of them goes in close proximity to what we call the environment.

The environment upholds our day-to-day routines and the existences of different species. Also, it is a finished cycle that empowers living conceivable on the earth. The characteristic marvels encompass the endurance of species, there’s a requirement for understanding the environment we are altogether depending on. The natural way of life, the cycle of photosynthesis, and so on are the vital cycles behind the endurance of plants and correspondingly, plants are the purposes for our endurance.

Contamination is about the tainting of the environment we live in, it is likewise the human species that is solid, answerable for causing significant contamination, pollution, and damage to the environment. The manipulative methods of utilizing the assets have caused exhaustion in the accessibility of the assets. The supreme illustration of the equivalent is existing and going to be a significant water emergency.

The smoke from production lines, vehicles, cars, and so on becomes a significant explanation for air contamination. Also, diseases like commotion contamination, water contamination, a dangerous atmospheric deviation, ozone consumption, water spills, and so on have become exceptionally urgent at this point.

There is a requirement for getting the message out about the mischief the environment is going through. The laws on environmental care ought to be stringently carried out as well. The utilization of poisonous plastics ought to be cut, individuals ought to partake more in planting trees and seeing to it that the environment stays spotless and sterile around. Indeed, even Mahatma Gandhi would dream of a contamination-free, foulness-free India.

Long Essay on Environment

It is vital to comprehend that the environment will be environment, tidiness, contamination and the absolute amount of the tree. Which is straightforwardly identified with our everyday life and influences it. Because of logical advancement, the quantity of plants, industrial facilities, and vehicles has expanded so much that these days ecological issues have emerged.

People and the environment are subject to one another. In the event that there is a slight change in our environment, its immediate impact begins showing up on our bodies. Assuming the virus is more, we get cold. However, on the off chance that the warmth is more, we can’t bear it.

The environment is the regular habitat that assists with developing, feeding and annihilating the earth. The regular habitat assumes an incredible part in the presence of life on Earth and it helps in creating people, creatures, and other living things. Individuals are influencing their current circumstances with a portion of their negative quirks and exercises.

What is the Environment?

Environment alludes to the environment around us and the components contained in it and the living creatures in it. We incorporate air, land, water, creatures, birds, plants, and so forth surrounding us in our current circumstances. The manner in which we are influenced by our current circumstance, the manner in which our current circumstance is influenced by the demonstrations we do.

The trees cut down for the wood are finishing the backwoods and the finish of the woodlands is influencing the existence of the animals living in the timberland. Numerous types of creatures have become wiped out and numerous species are very nearly extinct. Today, it is exceptionally normal for lions or cheetahs to enter the town and damage individuals living there.

Yet, for what reason is this event? This is going on the grounds that we have removed their home from these animals and now these creatures are compelled to move towards towns and urban areas and are hurting people for their living. environment implies the environment around us as well as our social and conduct environment. Every one of the components which influence humans is remembered for the environment, social, social, affordable, organic and physical.

Reasons for Environmental Pollution

There are numerous explanations behind natural contamination which influences our current circumstance without a doubt. Deposits from man-caused production lines contaminate our current circumstance. Yet, it is likewise unrealistic that in this race of advancement, we ought to disregard our improvement to ensure our current circumstances.

We can save our current circumstance from pollution by remembering a couple of things. The fireplaces of the manufacturing plants are low, because of which the smoke radiating from them spreads to the environment around us. In the present time, the house doesn’t have many individuals as there are more vehicles. The small kid of the house additionally prefers to drive at the spot of the bike.

Smoke and harmful gases emerging from plants, production lines, and business regions have made ecological issues. There is a lot of smoke and harmful gas emerging from transports, charges, trucks, siphons, because of which the issue of contamination is getting more genuine.

Sewer soil gets stirred up in the water of the streaming waterways so that the drinking water of people and creatures gets grimy because of which both become casualties of shortcoming, illness, and genuine infections. Inhabitants of ghettos in large urban areas have made this issue truly.

Urbanization and modernization are significant reasons for ecological contamination. It has gotten normal for people to disregard the environment for their own convenience. Man has been chopping down trees without considering anything, however, he doesn’t believe that we get air from these trees to carry on with life.

Expanding the populace is an extremely significant reason for contamination in our current circumstances. The issue of living and eating in a country where the populace is persistently expanding is additionally expanding. Man doesn’t offer significance to the environment for his conveniences, however, he fails to remember that without the environment, his solace is just for quite a while.

Preventive Measures to Save Environment

The environment wherein we live is getting progressively tainted. We need to keep up and secure our current circumstances appropriately. In our country, the custom of ecological assurance has been continuing for a long time. Our predecessors have ensured them by thinking about different animals as riding divine beings and goddesses in different trees.

Natural assurance is an interaction of improving the connection between people and the environment that has two purposes. The first is the administration of exercises that cause harm to the environment. Second, to make the way of life of the individual predictable with the characteristic arrangement of the environment, so the nature of the environment can be kept up.

Smoke and substances from plants ought to be discarded appropriately. Diagnosing the issue of contamination and foulness is particularly expected to ensure our current circumstance. Plants ought to be introduced in all plants, industrial facilities, and business regions to control contamination.

Smoke and harmful gases should be ousted straightforwardly into the sky through these plants. There ought to be an appropriate course of action for the support of transports, vehicles, trucks, bikes in huge urban areas and normal checking of them ought to likewise be finished. Green plants ought to be planted and large trees ought to be ensured.

Boisterous clamors ought to be restricted and controlled for quiet living. All men, ladies, and youngsters should give their full help to secure the environment. There ought to be an arrangement of severe laws for the removal of poisonous and risky squanders. Public mindfulness ought to be made for the best utilization of assets.

There ought to be less utilization of compound pesticides in horticulture. Backwoods the board should build wood regions. Prior to beginning the advancement designs, their effect on the environment ought to be surveyed. The man should attempt to decrease this issue with his endeavors.

Industrial facilities that have been set up can’t be set up at different spots, yet now the public authority should take care that any new processing plants that are open ought to be away from the city. The contamination brought about by plants ought not influence individuals of the city. The man should attempt to diminish the contamination brought about without anyone else.

Vehicles ought to be utilized as little as could be expected. This issue can likewise be diminished by utilizing public vehicles. Endeavors ought to be made by our researchers to control the smoke. The felling of woods ought to be seriously rebuffed and new trees ought to be planted.

Governments have likewise passed a few laws to ensure the environment is safe. A Ministry is working for the insurance of the environment under the Central Government. For the arrangement of this issue, public help can end up being useful and valuable. The absence of improvement and advancement measures likewise presents difficulties. The quest for a more reasonable future may just be significant with regards to an extremely incredible endeavor to wipe out the improvement of methods for the end.

FAQ’s on Environment Essay

Question 1. How to write an environmental essay?

Answer: Start with an introduction, define the environment, factors causing environmental pollution, how to protect the environment, preventive measures are taken by the government, conclusion.

Question 2. What is the meaning of environment?

Answer: The biological system that incorporates every one of the plants, creatures, birds, reptiles, bugs, water bodies, fishes, people, trees, microorganisms, and a lot more are essential for the climate. Moreover, all these establish the environment.

Question 3. What is the importance of the environment?

Answer: Environment assumes a significant part in solid living and the presence of life on planet earth. Earth is a permanent place to stay for various living species and we as a whole are subject to the climate for food, air, water, and different necessities. Accordingly, it is significant for each person to save and ensure our current circumstances.

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Essay on Save Environment

Updated on
Apr 24, 2020

Essay writing is an important part of the school curriculum, competitive exams like GRE , IELTS , TOEFL , etc. and higher education as well. One must know how to precisely select arguments, collect the data based on them and put it all together in their write-up. Usually, the essay topics given to students are based on the latest political, social and environmental issues. Due to the changes occurring in our surroundings, essays based on saving the Environment are becoming very popular. Keeping that in mind, this blog presents you some sample essays on Save Environment.

Sample Essay 1 on Save Environment

This essay on save environment can help you in the PTE Writing Essay, TOEFL Essay Topics and TOEFL Sample Essays !

Sample Essay 2

Sample essay 3 on save environment.

[Bonus] Apart from these sample essays on Save Environment, check out other trending topics for essay writing!

We hope our sample essay on Save Environment have given you some great ideas. If you are preparing for exams like GMAT, GRE, IELTS or SAT and need guidance for the writing session? Book you one on one session with Leverage Edu experts to get a divisive strategy and preparation tips to crack these examinations!

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612 Environment Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for interesting environment essay topics? This field is really exciting and worth studying!

🏆 Best Environment Essay Examples & Topics

👍 interesting environment topic ideas, 🎓 simple & easy environment essay titles, 🥇 easy environment essay topics, 📌 more topics on environment, 💡 good research topics about environment, ❓ environment essay questions.

Environment study field includes the issues of air, soil, and water pollution in the world, environment conservation, global climate change, urban ecology, and much more. In this article, we’ve gathered interesting environmental topics to write about. You might want to use one of them for your argumentative or persuasive essay, research paper, and presentation. There is also a number of great environment essay examples.

Human Impact on Environment Another important action we perform to improve the situation with water is avoiding water pollution. It helps to keep the healthy and to reduce water pollution.
Protecting the Environment Protecting the environment is the act of taking care of natural resources and using them rationally to prevent annihilation and pollution.
Mining and Its Impact on the Environment The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the effects of mining on the environment. This approach is sustainable and capable of reducing the dangers of mining.
The Effect of Technology on the Environment At the present moment, humankind has to resolve one of the most complicated dilemmas in its history, in particular how to achieve equilibrium between the needs of people or and the risks to the Earth.
Electric Car and the Environment Other factors that contributed to the rise in demand of electric cars included a rise in oil prices and the need to conserve the environment by controlling the rate of greenhouse gas emission. One of […]
Impact of Science and Technology on the Natural Environment He “is constantly aware of the influence of nature in the form of the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the food he eats, and the flow of energy and information”.
Solution to Environmental Problems Environmental problems can therefore, be defined as the issues that result to the degradation of the environment because of the negative actions of human beings on the biophysical environment.
Human Behavior Effects on the Environment However, while some people are doing all they can to protect the environment, some are participating in activities that cause harm to the environment.
Plastic vs Paper Bags: Production and Environment Though the production of plastic bags is frequently banned nowadays because of considerable harm to the animal world and marine life, the effects of this product on people and the environment seem to be less […]
Impacts of Overpopulation on the Environment Other primary causes of deforestation are construction of roads and residential houses to cater for the increasing population. As the natural habitats are destroyed, many wildlife species have been displaced and many died due to […]
Environmental Concerns in the Modern World Loss of biodiversity which is the decrease of species in ecosystems is also among the major concern faced by human race.
Overcrowding in Cities as Social & Environmental Problem Uncontrolled growth in the number of cities leads to the unchecked spread of pollution and the escalation of poverty. Atmospheric pollution is the most serious in cities, and its primary source is road transport, which […]
The Concept of Environmental Ethics Environmental ethics is concerned with the ethical relationship of human beings with the environment. Human beings must relate ethically with all other living organisms.
Climate Change: Human Impact on the Environment This paper is an in-depth exploration of the effects that human activities have had on the environment, and the way the same is captured in the movie, The Eleventh Hour.
Bakhoor as a Harmful Incense for Health and Environment In this study, the researcher will conduct a scientific investigation to determine if, indeed, the use of Bahkoor in the United Arab Emirates is harmful to the environment.
Globalization and Environment Essay While this is the case, citizens equally have a role to play in addressing the issue of globalization and climate change.
Urbanization and the Environment Due to urbanization, the number, the size, the kind and the compactness of cities, in addition to the effectiveness of their management of the environment are major concerns for attainment of the international sustainability.
Humanity and the Environment Many key factors affect the relationship between population and the environment within a particular region, including the number of inhabitants, their living standards and needs, technological advancements, the population’s attitude and philosophy towards nature, and […]
Panama Canal and Its Environmental Impacts The construction of the Panama Canal has profound local environmental impacts which are based on socio-political management of the project that has demonstrated the infrastructural and ecological interdependence of its service as a global transportation […]
Mining and Environment in Papua New Guinea In line with this commitment, the company implemented some of its strategies as indicated in the 2017 report on its operations in Chile.
Food Production and The Environment So all aspects of production – the cultivation and collection of plants, the maintenance of animals, the processing of products, their packaging, and transportation, affect the environment.
Environment and Human Attitude Towards It Although the issue of attitude towards the environment can address most of the predicaments affecting humanity today, there are various actions and initiatives that can be undertaken to transform the situation and reduce people’s ecological […]
Overconsumption and Its Impact on the Environment The purpose is to examine the statement’s applicability in light of global mineral production and consumption, emphasizing the Canadian resource industry.
E-Waste Management for the Local Environment The negative consequence of poor e-waste management, such as poor e-waste disposal, might cue the thoughts of the locals on the need to improve on their environmental awareness, thus joining the local environmental organization proposed.
Environmental Abuse and Its Adverse Effects The poor are often the most affected by environmental abuse, as they are the least able to protect themselves from the harmful effects of pollution and other environmental hazards.
Environmental Impact of Bottled Water The process of manufacturing the water bottles, such as the dependence on fossil fuels, is causing a lot of direct as well indirect destructing to the environment.
The Effect of Plastic Water Bottles on the Environment In addition, the proponents of plastic use have argued that recycling is an effective method of mitigating the effects of plastic to the environment.
Tourism – Environment Relationships Relationship between tourism and the environment There is a great dependency of tourism on the environment as described by Holden and Fennel’s book The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Environment.
Plastic Reusable Bags for Green Environment Studies have also shown that the production process of these bags does less harm to the environment as compared to plastic or paper bags.
Food Contamination and Adulteration: Environmental Problems, Food Habits, Way of Cultivation The purpose of this essay is to explain reasons for different kinds of food contamination and adulteration, harmful contaminants and adulterants and the diseases caused by the usage of those substances, prevention of food contamination […]
Human Population and the Environment The fertility rate of a given species will depend on the life history characteristics of the species such as the number of reproductive periods in the lifetime of the species and the number of offspring […]
A Role of Human Beings in Protecting the Environment This attitude would be informed by the notion that humans are engaging in actions intended to transform the planet and the natural environment in order to suit them.
Role of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Development of Sustainable Environmental Initiatives 1 The questions that currently ringer in people’s mind include why the NGOs are increasingly participating in environmental conservation projects, whether their initiatives are different from those they initiated in the past, and what exactly […]
Human Impact to the Environment – Cuba Deforestation Issue One of the most significant aspects during the political eras in the nation that characterized the political development was the fluctuation in deforestation.
Environmental Health Factors: Positive & Negative Additionally, it will expound on the impacts of nutrition, globalization, and observance of human rights to an individual’s health. Some of the positive environmental factors include adequate sources of nutrition, availability of safe water, presence […]
Environmental Assessment – Environmental Management Systems Additionally, a good EMS is usually structured in a manner that allows the identification of the impact of the organization on the environment.
Green Buildings and Environmental Sustainability This paper scrutinizes the characteristics that need to be possessed by a building for it to qualify as green coupled with questioning the capacity of the green movements across the globe to prescribe the construction […]
Importance of Recycling in Conservation of the Environment This piece of work looks at the different aspects associated with the process of recycling with much emphasis being given to the history of recycling and the facts associated with recycling process.
Environmental Pollution: Causes and Solutions The consequences that have risen as a result of neglecting to take care of the environment have now become a reality to the whole of mankind.
E-Waste Management in the School Environment Recycling Recycling is one of the best ways of managing e-waste in the school. Specifically, the school should roll out a comprehensive campaign on the need to dump the e-wastes in these bins.
Disney’s Representations of Nature At the end of the films, man’s relation to nature shows a strong sense of commitment to conservation. It is the swamp which ultimately leads Snow White to a teeming life of the forest.
Network Organizations and Environmental Processes The contractor has the right to coordinate the work of the partners and determines the basic requirements for the fulfillment of the tasks set, but the individual characteristics of partners’ activities remain inviolable.
Poverty and the Environment The human population affects the environment negatively due to poverty resulting to environmental degradation and a cycle of poverty. Poverty and the environment are interlinked as poverty leads to degradation of the environment.
Is Recycling Good for the Environment? Recycling is good for the environment and should be included in the daily routine of any person that cares about the planet and the future of our children.
Negative Impact on the Environment The fact that human activity and industrial development negatively affect the environment is not debated because the sad reality shows that oceans, soil, and air are polluted, and many species are endangered. Overall, the main […]
Construction Solutions in Saline Environment The researcher concluded that, indeed, salinity is one of the major causes of concrete disintegration and reduces the durability of buildings in saline environments.
Technology Impact on Society and Environment It is possible to think of a variety of effects of technology. Availability of food also adds to the increase of people’s lifespan.
Environmental Pollution: Causes and Consequences The essay will provide an overview of pollution and proffer solutions to combating pollution for a sustainable environment and health. Preventing pollution lowers the cost to the environment and the economy.
The Nestle Company’s Environmental Sustainability Efforts What I like about Nestle’s environmental sustainability efforts: Nestle’s environmental sustainability efforts are concise and clear towards the company’s sustainability plans, that is, clear goals and objectives which are time bound. The company’s sustainability efforts […]
Fog and Its Effects on the Environment Depending on where and how the cooling effect takes place, the appearance and lasting duration of fog are affected and using this scientists have been able to categorize fog into various groups namely steaming fog, […]
Wood and Its Importance for Environment Support Despite the intentions to use wood in a variety of ways without thinking about consequences, wood has to be considered as a helpful natural resource with many positive impacts on the environment, human health, and […]
Importance of Environmental Studies for Society It is upon the people to take care of the planet and understanding how human activities affect the environment is a critical step in that process.
The Impact of Food Habits on the Environment The topic of this research is based on the issue of human-induced pollution or another environmental impact that affect the Earth and dietary approaches that can improve the situation.
Environmental Initiative: Reducing Plastic Waste In this presentation, it has been proposed to reduce the use of plastic products despite their wide popularity.
Environmental Pollution and Its Effect on Health In climate change, due to air pollution, the main force to prevent environmental disasters need to change the approach to the production of substances from fossil fuels.
The Role of Man in Environment Degradation and Diseases The link between environmental degradation and human beings explains the consequences of the same in relation to the emergence of modern-age diseases.
Relationship Between Population and the Environment The results revealed after the statistical analysis was performed that there is a negative relationship between the population increase and the emissions of carbon dioxide in the case of developed countries while on the other […]
Environmental Pollution in the Petroleum Industry At the same time, it threatens nature and creates many long-term issues related to pollution of air, soil, water, the weakening of the ozone layer, and the facilitation of the greenhouse gas effect.
Importance of Environmental Conservation for Public Health The research study has also recommended the conservation of tropical forests so that the broad diversity of natural plant species can be beneficial in the management of public health.
Wireless Power Transmission Implication for the Environment Designing the coils would form the trickiest task, since they have to be adjusted to the right frequency relying on the distance of the wire, the amount of loops in the wire and the capacitor.
Environment: Endangered Species Global warming also increases the risk of storms and drought, affecting food supply, which may cause death to both humans and animals.
The Importance of Saving the Environment Toxins and contaminants pollute the environment and consequently interfere with the health of man and other animals. In other words, the future is guaranteed if the environment can be safeguarded and preserved at the current […]
Impact of Emirates Airlines’ Operations on the Environment This makes it difficult for Emirates to develop policies that can have a direct influence on the environmental performance of the aircrafts.
Ensuring Healthy and Clean Environment: Importance of Recycling Ensuring that we have air to breathe, water to drink and that we do not create a planet which becomes the very cause for the end of the human race.
Environmental Risk, Risk Management, and Risk Assessment The estimation of the possible consequences includes presence of the hazard, the possibility of the receptors getting affected by the hazard and the consequential damage from exposure to the hazard.
Tourism and Environment In order to address the impacts of tourism on the environment, there is need to discuss how to replace the income that may be lost by implementing these measures. Environmental conservation in tourism is responsible […]
Endangered Species: Modern Environmental Problem Some of the activities which cause danger to these species include the following; This refers to loss of a place to live for the animals and can also be expressed as the ecosystem or the […]
Hairy Frog’s Adaptations and Environment It releases the claw by contracting the muscles in its rear feet and causing the claw to appear by piercing the frog’s skin.
Environmental Impact of Medical Wastes These inconsistencies are present in the Federal guidelines laid down by the States with regards to the definition of medical waste and the management options available for handling, transporting, treating and disposing medical waste.
Fast Fashion’s Negative Impact on the Environment And this is the constant increase in production capacity, the low quality of the product, and the use of the labor of the population of developing countries.
A Study of the Brine Shrimps and Their Natural Environment Brine shrimps can be used as environmental indicators and this is because one of the fundamental requirements in the breeding them is a salty environment.
Influence of Car Emissions on the Environment Emissions from cars are also damaging to the environment, destroying the surrounding through adding to the green house effect damaging the quality of the air as well as depleting the ozone.
Anthropocene and Human Impact on Environment While the exaggeration of the issue, as well as misinterpretation of some facts and conclusions, indeed take place, the conclusion drawn by the deniers is wrong and simply aligns the bias in the opposite direction, […]
Human Behavioral Effects on Environment Environmental cues shape human behaviors because they make people perceive a certain environment in a given way and behavior in a manner that fits that environment. In addition, environmental cues may force people to change […]
Application of Geography (GIS) in Biotechnology in Field of Agriculture and Environment According to Wyland, “the ability of GIS to analyze and visualize agricultural environments and work flows has proved to be very beneficial to those involved in the farming industry”.
Environmental Impacts and Solutions: Solid Waste The objective of solid waste management is to reduce the amount of solid waste disposed on land and lead to the recovery of material from solid waste through various recycling efforts.
Environmental Factors in the Emergence of the Egyptian Civilization Importantly, the physical composition of the land and natural resources alongside artifacts of ancient Egypt had a substantial impact on the country’s growth and development.
Environmental Protection and Waste Management The analysis also focuses on the intellectual behaviour of people regarding the environmental effects of waste. There is lack of strong basis for scientific findings and current guidance is causing the environmental challenges to become […]
Sea Foods in the Environment Protection Context Further, the purpose of the website is to give information that seeks to reward the efforts of people who protect and safeguard the ocean and seafood supplies such as lobsters.
Organic Food Is Not a Cure for Environmental and Health Issues For instance, the same group of scientists claims that the moderate use of pesticides in organic agriculture is particularly important to consider while purchasing food.
The Aral Sea’s Environmental Issues Prior to its destruction, the Sea was one of the biggest water bodies, rich in different species of flora and fauna; a case that is opposite today, as the sea is almost becoming extinct.
Greenbelts as a Toronto’ Environmental Planning Tool This report takes the case of the Toronto Greenbelt to explore the topic by highlighting the effects of the project on the general environment.
Are Electric Vehicles Better for the Environment? This article reviews and evaluates the energy efficiency and environmental impact of electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries. Electric cars meet these requirements and provide opportunities for people to create transport that is safe for the […]
Environmental Crisis: People’s Relationship With Nature It is apparent that people have strived to steer off the blame for the environmental crisis that the world is facing, but they are the primary instigators of the problem.
Technology’s Role in Environmental Protection: The Ocean Cleanup Proponents of The Ocean Cleanup technology emphasize the fact that the devices have the capacity to effectively address oceanic plastic pollution.
Social, Economic and Environmental Challenges of Urbanization in Lagos However, the city’s rapid economic growth has led to high population density due to urbanization, creating social, economic, and environmental challenges the challenges include poverty, unemployment, sanitation, poor and inadequate transport infrastructure, congestion in the […]
Environmental Policy Recommendation Furthermore, the policymakers need to be fully supported by the relevant agencies such as the ministry of environment to eliminate the existing and the projected obstacles that will prevent the full implementation of renewable energy […]
McDonald’s: Human Rights and Environmental Sustainability Core values of the company One of the core values of the company is the respect for the fundamental rights of human beings.
Carbon Taxes in Environmental Protection In addition, application of the strategy extends to the use of fuels and the amount of carbon emitted in the process of production.
Urbanization and Environment The resources can be identified through the acquisition of knowledge about the environmental conditions of the areas in which urban development is expected to take place.
Expanding Oil Refinery: Environmental and Health Effects Thus, this analytical treatise attempts to explicitly discuss the environmental and health consequences of locating the proposed oil refinery near the human settlement of Utah. Therefore, refinery of oil and production of gases is expected […]
Does Recycling Harm the Environment? Recycling is the activity that causes the most damage to the environment. Summarizing the above, it is necessary to state that waste recycling has a negative connotation in relation to nature and the environment.
Environmental Issues, Psychology, and Economics This is the basis of the dynamic interaction between man and the environment. The learning process is primarily determined by the conformity or inconsistency of the environment of such activities.
Environmental Issues of Rwanda Extensive farming, as well as animal husbandry, is a common phenomenon in the country, hence leading to serious environmental degradation on the land. Deteriorating quality of water and extinction threat to wetlands in the country […]
The Roles of Environmental Protection Agencies As a personal response to the argument; the individual’s involvement in environmental conservation is not enough as there is need for policy and regulation enforcement where he can only give advice to the federal government […]
Environmental Impact of Livestock Production The implications of the article were concerned with the need to bring the attention of the public to the issue that the livestock sector requires the use of a large number of natural resources while […]
Overpopulation Effects on the Environment In comparison to the population in 2000, the population in 2050 is predicted to rise by 47 percent. The aim of this research is to describe the effects of overpopulation on land, air, and food […]
Whaling as Unethical Environmental Problem In this regard, the flow of energy and the biological pump of marine life depend on the whales’ survival. Some of the species like the blue whale play a crucial role in regulating the population […]
Human Interaction With the Surrounding Environment However, this paper tries to explain the meaning of environmental psychology with the help of two principal theories; the Learning Theory and the Motivational Theory.
Environmental Issues in Asia This paper is going to have a look at the key environmental issues in Asian countries as well as the policies put in place by various agencies to address the issues.
Moral Obligations in Environment Synergy between the four components of the environment is crucial to the stability of the environment. In this regard, the lack of moral obligation in human beings when interacting with land amounts to a violation […]
Their Benefits Aside, Human Diets Are Polluting the Environment and Sending Animals to Extinction The fact that the environment and the entire ecosystem have been left unstable in the recent times is in no doubt.
Urban Sprawl and Environmental and Social Problems The concept of immense use of automobiles, which goes hand in hand with increase in the number and size of cities, is well known as urban sprawl and motorization.
The Impact of Green Energy on Environment and Sustainable Development Traditional methods of receiving the necessary amount of power for meeting the needs of the developed cites and industries cannot be discussed as efficient according to the threat of the environmental pollution which is the […]
Tundra Biome: Environmental Impacts on Organisms The major difference between the alpine and the arctic tundra is that the alpine grounds are not covered by the permafrost.
Environmental Impacts of Tourism The sphere of tourism is reliant on the environment of the sites in which the visitors are interested. The industry of invasive tourism continues to grow people are becoming more and more interested in traveling […]
Historical Relationship of the Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos and How It Is Changing the Environment To begin with, the hunting practices of this native group, as well as the invasion of the European into their land, led to a great decline in the herds of the white-tailed deer in the […]
Environmental Science: Smart Water Management Among the essential elements in human life is water, which is required for maintaining the water balance in the body and for cleanliness, as well as for many economic sectors, from agriculture to metallurgy.
The Introduction of Environmental Legislation Governments in Australia and all over the world try to protect the environmental damage through the introduction of environment-related laws and regulations. In Australia, the State, Commonwealth, and the local governments introduce and administers legislation […]
The National Environmental Policy Act The applicant then pays fee that covers the cost of processing or reviewing the permit and the cost of ensuring the company’s compliance with the conditions set out in the permit.
Environmental Law: History, Sources, Treaties and Setbacks The need to protect organisms in the environment, to preserve the environment as well as make the environment safe for the habitation of both human beings and other living organisms has led to the institution […]
Geographical Information System (GIS) in Environmental Impact Assessment Indeed, systems design is a critical stage that contributes to the feasibility of GIS in the project and eventually the capability of the project to mitigate flood hazards.
Human Impacts on the Environment In certain areas, this was a benefit for the land and the soil, as it gave the soil a chance to rejuvenate itself.
Sustainability and Human Impact on Environment Sustainability entails the analysis of ecosystem functioning, diversity, and role in the balance of life. It is the consideration of how humanity can exploit the natural world for sustenance without affecting its ability to meet […]
Green Marketing and Environment It will also explore green marketing techniques used for the promotion of the product. In this regard, it saves the world from unwanted wastes that pollute the environment and are difficult to decompose.
Kuwait’s Desert Pollution Obviously, the given problem might seem not that important if to observe the general environmental situation of the country, which is extremely close to that of the environmental catastrophe, but as an ordinary citizen, who […]
Population Growth and Its Impacts on the Environment High population growth is destructive to the society and the environment. In the US and Germany, the rate of population growth is estimated to be 0.
Impact of Full Moon Party on Environment The disreputable occasion in Thailand that attracts millions of tourists around the globe is known as the Full Moon Party. According to Uysal and Williams, the full moon party has shocking and direct effects on […]
Analysis of Culture and Environmental Problems Even in the desire to care for the environment, there is clear mechanization, obedience to instructions, and a complete denial of any other way of helping.
Environmental Law in New South Wales The most important aspect of environmental protection is the use of laws, which define the interaction between human beings and the natural environment.
Environmental Perils: Climate Change Issue Many people have been lamenting over the issue of the climate crisis, For instance, Mindy Lubber, a former regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, delivered a speech in October 2008 at a […]
Social and Eco-Entrepreneurship for Environment Social entrepreneurship is a field that deals with the recognition of social problems in society and using entrepreneurial concepts, operations, and processes to achieve a social change.
Animal Testing and Environmental Protection While the proponents of animal use in research argued that the sacrifice of animals’ lives is crucial for advancing the sphere of medicine, the argument this essay will defend relates to the availability of modern […]
Human-Environment Interdependence The problem of the environment change and the attitude of people to their own culture remains one of the most curious and urgent problems of modern time.
America’s Major Environmental Challenges The government has to acknowledge that the US and the international community still require fossil fuels and therefore regulation procedures as well as policies governing new technologies like coal-to-liquids conversion plants have to be reviewed […]
Approaches to the Environmental Ethics The ethical approach Victor expresses is the one that humanity has used for centuries, which made the planet convenient for people, but it also led to the gradual destruction of the environment. The benefit of […]
Environment in the Novel “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn The arguments made by the gorilla have enabled me to understand that humankind should not be separated and categorized as superior to the rest of living organisms.
Eating Habits and Environmental Worldviews The prioritization of organic food will be a significant contribution to sustainable food consumption with potential benefits in the long-term perspective of the planet and nature.
Air Cargo Impact on the Environment Consequently, the intensity of emissions by air cargo is less than that of other forms of transport such as road and ship.
Environmental Factors and Health Promotion: Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution This presentation offers some information about the damage of air pollution and presents a health promotion plan with helpful resources and evidence from research.
Food Web and Impact of Environmental Degradation In the course of this paper, ‘conservation’ refers to the preservation of natural resources that are, in any way, involved in the functioning of the food web.
The Genus Rosa’s Adaptation to the Environment Alternative hypothesis: The abundance and distribution of stomata, storage, transport, and floral structures have a substantial influence on the adaptation of the genus Rosa to its environment.
Business Obligations With Respect to Environment The analysis focuses on the ethical concerns faced by Virgin Blue Holdings which is one of the major airline company’s in Australia, and how the management deals with these issues within the environmental setup.
Environmental Microbiology Overview When managed properly in accordance with the five principles of good management, they provide a number of benefits that include: Detoxification of wastewater Capturing renewable resources such as energy and water Sensing pathogens in the […]
Australian Fires and Their Environmental Impact Mass fires continued for almost six months on the territory of the country, which destroyed the region, commensurate with the area of some European countries. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the consequences […]
Fish Farming Impacts on the Environment To begin with, according to Abel and Robert, fish farming has been generalized to have adverse effects on the environment, which ranges from the obliteration of the coastal habitats which are sensitive in the environment, […]
Papua New Guinea Environmental Analysis The following report aims at determining the suitability of Papua New Guinea as a target market for introducing our product environmental measuring equipment for monitoring and logging the quality of water in waterways around the […]
Natural Resources and the Environment For example, the use of natural gas, oil, and coal leads to the production of carbon dioxide, which pollutes the environment.
Environmental Impacts of Cruise Tourism Many societies, nations, and communities have embraced the concept of sustainable tourism in order to benefit the most from it. The authors of the above article focused on the issue of cruise tourism.
Environmental Problem of the Ok Tedi Copper Mine In this case, the agreement achieved by the BHP and the government of Papua New Guinea cannot be discussed as ethically appropriate and effective because the decision to continue operations without the significant changes in […]
Environmental Sustainability Audit: The Oman Environmental Services Holding Company The government used to handle the task of waste management in the Sultanate but with the establishment and legalization of Be’ah, the task of such is delegated to the said company.
Importance of Environment Schlosberg believes that all the terms has only led to confusion with little help, he says “Yet all of these developments in justice theory, very little has been applied in environmental justice movement”.
Environmental and Global Health Issues: Measles Measles is among the most contagious disease in the world and is highly frequent and densely distributed in poor developing nations of Africa and Asia.
Natural Storms and Environmental Studies Hurricanes are more violent than thunderstorms and tornadoes because of their violent nature and the fact that they can last for several weeks. Ethanol is one of the many alternative fuels that are produced from […]
Packaging and Protection of Finished Goods and the Environment Moreover, the paper views what concerns the problem creates and identifies preventive measures so as to contribute to the development of safety in the environment and society.
Microbial-Environmental Interactions in HIV & AIDS The virus manifests in two subtypes, HIV-1 and HIV-2, and the severity of infection depends on the type of viral attack.
Environmental Sustainability on a Global Scale Compared to the world at the beginning of the 21st century, it required perceptional changes toward nature, biodiversity, and ecosystems, as well as reforms in agriculture and management of water, energy, and waste.
Industrial Meat Business and Environmental Issues According to Goodman, it is essential to consider the ethical implications of our food choices and their impact on animals, the environment, and society. By choosing to consume meat, individuals are complicit in the perpetuation […]
The Environmental Impacts of Exploratory Drilling Overall, the purpose of this report is to identify the environmental impacts of exploratory drilling, the financial benefits of this activity, and the relevant political regulations.
Globalization in the Environmental Sphere To date, the problem of globalization is relevant, and with it the question of the impact of globalization on the environmental sphere is also of great interest.
Climate Change, Economy, and Environment Central to the sociological approach to climate change is studying the relationship between the economy and the environment. Another critical area of sociologists ‘ attention is the relationship between inequality and the environment.
Participatory Action Research on Canada’s Environment This discussion shows that a nationwide recycling PAR is required to combat worries about people’s lack of interest in environmental stewardship to preserve the environment.
Global Climate Change and Environmental Conservation There may be a significantly lesser possibility that skeptics will acknowledge the facts and implications of climate change, which may result in a lower desire on their part to adopt adaptation. The climate of Minnesota […]
Mining in Canada and Its Environmental Impact The following critique of the article analyzes the author and his qualifications and looks at the article to establish its relevance and quality of research.
Eco Businesses’ Effect on the Environment Businesses that aim to make a social impact and positively influence the stability of the environment affect people and their minds.
Environmental Pollution and Human Health The effects of sprawl on health workers are discussed in the article by Pohanka. It is similarly essential to take social justice and fairness into account because the effects of sprawl on population health are […]
Consumer Relationship With Pro-Environmental Apparel Brands The paper has presented a questionnaire to understand how consumers’ intention to buy from a pro-environmental brand is impacted by their knowledge of the effect of apparel and their overall skepticism toward climate change.
An Environmental Communicator Profile The Environmental Defense Fund is an organization working to create awareness, research and resources to the effort of safeguarding the planet. In particular, much of the messaging is designed to encourage local action and the […]
Water Pollution as a Crime Against the Environment In particular, water pollution is a widespread crime against the environment, even though it is a severe felony that can result in harm to many people and vast territories.
Human Activity: Impact on the Environment The evaluation is based on the principle that the human impact on the environment can be measured by the amount of land and resources required to support a particular lifestyle or activity.
Genetic and Environmental Impact of the Chornobyl Disaster
Risk Factor Analysis and Environmental Sustainability
Negative Environmental Impacts and Solutions
Environmental Ethics of Pesticide Usage in Agriculture
Carbon Offsets: Combatting Environmental Pollution
The Formation of the Environmental Protection Agency
Protecting the Environment Against Climate Change
Environmental Pollution: Waste Landfilling and Open Dumping
Thermodynamics: Application to Environmental Issues
How Bottles Pollute the Environment
Environmental Problems in China and Japan
Exploring Environmental Issues: Marine Ecotourism
Influence of Technology on Environmental Concerns
Environmental Legislation in Texas
Middle East and North Africa Region: Environmental Management
Is Humanity Already Paying for Environmental Damage?
Environmental Injustice Impeding Health and Happiness
Environmental Impact of Wind Farms and Fracking
The Dangers of Global Warming: Environmental and Economic Collapse
The Effects of Gold Mining in the Amazons on the Environment and the Population
Environmental Racism: The Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan
Environmental Justice: Pollution
Environmental Illnesses and Prevention Measures
Environmental Psychology: The Impact of Interior Spaces on Childhood Development
Deforestation Impact on Environment and Human
Market-Based Approaches to Environmental Law
Social and Environmental Problems in Oakland and Detroit
Coates Chemicals: Environmental, Sustainability, and Safety
Environmental and Ethical Problems
Environmental Feedback Loop and Ecological Systems
A Corporation’s Duties to the Environment
Demography, Urbanization and Environment
How to Fight Environmental Imbalances
Environmental Impacts During Pregnancy
Attaining Sustainability in the Environment
Achieving Environmental Sustainability
Pesticide Resistance for Environment and Health
Environmental Protection: Pollution and Fossil Fuels
Environmental Anthropology and Human Survival at The Arctic Biome
Environmental Problems: Care of the Planet
E- Commerce and the Environment
Intermodal Transportation Impacts on Environment
Cats’ and Dogs’ Influences on the Environment and the Ecosystem
Is Tap Water Better and Safer for People and the Environment Than Bottled Water?
Nutrition and Its Impact on the Environment
Environmental Impact Assessment as a Tool of Environmental Justice
Australia’s State of the Environment
Environmental Policy’s Impact on Economic Growth
Business Ethics in Decisions About the Environment
Marine Environment Protection and Management in the Shipping Industry
Environment: Miami Area Analysis
Agriculture: Environmental, Economic, and Social Aspects
Toxicity of Mercury: Environmental Health
The Impact of the Food Industry on the Environment
The Impact of Atmospheric Pollution on Human Health and the Environment
Science and the Environment: Plastics and Microplastics
Impact of the Exxon Valdez Spill on the Environment
Aeon Company and Environmental Safety
Impending Environmental Disaster in Van Camp’s “Lying in Bed Together”
Resolution of International Disputes Related to Environmental Practices
Environment and the Challenges of Global Governance
Reducing Personal Impact on the Environment
Coal Usage – The Effects on Environment and Human Health
Ancient Egypt: Geography and Environment
Environmental and Genetic Factors That Influence Health
Limits on Urban Sprawl. Environmental Science
Geography and Environmental Features of Machu Picchu
The Green New Deal: An Environmental Project
Climate Change: Causes, Impact on People and the Environment
Restorative Environmental Justice and Its Interpretation
The United Nations Environmental Program and Sustainable Development Goals
Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction
The Go-Green Programs: Saving the Environment
Measuring Exposure in Environmental Epidemiology
Environmental Marine Ecosystems: Biological Invasions
Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Analysis of Environmental Samples: a Literature Review
Fabric Recycling: Environmental Collapse
Environmental Research – Radon Gas
Environmental Justice Movement
Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice
Environmental Discrimination in Canada
Environmental Worldviews & Environmental Justice
Flint Water Crisis: Environmental Racism and Racial Capitalism
Environmental Injustice Among African Americans
Cancer Alley and Environmental Racism
Building a School in the Polluted Environment
India’s Environmental Health and Emergencies
Climate Change: Sustainability Development and Environmental Law
Cancer Alley and Environmental Racism in the US
Avocado Production and Socio-Environmental Issues
Environmental Philosophies and Actions
Bipartisan Strategies for Overcoming Environmental Disaster
Pope Francis’s Recommendations on Environmental Issues
Advantages and Disadvantages of Fracking: An Environmental Study
Non-Govermental Organizations in Environmental Changes
Green Management and Environmental Auditing
The Environmental Movement in the US
Mega-Events and Environmental Sustainability
Health and Environment: The Impact of Technology
Environmental Health of Patient With Respiratory Illness
Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd: Environmental Policies
Environmental Science: The Ozone Layer
The Current Environmental Policy in the USA
Impacts of Alternative Energy on the Environment
Aspects of Environmental Studies
The Environment and Its Effects
Paper Recycling: Environmental and Business Issues
Cruise Liners’ Environmental Management and Sustainability
Environmental Effect & Waste Management Survey
Greenwashing: Full Environmental Sustainability?
Great Cities’ Impact on Ecology and Environmental Health
Geology and Environmental Science
Environmental Degradation Impacts of Concrete Use in Construction
Environmental Management for Construction Industry
Airlines and Globalisation: Environmental Impact
The Business Ethics, Code of Conduct, Environment Initiatives in Companies
Environmental Features of the Sacramento City
How “Making It Eco Friendly” Is Related to Information Technology and the Environment
Coal Seam Gas Industry Impact: Environmental Epidemiology
A Relationship Between Environmental Disclosure and Environmental Responsiveness
Environmental Biotechnology: “Analysis of Endocrine Disruption in Southern California Coastal Fish”
Eco-Labels: Environmental Issues in Business
Sustainable Environmental Policy: Fight the Emerging Issues
Environmental Regulations Effects on Accounting
Environmental Sustainability of Veja
Islamic Architecture: Environment and Climate
Environmental Assessment
Environmental Law: The Aluminium Smelting Plan
Environmental Biology: Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
Environmental Policies Statements Response
Environmental Accounting in Dubai
Community Environmental Exposure in Bayou Vista and Omega Bay
Environmental Audit for the MTBE Plant
Taking Back Eden: Environmental Law Goes Global
Environmental Risk Report on Nanoparticles
Lancelets’ Adaptation and Environment
UAE Laws and Regulations for Environmental Protection
Reaction Paper: Valuing the Environment Through Contingent Valuation
Environmental Geotechnics: Review
Environmental Challenges Caused by Fossil Fuels
Water for Environmental Health and Promotion
Environmental Management ISO 14000- ENEN90005 EMS Manual for Sita Landfill
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
Environmental Impact of Healthcare Facilities
Environmental Law: Strategies and Issue of Standing
Environmental Protection: Law and Policy
Environmental Noise Effects on Students of Oregon State University
Australian Environmental Law
Environment and Land Conflict in Brazil
The Information Context and the Formation of Public Response on Environmental Issues
The Environment Conditions in the Desert
Purchasing Trees Online for Environmental Protection
Water Scarcity: Industrial Projects of Countries That Affect the External Environment
Rayon and Its Impact on Health and Environment
Opportunity Cost and Environment Protection
Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Analysis
Environmental Studies: Climate Changes
Environmental Degradation in “Turning Tides” by Mathieu D’Astous
Architecture and the Environment
Global Warming: Negative Effects to the Environment
Environmental Planning: Dam Construction
Agriculture and Environment: Organic Foods
Environmental Protection With Energy Saving Tools
Environmental Politics Review and Theories
Social Development: Globalization and Environmental Problems
Macondo Well Blowout’s Environmental Assessment
Tasmania’s Environmental Degradation and Restoration
Environmental Species and Ecosystems
Sheffield Flooding and Environmental Issues Involved
Maquiladora Industry and Environmental Degradation
Religious Tradition Solving an Environmental Problem
Do India and China Have a Right to Pollute the Environment?
Global Warming and Environmental Refugees
Root Causes of the Current Environmental Crisis
Environmental Ethics Concerning Animal Rights
The Politics of Climate Change, Saving the Environment
Environmental Deterioration and Poverty in Kenya
Fear and Environmental Change in Philadelphia
Global Warming Issues Review and Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Issue: Whaling
Biodiversity Hotspots and Environmental Ethics
Impact of Mobile Telephony on the Environment
How to Feed Everybody and Protect the Environment?
Population and Environment in South Australia
Mitigation Strategies and Solutions in Environment
Environment and Consumption as a Social Problem
Population Grows And Environment
Human Population Ecology: Human Interaction With the Environment
Environmental Policies Made by the Finland Government
War in Modern World: Effects on the Environment
Kenya and Brazil: Comparing Environmental Conflict
The Influence of Global Warming and Pollution on the Environment
Genes and Environment: Genetic Factors and Issues Analysis
US Government and Environmental Concerns
Global Warming: Causes and Impact on Health, Environment and the Biodiversity
Florida Wetlands: Importance to the Health of the Environment
Environmental Issue in Canada: Kyoto Protocol
The Positive Impact of Environment on Tourist Industry
Environmental Preferences and Oil Development in Alaska
Environmental Issues in Hamilton Harbor
Environmental Problems From Human Overpopulation
Aboriginal Environmental Issues in Canada
Nuclear Energy and The Danger of Environment
Environmental Sociology. Capitalism and the Environment
Genes, Lifestyle, and Environment in Health of Population
Los Angeles International Airport’s Environmental Impacts
Environmental Policy: Water Sanitation
UAE Medical Waste Culture and Environmental Impact
U.S. Environmental Policies: The Clean Air Act
Pollution and Federal Environmental Policy
Fossil Fuel Combustion and Federal Environmental Policy
The Impact of Mining Companies on Environment
Capitalism and Its Influence on the Environment
Emiratis Perceptions of Environmental and Cultural Conservation
Shipping and the Environment
Environmental Security in Gulf Council Countries
Environmental Pollution Analysis
Preserving the Environment and Its Treasures
Humans and Humanists: Ethics and the Environment
Restaurant’s Environment-Friendly Rules
Mosquito Control Strategies in the Urban Environment
Energy, Its Usage and the Environment
Carbon Dioxide Environmental Effects in 1990- 2010
Hydropower Dams and Their Environmental Impacts
Fiji Water’ Environmental Effects
Biology and Environment Issues
Coal Pollution in China as an Environmental Problem
Indonesia: Environmental and Indigenous Issues
The Perception of Healthy Human Environment
Changing Environment and Human Impact
Mining and Environment in Australia and South Africa
Health and Environment in Abu Dhabi: Graphs’ Description
Environment Quality and Tourism in Chinese Cities
Health and Environment in Abu Dhabi: Statistical Significance
The Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster and Environment
“Population & Environment” in Mazur’s Feminist Approach
Environmental Pollution and Increased Birds Death
Fuel Cell Vehicles Preventing Environmental Hazards
Grundfos: Environment and Society Results
Precautionary Principle in Environmental Situations
The Impact of Overpopulation on the Global Environment
Environmental Issue: Hunting on Whales
Impact of Sea Transport on the Aquatic Environment
Green Building: The Impact of Humanity on the Environment
Global Warming: People Impact on the Environment
Healthy Life and Environmental Impact
Genetically Modified Seeds in Environmental Context
Information Technology and Environment Sustainability
Offshore Drilling’s Negative Environmental Influence
Environmental Pollution and Green Policies
Human & Environment in Kimmerer’s & Austin’s Works
Dioxins and Furans in Japan’s Environment
American Indian Environmental Movement in Arizona
Open-Pit Mining Environmental Impact
Environment and Business in “Bidder 70” Documentary
Environment and Human Needs of Goods and Energy
US Environmental Inequality After Disasters
Hunting, Its Moral and Environmental Issues
Environmental Strategy for Groundwater in Abu Dhabi
Pure Home Water Company’s Environment
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill’s Environmental Effect
Water Cycle and Environmental Factors
North American Environmental Transnational Activism
Environmental Risks in the United Arab Emirates
Environmental Laws in the UAE
Reverse Logistics and the Environment
US Position on International Environmental Concerns
Environmental Ethics and International Policy
Environmental Issues: The US Aiding for Other Countries
Environment: Oil and Gas’ Field Development Onshore
Environmental Revolution: Air Pollution in China
Chinese Environmental Programs and Regulations
Rail Transportation Industry Environmental Impacts
Environmental Risk Perception: Climate Change Viewpoints
International Trade Impact on the Amazon Region Environment
Globalization as to Health, Society, Environment
Pollution & Climate Change as Environmental Risks
Whaling and Its Environmental Impact
The Knoxville City’s Environmental Pollution
Environmental Technology and Its Disruptive Impact
Data Analysis in Economics, Sociology, Environment
International Environment Management and Sustainability
Environmental Studies: Energy Wastefulness in the UAE
Environmental Risk Management in the UAE
Business and Its Environment: Greenhouse Emissions
The US Foreign Policy and Environmental Protection
The Environmental Impacts of Transnational Migration in the US
Contrasting Environmental Policies in Brazil
Air Pollution Effects on the Health and Environment
How Does Environmental Security Affect Sustainable Development?
Environmental Sustainability in Clean City Organization
Gene-Environment Interaction Theory
Environment: Tropical Deforestation Causes in Indonesia
Sustainability Principles of the Natural Environment
Hydraulic Fracturing and Its Environmental Impacts
Garbage Sorting in San Francisco – Environmental Study
Nuclear Power & Environment
How Solar Energy Can Save the Environment?
Environmental Studies: Artificial Leaf
Environmental Justice and Air Pollution in Canada
Environmental Studies: Green Technology
“Global Environment History” a Book by Ian G. Simmons
Environmental Studies: Photosynthesis Concept
Environment Destruction: Pollution
Big Coal and the Natural Environment Pollution
Externalities Effects on People and Environment
Environment Protection Agency Technical Communication
Maori Health Development and Environmental Issue
Mars: Water and the Martian Landscape
Environmental Studies: The Florida Everglades
Solving Complex Environmental Problems
Environmental Studies: Saving Endangered Species
Environmental Stewardship of Deforestation
Environmental Studies: Transforming Cultures From Consumerism to Sustainability
Assaults on the Environment as a Form of War or Violence
Brazil Environmental Issues
Environmental Studies: Water Contamination in China
Environmental Impact – Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental Hazards and Human Health
BHP Waste Managements: Environmental Justice
Saving the Environment With Eco-Friendly Amenities
Population Growth Impacts on the Environment
The Adoption of Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
Air Pollution: Human Influence on Environment
The Sustainable Hotel Environment
Research Effect of Environmental Disasters on Human Reproductive Health
Analysis of Love Canal Environmental Disaster
Global Warming and Its Effects on the Environment
Citizen Participation in Global Environmental Governance
Environment and Renewable Energy
Environmental Issue – Climate Change
World Government and Environmental Conservation
Materials and the Environment
Health and Environment in Abu Dhabi
Effectiveness of Carbon Tax in Environmental Sustainability
The Effects of Human Activities on the Environment
Natural Catastrophes and Environmental Justice
Environmental and Health Concerns of Hurricanes
Environmental Protection: Liquid Waste
Asthma Environmental Causes
Environmental Security as an Approach to Threats Posed by Global Environmental Change
Noise Control Act of 1972
World Bank’s Transformation of Human-Environmental Relations in the Global South
Culture and Leadership in a Safe Industrial Environment
Environmental Conditions in Tunnels Towards Environmentally Sustainable Future
Changes and Challenges: China’s Environmental Management in Transition
Water and Environment Engineering
Corporate Environmental Policy Statements in Mainland China: To What Extent Do They Conform to ISO 14000 Documentation?
Jiangsu Province Environmental Analysis
Environmental Impacts of Air Pollution
Science in Environmental Management
Quality and Environmental Management
Modern State as an Impediment to Environmental Issues
Emirates Airlines Environmental Consciousness
China’s Energy and Environmental Implications
Knowledge Management Assessment in Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi
Environmental Issues and Management
Green Computing: A Contribution to Save the Environment
Environmental Issue in China
Environmental Studies: Life Cycle Analysis of Milk
Working for the Environment
Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Standards
Transportation Standards and Environmental Regulations
Environmental Damage From the BP Oil Spill
A Robust Strategy for Sustainable Energy
Chesapeake Bay Environment Protection
Environmental Disasters and Ways Companies Cope With Them
Eco-Friendly Food Product Production and Marketing
Environmental Science & Technology
The Concept of Corporate Environmental Responsibility
Remediation of Metals – Contaminated Soils and Groundwater
Environmental Policy in UK, Canada, and India
Eco and Cultural Tourism: Extraordinary Experience and Untouched Natural Environment
Effects of Conflict or Nuclear Materials on Environment and Society
MLC and the Environmental Management Accounting
Environmental Degradation in Lithgow’s Waters
Evaluate Human Resource Issues in Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
On the Rescue Mission: Preserving the Environment
A Cost Benefit Analysis of the Environmental and Economic Effects of Nuclear Energy in the United States
Reducing the Energy Costs in Hotels: An Attempt to Take Care of the Environment
The International Relations Theories in Addressing of Environmental Issues
Learning of Environment Sustainability in Education
Natural and the Environmental Protection
Silent Spring and Environmental Issues
Economic Growth and Environment Relation
The Environment, Resources, and Their Economic Effects
Coyotes as an Environmental Concern in Southern California
Environmental Health Practice
Fossil Energy and Economy
Eliminating the Conflict: Tourism and Environment
The Process of Constructing the Hotel and Environment
Tourism and Environment in Conflict
The Effect of Genetically Modified Food on Society and Environment
The Effect of Nuclear Energy on the Environment
Wind Energy for Environmental Sustainability
Acidic Rain Effects on the Environment
Organisms in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments
Concept of Environmental Ethic in Society
The Needs of People and the Needs of the Environment
Effects of Oil Spills on Aquatic Environments
Impact of Plastics on the Environment
Current Environmental Health Issues
The Fossil Oil Energy Effects on the Environment
Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Material
The Trends, Opportunities and Challenges of Environmental Sustainability
21st Century Environmental Perils
Human Impact on the Environment
The Relationship Between Psychology and the Preservation of the Environment
Environmental Injustice in Modern World
Environment and Species in International Relations
Effects of Classical Body to Environmental Thought
Thailand Issues: Environment, Child Prostitution, and HIV/AIDS
Environmentalism and Economic Freedom
Environmental Defense Fund
Experiencing and Transforming the Environment
Identity: Discourse of Environment
Bottled Water Effect on Environment and Culture
Environmental Issues of Yucca Mountain Nuclear Storage Facility in Nevada
Corporate Responsibility to the Environment
Nuclear Power and Its Effects on Economy, Environment and Safety
Gas Drilling Project: Economics and Environment
Population Growth and the Distribution of Human Populations to Effects on the Environment
Would Evolution Proceed More Quickly in a Rapidly Changing Environment?
Who Must Take Care of the Environment?
Why Can Air Pollution Harm the Environment Dramatically?
Why and How Should We Account for the Environment?
Why Animals Change Their Colors in Response to Environment?
Why Don’t Languages Adapt to Their Environment?
Why Are Environmental Ethics Important in the Preservation of the Natural Environment?
Why Are Industrial Farms Good for the Environment?
Why Is Mountain Meadows Basin Very Important for the Environment?
Why Do People Harm the Environment Although They Try to Treat It Well?
Why Do People Use Their Cars While the Built Environment Imposes Cycling?
Why Protecting, Our Environment, Is So Important?
Why Need to Study the Environment?
Why the Oil Industry Continues to Harm the Environment?
Why Is Population Growth’s Effect on the Earth’s Environment?
Can Cleaner Environment Promote International Trade?
Can Ecolabeling Schemes Preserve the Environment?
Can Employment Structure Promote Environment-Biased Technical Progress?
Can Green Taxes Save the Environment?
Can Social Media Help Save the Environment?
Can the Market Take Care of the Environment?
Can the United States Help Improve Their Perishing Environment?
Which Human Activities Affected the Natural Environment of the Amazon Basin?
What Are Our Responsibilities Toward the Environment?
What Are Plastics, and How Do They Affect the Environment?
What Are Some Ways That the Environment Affects Human Health?
What Are the Effects of Acid Rain on the Environment?
What Are the Effects of Motor Vehicles on the Environment?
How Has Consumerism Shaped the Environment by Influencing?
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How to Write an Essay on the Environment

The environment where we live affects how we function and socialize as human beings. Over the years, there has been a growing focus on climate change and how shifts in weather events and temperatures are affecting living organisms.

Of course, although climate change is one of the threatening and pervasive things, currently, there are many other areas one can write about including biodiversity and pollution. Choosing what to write about is just one aspect of creating a good essay on the environment.

When tasked with writing an assignment on the environment, there are some specific factors to consider. Of course, different instructors issue different guidelines for academic writing, including the format and citation style to use. Make sure to adhere to these and stick to the question as outlined in the assignment prompt. Here are additional tips for effective essay writing.

Start by Choosing a Good Topic

The most important step in effective academic writing is selecting an appropriate topic. There are many areas of the environment where you can base your writing. However, you have to make sure that your preferred topic is in line with your assignment question, as set out in the prompt. Of course, there are times when instructors provide specific topics for their students, eliminating the need for topic selection.

In other instances, students are accorded the freedom to create their own topics. With such freedom, comes the responsibility of making sure that your topic is relevant for your project and current. Also, you have to make sure that your area of writing is precise enough to be covered within the scope of your essay. Those who are unable to find good topics can seek custom writing from professionals online.

Your essay on the environment can be in any of the following areas:• Climate change or global warming and its impacts;• Biodiversity;• Environmental pollution and how it affects living organisms.

Since the environment is a very broad topic area, you will need to conduct some research to make sure that you pick a relevant and current topic. Also, make sure to narrow down your topic .

Brainstorm for Ideas and Create a Plan

Once you have a topic for your essay, the next step is brainstorming. This is the process of thinking about the topic and noting down everything you know. The notes created here can form part of your outline.

When it comes to outlining, having a good plan will save you time much later in the course of your research and writing. This stage may require some preliminary research as well as the creation of a working thesis statement.

Create an Interesting Thesis Statement

Now that you have a topic and an outline, it is time to create a working thesis. Please note that your statement may change several in the course of your research and writing. As you proceed with your work, you may encounter different ideas and change your perspective on important issues. In essence, your thesis should be clear, arguable, interesting, and simple. It should demonstrate the position you intend to take with your argumentation.

Conduct Research and Document Sources

It is impossible to write a good essay on the environment if you don’t gather enough data and evidence. Quality academic papers present coherent arguments where ideas and points are supported using credible evidence. Conduct research on books, electronic journals, reputable websites, and primary sources. Just make sure to document the sources of your information to help with citations and references. Most importantly, take keen notes that will make organizing your essay easier.

Start Writing as Soon as Possible

Do not spend so much time with preparations that you forget to make time for the actual writing. You may have heard that freewriting is the easiest way to overcome writer’s block. However, there is an even better way — writing from an outline and researching the various sections of your paper. Just make sure to give each main idea its own paragraph, supported using evidence and examples from credible sources.

As you write your paper, grammar and syntax should not be your main priority. At this stage, just work on the drafting of your ideas and points. You can finish by editing your work for grammatical, content, and formatting consistency.

Please note that the tips provided in this article are meant to guide you through the process of academic essay writing. You still have to make sure that your writing adheres to your assignment instructions. Most importantly, you need to ensure that you proofread and edit your work.

Essay On Environment In English [Short & Long]

Essay On Environment – No doubt Nature’s intelligence is supreme and can’t be questioned. Our Mother Nature has gifted all living beings with the best environment they could have.

But for the sake of greed, humans have exploited natural resources to such an extent that led us to an altered and unfit environment. Even if mankind has developed a man-made environment, the natural environment is responsible for the existence of life on Earth.

Short Essay On Environment | 250 Words

Introduction.

An environment refers to our surroundings combined. It consists of air, water, land, sunlight, animals and plants. Every living being whether they live on land or in water comes under the environment. It is the most important factor for the execution of life on earth.

It is a source of every need of human beings be it food, shelter, oxygen and everything. Unfortunately, we do not value its true worth. We are just misusing it for the sake of instant gratification. Day by day we are just making it dirty and unsuitable for life. There are many ways of doing so. Even, we are not fully aware of what makes it imperfect for us.

Our Duties For The Environment

If this exploitation of natural resources continues, the environment of our planet will become unfit for supporting life. So it is our duty to spread awareness for the same. We must keep it clean and life-friendly. We don’t have to do much. We can practise little activities to support our environment.

Some of these practices are placing garbage into the dustbin, never spitting on roads, using bicycles over fueled vehicles, and planting more trees. Also, the Government should also take steps to spread awareness among people. It should encourage people to keep the environment clean and healthy.

Deforestation should be stopped and a heavy penalty should be imposed on those found doing so. Apart from these, our environment is being affected by the Greenhouse effect, pollution and global warming. We should find the proper remedies for those.

Concluding, We get to an end that the environment is a precious aspect of life. We can not repay its contribution to life. But today it needs our support to support us and we should take care of it so that upcoming generations can lead a healthy and comfortable life.

Long Essay On Environment | 500 Words

An environment is a set of physical and natural conditions we are surrounded by. It includes air, water, land, temperature, humans, animals, villages, cities, communication, transportation etc. But in this essay, we are going to discuss the natural environment only.

From birth to the last breath, We all are supported by the natural environment. It provides us with every small or big necessity in life. The fundamental needs like air, water, food, clothes, shelter, oxygen etc. are provided by the environment. In fact, we are alive all because it supports us.

Unfortunately, we do not value its true worth. We are just misusing it for the sake of our bottomless greed. Day by day we are just making it dirty and unsuitable for life. There are many ways of doing so. Even, we are not fully aware of what makes it imperfect for us.

It is a very obvious point that the environment is the most important factor for every living being. What we are surrounded by, impacts us more than anything else. from our physical appearance to our internal strength, is a gift of our environment.

If we talk about it as a whole, it is more valuable because our environment maintains an ecological balance that makes all organisms interdependent. For example, we depend on trees for oxygen and trees depend on us for carbon dioxide. We really can not estimate the real value of the environment but we can observe it to some extent.

The environment provides us with infinite benefits that we can’t repay for our entire life. As they are combined with the forest, trees, animals, water, and air. The forest and trees purify the air and consume harmful gases. Plants purify water, decrease the chances of floods maintain natural stability and many others.

The environment manages several natural cycles that occur daily. These cycles assist in preserving the natural balance between living beings and the environment. The distress of these things can ultimately influence the life cycle of people and other living beings.

The environment has supported us and other living beings to prosper and grow for thousands of years. The environment provides us with productive land, water, air, livestock and numerous fundamental things for survival.

Degradation

Hundreds of factors are responsible for environmental degradation. Some are natural and some are man-made. For natural ones, we can’t control much but for manmade reasons, we can take some reasonable resolutions. here below is a list of factors that causes environmental degradation.

A. Pollution- It is one of the most main causes of environmental degradation. With the increase of industries, it has increased rapidly.

B. Greenhouse Gases- Greenhouse gases are the second cause that affects our climate and environment drastically. These gases are mainly responsible for the increased temperature of our planet.

C. Ozone Depletion- The layer that protects the earth from the ultraviolet rays of the sun is depleting slowly and it is also a cause of environmental degradation.

How to Protect the Environment

We comprehend nearly all the causes of environmental degradation. So it is time to discuss the resolution side of the query. We need to take steps that will help us combat this problem.

A . Reforestation- As we know that air plays an important role in the environment, so reforestation can be proven a full-fledged solution to revert the issue back to normal.

B. 3 R’s formula- First “R” is about Reduce which means to reduce the production of unnecessary products. The second “R” talks about Reuse which means to use the available things efficiently. And the last one refers to Recycling things to make them reusable.

Final Words

To sum it up, The environment is our companion from birth to death. It takes care of us like no one other. But human activities are altering the environment in a direction where it can impact us negatively. So, there is a need to support the environment by performing environmental-friendly activities.

What is called the environment ?

The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

What is the true meaning of environment?

The term environment is derived from the French word “Environia” which means to surround. It refers to both the Abiotic (physical or non-living) and Biotic (living) environments.

How many different environments are there?

There are two types of environments. 1. Geographical environment 2. Man-made environment.

Are nature and the environment the same?

Nature refers to the physical world and also life but environment refers to external elements and conditions by which an organism is surrounded, affected and influenced.

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Essay On Environment

Environment Essay

500+ words essay on environment.

Every year, on the 5th of June, we all celebrate World Environment Day. All living beings and non-living beings present on the Earth represent the environment. Plants, creatures, water, air, and other living things exist in our environment. Our environment gets influenced by climatic interaction, geomorphic measures, and hydrologic measures. The life of humans and animals is entirely dependent on climate. Our environment supports life on Earth. Everything we inhale, feel, and energy comes from the environment. The environment is considered a cover that helps sustain life on Earth. Among all the planets, it is our planet Earth that supports life.

Importance of Environment

Everyday, we get to hear about threats to the environment. Our environment includes everything from the forests to the oceans, which impacts our everyday life. It can be deforestation, pollution, soil erosion, etc., which needs to be addressed seriously.

1. Livelihoods of People depend on the Environment

Billions of people depend on the environment for their livelihood. For example, over 1.5 billion people depend on forests for food, medicine, shelter and more. Farmers turn to the woods when their crops fail. Almost two billion people earn a living from agriculture, and the other three billion people are on the ocean.

2. Environment Strength Food Security

Many negative consequences are encountered due to biodiversity loss, but weakened food security is extensive. If we lose our precious animals and plant species, we become more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Due to this, our health is at a greater risk of related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. So, we should protect our oceans and forests to ensure food for every human being.

3. Trees Clean the Air

Pollution is a crucial issue, and every year, 7 million people die due to pollution. Polluted air impacts our health and lifespans, including behavioural problems, developmental delays, and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The trees work as a filter to remove air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide while releasing oxygen.

Benefits of the Environment

Our environment provides us with enormous benefits which we can’t repay in our entire life span. The environment includes animals, water, trees, forest and air. Trees and forests filter the air and take in harmful gases, and plants purify the water, maintain natural balance and many others.

The environment keeps a regular check on its functioning as it helps regulate the vital systems essential for the ecosystem. It also helps in maintaining culture and quality of life on Earth. The environment regulates natural cycles that occur daily. These natural cycles balance living things and the environment. If we disturb these natural cycles, it will ultimately affect humans and other living beings.

For thousands of years, the environment helped humans, animals, and plants flourish and grow. It also provides us with fertile land, air, livestock, water and essential things for survival.

Cause of Environmental Degradation

Human activities are the primary cause of environmental degradation because most humans somehow harm the environment. The activities of humans that cause ecological degradation are pollution, defective environmental policies, chemicals, greenhouse gases, global warming, ozone depletion, etc.

Due to the industrial revolution and population explosion, the demand for environmental resources has increased, but their supply has become limited due to overuse and misuse. Some vital resources have been exhausted due to the extensive and intensive use of renewable and non-renewable resources. Our environment is also disturbed by the extinction of resources and the rapidly rising population.

The waste generated by the developed world is beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment. So, the development process resulted in environmental pollution, water, and the atmosphere, ultimately harming the water and air quality. It has also resulted in an increased incidence of respiratory and water-borne diseases.

To conclude, we can say that it is the environment that is keeping us alive. Without the blanket of the environment, we won’t survive.

Moreover, the environment’s contribution to life cannot be repaid. Besides, what the environment has done for us, we only have damaged and degraded it.

From our BYJU’S website, students can also access CBSE Essays related to different topics. It will help students to get good marks in their exams.

Frequently Asked Questions on Environment Essay

How can we protect the environment around us.

The first step is to change our mindset and stop littering public places. Take steps to reduce plastic usage as it is one of the biggest threats to our environment. Remember the slogan ‘Reduce, reuse and recycle’ and take a bold step towards protecting the environment. At all costs, avoid pollution of water, soil, and air.

How does the proper maintenance of the environment help human beings?

Human beings derive most of their daily needs from the environment. Moreover, environmental pollution can lead to increased risk of diseases, illness.

What are the main reasons for environmental pollution?

Over-usage of environmental and natural resources, reduction in environmental protection, destruction of natural resources are the main reasons for environmental pollution.

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Essay on Environment

Here we have shared the Essay on Environment in detail so you can use it in your exam or assignment of 150, 250, 400, 500, or 1000 words.

You can use this Essay on Environment in any assignment or project whether you are in school (class 10th or 12th), college, or preparing for answer writing in competitive exams.

Topics covered in this article.

Essay on Environment in 150-200 words

Essay on environment in 250-300 words, essay on environment in 500-1000 words.

The environment is our natural surroundings, encompassing air, water, land, and diverse ecosystems. It sustains life on Earth, providing essential resources and habitats for all living beings. However, human activities such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change are posing significant threats to the environment and its delicate balance.

Protecting the environment is crucial for our well-being and the planet’s sustainability. It requires collective action and individual responsibility. We must adopt sustainable practices, reduce pollution and waste, conserve resources, and support conservation efforts. By valuing and preserving the environment, we ensure a healthier and more prosperous future.

Governments, businesses, and individuals must work together to address these environmental challenges. Promoting renewable energy, implementing effective policies, and raising awareness about the importance of environmental conservation are key steps to protect our planet.

Preserving the environment is not just an obligation but also an opportunity to enhance our quality of life and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. Let us embrace this responsibility and work towards creating a harmonious relationship with nature, respecting its intrinsic value and preserving its abundance for future generations.

The environment is the natural world around us, comprising the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we live on, and the diverse ecosystems that support life. It encompasses everything from the smallest microorganisms to the largest forests and oceans. This essay briefly discusses the importance of the environment and the need for its protection.

The environment plays a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. It provides us with essential resources, such as clean air, water, and food, and offers habitats for countless species. It regulates the climate, supports biodiversity, and contributes to the overall well-being of human beings and the planet.

Unfortunately, human activities have had a detrimental impact on the environment. Deforestation, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change pose significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. These activities have resulted in the loss of species, degradation of ecosystems, and disruption of natural cycles.

To ensure a sustainable future, it is imperative that we take collective action to protect and preserve the environment. This includes adopting sustainable practices, reducing pollution and waste, conserving natural resources, promoting renewable energy sources, and supporting conservation efforts.

Individual actions, such as reducing carbon emissions, recycling, and conserving water, can make a significant difference. Additionally, governments, businesses, and organizations must implement policies and initiatives that promote environmental sustainability.

By valuing and protecting the environment, we not only safeguard the well-being of future generations but also enhance our own quality of life. Preserving the environment is essential for maintaining the balance of ecosystems, combating climate change, and ensuring a healthy planet for all living beings.

In conclusion, the environment is of utmost importance for the well-being of both humans and the planet. It provides essential resources, supports biodiversity, and regulates the climate. Protecting the environment is a shared responsibility that requires individual and collective action. By adopting sustainable practices and supporting conservation efforts, we can contribute to the preservation of our environment and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Title: Environmental Conservation – Protecting Our Planet for Future Generations

Introduction :

The environment is the foundation of life on Earth, encompassing the air, water, land, and ecosystems that support all living beings. It provides us with vital resources, regulates the climate, and sustains biodiversity. This essay explores the significance of environmental conservation, the threats it faces, and the urgent need for collective action to protect our planet.

Importance of Environmental Conservation

The environment is vital for our well-being and the sustainability of the planet. It provides us with clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and nutritious food to eat. Ecosystems support biodiversity and provide habitats for countless species, contributing to the overall health of our planet. The environment also plays a crucial role in regulating the climate, preserving natural cycles, and mitigating the impacts of natural disasters.

Environmental Threats

Human activities have led to various environmental threats that endanger ecosystems and biodiversity. Deforestation for agriculture, logging, and urbanization destroys habitats and contributes to climate change. Pollution from industrial activities, transportation, and improper waste disposal contaminates air, water, and soil. Climate change, primarily caused by the excessive release of greenhouse gases, results in rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and extreme weather events. These threats have far-reaching consequences for both the environment and human societies.

Conservation Strategies

To protect the environment, proactive conservation strategies are necessary. Sustainable practices, such as reducing waste, conserving resources, and promoting renewable energy sources, are key to mitigating environmental impacts. Reforestation and afforestation efforts are crucial for restoring habitats and combating climate change. Conservation initiatives, including protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and marine reserves, help preserve biodiversity and ensure the long-term sustainability of ecosystems.

Individual and Collective Responsibility

Environmental conservation is a shared responsibility that requires both individual and collective action. Individuals can contribute by adopting sustainable lifestyles, reducing their carbon footprint, and supporting eco-friendly initiatives. Governments play a vital role in implementing policies and regulations that promote environmental protection, investing in renewable energy infrastructure, and fostering sustainable practices in industries. International cooperation is essential to address global environmental challenges and promote knowledge-sharing and technology transfer.

Benefits of Environmental Conservation

Environmental conservation yields numerous benefits. Preserving ecosystems and biodiversity supports the health of our planet and ensures the availability of vital resources for future generations. Conservation efforts contribute to climate change mitigation, reducing the risks of extreme weather events and preserving natural carbon sinks. Protecting natural areas enhances opportunities for eco-tourism, generating economic benefits for local communities. Conservation also fosters a sense of connection to nature and promotes physical and mental well-being.

Conclusion :

Environmental conservation is crucial for the well-being of both humans and the planet. It is our responsibility to protect the environment, mitigating threats such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change. By adopting sustainable practices, supporting conservation initiatives, and advocating for effective policies, we can ensure a healthier and more sustainable future for all. Environmental conservation is not just an obligation; it is an opportunity to preserve the beauty and abundance of our planet for future generations. Let us strive to live in harmony with nature, valuing and protecting the environment that sustains us. Together, we can create a better, more sustainable world for ourselves and for future generations.

Essential Elements of Valid Contract (Explained With Examples)

What is World Population? Main Causes, Effects, Top 20 Countries

Browse Course Material

Course info.

Dr. Cynthia Taft

Departments

Comparative Media Studies/Writing

As Taught In

American Literature
Creative Writing
Nonfiction Prose

Learning Resource Types

Writing about nature and environmental issues, exercise 1.1 (warm-up for essay 1).

Due Session 4

Purpose of assignment:

To focus your attention as you read and think about a particular work.
To help you distinguish between observed details and the ideas that emerge from those details.
To ensure that your own ideas are rooted in specific textual evidence.

Instructions:

Choose one of the texts listed below; then, identify and transcribe between fifteen and twenty key passages from the work your have chosen. Be sure to note page numbers.
Some phrases may combine both features. You may list them in both categories and underline the distinctive terms.

Be sure that you know the precise meaning of every word that you include in your list of quotes. Print out 3 copies of your exercise and bring them to class.

Draft of Essay 1

Due Session 5

Readings to consider:

[AE] = McKibben, Bill, ed. American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau . Library of America, 2008. ISBN: 9781598530209.

Beston, Henry. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Code . Reprint edition. Holt Paperbacks, 2003, pp. 19–25. ISBN: 9780805073683. [Preview with Google Books ]

Eiseley, Loren. “The Judgment of the Birds.” In The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature . Vintage, 1959. ISBN: 9780394701578. [Preview with Google Books ]

[AE] Leopold, Aldo. “Marshland Elegy.”

[AE] Carson, Rachel. Excerpt from “Silent Spring” (pp. 835–848) and “And No Birds Sing (Section 1).” See pub info below.

[AE] Turner, Jack. “The Song of the White Pelican.”

Each of these authors draws upon the symbolic resonance of a particular bird or group of birds, but the power of each work depends upon carefully observed details. In a coherent essay that develops a unifying thesis, explore the role played by the particular bird or group of birds at the center of one of these texts. Be sure to consider the relationship between the observed or documented details and the symbolic associations of the bird. This assignment is deliberately open-ended to allow you to follow the distinctive path of your own thoughts, but the resulting essay must be tightly organized and well documented.

Guidelines for draft of Essay 1

In-class on Session 6

Guidelines for Workshop 1

Due Session 7

Guidelines:

Finished essay should be 3–4 pages long (1000–1300 words, double-spaced).
Use MLA in-text citations. Remember Works Cited list.
Proofread your essay before submitting it.

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Environmental Pollution Essay

Essay on Environmental Pollution

The environment is the surrounding of an organism. The environment in which an organism lives is made up of various components like air, water, land, etc. These components are found in fixed proportions to create a harmonious balance in the environment for the organism to live in. Any kind of undesirable and unwanted change in the proportions of these components can be termed as pollution. This issue is increasing with every passing year. It is an issue that creates economic, physical, and social troubles. The environmental problem that is worsening with each day needs to be addressed so that its harmful effects on humans as well as the planet can be discarded.

Causes of Environmental Pollution

With the rise of the industries and the migration of people from villages to cities in search of employment, there has been a regular increase in the problem of proper housing and unhygienic living conditions. These reasons have given rise to factors that cause pollution.

Environmental pollution is of five basic types namely, Air, Water, Soil, and Noise pollution.

Air Pollution: Air pollution is a major issue in today’s world. The smoke pouring out of factory chimneys and automobiles pollute the air that we breathe in. Gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide are emitted with this smoke which mixes with air and causes great harm to the human body, flora, and fauna. The dry-farm waste, dry grass, leaves, and coal used as domestic fuels in our villages also produce harmful gases. Acid rain occurs due to an excess of sulphur dioxide in the air.

The Main Sources of Air Pollution are as Follows:

Automobile pollution

Industrial air pollution

Burning garbage

Brick kilns

Indoor air pollution

Decomposed animals and plants

Radioactive elements

Water Pollution: Water pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues. The waste products from the growing industries and sewage water are not treated properly before disposing of the wastewater into the rivers and other water bodies, thus leading to water pollution. Agricultural processes with excess fertilizers and pesticides also pollute the water bodies.

The Main Sources of Water Pollution as Follows:

Marine commerce.

Industrial effluents joining seas and oceans.

Dumping of radioactive substances into seawater.

Sewage is disposed of into the sea by rivers.

Offshore oil rigs.

Recreational activities.

Agricultural pollutants are disposed of into the water bodies.

Soil or Land Pollution: Soil pollution or land pollution results from the deposition of solid waste, accumulation of biodegradable material, deposition of chemicals with poisonous chemical compositions, etc on the open land. Waste materials such as plastics, polythene, and bottles, cause land pollution and render the soil infertile. Moreover, the dumping of dead bodies of animals adds to this issue. Soil pollution causes several diseases in man and animals like Cholera, Dysentery, Typhoid, etc.

The Main Causes of Soil Pollution are as Follows:

Industrial waste

Urban commercial and domestic waste

Chemical fertilizers

Biomedical waste

Noise Pollution: With an increasing population, urbanization, and industrialization, noise pollution is becoming a serious form of pollution affecting human life, health, and comfort in daily life. Horns of vehicles, loudspeakers, music systems, and industrial activities contribute to noise pollution.

The Main Sources of Noise Pollution as Follows:

The machines in the factories and industries produce whistling sounds, crushing noise, and thundering sounds.

Loudspeakers, horns of vehicles.

Blasting of rocks and earth, drilling tube wells, ventilation fans, and heavy earth-moving machinery at construction sites.

How Pollution Harms Health and Environment

The lives of people and other creatures are affected by environmental pollution, both directly and indirectly. For centuries, these living organisms have coexisted with humans on the planet.

1. Effect on the Environment

Smog is formed when carbon and dust particles bind together in the air, causing respiratory problems, haze, and smoke. These are created by the combustion of fossil fuels in industrial and manufacturing facilities and vehicle combustion of carbon fumes.

Furthermore, these factors impact the immune systems of birds, making them carriers of viruses and diseases. It also has an impact on the body's system and organs.

2. Land, Soil, and Food Effects

The degradation of human organic and chemical waste harms the land and soil. It also releases chemicals into the land and water. Pesticides, fertilisers, soil erosion, and crop residues are the main causes of land and soil pollution.

3. Effects on water

Water is easily contaminated by any pollutant, whether it be human waste or factory chemical discharge. We also use this water for crop irrigation and drinking. They, too, get polluted as a result of infection. Furthermore, an animal dies as a result of drinking the same tainted water.

Furthermore, approximately 80% of land-based pollutants such as chemical, industrial, and agricultural waste wind up in water bodies.

Furthermore, because these water basins eventually link to the sea, they contaminate the sea's biodiversity indirectly.

4. Food Reaction

Crops and agricultural produce become poisonous as a result of contaminated soil and water. These crops are laced with chemical components from the start of their lives until harvest when they reach a mass level. Due to this, tainted food has an impact on our health and organs.

5. Climate Change Impact

Climate change is also a source of pollution in the environment. It also has an impact on the ecosystem's physical and biological components.

Ozone depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and global warming are all examples of environmental pollution. Because these water basins eventually link to the sea, they contaminate the sea's biodiversity indirectly. Furthermore, their consequences may be fatal for future generations. The unpredictably cold and hot climate impacts the earth’s natural system.

Furthermore, earthquakes, starvation, smog, carbon particles, shallow rain or snow, thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, and avalanches are all caused by climate change, caused entirely by environmental pollution.

How to Minimise Environmental Pollution?

To minimise this issue, some preventive measures need to be taken.

Principle of 3R’s: To save the environment, use the principle of 3 R’s; Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

Reuse products again and again. Instead of throwing away things after one use, find a way to use them again. Reduce the generation of waste products.

Recycle: Paper, plastics, glass, and electronic items can be processed into new products while using fewer natural resources and lesser energy.

To prevent and control air pollution, better-designed equipment, and smokeless fuels should be used in homes and industries. More and more trees should be planted to balance the ecosystem and control greenhouse effects.

Noise pollution can be minimised by better design and proper maintenance of vehicles. Industrial noise can be reduced by soundproofing equipment like generators, etc.

To control soil pollution, we must stop the usage of plastic. Sewage should be treated properly before using it as fertilizers and as landfills. Encourage organic farming as this process involves the use of biological materials and avoiding synthetic substances to maintain soil fertility and ecological balance.

Several measures can be adopted to control water pollution. Some of them are water consumption and usage that can be minimized by altering the techniques involved. Water should be reused with treatment.

The melting icebergs in Antarctica resulted in rising sea levels due to the world's environmental pollution, which had become a serious problem due to global warming, which had become a significant concern. Rising carbon pollution poses a risk for causing natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, and other natural disasters.

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki and Chernobyl disasters in Russia have irreversibly harmed humanity. Different countries around the world are responding to these calamities in the most effective way possible.

Different countries around the world are responding to these calamities in the most effective way possible. More public awareness campaigns are being established to educate people about the hazards of pollution and the importance of protecting our environment. Greener lifestyles are becoming more popular; for example, energy-efficient lighting, new climate-friendly autos, and the usage of wind and solar power are just a few examples.

Governments emphasise the need to plant more trees, minimise the use of plastics, improve natural waste recovery, and reduce pesticide use. This ecological way of living has helped humanity save other creatures from extinction while making the Earth a greener and safer ecology.

Conclusion

It is the responsibility of every individual to save our planet from these environmental contamination agents. If preventive measures are not taken then our future generation will have to face major repercussions. The government is also taking steps to create public awareness. Every individual should be involved in helping to reduce and control pollution.

FAQs on Environmental Pollution Essay

1. What do you understand by ‘Environmental Pollution’?

Environmental pollution is the contamination of the environment and surroundings like air, water, soil by the discharge of harmful substances.

2. What preventive measures should be taken to save our environment?

Some of the preventive measures that should be taken to save our environment are discussed below.

We can save our environment by adopting the concept of carpooling and promoting public transport to save fuel. Smoking bars are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations that prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and other public places.

The use of Fossil fuels should be restricted because it causes major environmental issues like global warming.

Encourage organic farming to maintain the fertility of the soil.

3. What are the main sources of soil pollution?

The main sources of soil pollution as follows:

Industrial waste

Urban commercial and domestic waste

Chemical fertilizers

Biomedical waste

4. What is organic farming?

It is a farming method that involves growing and nurturing crops without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

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The Environment – 10 Lines, Short & Long Essay For Children

Key Points To Note: Essay On The Environment For Lower Primary Classes

10 lines on the environment for kids, a paragraph on the environment for children, short essay on the environment in 150 words for children, long essay on the environment in english for kids, what will your child learn from this essay.

The term ‘Environment’ is basically the surroundings in which one lives. It includes both living and non-living things. The environment is responsible for providing human necessities, namely food, clothing, and shelter. Moreover, the main feature that differentiates earth from other planets in the universe is its environment’s ability to support human life. But human activities are impacting the environment negatively, which needs to be stopped as early as possible so that the future generation can lead a happy and healthy life. This article will help students write a fantastic essay on the environment in English, who are future citizens to understand the significance of the environment and the need to preserve the same. Given below are many templates for writing an effective essay on the environment for class 1, 2 and 3 kids.

Most people struggle to start with an essay. Are you also wondering how to write an essay about the environment? Don’t fret. Here we present you some key points to remember while writing our environment essay:

Start the essay with a brief introduction to what the ‘environment’ actually is.
Prepare an essay outline with a list of headings you wish to cover.
Remember to maintain a logical order of headings to give the essay a proper flow.
Give a detailed explanation of each title.
Summarise your thoughts in the conclusion part.

The environment is the key to the existence of life on earth, and thus kids need to know about its importance as they are the future pillars of the world. Here we present 10 lines on environment essay for class 1 and 2 kids.

The environment is a gift that needs a lot of nurturing.
The environment is the surrounding in which we live.
It consists of both biotic and abiotic elements.
A clean environment is essential for the peaceful and healthy survival of humans.
Human activities negatively affect the environment. It includes pollution, global warming, extinction of species, etc.
Government and citizens alike should take steps to protect our environment.
We must spread the message on the importance of the environment to everyone.
More trees must be planted to balance the ecosystem.
The usage of plastic bags that harm the environment must be stopped.
The use of recycled products must be promoted.

Every species on this planet is dependent on the environment. We, humans, are also a part of it, and our primary responsibility is to protect the environment and teach future generations. The following short paragraph on the environment will guide kids to write an effective essay:

The environment plays a vital role in the existence of life. It consists of plants, animals, food, natural resources, water, and so on. Ancient humans lived in a natural environment and hence led a healthy life. But in recent times, the environment has been highly harmed due to human selfishness and greed. If this continues, it may endanger human existence. Thus every citizen must protect our environment. There are plenty of little things to do daily to help preserve our environment, such as using public transport instead of private ones to control pollution, preserving natural resources, using eco-friendly products and services, planting more trees, etc.

All life on earth is dependent on the environment for its survival and basic needs. We utilise all the resources provided by nature and benefit from them but fail to protect the same. Given below is a short essay for class 1, 2 and 3 students about the environment:

Mother Earth is the home of many living creatures. But we are destroying it little by little due to mindless behaviour. To prevent further damage, we must control pollution, preserve natural resources, plant more trees and reduce the use of harmful chemicals and plastics. To create awareness about this, ‘World Environment Day’ is celebrated every year on June 5. We must never forget that it is an individual and a collective responsibility to preserve our environment so that we and our future generation can lead a happy and healthy life. There are so many ways we can contribute to saving our environment. We can use cloth bags instead of plastic ones. We can opt for public transport than using our private vehicle to cover short and long distances. Planting more trees and mindfully availing of natural resources are steps towards a sustainable environment. Our thinking today will secure the future for upcoming generations.

“Nature is the art of God”. But the need to protect it is vital now. In this article, let’s learn about the significance of the environment and explore what we can write in an essay for class 3 about this topic. Here is a descriptive essay about the environment:

What Is The Environment?

Everything surrounding us comes within the scope of the environment. It includes biotic and abiotic elements, which together help maintain ecological balance and make human survival possible.

Significance of Environment

Warehouse of natural resources: The environment provides us with all the necessary resources to carry on our day-to-day routine. It is a life support system for all living beings.
Medium of livelihood: The livelihood of billions of people depends on the environment. Most of them are engaged in agriculture to earn income; others rely on different water bodies.
Provide food: The environment provides food, one of the basic necessities of life.
Provide medicine: Nature is a rich source of medicine. In ancient times, people got treatment mostly from plants. More than one-third (39.1%) of all FDA-approved drugs are of natural origin. Many scientific studies also reveal that spending time in nature can increase one’s lifespan.

Major Causes Of Environmental Degradation

Environmental degradation refers to the depletion of natural resources and the ecosystem, and it can happen due to two causes – natural and manmade. Natural causes are beyond our control. But we can prevent human causes. Pollution is mainly caused by exhaust gas emitted from factories and vehicles. Due to the industrial boom, a demand-supply imbalance of environmental resources is there. Human’s surge in urbanisation and increased demand for wood has led to rapid deforestation. It further leads to an imbalance of oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere. Excessive generation of non-biodegradable waste and increased use of chemical pesticides have led to degradation of land quality and soil erosion.

Measures To Protect The Environment

Following are the simple steps to safeguard our environment:

Planting trees is one of the most popular and effective methods to preserve the environment.
Minimise water use by reducing bath time, recycling, etc.
Conserve electricity by switching off electrical appliances while not in use. Use energy-saving appliances.
Consider using eco-friendly products.
Environmental education and awareness must be given top priority.

Apart from assisting you in writing your essay, this article will help your children understand how precious their environment is and ways to safeguard it. Mother Earth has provided us with enormous benefits, and we must protect our environment.

From the above points, it is clear that the natural environment is a treasure to humanity. But due to our irresponsible actions, we are continuously harming nature without knowing its consequences. Thus we must learn to respect and protect the environment before it is too late. Change must begin from us by setting a positive example for our future generation to follow and enjoy the innumerable benefits of nature.

“A better environment ensures a better tomorrow.”

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Environment and Development Essay

Environment and development are interrelated. One cannot think of development without considering the environment. While focusing on development, if the environment is neglected, it will have further impact on the development.

Long and Short Essay on Environment and Development in English

Below you will find some essays on environment and development that will help in your exams and school assignments. Choose any environment and development essay as per your requirement and interest:

Essay on Environment vs. Development – Essay 1 (200 words)

Introduction

Development is a continuous and constant process. However, every development has some positive and negative results. While development is carried out for the benefits of the inhabitants, the environment is equally important. If development is carried out without considering the environment, it may have a negative impact on the environment. This, in turn, will cause harmful effects on the inhabitant.

Environment versus Development

The environment does not only mean surroundings. Environment refers to air, water and land and the interrelationship of all these factors with human beings. Environment and development cannot go against each other. They should be complementing each other. If all the resources on earth are utilized for the development of the world, without the thought of preserving them, soon the earth will turn into an uninhabitable place.

For the development of a nation, a huge amount of land is acquired which results in the cutting of trees. Again, as a result of development, non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, water and minerals are utilized faster before they are replenished. The global warming and depletion of resources affect the inhabitants of the world, for which they cannot reap the benefits of development.

In order to fully enjoy the benefits of development, conservation of the environment is necessary. Though this fact has been neglected in prioritizing development, there has been an increase in awareness among human beings in recent times. By giving adequate importance to the environment, we all will be able to enjoy the benefits of development for a long time.

Essay on Environment and Economic Development – Essay 2 (300 words)

Environment and economic growth are interrelated. On one hand, the economic growth of a nation affects the environment. At the same time, the degradation in environmental resources will affect the economic growth. There are environmental policies that can help in making the most out of environmental protection and economic growth.

Environment and Economic Development

Economic development is very much essential for the growth of a nation. A nation is considered developed if it provides enough job opportunity for the inhabitants thereby providing them a better life than struggling with poverty. This type of development helps in reducing income inequality. The higher economic growth of a nation also results in the increase in tax revenues and reduction in government expenditure on unemployment and poverty-related welfares.

Environment plays an important role in the economic development of a nation. A large part of the development of a nation is related to production in different sectors. The natural resources like water, fossil fuels, minerals, soils etc from the environment are needed for production in various sectors. However, the pollution caused as a result of production is absorbed by the environment. Additionally, the consumption of resources for production can lead to shortage of resources in the environment.

The continuous process of consumption of the natural resources and the increased rate of pollution to the environment will lead to poor quality of resources. This, in turn, will not only impact the quality of production but also result in various negative health impacts not only for the labors involved in production but also for the inhabitants for whom the production or the development is being carried out.

In order to enjoy the benefits of economic developments, in the long run, one should give equal importance in conservation of natural resources. Maintaining a proper balance between environment and economic development will keep on running the cycle of development whose benefits will be not only is limited to the current generation but also for the future generations.

Essay on Environmental and Sustainable Development – Essay 3 (400 words)

Sustainable development is based on three pillars of sustainability – economic, environmental and social sustainability. Environmental sustainability refers to the concern related to natural resources like air, water, and climate. An important aspect of sustainable development is to adopt activities or measures that will help in sustaining the environmental resources which would not only meet the requirements for the present generation but also the upcoming generation.

Environmental and Sustainable Development

The concept of Sustainable Development is derived from the definition phrased in the Brundtland Commission in 1987. According to the phrase, sustainable development refers to the development that meets the needs of the present generation and preserves enough resources for the future generation to meet their needs. At the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, world leaders have included some goals as Sustainable Developments Goals. They are –

Eradication of poverty in every form all over the world.
Promotion of sustainable economic growth by providing full employment and decent work for all.
Attaining gender equality and empowerment of women.
Maintaining sustainability of water and providing sanitation for all.
Promoting healthy lives for all irrespective of age.
Promoting lifelong learning opportunity for all.
Promoting sustainable agriculture and providing nutritious food for all.
Reducing inequality within and among countries.
Providing safe and sustainable human settlements for all.
Conserve water bodies for sustainable development.
Revitalizing global partnership for sustainable development.
Introducing sustainable production and consumption pattern.
Accessibility of sustainable energy for all.
Fostering innovation and building sustainable industrialization.
Adopting measures to deal with climate changes.
Restore terrestrial ecosystem, forests and stop soil degradation.
Building of effective and responsible institutions at all levels to provide justice for all.

The above mentioned sustainable goals are aimed to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate changes by 2030. These goals are set to ensure that the future generations are not deprived of the benefits of development and they can utilize the natural resources to satisfy their needs as well.

The concept of sustainability is related to the concept of carrying capacity. If the natural resources are used up fast than they are being replenished, it would lead to degradation of the environment. This might lead to the destruction of the population to a level where the natural resources become inadequate for the living population. Therefore, environmental and sustainable development should be given equal importance for the benefits of the population.

Essay on Protection of Environment and Sustainable Development – Essay 4 (500 words)

Sustainable development aims to preserve the natural resources so that even after the current generation used them to meet their needs, there is enough left for the coming generation. And as a matter of fact, even for generations after that. In order to maintain the sustainable development, the environment is needed to be protected.

Protection of Environment and Sustainable Development

Some of the current issues related to environment are global warming and depletion of natural resources. Global warming refers to the permanent climate change of the earth owing to industrial pollution, degradation of the environment, greenhouse gas emission, depletion of the ozone layer which means a decline in the total amount of ozone on earth’s stratosphere. Scientists have proven that the temperature of the earth is increasing and if necessary precautions are not being taken, the situation will be worse which will cause further negative impact on the environment and human health.

Depletion of natural resources is another major concern. With the overpopulation, the consumption of earth’s natural resources is taking place at a faster rate even before they could be replenished. Global warming leads to the low rate of production of agricultural products and with depletion of natural resources adding to it, very soon the mass population of earth will face not only a shortage of food but also shortage of resources to carry out any development process.

In order to overcome the shortage, chemicals are used to increase the production of agricultural products. This not only decreases the value of soil, but also affects human health in a negative way. If the process continues, the inhabitants of the earth are going to face serious issues. In all these years, plenty of damages have been caused to earth’s environment and its resources. If necessary activities and measures are taken to protect the environment, there is hope that much worse condition could be postponed if not totally avoided.

In order to reduce global warming, protection of forests and wetlands are important. Trees should not be cut until and unless they are absolutely necessary. In such cases, it is required to plant as many trees wherever possible. A single step taken by a huge part of the population can play a major role in protecting the environment. It is also important to conserve natural resources, biodiversity, and wildlife. Apart from that, every inhabitant of the earth should play their part in preventing ozone layer from depletion.

The main ozone-depleting substances are widely used in refrigerators, air conditioners and fire extinguishers. Many refrigerators and air conditioners use Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) as a refrigerant. These are important elements in causing depletion to the earth’s ozone layer.

It is hence important to not use products that use HCFC and CFC as refrigerants. It is also advisable to avoid using aerosol products that use HCFCs and CFCs as propellants. Apart from all these above-mentioned measures, precaution should be taken to emit less carbon to the environment.

In order to undergo sustainable development, necessary precaution should be taken to protect the environment. This, in turn, will benefit the present population as well as the coming generations, which is the ultimate goal of sustainable development. Protection of environment hence is an important step in sustainable development.

Essay on Sustainable Development and Environment Conservation – Essay 5 (600 words)

Conservation refers to the process of protection, preservation, management, and restoration of natural environments and their inhabitants. The main objective of sustainable development is to preserve the resources of the environment for future generation use even after being used by the present generation. Hence, to achieve the objective of sustainable development, conservation of the environment is important.

Sustainable Development and Environment Conservation

Conservation of the environment involves two processes – protecting natural resources and living in a way causing less damage to the environment. Environment refers to natural resources like air, water, and land and their interrelationship with the human beings. In a broader aspect, it also comprises of trees, soil, fossil fuels, minerals etc. Trees help in protecting the soil from getting eroded due to flood or rain. They are also needed to purify the air.

Water is needed not only by human beings for consumption, but also for agriculture, the existence of living beings like plants and animals and production in different sectors. The soil is needed for providing production of food for all living beings as well as for filtering water. Hence, trees, soil and every source of water is needed to be conserved and stopped from getting polluted. These three elements play an important role in the existence of living beings. Pollution of these elements will not only cause us harm, but they will also pose more threat for the coming generations.

Conservation of environment not only includes conservation of natural resources. It also refers to the conservation of energy. Solar and wind energy are two forms of renewable energy that will help in the reduction of usage of non-renewable energy like fossil fuels, power cars etc. If all forms of renewable energy are used to replace the non- renewable forms of energy, a huge positive impact on earth could be achieved. Non-renewable energies take time to replenish; this is the reason why renewable forms of energy should be used.

Apart from the conservation of the environment, certain measures should be taken to replenish the resources of the environment that are being used. Reforestation of trees, composting of soil, to maintain their quality are some of the useful ways to replenish the resources of the environment. These methods will certainly help in maintaining a balance in the environment.

Along with these factors, measures should be taken to reduce pollution in the environment. Usage of electric or hybrid vehicles instead of gas guzzlers can be a wise alternative in reducing carbon emission to the environment. It is also advisable to walk or ride a cycle or share a vehicle to reduce carbon emission. Organic farming is another alternative to maintain the quality of soil as well as the food thereby causing less harm to the environment and reducing health hazards which might be caused due to the usage of chemicals in farming.

Quitting smoking and using natural products instead of chemical products not only benefit your health, but also have a positive impact on the environment. One can save water by turning off the faucet or by storing rainwater for different uses. Cleaning clothes and dishes only after having a full load can also save water. Unplugging electrical devices when not in use is a cost-effective and energy-saving way. Besides, one can also reuse and recycle products that will bring a new life to old items. Also, avoiding using plastic products can have a positive impact on the environment.

The aim of sustainable development could be achieved by conserving the environment. It will not only help in reducing the damage to the environment but also help in the preservation of resources for the future generation.

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EssayBanyan.com – Collections of Essay for Students of all Class in English

Environment Essay

Environment is nothing but everything that surrounds us. It actually includes both the manmade and natural components. In general terms, it refers to natural elements like air, water, soil, rivers, lakes, etc.

Short and Long Essay on Environment in English

In the essays given below we will through several aspects of the environment and damages to it under various words limit of 100 – 120 Words, 250 Words, 400 Words, and 600 Words with the related FAQs for your easiness:

Environment Essay 10 Lines (100 – 150 Words)

1) All the living and non-living creatures, air, water, etc makes the environment.

2) Environment is the home to all living things.

3) Natural and Artificial are the two types of environment.

4) The valuable resources like air, water, trees, etc are provided to us by the environment.

5) A healthy environment is necessary for a healthy life.

6) Due to human activities, the environment is getting polluted.

7) Every year the globe celebrates World Environment Day on 5 th June.

8) Pollution, global warming, etc are damaging the environment.

9) Survival on the Earth can only be possible if we protect our environment.

10) It is necessary to save the environment by seeing its importance.

Essay on Environment (300 Words)

Introduction

The environment is the natural area where people, plants, and animals live together. It includes the air we breathe, the water we drink and also the ground we live. The environment is a key part of keeping life going on Earth, and keeping it healthy is important for the future of our world.

Importance of Environ ment

Our health and survival depend on a healthy ecosystem. It provides us with all the necessary resources such as food, water, and shelter. The environment also plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems and biodiversity. A healthy environment can maintain the proper ecological balance, preventing the species from extinction and resource depletion. Also, clean and healthy environments are essential for physical and mental well-being.Humans rely on the environment for everything they need to stay alive.

Dangers to the Environment

Despite the importance of environment, it is still facing numerous threats today. The rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization has led to the depletion of natural resources and increased pollution levels. Deforestation is causing the loss of flora and fauna and contributing to climate change. The burning of fossil fuels to meet our energy demands leads to the emission of greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming. Additionally, pollution from industrial activities, agriculture, and waste disposal is contaminating the air, water, and soil, leading to severe health consequences for humans and wildlife.

The preservation and protection of the environment are vital for the survival of all living beings on Earth. We must implement sustainable practices in various sectors to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. It’s up to all of us to work together and make decisions that will protect the environment and make the world a better place for us and future generations.

Essay on Environment (250 Words)

Our environment includes everything that surrounds us. The environment is an essential requirement for humans and other species to survive on the planet. Without a clean and pure environment, it would be difficult for life to exist.

Self Sustainable Environment

The environment that we live in is capable of sustaining not only humans but also millions of other species of plants, animals, reptiles, insects, etc. Though, there is one requirement that human interference with the environment should be at its lowest.

Our environment has an ample supply of water, food, air, and other valuable resources as of now. It has sustained all the needs of species for millions of years. The continuous process of evaporation and rain, year after year, gets our rivers running and ponds swelled. Trees live for hundreds of years, giving a fresh supply of oxygen and fruits every season.

The soils also produce new vegetation and immediately get ready for the other. There could be no better example of self-sustainability than the environment we live in. Moreover, it also has an exceptional ability to repair itself up to a certain extent.

But, despite all its sustainability and repairing abilities, the environment also has a limit. Human interference in the form of pollution, habitat destruction, resource depletion, and others is taking a heavy toll on the environment.

Though the environment is self-sustainable and could repair its damages, it depends up to a large extent on how humans treat it. The way we treat our environment, the same we will get in return. The message is clear, treat the environment well and it will shower you with goodies. Mistreat it and be prepared to be mistreated as well.

Essay 2 (400 Words) – What are Environmental Damages done by Human

Everything around us that have been put up by nature constitutes our environment. It includes trees, forests, oceans, rivers, grasslands, ravines, hills, etc along with millions of living species of birds, insects, marine and land animals. Today, the environment is threatened due to a number of human activities.

Interconnected Environment

We must acknowledge the fact that everything in the environment is interconnected or interrelated and any effect on one is bound to make an impact on others and on the environment as a whole. For example, if forests are cut, it affects several animals, birds, and other living species, snatching from them their habitation and breeding ground. But this didn’t end here, but humans living miles away from that forest will get affected in some way or the other. Animals will encroach upon human settlement then there will be a change in climate and other natural resources.

Environmental Damages

There are several environmental damages initiated by humans. They affect almost all the elements of the environment – air, water, forest, species, etc. Below are some of the main environmental damages caused by humans.

Global Warming

It is a big term that threatens the very existence of life on the planet. The main reason behind global warming is the excessive use of fossil fuel by humans, resulting in an escalated greenhouse effect. It causes the earth’s temperature to sore beyond an acceptable limit, causing climate change and other significant geological changes.

Habitat Destruction

Uncontrolled construction by humans is threatening the well being of the environment by decreasing the natural habitat of other living species. According to a study, nearly 77% of the land has been changed due to human activities and only 23% remains untouched.

Species Depletion

The interference of humans with the environment has some serious consequences on the number of species on the planet. With the loss in their natural habitat and other degrading factors, many species of plants and animals, those don’t adapt well to the changes, are getting depleted fast. According to a study conducted by a reliable source, we might be losing at least 10,000 species every year.

Pollution is another significant factor that threatens the purity of the environment. Pollution has many faces – land pollution, air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution, soil pollution, and even light pollution. Any kind of pollution is human-generated and also degrades the overall quality of the environment.

Environment is our most precious resource and we must take all the necessary steps to save it from any kind of damage. The future of the planet and our own depends on how we treat our planet and its environment.

Essay 3 (500 – 600 Words) – Environment is Precious for Life on Earth

Environment refers to everything natural that surrounds us. Today this natural environment is threatened by human activities. Trees, forests, lakes, rivers, are some of the prime constituents of the natural environment while building roads, factories, and concrete structures, etc are examples of environment encroachment. Due to human interference, the natural environment that surrounds us is getting depleted.

Environment is Precious

‘Environment is precious’; there are at least two main explanations to substantiate this claim. First is that the natural environment we live in today i.e. the rivers, lakes, forests, hills, groundwater resources, etc has taken thousands or even millions of years to come to the present stage. The second argument to validate the preciousness of the environment is that it is super essential for healthy and happy living. Let me elaborate a little.

Any forested area that you know has been there since your childhood, has probably evolved in thousands of years. It takes so many years for a natural forest to come in its full glory and to support all that biodiversity. But when a forest is cut down for commercial objectives, things never remain the same, even if the forest is given a fair chance to grow again. Sadly, the loss of biodiversity can never be regained, no matter how hard we try.

Same is the case with other elements of the environment. The groundwater that we so dearly use every day, has been build up over a span of thousand years. It means that any waste of groundwater will take centuries to be refilled.

Life and Environment

We are so engrossed in the daily engagements that we don’t realize the real force behind all that commotion, which gives us the strength to face the challenges. We think that our desires and ambitions drive us, but that is only half the truth. Ambitions are nothing but mind goals that we set for ourselves, but we are able to achieve those goals, only because, our environment supports us in health.

It provides us with all the essential requirements for life – oxygen, water, food, air, and other vital resources. We can’t afford damage to the environment beyond a specified limit. Because, if we do so, there would be no life on earth, forget about a difficult one.

Fortunately, the air that we breathe still has 20% of oxygen by concentration, while humans require around 19.5% of oxygen concentration to breathe or to be more specific – ‘to live’. However, the rate at which we are damaging our environment, the tables may turn quickly enough, leaving no room for a repair.

The loss of marine oxygen from the oceans is already threatening the existence of fishes and other marine species. The factors responsible for the depletion of ocean oxygen levels are climate change and nutrient pollution. Climate change is primarily an outcome of human activities and it also threatens the environment as a whole.

These changes are probably the alarm calls warning humanity against the damages it does to the environment. Without a clean and safe environment, it would be fruitless to even think of any kind of life on the planet. All the beauty of the earth will just vanish if the damage to the environment continues.

It is established beyond doubt that c is essential for life on the planet and as long as remains in its original form and size, life will thrive. But, if it gets damaged beyond a certain level then slowly the land and marine life will come to an end, making the planet lifeless. It is, therefore, our foremost responsibility to check the environmental damage and take necessary steps in this regard.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions on Environment

Ans . The Environment Protection Act was passed in India in 1986.

Ans . The Kyoto Protocol was created by United Nation to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by different countries.

Ans . It was observed first time on 5th June in 1974.

Ans . Qatar is the country in the world with the lowest forest cover.

Ans . The theme for the World Environment day 2021 was “Ecosystem Restoration”.

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How Long Should a College Essay Be

Writing a college essay is a big deal for students, giving them a chance to share their unique stories and ambitions with admissions officers. But here's the thing: figuring out how long it should be can be tricky.

In this article, we're going to tackle the question of a perfect essay length head-on. We'll break down what influences the ideal length for your essay and give you some tips on finding that sweet spot between saying enough and not saying too much.

Why Following a College Essay Word Limit Is Important

Sticking to the college essay length matters for a few important reasons. Firstly, it shows that you can follow instructions, which is a skill you'll need in college and beyond. Admissions officers have lots of essays to read, so keeping within the limit respects their time and attention.

Plus, it helps level the playing field for all applicants, giving everyone a fair chance to make their case without overwhelming reviewers with too much information. And on your end, it forces you to be concise and clear, focusing on what really matters in your story. If the word limit of your essay is too large, simply say, ‘ do my essay for me ,’ and our experts will help you fit into any word limit.

Why Essay Length Varies in Different Assignments

The issue of how long is an essay can change depending on the assignment for a few reasons. First off, it's about who's reading it and why. A formal academic essay might need more detail and research, so it could end up longer. But it might be shorter and more casual if you're just sharing your thoughts with a friend.

Then there's the topic itself – some things need more explanation. Plus, your teacher's guidelines, like how many words or pages to aim for, can also affect how long your essay turns out. It's about fitting the essay to the task at hand and making sure you cover everything you need to without going overboard.

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Wondering about the ideal length for your college essay? You're not alone. Figuring out how much to write can be a head-scratcher for many students. But fear not! In this guide, we'll show you how to strike the right balance between text length and informational richness.

High School Essay

The length of a high school essay can vary depending on the assignment and teacher's instructions. Generally, essays in high school classes range from around 500 to 1000 words, though some assignments may require shorter or longer compositions. The length often reflects the depth of analysis and detail expected by the teacher, as well as the complexity of the topic.

Shorter essays might focus on summarizing information or making a concise argument, while longer essays allow for more in-depth exploration and analysis. Regardless of length, students should prioritize clarity, coherence, and relevance to effectively convey their ideas and meet the requirements of the assignment.

College Admission Essay

College admission essay length typically ranges from 250 to 650 words, with many colleges setting specific word limits. Admissions officers receive thousands of applications, so brevity is key. A well-crafted essay should be concise yet impactful, showcasing the applicant's personality, experiences, and aspirations within the given word count.

Adhering to the word limit demonstrates the applicant's ability to follow instructions and communicate effectively, while exceeding it may signal a lack of respect for guidelines or an inability to convey ideas succinctly.

Undergraduate College Essay

Undergraduate college essay length typically ranges from 400 to 650 words, although some institutions may specify shorter or longer limits. The essay aims to provide admissions officers with insight into the applicant's character, values, and potential contributions to the campus community.

While brevity is important, the essay should be substantive enough to convey meaningful information about the applicant's experiences and aspirations.

Graduate School Admission Essay

Graduate school admission essay length varies, typically ranging from 500 to 1000 words, although specific requirements may differ by program. These essays allow applicants to articulate their academic and professional goals, research interests, and reasons for pursuing graduate studies.

Admissions committees seek concise yet comprehensive essays demonstrating the applicant's readiness for advanced academic work and alignment with the program's values and objectives.

Graduate School Essay

Graduate school essay length typically ranges from 500 to 1000 words, although requirements can vary between programs. These essays serve as a crucial component of the application process, allowing applicants to convey their academic background, research interests, career goals, and suitability for the program.

Admissions committees value conciseness and coherence, so applicants should prioritize quality over quantity when crafting their essays. Ultimately, the essay should offer a compelling narrative that highlights the applicant's strengths, experiences, and motivations for pursuing graduate studies.

Recommended Length of Each Part of the Essay

While the recommended college essay length of each its part can vary depending on the specific requirements of the assignment or application, here's a general guideline:

Introduction

The introduction typically comprises 10-15% of the total essay length. It should provide background information on the topic, establish the context, and present the thesis statement or main argument.

Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should be roughly the same length and account for approximately 60-70% of the total essay length. Aim for around 150-200 words per paragraph. Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea or point and provide supporting evidence or examples to strengthen the argument.

The conclusion should be similar in length to the introduction, comprising around 10-15% of the total essay length. It should summarize the main points discussed in the essay, restate the thesis or main argument, and provide a sense of closure or resolution.

Remember that these are general recommendations, and the actual length of each part may vary based on the specific requirements of your assignment or application.

It's essential to review any guidelines provided and adjust your essay accordingly to meet the expectations of your audience. Use a specialized college essay writing help from experts who always hit the mark when it comes to the length of assignments.

How Long Should an Introduction Be

An introduction should typically span between 50 to 100 words, offering enough context to engage the reader while succinctly presenting the main argument or thesis. It serves as a roadmap for the essay, providing an overview of what to expect without delving into excessive detail.

How Long Is a Body Paragraph

A body paragraph is typically around 100 to 200 words in length, although this can vary depending on the complexity of the topic and the depth of analysis required. Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea or point, supported by evidence or examples, and contribute to the overall argument or thesis of the essay.

How Long Should a Conclusion Paragraph Be

Knowing how long should a college essay be – from 400 to 600 words – a conclusion paragraph should mirror the length of the introduction, comprising between 50 to 100 words of the total essay length. It should summarize the main points discussed in the essay, restate the thesis or main argument, and provide a sense of closure or resolution to the reader.

How to Check Word Count

To check the word count of an essay, you can use various methods depending on the software or platform you're using:

How to Make an Essay Longer

To make an essay longer, consider these strategies:

Expand Ideas: Add more detail and examples to elaborate on your points.
Provide Supporting Details: Include additional evidence or references to strengthen your arguments.
Address Counterarguments: Discuss opposing viewpoints and explain why they're invalid.
Use More Sources: Incorporate more research to support your claims.
Use Transitions: Improve the flow between paragraphs with transitional phrases.
Rephrase and Expand: Clarify and expand on your ideas by revising your sentences.
Consider Different Angles: Explore the topic from various perspectives.
Revise Carefully: Edit your essay to ensure added content enhances its quality.

How to Shorten an Essay

To shorten an essay length while maintaining its essence, follow these strategies:

Remove Redundancy: Cut out repetitive phrases or sentences.
Combine Similar Ideas: Condense related points to streamline your message.
Simplify Language: Use clear, concise language to convey your ideas.
Delete Unnecessary Details: Eliminate irrelevant examples or explanations.
Focus on Essentials: Keep only the most relevant information.
Check for Wordiness: Remove filler words and phrases.

When working on your compositions, remember about the impact of remote learning on students and your productiveness.

How to Format a College Essay Based on the Required Length

Let’s explore strategies to tailor your essay's structure and content to fit within specified word limits. By understanding how to adjust your writing style and organization, you'll be better equipped to craft a compelling essay that adheres to length requirements without sacrificing quality or clarity.

Spacing is crucial for how long is an essay looking, its readability and adherence to length requirements. Opting for double-spacing ensures adequate room for markers to review your content and allows for easy reading. Additionally, double-spacing aids in maintaining a clean, organized appearance, enhancing the overall presentation of your essay.

If the instruction is to double-space the paper, consider using a spacing of 2.1 or 2.2 instead.
You can extend the margin size by a quarter, such as increasing the right and bottom margins from 1 inch to 1.25 inches, to make subtle adjustments in length without significantly impacting the overall appearance.
Another strategy is to increase the spacing between characters, although it should be done cautiously to avoid excessive alterations.
Aim to keep the spacing between 1.2 and 1.5 to maintain readability and visual consistency throughout the document.

Font and Size

Font selection and size can be key to adjusting the college essay length. Opt for a standard, easily readable font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri to ensure clarity and consistency. Aim for a font size of 12 points, which is the standard for most academic writing and provides optimal legibility without sacrificing space or readability.

If your instructor hasn't specified a font, consider using larger options such as Arial, Bangla Sangam MN, Cambria, or Quicksand.
Exercise caution and try not to exceed an increase of 0.1-0.5 points to avoid noticeable alterations.
Another technique is to increase the size of punctuation marks, such as periods and commas, by a couple of points compared to the main text size, or italicizing them, which can subtly add to the overall length of your essay.

Following the specified length for your college essay is super important because it shows that you can stick to the rules and pay attention to instructions, which is a skill colleges value. Plus, sticking to the word count helps you be concise and get your point across clearly without rambling or overwhelming the reader.

If you’re struggling to fit into the required word limit, buy a college essay that will be written by a seasoned professional who knows exactly how to meet academic standards.

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How Many Pages Are in an Essay

How long is an essay paragraph.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How long should my essay be? – BigFuture | College Board . (n.d.). https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/help-center/how-long-should-my-essay-be
12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay - Harvard Summer School . (2022, August 9). Harvard Summer School. https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/12-strategies-to-writing-the-perfect-college-essay/
How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Honor Society - Official Honor Society® Website . (n.d.). https://www.honorsociety.org/articles/how-long-should-college-essay-be

Your Best College Essay

Maybe you love to write, or maybe you don’t. Either way, there’s a chance that the thought of writing your college essay is making you sweat. No need for nerves! We’re here to give you the important details on how to make the process as anxiety-free as possible.

student's hands typing on a laptop in class

What's the College Essay?

When we say “The College Essay” (capitalization for emphasis – say it out loud with the capitals and you’ll know what we mean) we’re talking about the 550-650 word essay required by most colleges and universities. Prompts for this essay can be found on the college’s website, the Common Application, or the Coalition Application. We’re not talking about the many smaller supplemental essays you might need to write in order to apply to college. Not all institutions require the essay, but most colleges and universities that are at least semi-selective do.

How do I get started?

Look for the prompts on whatever application you’re using to apply to schools (almost all of the time – with a few notable exceptions – this is the Common Application). If one of them calls out to you, awesome! You can jump right in and start to brainstorm. If none of them are giving you the right vibes, don’t worry. They’re so broad that almost anything you write can fit into one of the prompts after you’re done. Working backwards like this is totally fine and can be really useful!

What if I have writer's block?

You aren’t alone. Staring at a blank Google Doc and thinking about how this is the one chance to tell an admissions officer your story can make you freeze. Thinking about some of these questions might help you find the right topic:

What is something about you that people have pointed out as distinctive?
If you had to pick three words to describe yourself, what would they be? What are things you’ve done that demonstrate these qualities?
What’s something about you that has changed over your years in high school? How or why did it change?
What’s something you like most about yourself?
What’s something you love so much that you lose track of the rest of the world while you do it?

If you’re still stuck on a topic, ask your family members, friends, or other trusted adults: what’s something they always think about when they think about you? What’s something they think you should be proud of? They might help you find something about yourself that you wouldn’t have surfaced on your own.

How do I grab my reader's attention?

It’s no secret that admissions officers are reading dozens – and sometimes hundreds – of essays every day. That can feel like a lot of pressure to stand out. But if you try to write the most unique essay in the world, it might end up seeming forced if it’s not genuinely you. So, what’s there to do? Our advice: start your essay with a story. Tell the reader about something you’ve done, complete with sensory details, and maybe even dialogue. Then, in the second paragraph, back up and tell us why this story is important and what it tells them about you and the theme of the essay.

THE WORD LIMIT IS SO LIMITING. HOW DO I TELL A COLLEGE MY WHOLE LIFE STORY IN 650 WORDS?

Don’t! Don’t try to tell an admissions officer about everything you’ve loved and done since you were a child. Instead, pick one or two things about yourself that you’re hoping to get across and stick to those. They’ll see the rest on the activities section of your application.

I'M STUCK ON THE CONCLUSION. HELP?

If you can’t think of another way to end the essay, talk about how the qualities you’ve discussed in your essays have prepared you for college. Try to wrap up with a sentence that refers back to the story you told in your first paragraph, if you took that route.

SHOULD I PROOFREAD MY ESSAY?

YES, proofread the essay, and have a trusted adult proofread it as well. Know that any suggestions they give you are coming from a good place, but make sure they aren’t writing your essay for you or putting it into their own voice. Admissions officers want to hear the voice of you, the applicant. Before you submit your essay anywhere, our number one advice is to read it out loud to yourself. When you read out loud you’ll catch small errors you may not have noticed before, and hear sentences that aren’t quite right.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?

Be yourself. If you’re not a naturally serious person, don’t force formality. If you’re the comedian in your friend group, go ahead and be funny. But ultimately, write as your authentic (and grammatically correct) self and trust the process.

And remember, thousands of other students your age are faced with this same essay writing task, right now. You can do it!

Article

Volume 16, issue 5
ESSD, 16, 2483–2499, 2024
Peer review
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Seeing the wood for the trees: active human–environmental interactions in arid northwestern China

Robert n. spengler, xinying zhou, alison betts, peter weiming jia, keliang zhao, xiaoqiang li.

Due largely to demographic growth, agricultural populations during the Holocene became increasingly more impactful ecosystem engineers. Multidisciplinary research has revealed a deep history of human–environmental dynamics; however, these pre-modern anthropogenic ecosystem transformations and cultural adaptions are still poorly understood. Here, we synthesis anthracological data to explore the complex array of human–environmental interactions in the regions of the prehistoric Silk Road. Our results suggest that these ancient humans were not passively impacted by environmental change; rather, they culturally adapted to, and in turn altered, arid ecosystems. Underpinned by the establishment of complex agricultural systems on the western Loess Plateau, people may have started to manage chestnut trees, likely through conservation of economically significant species, as early as 4600 BP. Since ca. 3500 BP, with the appearance of high-yielding wheat and barley farming in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, people appear to have been cultivating Prunus and Morus trees. We also argue that people were transporting preferred coniferous woods over long distances to meet the need for fuel and timber. After 2500 BP, people in our study area were making conscious selections between wood types for craft production and were also clearly cultivating a wide range of long-generation perennials, showing a remarkable traditional knowledge tied into the arid environment. At the same time, the data suggest that there was significant deforestation throughout the chronology of occupation, including a rapid decline of slow-growing spruce forests and riparian woodlands across northwestern China. The wood charcoal dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8158277 (Shen et al., 2023).

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Shen, H., Spengler, R. N., Zhou, X., Betts, A., Jia, P. W., Zhao, K., and Li, X.: Seeing the wood for the trees: active human–environmental interactions in arid northwestern China, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2483–2499, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2483-2024, 2024.

The extent of long-term interaction between humans and their environment, especially relating to the ways early agricultural groups reshaped and adapted to terrestrial ecosystems, has been the subject of ongoing debate (Ruddiman, 2003; Zong et al., 2007; Zalasiewicz et al., 2017; ArchaeoGLOBE Project, 2019; Renn, 2020; Dong et al., 2020a, 2022a; Cowie et al., 2022). While humans have undoubtedly been interacting with their environment since before the Holocene, the magnitude and complexity of this interaction following the adoption of agricultural economies increased immensely. During this process, people shifted their subsistence system from hunting–gathering to cereal cultivation and animal husbandry, and they increasingly gained the ability to alter and adapt their ecological surroundings (Bellwood, 2005; Zeder, 2008; Zohary et al., 2012). Around 5000 BP, agricultural populations across Europe and Asia first came into contact via diffusion of crops, contributing to food globalization in prehistory (Sherratt, 2006; Jones et al., 2011; Dong et al., 2017, 2022b; Boivin et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2019; Zhou et al., 2020). The intermingling of millets, adapted for arid and short-season grasslands in northern China, with cereals, adapted for rainy season growth in arid southwestern Asia, eventually facilitated a greater intensification of farming systems (Spengler, 2019; Miller et al., 2016).

Mounting evidence shows that the development of intensive farming systems was accompanied by a series of ecological and social changes (Bellwood, 2005; Weisdorf, 2005; Atahan et al., 2008; Kaplan et al., 2009; Bocquet-Appel, 2011; D. Q. Fuller et al., 2011; Asouti et al., 2015; Ruddiman, 2013). For instance, the dispersal and expansion of agriculture largely altered the natural geographic distributions of anthropophilic plants (crops and weeds) and directly influenced vegetation communities worldwide (Vigne et al., 2012; D. Fuller et al., 2011; Crowther et al., 2016; Boivin et al., 2017; Spengler et al., 2021). Forest clearing, either to increase the surface area of arable land or to acquire wood for construction or fuel, has caused large-scale deforestation and created a more open landscape (Zong et al., 2007; Atahan et al., 2008; Kaplan et al., 2009; Innes et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2021). Meanwhile, human-mediated management of local woodlands to encourage the growth of fruit- and nut-bearing trees, shifting land-use strategies from an emphasis on short-term returns of annual cereals to long-term investment with delayed-return crops, has been widely recognized (Fall et al., 2002; Janick, 2005; Miller and Gross, 2011; Miller, 2013; Asouti and Kabukcu, 2014; Asouti et al., 2015). Today, essentially all ecosystems on the planet are anthropogenic constructs, recognized through the increasingly prominent use of the term Anthropocene (Crutzen, 2002; Ruddiman, 2003, 2013; Monastersky, 2015).

Northwestern China, the focus region of this paper. It is of particular interest because it is located at the core of the ancient trade routes that are colloquially referred to as the Silk Road, and farmers in the region were the first to experiment with agricultural crops from both West and East Asia (Wang et al., 2017; Dong et al., 2017, 2018, 2022b; Zhou et al., 2020; Li, 2021). Specifically, evidence from the Dadiwan site has revealed that broomcorn millet cultivation began as early as 7800 BP (Liu et al., 2004; Li, 2018), and the gradual diffusion of broomcorn millet reached farmers in the mountains of Central Asia by 4500 BP (Spengler et al., 2014; Yatoo et al., 2020). The remains of barley ( Hordeum vulgare var. nudum ) and wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) found at the Tongtian Cave site have been dated to around 5200 BP, representing the earliest known southwestern Asian cereals found in East Asia (Zhou et al., 2020). In addition to long-distance diffusion of cereals and knowledge of their cultivation, this area also fostered the transcontinental dispersals of sheep, goat, bronze-smelting technology, mudbrick-manufacturing techniques, and a variety of other cultural attributes (Mei and Shell, 1991; Dodson et al., 2009; Li et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2017; Dong et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2018; Ren et al., 2022). Additionally, most of this region is characterized by a hyper-arid desert and fragile oasis ecosystem, which is especially vulnerable to human activity, making it a prime zone for studying the interaction between early agricultural societies and the environment.

Archeologists and geologists working in this region have mainly focused their attention on the relationship between climate change and Neolithic cultural development, as well as anthropogenic impacts on regional ecosystems. These scholars have argued that enhanced precipitation during the late-Yangshao (5500–5000 BP), Majiayao-type (5300–4800 BP), and Qijia (4200–3800 BP) periods played an important role in the expansion of these early farmers (An et al., 2004, 2005, 2006; Hou et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2010; Dong et al., 2012; Dong, 2013, 2016, 2020a). A reduction in the number of archeological sites during the gap between the early and middle Majiayao (4800–4400 BP) and the decline of the Qijia culture are thought to be a response to increasing aridity (Dong et al., 2012; Dong, 2013). Concurrent with these changes, people were actively engaged in reshaping the landscape. For instance, a wood charcoal study from the Hexi Corridor has suggested that prehistoric wood collection led to a rapid reduction in local woodlands and a decline in woody-plant diversity (Shen et al., 2018). However, relatively less attention has been paid to the cultural responses and adaption strategies employed by early farmers in these arid environments. Meanwhile, scientific records are geographically uneven, with regions such as the Hexi Corridor attracting considerable attention, whereas few studies have targeted the vast area of Xinjiang, leading to an incomplete picture of prehistoric human–environmental interactions along the ancient Silk Road.

In this study, we present a comprehensive synthesis of wood charcoal records from northwestern China. Since the first charcoal analysis, beginning in the 1940s (Salysbury and Jane, 1940), the application of reflected-light microscopy has allowed for the rapid identification of charcoal, making it widely used in the (1) reconstruction of firewood collection strategies (Asouti and Austin, 2005; Marguerie and Hunot, 2007; Li et al., 2016; Shen et al., 2018; Kabukcu, 2017; Mas et al., 2021), (2) elucidation of the impacts that woodcutting had on local forests (Li et al., 2011; Asouti et al., 2015; Knapp et al., 2015; Shen et al., 2018), (3) identification of woody communities' compositions (Wang et al., 2014; Asouti et al., 2015; Allué and Zaidner, 2022; Mas et al., 2022), and (4) determination of fruit and/or nut tree management (Miller, 2013; Asouti and Kabukcu, 2014; Shen and Li, 2021). Here, we seek to identify patterns within wood charcoal assemblages recovered from seven archeological sites in Xinjiang, which we contrast with more than 30 other published regional records. We aim to explore multiple perspectives on the complexities of human–environmental interactions within the agricultural background, including the influence of farming and woodcutting on woody-vegetation change, as well as the strategies applied in response to climatic aridification.

2.1 Regional setting

Our study focuses on the provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu, due to the important roles people in this region played in exchange along the ancient Silk Road. This region is characterized by montane ecoclines, including those of the Tianshan, Altai, Altun, and Qilian mountains (Fig. 1). Due to glacial snowmelt, alluvial plains are widely distributed across the lowland basins, and fine-grained nutrients and water brought by the runoff nourish a network of oases, especially within the Hexi Corridor and Tarim Basin (Zheng et al., 2015). Climatically, mean annual precipitation (MAP) is geographically uneven, due to differences in prevailing air masses. For the western Loess Plateau, which is under the control of the Asian monsoons, the MAP usually exceeds 400 mm ( https://data.cma.cn/ , last access: 19 May 2024). Water vapor carried by the westerlies mainly concentrates in the Ili or Irtysh valleys and Junggar Basin, and the MAP can sometimes reach more than 500 mm (Xiao et al., 2006; Zheng et al., 2015). In the Tarim Basin and the Hexi Corridor, the MAP is usually less than 200 mm ( https://data.cma.cn/ , last access: 19 May 2024). Temperatures are also spatially and seasonally unevenly distributed; likewise, the mean annual temperature in the Kunlun, Tianshan, and Altai mountains is below 0°C, while that of the Turpan Basin is around 14°C (Chen, 2010).

https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2483/2024/essd-16-2483-2024-f01

Figure 1 The location of archeological sites mentioned in this study: (1) Xintala, (2) Wupaer, (3) Xiakalangguer, (4) Shirenzigou, (5) Sidaogou, (6) Xicaozi, (7) Qiongkeke, (8) Tongtian Cave, (9) Jirzankal, (10) Yanghai, (11) Jiayi, (12) Shengjindian, (13) Yuergou, (14) Xiaohe, (15) Gumugou, (16) South Aisikexiaer Cemetery, (17) Wupu, (18) Xihetan, (19) Zhaojiashuimo, (20) Huoshaogou, (21) Huoshiliang, (22) Ganggangwa, (23) Lifuzhai, (24) Xichengyi, (25) Sanjiao, (26) Mozuizi, (27) Donghuishan, (28) Jingbaoer, (29) Yingwoshu, (30) Sanjiaocheng, (31) Majiayao, (32) Xishanping, (33) Dadiwan, (34) Shannashuzha, (35) Daping, (36) Gaozhuang, (37) Jiangjiazui, (38) Laohuzui, and (39) Qiaocun. The base map was obtained from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/ (last access: 22 November 2023).

Due to the arid climate, vegetation types here are characterized by expansive deserts (Xinjiang Integrated Expedition Team and Institute of Botany, 1978). Along the rivers in the lowland basins, riparian woodlands are mainly composed of Populus , Elaeagnus , Ulmus , and Salix (Chen, 2010). Within the montane belt, vegetation usually changes across the following banded ecoclines from lowest to highest elevation: grassland (dominated by Stipa ), coniferous forest (mainly Picea and Larix ), subalpine steppe (mainly Stipa ), alpine meadows (including Stipa , Carex , and Artemisia ), and alpine cushion vegetation (represented by Androsace , Stellaria media , and Geranium wilfordii ) (Chen, 2010; Zheng et al., 2015; Xinjiang Integrated Expedition Team and Institute of Botany, 1978). Wild fruit and nut woodlands are distributed throughout the Tianshan Mountains, especially in the Ili Valley, and the main wild fruit trees include Malus sp., Juglans regia , and Prunus spp. (Chen, 2009; Abudureheman et al., 2016).

2.2 Prehistoric cultures and agriculture

As an important cultural bridge connecting East and West Asia, northwestern China has fostered a variety of cultural communities. The early Neolithic cultures included the Dadiwan and Yangshao, mainly distributed in southern Gansu (Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Gansu, 2006). Later, people with material culture ascribed to the Majiayao expanded quickly into the Hexi Corridor around 4800 BP (Xie, 2002; Dong et al., 2020b). From 4000 to 3000 BP, the main archeological cultures in Gansu consisted of the Xichengyi, Qijia, Siba, and Dongjiatai (Li et al., 2010), and the Shanma and Shajing cultures gradually developed after 3000 BP (Li, 2009; Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology et al., 2015). In Xinjiang, the prehistoric peoples before 4000 BP were represented by material culture categorized as the Afanasievo and Chemurchek (Shao, 2018). From 4000 to 3500 BP, the Andronovo culture expanded into western Xinjiang, and the Tianshanbeilu and Xiaohe cultures occupied the eastern Tianshan and the Tarim Basin, respectively (Mei and Shell, 1999; Ruan, 2014; Jia et al., 2017; Shao and Zhang, 2019; Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 2004, 2014). Since 3500 BP, cultural communities have continually diversified, with more localized groups forming, like the Subeixi culture in the Turpan Basin (Chen, 2002).

Archeobotanical evidence shows that millet cultivation was already practiced by ca. 7800–7350 BP (Liu et al., 2004; Li, 2018). By at least 5500 BP, people were engaging in an intensive intermixed crop–livestock system by integrating pig maintenance with millet cultivation (Yang et al., 2022). From 5000 to 4000 BP, both East Asian millets diffused into the Hexi Corridor, while agricultural practices in Xinjiang were restricted to limited microenvironmental pockets (Zhou et al., 2016; Dong et al., 2017, 2018, 2020b; Li, 2021). From 4000 BP, mixed agricultural systems composed of both East and southwestern Asian crops became more prominent, although barley and wheat had reached northwestern China about a millennium prior (Flad et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2016, 2020; Jiang et al., 2017a, b; Tian et al., 2021). Stable carbon isotope data also suggest that the consumption of both C 3 and C 4 plants was widely practiced after 4000 BP (Liu et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2015; An et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2016, 2017; Ma et al., 2016; Qu et al., 2018). Around 3700–3300 BP, wheat and barley gradually replaced the millets, becoming the dominant crops within the Hexi Corridor (Zhou et al., 2016). From 3300 to 2200 BP, agriculture in Xinjiang gradually developed into something more complex and spread to larger areas and more diverse ecozones, as evidenced by the diversification of crops and the appearance of irrigation technology and various types of farming tools (Li, 2021). Meanwhile, secondary crops, such as Vitis vinifera and Ziziphus jujuba , appeared more widely after ca. 2500 BP, indicating a strong concept of land tenure associated with the development of agriculture (Jiang et al., 2009, 2013; Li, 2021)

3.1 Chronology of the archeological sites

In this study, we present data from seven archeological sites and have developed a chronology based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating through the Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. For dating, we focused on wheat seeds and wood charcoal, and the calibrated ages were generated using OxCal v4.4 with IntCal20 (Table 1, Fig. 2; Reimer et al., 2020). The dating results show that the seven archeological sites cover a time span between 3900 and 2000 BP, and the oldest dates come from Xintala (at ca. 3900–3500 BP). The Xiakalangguer, Sidagou, Xicaozi, and Qiongkeke sites fall into the period of 3500–3000 BP. The chronology for Shirenzigou covers roughly 2700–2000 BP. At Wupaer, we collected wood charcoal samples from two sections, S1 and S3, and the date of the S3 section is about 2900–2800 BP. The S1 section shows two different time spans of occupation, specifically ca. 3400–3300 and 2500–2300 BP.

Table 1 Dates for the seven archeological sites in this study.

Download Print Version | Download XLSX

https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2483/2024/essd-16-2483-2024-f02

Figure 2 The chronology of the seven archeological sites in this study.

3.2 Wood charcoal assemblages

The identification of wood charcoal was accomplished via scanning electron microscopy, with 2960 fragments of charcoal analyzed and reported here (Appendix A). Three of the sites are located in oases, and wood charcoal assemblages show clear similarities, with a dominance of Tamarix wood (Fig. 3). In sediments from Xintala, we identified 878 wood charcoal fragments, with Tamarix accounting for 74 %–95 %. Elaeagnus increased across the chronology and reached its highest level (13 %) in the latest layer. There were limited occurrences of Populus , Salix , and a species that was assumed to be Nitraria . The wood charcoal from Wupaer also shows an abundance of Tamarix (ca. 80 %), followed by fragments of Populus , Salix , and Chenopodioideae. Fruit tree remains include Prunus , usually less than 3 % in abundance. At the Xiakalangguer site, Salix and Tamarix account for 44 and 28 % of the assemblage, respectively, followed by Chenopodiaceae (17 %). A small number of Betula and Prunus fragments were also identified.

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Figure 3 Wood charcoal assemblages from seven archeological sites in northwestern China.

In the eastern Tianshan, wood charcoal from three sites revealed an abundance of coniferous wood fragments. At Shirenzigou, wood charcoal fragments from cultural strata included Picea , Juniperus , Tamarix , Populus , Salix , and Rhamnus , with conifers accounting for over 90 % of the fragments. However, 14 wood samples taken from coffins suggest that they are all made from coniferous woods, including Picea (11) and Juniperus (3). At Sidaogou, wood charcoal from five samples was dominated by Picea and Populus , followed by Salix and Tamarix . Progressively, over time, Picea fragments decreased from 52 % to less than 20 %, while Populus increased quickly from 37 % to over 70 %. Similarly, Picea and Populus also constituted a dominant percentage of the Xicaozi assemblage, whereas the other taxa only covered a small percentage, represented by Prunus , Juniperus , Salix , and Betula . The Qiongkeke site is located in the Ili Valley, with five taxa identified among 229 wood charcoal fragments. Prunus and Rhamnus account for 30 % each. The proportion of Picea is around 20 %, followed by Tamarix and Maloideae.

In addition, we compiled wood charcoal data from published studies. In the Altai Mountains, wood charcoal from Tongtian Cave indicates that people widely collected Larix , Picea , Betula , Populus , Salix , Maloideae, and Prunus (Zhou et al., 2020). On the Pamir Plateau, the data that we have assembled from the Jirzankal Cemetery show that Populus was used for making fire tools, Betula for wooden plates, Salix for wooden sticks, Juniperus for fire altars, and Lonicera for arrow shafts (Shen et al., 2015). Similarly, in the Turpan Basin, Populus was also selected for making fire tools at the Yanghai Cemetery, and there was selective use of a variety of other woods, including Picea , Spiraea , Tamarix , Betula , Morus , Salix , Clematis, and Vitis vinifera (Jiang, 2022). Lonicera was also used for arrow shafts and composite bows at the Jiayi and Shengjindian cemeteries (Nong et al., 2023). Picea was widely used at Yuergou for coffin manufacture and firewood (Jiang et al., 2013). Meanwhile, in the Tarim and Hami basins, Populus and Tamarix were largely used for coffins and wooden utensils, as revealed by studies at the Xiaohe, Gumugou, South Aisikexiaer, and Wupu cemeteries (Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Xinjiang, 2007; Zhang et al., 2017, 2019; Wang et al., 2021).

In the Hexi Corridor, Picea and/or Juniperus constituted the dominant portion of wood charcoal fragments at sites located near the Qilian Mountains, such as Xihetan and Zhaojiashuimo (Shen et al., 2018). Meanwhile, wood charcoal samples from oasis sites, like Huoshaogou, Huoshiliang, and Ganggangwa, also record the abundance of Tamarix , and woody Polygonaceae and Salix disappear from later phases of Huoshiliang, presumably due to over harvesting for fuel (Shen et al., 2018; Li et al., 2011). The other sites in this area are characterized by abundant broadleaved taxa, with a small percentage of coniferous wood fragments, such as at the Lifuzhai, Xichengyi, and Sanjiao sites (Wang et al., 2014; Shen et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2019). Meanwhile, wood charcoal assemblages from the Mozuizi and Donghuishan sites suggest a rapid decline of local wood sources, including those of Picea , Maloideae, and Betula (Shen et al., 2018). Additionally, an abundance of Prunus wood fragments was found in these two sites, and people might have transported Picea wood over long distances to burn at Donghuishan (Shen et al., 2018). The long-distance transport of Picea and Pinus was also recognized in the assemblage from the Jingbaoer jade mine (Liu et al., 2021). At the Yingwoshu and Sanjiaocheng sites, abundant Morus wood fragments were identified, possibly indicating the early cultivation of mulberry (Shen et al., 2018).

As with the Hexi Corridor, wood taxa recovered from the western Loess Plateau also suggest a quick decline in the abundance of Picea , notably from 37 % to less than 4 % at Majiayao (Shen et al., 2021). In the assemblage from Xishanping, Picea , Betula , Acer , and Quercus decreased markedly after 4600 BP, and Picea declined from a peak value of 28 % to less than 5 %, while Bambusoideae increased sharply (Li et al., 2012). The sudden spike on abundance of bamboo is thought to be due to rapid successional colonization after significant deforestation or clearing of woody competitive species. Meanwhile, fruit trees, including Castanea , Prunus (what the wood specialists in this study called Cerasus and Padus ), and Diospyros expressed a considerable increase in abundance (Li et al., 2012). The use of fruit tree wood was also recognized at the Dadiwan, Shannashuzha, Daping, and Gaozhuang sites, with an abundance of Prunus (these researchers subdivided this group into Prunus and Padus , which we have clumped together in this study for consistency, as that is the wide conception of Prunus : Prunus sensu stricto includes Prunus , whereas it sensu lato includes Amygdalus , Cerasus , Padus , and Armeniaca ), Maloideae, and Ziziphus (Sun et al., 2013; An et al., 2014; Li et al., 2017).

4.1 Wood collection strategies and the transport of conifers

As the result of wood fuel use, wood charcoal provides insights into the decision-making process regarding collection strategies. In this study, we found that wood charcoal assemblages from all oasis sites were dominated by Tamarix . Most species from the Tamarix genus are deciduous shrubs, generally 2–5 m high, with slender and soft branches (Yang and Gaskin, 2007). The twigs are often browsed by sheep, camels, and donkeys, and the branches can serve as a rapidly regenerating fuel (Editorial Board of Flora of China, CAS, 1990). Therefore, this widely distributed, arid-tolerant, and rapid-growing shrubby Tamarix would have constituted the best fuel for ancient oases groups. For the archeological sites located in mountainous areas, wood fragments from coniferous trees are more prevalent. For example, abundant Picea and Juniperus wood fragments were found at Shirenzigou in the eastern Tianshan. Similarly, Picea and Juniperus constitute the dominant portion of the fragments from sites near the Qilian Mountains (Shen et al., 2018). All of the assemblages show that people were largely opportunistic in their choices and that the availability of wood sources played a key role in the wood collection strategies.

Additionally, as wood resources in arid northwestern China are relatively limited, coping with localized wood shortages would have been an issue that people inevitably dealt with. Among these wood charcoal assemblages, we found that there are some fragments of coniferous wood that likely represent people traveling over long distances on collection trips. The earliest known evidence might come from Donghuishan (3700–3400 BP), in which Picea charcoal experienced a sharp decrease and then suddenly increased to its highest level (Shen et al., 2018). Given that spruce forests are very slow to regenerate, the sudden increase in spruce fragments was likely the result of long-distance collection from the Qilian Mountains (Shen et al., 2018). Generally, spruce wood has preferential properties, as its timber is straight, tall, and easily worked, presumably contributing to the selection and transportation of this specific species. Since 2500 BP, the long-distance collection of coniferous woods seems to have been a more regular activity, as evidenced at the Jingbaoer jade mine, where Picea and Pinus wood fragments are recovered well outside their natural ecological distribution (Liu et al., 2021). In the Turpan Basin, Picea wood fragments were found in sediments from a series of Subeixi sites, which may have been collected from the Tianshan Mountains (Jiang et al., 2013; Jiang, 2022).

In addition to noting the likely long-distance collection of coniferous woods, the abundance of conifers at most of our study sites hints at the likelihood that people might also have a preference for this specific wood type. At Sidaogou, spruce wood fragments comprise more than 60 % of the total fragment assemblage. Similarly, charcoal from Majiayao recorded spruce fragments as the most used taxon right from the onset of when people settled at the location (Shen et al., 2021). Meanwhile, the exclusive use of coniferous wood for coffin construction is also recognizable in this study. At Shirenzigou, the analysis of 14 wooden coffins show that they were all made of coniferous woods. However, in sediments from the site, we found a variety of carbonized wood types, such as Tamarix , Populus , Rhamnus , and Salix . Historically, a preference towards coniferous woods is widely noted in ancient China (Ding, 2022), and archeological wood studies in Central Asia have also noted similar patterns (Spengler and Willcox, 2013). Many ethnographic and historical references to ritual juniper twig burning as incense are noted from across Central Asia. The fact that the wooden coffins at Shirenzigou are all constructed from conifers suggests that the ritual significance of the resinous trees may stretch much further back in time. An awareness of the properties and special meaning of these woods probably plays a key role in their wide use.

4.2 Collection and cultivation of fruit trees

In addition to the prehistoric expansion of agricultural systems, the significant numbers of fruit wood fragments in our study may imply that anthropogenic processes were increasing the density of fruit trees near human settlements. Presently, scholars continue to grapple with the question of what evidence is necessary to differentiate between wild foraging, conservation of economically significant trees, and low-investment cultivation of wild populations (Dal Martello et al., 2023). In our study, fruit wood fragments before 4600 BP were usually found in low percentages, indicating the limited collection of seasonally available wild fruits (Sun et al., 2013; Li et al., 2017; Shen et al., 2021). Roughly between 4600 and 4300 BP, Castanea , Prunus , and Diospyros charcoal shows a rapid increase in abundance at Xishanping on the western Loess Plateau (Li et al., 2012). Pollen data at this time also demonstrate that Castanea became the dominant broadleaved taxon, which is quite different from the reconstructed natural vegetation, likely indicating the management of wild chestnut forests, or at least that humans were choosing not to cut these trees down, thereby increasing their populations (Li et al., 2007). Moreover, archeobotanical records at this site illustrate that a complex agricultural system based on a variety of crops, including millets ( Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum ), rice ( Oryza sativa ), oat ( Avena sp.), soybean ( Glycine soja ), and buckwheat ( Fagopyrum sp.), appeared synchronously with the management of chestnut. This co-occurrence probably suggests that the exploitation of secondary crops was closely related to and underpinned by the well-organized agricultural system.

During the period from 4300 to 3500 BP, an increase in the abundance of fruit wood remains is observed in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor. For example, Elaeagnus charcoal was found throughout the whole section and shows a gradually increasing trend at Xintala. In the Hexi Corridor, Prunus wood fragments were discovered in great abundance at Mozuizi and Donghuishan, far higher than its percentage is believed to have been in the natural vegetation, possibly showing an intensive collection of Prunus (Shen et al., 2019). However, there is no clear sign of fruit management during this period, given that a wide range of wild fruit types, such as Nitraria and Cotoneaster , were also widely exploited (Zhou et al., 2016; Shen et al., 2019). Meanwhile, previous studies have shown that, although a mixed agricultural system consisting of both millets, wheat, and barley existed in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor after 4000 BP, people still relied heavily on animal herding and/or feeding (Dong et al., 2020b; Li, 2021).

From 3500 to 2500 BP, the cultivation or maintenance of Prunus and Morus trees was probably adopted into the agricultural system. In Wupaer, located in the Kashgar Oasis, Prunus charcoal remains were recovered beyond the natural distribution of the tree and outside of climatic conditions suitable for Prunus growth, which likely resulted from anthropogenic planting. On the other hand, considering that the distribution of wild Prunus trees had largely shrunk or even disappeared, presumably due to long-term human activity, we should still be cautious about this conclusion. Almost simultaneously, people in the Hexi Corridor probably also started engaging in horticultural practices, supported by the discovery of abundant Morus charcoal (Shen et al., 2019). Synchronously, a high-yield wheat and barley farming system was developed in the Hexi Corridor (Zhou et al., 2012), and a more intensified agricultural system developed in Xinjiang (Li, 2021), likely providing a fundamental basis for the exploration of delayed-return perennial crops.

After 2500 BP, the cultivation of fruit trees was probably widely practiced in northwestern China. For instance, evidence from the Turpan Basin shows the presence of Morus woods and Vitis vinifera stems at the Yanghai Cemetery (Jiang, 2022; Jiang et al., 2009), Vitis vinifera seeds in the Shengjindian Cemetery (Jiang et al., 2015), and Ziziphus jujuba stones at the Yuergou site (Jiang et al., 2013). At the Sampula Cemetery, fruit, nut, and seed types were more abundant, including Prunus persica , P. armeniaca , Juglans regia , and Coix lacryma-jobi (Jiang et al., 2008). The appearance of such a rich and diverse array of fruit crops indicates that people in northwestern China had developed complex indigenous knowledge for survival in this hyper-arid environment and conducted more frequent exchange across the Eurasian continent.

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Figure 4 The wood charcoal and pollen records show synchronous deforestation of spruce forests across all of northwestern China. (a) The change in Picea wood charcoal (bar graph) and pollen (curve graph) from archeological sites, including Sidaogou, Donghuishan (Zhou et al., 2012; Shen et al., 2018), Majiayao (Zhou, 2009; Shen et al., 2021), and Xishanping (Li et al., 2007, 2012). The column charts on the left of the panels show the stratum layer. (b) The comparison of spruce forests between prehistoric times and now: the squares represent archeological sites with Picea charcoal remains; the red areas show the current distribution of spruce forests in northwestern China (after Hou, 2019).

4.3 Indigenous knowledge of plant resources

Due to the extreme arid climate, wooden objects found in our study area are usually well preserved, and the data suggest that people might have also captured the knowledge of deliberately selecting certain types of woods when making various utensils. For example, within the Subeixi groups in the Turpan Basin, Lonicera was harvested from wild stands to make arrow shafts at Jiayi and Shengjingdian (Nong et al., 2023). At the Yanghai Cemetery, Betula was selected to make dippers or ladles, due to its rigidity, and flammable Populus and Picea were used for fire tool manufacture (Jiang et al., 2018, 2021). People at this time also used Lithospermum officinale seeds for decoration (Jiang et al., 2007a), Nitraria tangutorum to make necklaces (Jiang, 2022), and Cannabis for ritualized consumption and/or medical purposes, as revealed in both the Turpan Basin (Jiang et al., 2006, 2007b, 2016) and on the Pamir Plateau (Ren et al., 2019).

Similarly, on the Pamir Plateau, Betula , which has high rigidity and density as well as a homogeneous texture, was selected for making wooden plates (Shen et al., 2015). Additionally, the study of other wooden objects suggests that people specifically chose flammable Populus wood to make fire tools; Salix , with long and straight branches, was used for fashioning wooden sticks; resinous-scented Juniperus was the preferred choice for making fire altars; and Lonicera was selected for arrow shaft manufacture (Shen et al., 2015). Such conscious utilization of different wood properties illustrates the ingenuity of these ancient people. Although the current archeobotanical data related to wooden utensils are still limited, studies from the Turpan Basin and the Pamir Plateau clearly suggest that the conscious selection of wood types for their specific properties was a particularly pronounced practice after 2500 BP, especially among cultural contexts of a well-established agriculture based on millets, wheat, and barley. Meanwhile, the appearance of horticulture based on a variety of secondary crops at the time indicated a more settled lifestyle, which might have provide opportunities for prehistoric people to fully explore and make the best use of the indigenous plant resources.

4.4 Anthropogenic deforestation

Largely due to slash-and-burn agriculture, people have largely altered terrestrial ecosystems across the globe (Zong et al., 2007; Schlütz et al., 2009; Li et al., 2009; Neumann et al., 2012; Innes et al., 2013; Ma et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2021). For northwestern China, wood charcoal data in this study show that, apart from diversified cultural adaptions, human-induced landscape alteration also occurred widely, not only throughout the whole history of agricultural activity but also across different vegetation contexts. Along the Tianshan Mountains, pollen records from the Bosten and Balikun lakes suggest a relatively stable climate during 3900–3500 BP as well as a long-term increase in humidity after 3800 BP (Chen et al., 2006; Huang et al., 2009; An et al., 2012). However, wood charcoal data from Sidaogou (3400–3000 BP) recorded a significant decrease in the abundance of spruce wood fragments (Fig. 4). Meanwhile, Tamarix and Salix nearly disappeared in the later stage, showing that the sharp attenuation of spruce forests and broadleaved woodlands was caused by intensive woodcutting rather than climate change. Similarly, Tamarix charcoal from Xintala (3900–3500 BP) in the Yanqi Oasis firstly increased and then decreased to its lowest level in the upper layer. At the same time, Populus and Salix charcoal disappeared in the middle layer, implying that local riparian woodlands were largely deforested.

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Figure 5 A summary of prehistorical human–environmental interactions in northwestern China.

The Neolithic deforestation and reduction in range of spruce forests have also been widely recognized across the western Loess Plateau and the Hexi Corridor. On the western Loess Plateau, high-resolution (ca. 5-year increments) stalagmite δ 18 O data recorded no abrupt climate changes at around 5300–5100 and 4600 BP (Tan et al., 2020). Meanwhile, the wood charcoal record from the Majiayao site showed a rapid decline in Picea ,from its highest level of nearly 40 % to its lowest level of less than 4 %, during the early stages of the site's occupation at ca. 5300–5100 BP, implying that anthropogenic exploration exerted a significant impact on local spruce forests (Fig. 4a; Shen et al., 2021). Not far from Majiayao, wood charcoal from the Xishanping section revealed a similar pattern, with Picea , Betula , Acer , Ulmus , and Quercus illustrating a marked decrease after 4600 BP, while Bambusoideae quickly colonized after the clearing of the original forest (Li et al., 2012). In the Hexi Corridor, studies of wood charcoal fragments from the Mozuizi and Donghuishan sites also show a quick decline in plant diversity concurrent with human settlement, and the percentage of Picea from Donghuishan experienced a sharp decrease (Fig. 4; Shen et al., 2018). Similarly, wood charcoal fragments from Huoshiliang show that Salix and Polygonaceae almost disappear, likely due to the large demand for fuel used in bronze-smelting activities (Li et al., 2011). Collectively, we interpret the broader trend throughout all of these wood charcoal assemblages as revealing a rather rapid process of deforestation across northwestern China, especially shown in the large-scale reduction in spruce forests. Our results are also supported by evidence from pollen records, especially Picea pollen from Majiayao (Zhou, 2009), Xishanping (Li et al., 2007), Donghuishan (Zhou et al., 2012), and other sections from the Loess Plateau (Zhou and Li, 2011). All of these records document a considerable reduction in spruce forests (Fig. 4a). Today, the distribution of spruce forests has shrunk down to a few constrained small forest patches (Fig. 4b).

The datasets of archeobotanical wood charcoal records in northwestern China, including taxa types, absolute counts of wood charcoal fragments, and the locations and AMS 14 C dates of each archeological site, are available from the open-access Zenodo repository ( https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8158277 , Shen et al., 2023).

The synthesis of wood charcoal data from nearly 40 archeological sites shows that prehistoric human–environmental interactions in northwestern China were closely related to the development of agriculture and considerably more complicated than previously thought (Fig. 5). Although anthropogenic deforestation occurred throughout the whole period, most evidently relating to the decline in spruce forests, people also actively applied a range of adaptive strategies to survive in this harsh environment. As early as 4600 BP, people on the western Loess Plateau might have started managing or at least conserving chestnut trees, likely underpinned by the development of a complex agricultural system. Since ca. 3500 BP, with the appearance of high-yielding agriculture based on wheat and barley in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, people appear to have been planting perennial tree crops, such as Prunus and Morus . Additionally, they likely engaged in long-distance transportation of preferred woods, specifically coniferous trees. After 2500 BP, people successfully mastered a wide range of adaption strategies along the ancient Silk Road, as they began manufacturing wooden utensils with conscious selection of wood properties. Moreover, the consumption of a further diversity of fruit types, including grapes, signalled more intensive horticultural practices and complex social structure.

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Figure A1 Selected scanning electron microscopic images of wood charcoal in Xinjiang: (a–c) Picea , (d–f) Prunus , (g–i) Populus , and (j–l) Tamarix .

HS and XL designed the archeobotanical dataset; HS was responsible for the construction of the database; HS performed the numerical analyses and organized the manuscript; and XZ, RS, PJ, and AB revised the draft of the paper. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final paper.

The contact author has declared that none of the authors has any competing interests.

Publisher’s note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors.

We sincerely thank Ming Ji and Hongbin Zhang, for help with wood charcoal sample collection, and Nan Sun, for assistance with data collection.

This research has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 42002202), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. 2022071), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2022YFF0801502).

This paper was edited by Xuecao Li and reviewed by two anonymous referees.

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Introduction
Archeobotanical data and chronology
Discussions and conclusion
Data availability
Author contributions
Competing interests
Acknowledgements
Financial support
Review statement

The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel

After 50 years of failure to stop violence and terrorism against Palestinians by Jewish ultranationalists, lawlessness has become the law.

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By Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti

May 16, 2024

This story is told in three parts. The first documents the unequal system of justice that grew around Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. The second shows how extremists targeted not only Palestinians but also Israeli officials trying to make peace. The third explores how this movement gained control of the state itself. Taken together, they tell the story of how a radical ideology moved from the fringes to the heart of Israeli political power.

By the end of October, it was clear that no one was going to help the villagers of Khirbet Zanuta. A tiny Palestinian community, some 150 people perched on a windswept hill in the West Bank near Hebron, it had long faced threats from the Jewish settlers who had steadily encircled it. But occasional harassment and vandalism, in the days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, escalated into beatings and murder threats. The villagers made appeal after appeal to the Israeli police and to the ever-present Israeli military, but their calls for protection went largely unheeded, and the attacks continued with no consequences. So one day the villagers packed what they could, loaded their families into trucks and disappeared.

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Who bulldozed the village after that is a matter of dispute. The Israeli Army says it was the settlers; a senior Israeli police officer says it was the army. Either way, soon after the villagers left, little remained of Khirbet Zanuta besides the ruins of a clinic and an elementary school. One wall of the clinic, leaning sideways, bore a sign saying that it had been funded by an agency of the European Union providing “humanitarian support for Palestinians at risk of forcible transfer in the West Bank.” Near the school, someone had planted the flag of Israel as another kind of announcement: This is Jewish land now.

Such violence over the decades in places like Khirbet Zanuta is well documented. But protecting the people who carry out that violence is the dark secret of Israeli justice. The long arc of harassment, assault and murder of Palestinians by Jewish settlers is twinned with a shadow history, one of silence, avoidance and abetment by Israeli officials. For many of those officials, it is Palestinian terrorism that most threatens Israel. But in interviews with more than 100 people — current and former officers of the Israeli military, the National Israeli Police and the Shin Bet domestic security service; high-ranking Israeli political officials, including four former prime ministers; Palestinian leaders and activists; Israeli human rights lawyers; American officials charged with supporting the Israeli-Palestinian partnership — we found a different and perhaps even more destabilizing threat. A long history of crime without punishment, many of those officials now say, threatens not only Palestinians living in the occupied territories but also the State of Israel itself.

Many of the people we interviewed, some speaking anonymously, some speaking publicly for the first time, offered an account not only of Jewish violence against Palestinians dating back decades but also of an Israeli state that has systematically and increasingly ignored that violence. It is an account of a sometimes criminal nationalistic movement that has been allowed to operate with impunity and gradually move from the fringes to the mainstream of Israeli society. It is an account of how voices within the government that objected to the condoning of settler violence were silenced and discredited. And it is a blunt account, told for the first time by Israeli officials themselves, of how the occupation came to threaten the integrity of their country’s democracy.

The interviews, along with classified documents written in recent months, reveal a government at war with itself. One document describes a meeting in March, when Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, the head of Israel’s Central Command, responsible for the West Bank, gave a withering account of the efforts by Bezalel Smotrich — an ultraright leader and the official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with oversight over the West Bank — to undermine law enforcement in the occupied territory. Since Smotrich took office, Fox wrote, the effort to clamp down on illegal settlement construction has dwindled “to the point where it has disappeared.” Moreover, Fox said, Smotrich and his allies were thwarting the very measures to enforce the law that the government had promised Israeli courts it would take.

This is a story, pieced together and told in full for the first time, that leads to the heart of Israel. But it begins in the West Bank, in places like Khirbet Zanuta. From within the village’s empty ruins, there is a clear view across the valley to a tiny Jewish outpost called Meitarim Farm. Built in 2021, the farm has become a base of operations for settler attacks led by Yinon Levi, the farm’s owner. Like so many of the Israeli outposts that have been set up throughout the West Bank in recent years, Meitarim Farm is illegal. It is illegal under international law, which most experts say doesn’t recognize Israeli settlements in occupied land. It is illegal under Israeli law, like most settlements built since the 1990s.

Few efforts are made to stop the building of these outposts or the violence emanating from them. Indeed, one of Levi’s day jobs was running an earthworks company, and he has worked with the Israel Defense Forces to bulldoze at least one Palestinian village in the West Bank. As for the victims of that violence, they face a confounding and defeating system when trying to get relief. Villagers seeking help from the police typically have to file a report in person at an Israeli police station, which in the West Bank are almost exclusively located inside the settlements themselves. After getting through security and to the station, they sometimes wait for hours for an Arabic translator, only to be told they don’t have the right paperwork or sufficient evidence to submit a report. As one senior Israeli military official told us, the police “exhaust Palestinians so they won’t file complaints.”

And yet in November, with no protection from the police or the military, the former residents of Khirbet Zanuta and five nearby villages chose to test whether justice was still possible by appealing directly to Israel’s Supreme Court. In a petition, lawyers for the villagers, from Haqel, an Israeli human rights organization, argued that days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, a raiding party that included settlers and Israeli soldiers assaulted village residents, threatened murder and destroyed property throughout the village. They stated that the raid was part of “a mass transfer of ancient Palestinian communities,” one in which settlers working hand in hand with soldiers are taking advantage of the current war in Gaza to achieve the longer-standing goal of “cleansing” parts of the West Bank, aided by the “sweeping and unprecedented disregard” of the state and its “de facto consent to the massive acts of deportation.”

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and the relief the villagers are seeking — that the law be enforced — might seem modest. But our reporting reveals the degree to which decades of history are stacked against them: After 50 years of crime without punishment, in many ways the violent settlers and the state have become one.

Separate and Unequal

The devastating Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, the ongoing crisis of Israeli hostages and the grinding Israeli invasion and bombardment of the Gaza Strip that followed may have refocused the world’s attention on Israel’s ongoing inability to address the question of Palestinian autonomy. But it is in the West Bank where the corrosive long-term effects of the occupation on Israeli law and democracy are most apparent.

A sample of three dozen cases in the months since Oct. 7 shows the startling degree to which the legal system has decayed. In all the cases, involving misdeeds as diverse as stealing livestock and assault and arson, not a single suspect was charged with a crime; in one case, a settler shot a Palestinian in the stomach while an Israel Defense Forces soldier looked on, yet the police questioned the shooter for only 20 minutes, and never as a criminal suspect, according to an internal Israeli military memo. During our review of the cases, we listened to recordings of Israeli human rights activists calling the police to report various crimes against Palestinians. In some of the recordings, the police refused to come to the scene, claiming they didn’t know where the villages were; in one case, they mocked the activists as “anarchists.” A spokesman for the Israeli National Police declined to respond to repeated queries about our findings.

The violence and impunity that these cases demonstrate existed long before Oct. 7. In nearly every month before October, the rate of violent incidents was higher than during the same month in the previous year. And Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, looking at more than 1,600 cases of settler violence in the West Bank between 2005 and 2023, found that just 3 percent ended in a conviction. Ami Ayalon, the head of Shin Bet from 1996 to 2000 — speaking out now because of his concern about Israel’s systemic failure to enforce the law — says this singular lack of consequences reflects the indifference of the Israeli leadership going back years. “The cabinet, the prime minister,” he says, “they signal to the Shin Bet that if a Jew is killed, that’s terrible. If an Arab is killed, that’s not good, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Ayalon’s assessment was echoed by many other officials we interviewed. Mark Schwartz, a retired American three-star general, was the top military official working at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem from 2019 to 2021, overseeing international support efforts for the partnership between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “There’s no accountability,” he says now of the long history of settler crimes and heavy-handed Israeli operations in the West Bank. “These things eat away at trust and ultimately the stability and security of Israel and the Palestinian territories. It’s undeniable.”

How did a young nation turn so quickly on its own democratic ideals, and at what price? Any meaningful answer to these questions has to take into account how a half-century of lawless behavior that went largely unpunished propelled a radical form of ultranationalism to the center of Israeli politics. This is the history that is told here in three parts. In Part I, we describe the origins of a religious movement that established Jewish settlements in the newly won territories of Gaza and the West Bank during the 1970s. In Part II, we recount how the most extreme elements of the settler movement began targeting not only Palestinians but also Israeli leaders who tried to make peace with them. And in Part III, we show how the most established members of Israel’s ultraright, unpunished for their crimes, gained political power in Israel, even as a more radical generation of settlers vowed to eliminate the Israeli state altogether.

Many Israelis who moved to the West Bank did so for reasons other than ideology, and among the settlers, there is a large majority who aren’t involved in violence or other illegal acts against Palestinians. And many within the Israeli government fought to expand the rule of law into the territories, with some success. But they also faced harsh pushback, with sometimes grave personal consequences. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s efforts in the 1990s, on the heels of the First Intifada, to make peace with Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gave rise to a new generation of Jewish terrorists, and they ultimately cost him his life.

The disagreement over how to handle the occupied territories and their residents has bred a complex and sometimes opaque system of law enforcement. At its heart are two separate and unequal systems of justice: one for Jews and another for Palestinians.

The West Bank is under the command of the I.D.F., which means that Palestinians are subject to a military law that gives the I.D.F. and the Shin Bet considerable authority. They can hold suspects for extended periods without trial or access to either a lawyer or the evidence against them. They can wiretap, conduct secret surveillance, hack into databases and gather intelligence on any Arab living in the occupied territory with few restrictions. Palestinians are subject to military — not civilian — courts, which are far more punitive when it comes to accusations of terrorism and less transparent to outside scrutiny. (In a statement, the I.D.F. said, “The use of administrative detention measures is only carried out in situations where the security authorities have reliable and credible information indicating a real danger posed by the detainee to the region’s security, and in the absence of other alternatives to remove the risk.” It declined to respond to multiple specific queries, in some cases saying “the events are too old to address.”)

According to a senior Israeli defense official, since Oct. 7, some 7,000 settler reservists were called back by the I.D.F., put in uniform, armed and ordered to protect the settlements. They were given specific orders: Do not leave the settlements, do not cover your faces, do not initiate unauthorized roadblocks. But in reality many of them have left the settlements in uniform, wearing masks, setting up roadblocks and harassing Palestinians.

All West Bank settlers are in theory subject to the same military law that applies to Palestinian residents. But in practice, they are treated according to the civil law of the State of Israel, which formally applies only to territory within the state’s borders. This means that Shin Bet might probe two similar acts of terrorism in the West Bank — one committed by Jewish settlers and one committed by Palestinians — and use wholly different investigative tools.

In this system, even the question of what behavior is being investigated as an act of terror is different for Jews and Arabs. For a Palestinian, the simple admission of identifying with Hamas counts as an act of terrorism that permits Israeli authorities to use severe interrogation methods and long detention. Moreover, most acts of violence by Arabs against Jews are categorized as a “terror” attack — giving Shin Bet and other services license to use the harshest methods at their disposal.

The job of investigating Jewish terrorism falls to a division of Shin Bet called the Department for Counterintelligence and Prevention of Subversion in the Jewish Sector, known more commonly as the Jewish Department. It is dwarfed both in size and prestige by Shin Bet’s Arab Department, the division charged mostly with combating Palestinian terrorism. And in the event, most incidents of settler violence — torching vehicles, cutting down olive groves — fall under the jurisdiction of the police, who tend to ignore them. When the Jewish Department investigates more serious terrorist threats, it is often stymied from the outset, and even its successes have sometimes been undermined by judges and politicians sympathetic to the settler cause. This system, with its gaps and obstructions, allowed the founders of groups advocating extreme violence during the 1970s and 1980s to act without consequences, and today it has built a protective cocoon around their ideological descendants.

Some of these people now run Israel. In 2022, just 18 months after losing the prime ministership, Benjamin Netanyahu regained power by forming an alliance with ultraright leaders of both the Religious Zionism Party and the Jewish Power party. It was an act of political desperation on Netanyahu’s part, and it ushered into power some truly radical figures, people — like Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir — who had spent decades pledging to wrest the West Bank and Gaza from Arab hands . Just two months earlier, according to news reports at the time, Netanyahu refused to share a stage with Ben-Gvir, who had been convicted multiple times for supporting terrorist organizations and, in front of television cameras in 1995, vaguely threatened the life of Rabin, who was murdered weeks later by an Israeli student named Yigal Amir.

Now Ben-Gvir was Israel’s national security minister and Smotrich was Israel’s finance minister, charged additionally with overseeing much of the Israeli government’s activities in the West Bank. In December 2022, a day before the new government was sworn in, Netanyahu issued a list of goals and priorities for his new cabinet, including a clear statement that the nationalistic ideology of his new allies was now the government’s guiding star. “The Jewish people,” it said, “have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel.”

Two months after that, two Israeli settlers were murdered in an attack by Hamas gunmen near Huwara, a village in the West Bank. The widespread calls for revenge, common after Palestinian terror attacks, were now coming from within Netanyahu’s new government. Smotrich declared that “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out.”

And, he added, “I think the State of Israel needs to do it.”

Birth of a Movement

With its overwhelming victory in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, Israel more than doubled the amount of land it controlled, seizing new territory in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Now it faced a choice: Would the new land become part of Israel or be bargained away as part of a future Palestinian state? To a cadre of young Israelis imbued with messianic zeal, the answer was obvious. The acquisition of the territories animated a religious political movement — Gush Emunim, or “Bloc of the Faithful” — that was determined to settle the newly conquered lands.

Gush Emunim followers believed that the coming of the messiah would be hastened if, rather than studying holy books from morning to night, Jews settled the newly occupied territories. This was the land of “Greater Israel,” they believed, and there was a pioneer spirit among the early settlers. They saw themselves as direct descendants of the earliest Zionists, who built farms and kibbutzim near Palestinian villages during the first part of the 20th century, when the land was under British control. But while the Zionism of the earlier period was largely secular and socialist, the new settlers believed they were advancing God’s agenda.

The legality of that agenda was an open question. The Geneva Conventions, to which Israel was a signatory, forbade occupying powers to deport or transfer “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” But the status of the territory was, in the view of many within and outside the Israeli government, more complex. The settlers sought to create what some of them called “facts on the ground.” This put them into conflict with both the Palestinians and, at least putatively, the Israeli authorities responsible for preventing the spread of illegal settlements.

Whether or not the government would prove flexible on these matters became clear in April 1975 at Ein Yabrud, an abandoned Jordanian military base near Ofra, in the West Bank. A group of workers had been making the short commute from Israel most days for months to work on rebuilding the base, and one evening they decided to stay. They were aiming to establish a Jewish foothold in Judea and Samaria, the Israeli designation for the territories that make up the West Bank, and they had found a back door that required only the slightest push. Their leader met that same night with Shimon Peres, then Israel’s defense minister, who told the I.D.F. to stand down. Peres would treat the nascent settlement not as a community but as a “work camp” — and the I.D.F. would do nothing to hinder their work.

Peres’s maneuver was partly a sign of the weakness of Israel’s ruling Labor party, which had dominated Israeli politics since the country’s founding. The residual trauma of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 — when Israel was caught completely by surprise by Egyptian and Syrian forces before eventually beating back the invading armies — had shaken citizens’ belief in their leaders, and movements like Gush Emunim, directly challenging the authority of the Israeli state, had gained momentum amid Labor’s decline. This, in turn, energized Israel’s political right.

By the late 1970s, the settlers, bolstered in part by growing political support, were expanding in number. Carmi Gillon, who joined Shin Bet in 1972 and rose by the mid-1990s to become its director, recalls the evolving internal debates. Whose responsibility was it to deal with settlers? Should Israel’s vaunted domestic security service enforce the law in the face of clearly illegal acts of settlement? “When we realized that Gush Emunim had the backing of so many politicians, we knew we shouldn’t touch them,” he said in his first interview for this article in 2016.

One leader of the ultraright movement would prove hard to ignore, however. Meir Kahane, an ultraright rabbi from Flatbush, Brooklyn, had founded the militant Jewish Defense League in 1968 in New York. He made no secret of his belief that violence was sometimes necessary to fulfill his dream of Greater Israel, and he even spoke of plans to buy .22 caliber rifles for Jews to defend themselves. “Our campaign motto will be, ‘Every Jew a .22,’” he declared. In 1971, he received a suspended sentence on bomb-making charges, and at the age of 39 he moved to Israel to start a new life. From a hotel on Zion Square in Jerusalem, he started a school and a political party, what would become Kach, and drew followers with his fiery rhetoric.

Kahane said he wanted to rewrite the stereotype of Jews as victims, and he argued, in often vivid terms, that Zionism and democracy are in fundamental tension. “Zionism came into being to create a Jewish state,” Kahane said in an interview with The Times in 1985, five years before he was assassinated by a gunman in New York. “Zionism declares that there is going to be a Jewish state with a majority of Jews, come what may. Democracy says, ‘No, if the Arabs are the majority then they have the right to decide their own fate.’ So Zionism and democracy are at odds. I say clearly that I stand with Zionism.”

A Buried Report

In 1977, the Likud party led a coalition that, for the first time in Israeli history, secured a right-wing majority in the country’s Parliament, the Knesset. The party was headed by Menachem Begin, a veteran of the Irgun, a paramilitary organization that carried out attacks against Arabs and British authorities in Mandatory Palestine, the British colonial entity that preceded the creation of Israel. Likud — Hebrew for “the alliance” — was itself an amalgam of several political parties. Kach itself was still on the outside and would always remain so. But its radical ideas and ambitions were moving closer to the mainstream.

Likud’s victory came 10 years after the war that brought Israel vast amounts of new land, but the issue of what to do with the occupied territories had yet to be resolved. As the new prime minister, Begin knew that addressing that question would mean addressing the settlements. Could there be a legal basis for taking the land? Something that would allow the settlements to expand with the full support of the state?

It was Plia Albeck, then a largely unknown bureaucrat in the Israeli Justice Ministry, who found Begin’s answer. Searching through the regulations of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Palestine in the years preceding the British Mandate, she lit upon the Ottoman Land Code of 1858, a major effort at land reform. Among other provisions, the law enabled the sultan to seize any land that had not been cultivated by its owners for a number of years and that was not “within shouting distance” of the last house in the village. It did little to address the provisions of the Geneva Convention, but it was, for her department, precedent enough. Soon Albeck was riding in an army helicopter, mapping the West Bank and identifying plots of land that might meet the criteria of the Ottoman law. The Israeli state had replaced the sultan, but the effect was the same. Albeck’s creative legal interpretation led to the creation of more than 100 new Jewish settlements, which she referred to as “my children.”

At the same time, Begin was quietly brokering a peace deal with President Anwar Sadat of Egypt in the United States at Camp David. The pact they eventually negotiated gave the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt and promised greater autonomy to Palestinians in the occupied territories in return for normalized relations with Israel. It would eventually win the two leaders a joint Nobel Peace Prize. But Gush Emunim and other right-wing groups saw the accords as a shocking reversal. From this well of anger sprang a new campaign of intimidation. Rabbi Moshe Levinger, one of the leaders of Gush Emunim and the founder of the settlement in the heart of Hebron, declared the movement’s purposes on Israeli television. The Arabs, he said, “must not be allowed to raise their heads.”

Leading this effort would be a militarized offshoot of Gush Emunim called the Jewish Underground. The first taste of what was to come arrived on June 2, 1980. Car bombs exploded as part of a complex assassination plot against prominent Palestinian political figures in the West Bank. The attack blew the legs off Bassam Shaka, the mayor of Nablus; Karim Khalaf, the mayor of Ramallah, was forced to have his foot amputated. Kahane, who in the days before the attack said at a news conference that the Israeli government should form a “Jewish terrorist group” that would “throw bombs and grenades to kill Arabs,” applauded the attacks, as did Rabbi Haim Druckman, a leader of Gush Emunim then serving in the Knesset, and many others within and outside the movement. Brig. Gen. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, then the top I.D.F. commander in the West Bank, noting the injuries suffered by the Palestinian mayors under his watch, said simply, “It’s a shame they didn’t hit them a bit higher.” An investigation began, but it would be years before it achieved any results. Ben-Eliezer went on to become a leader of the Labor party and defense minister.

The threat that the unchecked attacks posed to the institutions and guardrails of Jewish democracy wasn’t lost on some members of the Israeli elite. As the violence spread, a group of professors at Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University in Jerusalem sent a letter to Yitzhak Zamir, Israel’s attorney general. They were concerned, they wrote, that illegal “private policing activity” against the Palestinians living in the occupied territories presented a “threat to the rule of law in the country.” The professors saw possible collusion between the settlers and the authorities. “There is a suspicion that similar crimes are not being handled in the same manner and some criminals are receiving preferential treatment over others,” the signatories to the letter said. “This suspicion requires fundamental examination.”

The letter shook Zamir, who knew some of the professors well. He was also well aware that evidence of selective law enforcement — one law for the Palestinians and another for the settlers — would rebut the Israeli government’s claim that the law was enforced equally and could become both a domestic scandal and an international one. Zamir asked Judith Karp, then Israel’s deputy attorney general for special duties, to lead a committee looking into the issue. Karp was responsible for handling the most delicate issues facing the Justice Ministry, but this would require even greater discretion than usual.

As her team investigated, Karp says, “it very quickly became clear to me that what was described in the letter was nothing compared to the actual reality on the ground.” She and her investigative committee found case after case of trespassing, extortion, assault and murder, even as the military authorities and the police did nothing or performed notional investigations that went nowhere. “The police and the I.D.F. in both action and inaction were really cooperating with the settler vandals,” Karp says. “They operated as if they had no interest in investigating when there were complaints, and generally did everything they could to deter the Palestinians from even submitting them.”

In May 1982, Karp and her committee submitted a 33-page report, determining that dozens of offenses were investigated insufficiently. The committee also noted that, in their research, the police had provided them with information that was incomplete, contradictory and in part false. They concluded that nearly half the investigations opened against settlers were closed without the police conducting even a rudimentary investigation. In the few cases in which they did investigate, the committee found “profound flaws.” In some cases, the police witnessed the crimes and did nothing. In others, soldiers were willing to testify against the settlers, but their testimonies and other evidence were buried.

It soon became clear to Karp that the government was going to bury the report. “We were very naïve,” she now recalls. Zamir had been assured, she says, that the cabinet would discuss the grave findings and had in fact demanded total confidentiality. The minister of the interior at the time, Yosef Burg, invited Karp to his home for what she recalls him describing as “a personal conversation.” Burg, a leader of the pro-settler National Religious Party, had by then served as a government minister in one office or another for more than 30 years. Karp assumed he wanted to learn more about her work, which could in theory have important repercussions for the religious right. “But, to my astonishment,” she says, “he simply began to scold me in harsh language about what we were doing. I understood that he wanted us to drop it.”

Karp announced she was quitting the investigative committee. “The situation we discovered was one of complete helplessness,” she says. When the existence of the report (but not its contents) leaked to the public, Burg denied having ever seen such an investigation. When the full contents of the report were finally made public in 1984, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry said only that the committee had been dissolved and that the ministry was no longer monitoring the problem.

A Wave of Violence

On April 11, 1982, a uniformed I.D.F. soldier named Alan Harry Goodman shot his way into the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem, one of the most sacred sites for Muslims around the world. Carrying an M16 rifle, standard issue in the Israeli Army, he killed two Arabs and wounded many more. When investigators searched Goodman’s apartment, they found fliers for Kach, but a spokesman for the group said that it did not condone the attack. Prime Minister Begin condemned the attack, but he also chastised Islamic leaders calling for a general strike in response, which he saw as an attempt to “exploit the tragedy.”

The next year, masked Jewish Underground terrorists opened fire on students at the Islamic College in Hebron, killing three people and injuring 33 more. Israeli authorities condemned the massacre but were less clear about who would be held to account. Gen. Ori Orr, commander of Israeli forces in the region, said on the radio that all avenues would be pursued. But, he added, “we don’t have any description, and we don’t know who we are looking for.”

The Jewish Department found itself continually behind in its efforts to address the onslaught. In April 1984, it had a major breakthrough: Its agents foiled a Jewish Underground plan to blow up five buses full of Palestinians, and they arrested around two dozen Jewish Underground members who had also played roles in the Islamic College attack and the bombings of the Palestinian mayors in 1980. But only after weeks of interrogating the suspects did Shin Bet learn that the Jewish Underground had been developing a scheme to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque. The planning involved dozens of intelligence-gathering trips to the Temple Mount and an assessment of the exact amount of explosives that would be needed and where to place them. The goal was nothing less than to drag the entire Middle East into a war, which the Jewish Underground saw as a precondition for the coming of the messiah.

Carmi Gillon, who was head of Shin Bet’s Jewish Department at the time, says the fact that Shin Bet hadn’t learned about a plot involving so many people and such ambitious planning earlier was an “egregious intelligence failure.” And it was not the Shin Bet, he notes, who prevented the plot from coming to fruition. It was the Jewish Underground itself. “Fortunately for all of us, they decided to forgo the plan because they felt the Jewish people were not yet ready.”

“You have to understand why all this is important now,” Ami Ayalon said, leaning in for emphasis. The sun shining into the backyard of the former Shin Bet director was gleaming off his bald scalp, illuminating a face that looked as if it were sculpted by a dull kitchen knife. “We are not discussing Jewish terrorism. We are discussing the failure of Israel.”

Ayalon was protective of his former service, insisting that Shin Bet, despite some failures, usually has the intelligence and resources to deter and prosecute right-wing terrorism in Israel. And, he said, they usually have the will. “The question is why they are not doing anything about it,” he said. “And the answer is very simple. They cannot confront our courts. And the legal community finds it almost impossible to face the political community, which is supported by the street. So everything starts with the street.”

By the early 1980s, the settler movement had begun to gain some traction within the Knesset, but it remained far from the mainstream. When Kahane himself was elected to the Knesset in 1984, the members of the other parties, including Likud, would turn and leave the room when he stood up to deliver speeches. One issue was that the continual expansion of the settlements was becoming an irritant in U.S.-Israel relations. During a 1982 trip by Begin to Washington, the prime minister had a closed-door meeting with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to discuss Israel’s invasion of Lebanon that year, an effort to force out the P.L.O. that had been heavy with civilian casualties. According to The Times’s coverage of the session, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, then in his second term, had an angry exchange with Begin about the West Bank, telling him that Israel was losing support in this country because of the settlements policy.

But Israeli officials came to understand that the Americans were generally content to vent their anger about the issue without taking more forceful action — like restricting military aid to Israel, which was then, as now, central to the country’s security arrangements. After the Jewish Underground plotters of the bombings targeting the West Bank mayors and other attacks were finally brought to trial in 1984, they were found guilty and given sentences ranging from a few months to life in prison. The plotters showed little remorse, though, and a public campaign swelled to have them pardoned. Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir also made the case for pardoning them, saying they were “excellent, good people who have erred in their path and actions.” Clemency, Shamir suggested, would prevent a recurrence of Jewish terrorism.

In the end, President Chaim Herzog, against the recommendations of Shin Bet and the Justice Ministry, signed an extraordinary series of pardons and commutations for the plotters. They were released and greeted as heroes by the settler community, and some rose to prominent positions in government and the Israeli media. One of them, Uzi Sharbav, now a leader in the settlement movement, was a speaker at a recent conference promoting the return of settlers to Gaza.

In fact, nearly all the Jews involved in terror attacks against Arabs over the past decades have received substantial reductions in prison time. Gillon, the head of the Jewish Department when some of these people were arrested, recalls the “profound sense of injustice” that he felt when they were released. But even more important, he says, was “the question of what message the pardons convey to the public and to anyone who ever thinks about carrying out acts of terror against Arabs.”

Operational Failures

In 1987, a series of conflicts in Gaza led to a sustained Palestinian uprising throughout the occupied territories and Israel. The First Intifada, as it became known, was driven by anger over the occupation, which was then entering its third decade. It would simmer for the next six years, as Palestinians attacked Israelis with stones and Molotov cocktails and launched a series of strikes and boycotts. Israel deployed thousands of soldiers to quell the uprising.

In the occupied territories, reprisal attacks between settlers and Palestinians were an increasing problem. The Gush Emunim movement had spread and fractured into different groups, making it difficult for Shin Bet to embed enough informants with the settlers. But the service had one key informant — a man given the code name Shaul. He was a trusted figure among the settlers and rose to become a close assistant to Rabbi Moshe Levinger, the Gush Emunim leader who founded the settlement in Hebron.

Levinger had been questioned many times under suspicion of having a role in multiple violent attacks, but Shaul told Shin Bet operatives that they were seeing only a fraction of the whole picture. He told them about raids past and planned; about the settlers tearing through Arab villages, vandalizing homes, burning dozens of cars. The operatives ordered him to participate in these raids to strengthen his cover. One newspaper photographer in Hebron in 1985 captured Shaul smashing the wall of an Arab marketplace with a sledgehammer. As was standard policy, Shin Bet had ordered him to participate in any activity that didn’t involve harm to human life, but figuring out which of the activities wouldn’t cross that line became increasingly difficult. “The majority of the activists were lunatics, riffraff, and it was very difficult to be sure they wouldn’t hurt people and would harm only property,” Shaul said. (Shaul, whose true identity remains secret, provided these quotes in a 2015 interview with Bergman for the Israeli Hebrew-language paper Yedioth Ahronoth. Some of his account is published here for the first time.)

In September 1988, Rabbi Levinger, Shaul’s patron, was driving through Hebron when, he later said in court, Palestinians began throwing stones at his car and surrounding him. Levinger flashed a pistol and began firing wildly at nearby shops. Investigators said he killed a 42-year-old shopkeeper, Khayed Salah, who had been closing the steel shutter of his shoe store, and injured a second man. Levinger claimed self-defense, but he was hardly remorseful. “I know that I am innocent,” he said at the trial, “and that I didn’t have the honor of killing the Arab.”

Prosecutors cut a deal with Levinger. He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to five months in prison and released after only three.

Shin Bet faced the classic intelligence agency’s dilemma: how and when to let its informants participate in the very violent acts the service was supposed to be stopping. There was some logic in Shin Bet’s approach with Shaul, but it certainly didn’t help deter acts of terror in the West Bank, especially with little police presence in the occupied territories and a powerful interest group ensuring that whoever was charged for the violence was released with a light sentence.

Over his many years as a Shin Bet mole, Shaul said, he saw numerous intelligence and operational failures by the agency. One of the worst, he said, was the December 1993 murder of three Palestinians in an act of vengeance after the murder of a settler leader and his son. Driving home from a day of work in Israel, the three Palestinians, who had no connection to the deaths of the settlers, were pulled from their car and killed near the West Bank town Tarqumiyah.

Shaul recalled how one settler activist proudly told him that he and two friends committed the murders. He contacted his Shin Bet handlers to tell them what he had heard. “And suddenly I saw they were losing interest,” Shaul said. It was only later that he learned why: Two of the shooters were Shin Bet informants. The service didn’t want to blow their cover, or worse, to suffer the scandal that two of its operatives were involved in a murder and a cover-up.

In a statement, Shin Bet said that Shaul’s version of events is “rife with incorrect details” but refused to specify which details were incorrect. Neither the state prosecutor nor the attorney general responded to requests for comment, which included Shaul’s full version of events and additional evidence gathered over the years.

Shaul said he also gave numerous reports to his handlers about the activities of yet another Brooklyn-born follower of Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League: Dr. Baruch Goldstein. He earned his medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and in 1983 immigrated to Israel, where he worked first as a physician in the I.D.F., then as an emergency doctor at Kiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron.

In the years that passed, he gained the attention of Shin Bet with his eliminationist views, calling Arabs “latter-day Nazis” and making a point to visit the Jewish terrorist Ami Popper in prison, where he was serving a sentence for the 1990 murder of seven Palestinians in the Tel Aviv suburb Rishon LeZion. Shaul said he regarded Goldstein at the time as a “charismatic and highly dangerous figure” and repeatedly urged the Shin Bet to monitor him. “They told me it was none of my business,” he said.

‘Clean Hands’

On Feb. 24, 1994, Goldstein abruptly fired his personal driver. According to Shaul, Goldstein told the driver that he knew he was a Shin Bet informer. Terrified at having been found out, the driver fled the West Bank immediately. Now Goldstein was moving unobserved.

That evening marked the beginning of Purim, the festive commemoration of the victory of the Jews over Haman the Agagite, a court official in the Persian Empire and the nemesis of the Jews in the Old Testament’s Book of Esther. Right-wing Israelis have often drawn parallels between Haman and Arabs — enemies who seek the annihilation of Jews. Goldstein woke early the next day and put on his I.D.F. uniform, and at 5:20 a.m. he entered the Cave of the Patriarchs, an ancient complex in Hebron that serves as a place of worship for both Jews and Muslims. Goldstein carried with him his I.D.F.-issued Galil rifle. It was also the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and on that morning hundreds of Muslims crowded the hall in prayer. Goldstein faced the worshipers and began shooting , firing 108 rounds before he was dragged down and beaten to death. The massacre killed 29 Muslim worshipers and injured more than 100.

The killings shocked Israel, and the government responded with a crackdown on extremism. Kach and Kahane Chai, the two political organizations most closely affiliated with the Kahanist movement, were outlawed and labeled terrorist groups, as was any other party that called for “the establishment of a theocracy in the biblical Land of Israel and the violent expulsion of Arabs from that land.” Rabin, in an address to the Knesset, spoke directly to the followers of Goldstein and Kahane, who he said were the product of a malicious foreign influence on Israel. “You are not part of the community of Israel,” he said. “You are not partners in the Zionist enterprise. You are a foreign implant. You are an errant weed. Sensible Judaism spits you out. You placed yourself outside the wall of Jewish law.”

Following the massacre, a state commission of inquiry was appointed, headed by Judge Meir Shamgar, the president of the Supreme Court. The commission’s report, made public in June 1994, strongly criticized the security arrangements at the Cave of the Patriarchs and examined law-enforcement practices regarding settlers and the extreme right in general. A secret appendix to the report, containing material deemed too sensitive for public consumption, included a December 1992 letter from the Israeli commissioner of police, essentially admitting that the police could not enforce the law. “The situation in the districts is extremely bleak,” he wrote, using the administrative nomenclature for the occupied territories. “The ability of the police to function is far from the required minimum. This is as a result of the lack of essential resources.”

In its conclusions, the commission, tracing the lines of the previous decade’s Karp report, confirmed claims that human rights organizations had made for years but that had been ignored by the Israeli establishment. The commission found that Israeli law enforcement was “ineffective in handling complaints,” that it delayed the filing of indictments and that restraining orders against “chronic” criminals among the “hard core” of the settlers were rarely issued.

The I.D.F. refused to allow Goldstein to be buried in the Jewish cemetery in Hebron. He was buried instead in the Kiryat Arba settlement, in a park named for Meir Kahane, and his gravesite has become an enduring place of pilgrimage for Jews who wanted to celebrate, as his epitaph reads, the “saint” who died for Israel with “clean hands and a pure heart.”

A Curse of Death

One ultranationalist settler who went regularly to Goldstein’s grave was a teenage radical named Itamar Ben-Gvir, who would sometimes gather other followers there on Purim to celebrate the slain killer. Purim revelers often dress in costume, and on one such occasion, caught on video, Ben-Gvir even wore a Goldstein costume, complete with a fake beard and a stethoscope. By then, Ben-Gvir had already come to the attention of the Jewish Department, and investigators interrogated him several times. The military declined to enlist him into the service expected of most Israeli citizens.

After the massacre at the Cave of the Patriarchs, a new generation of Kahanists directed their anger squarely at Rabin for his signing of the Oslo agreement and for depriving them, in their view, of their birthright. “From my standpoint, Goldstein’s action was a wake-up call,” says Hezi Kalo, a longtime senior Shin Bet official who oversaw the division that included the Jewish Department at that time. “I realized that this was going to be a very big story, that the diplomatic moves by the Rabin government would simply not pass by without the shedding of blood.”

The government of Israel was finally paying attention to the threat, and parts of the government acted to deal with it. Shin Bet increased the size of the Jewish Department, and it began to issue a new kind of warning: Jewish terrorists no longer threatened only Arabs. They threatened Jews.

The warnings noted that rabbis in West Bank settlements, along with some politicians on the right, were now openly advocating violence against Israeli public officials, especially Rabin. Extremist rabbis issued rulings of Jewish law against Rabin — imposing a curse of death, a Pulsa Dinura , and providing justification for killing him, a din rodef .

Carmi Gillon by then had moved on from running the Jewish Department and now had the top job at Shin Bet. “Discussing and acknowledging such halakhic laws was tantamount to a license to kill,” he says now, looking back. He was particularly concerned about Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon, who were stoking the fury of the right-wing rabbis and settler leaders in their battles with Rabin.

Shin Bet wanted to prosecute rabbis who approved the religiously motivated death sentences against Rabin, but the state attorney’s office refused. “They didn’t give enough importance back then to the link between incitement and legitimacy for terrorism,” says one former prosecutor who worked in the state attorney’s office in the mid-1990s.

Shin Bet issued warning after warning in 1995. “This was no longer a matter of mere incitement, but rather concrete information on the intention to kill top political figures, including Rabin,” Kalo now recalls. In October of that year, Ben-Gvir spoke to Israeli television cameras holding up a Cadillac hood ornament, which he boasted he had broken off the prime minister’s official car during chaotic anti-Oslo demonstrations in front of the Knesset. “We got to his car,” he said, “and we’ll get to him, too.” The following month, Rabin was dead.

Conspiracies

Yigal Amir, the man who shot and killed Rabin in Tel Aviv after a rally in support of the Oslo Accords on Nov. 4, 1995, was not unknown to the Jewish Department. A 25-year-old studying law, computer science and the Torah at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, he had been radicalized by Rabin’s efforts to make peace with Palestinian leaders and had connections to Avishai Raviv, the leader of Eyal, a new far-right group loosely affiliated with the Kach movement. In fact, Raviv was a Shin Bet informant, code-named Champagne. He had heard Amir talking about the justice of the din rodef judgments, but he did not identify him to his handlers as an immediate danger. “No one took Yigal seriously,” he said later in a court proceeding. “It’s common in our circles to talk about attacking public figures.”

Lior Akerman was the first Shin Bet investigator to interrogate Amir at the detention center where he was being held after the assassination. There was of course no question about his guilt. But there was the broader question of conspiracy. Did Amir have accomplices? Did they have further plans? Akerman now recalls asking Amir how he could reconcile his belief in God with his decision to murder the prime minister of Israel. Amir, he says, told him that rabbis had justified harming the prime minister in order to protect Israel.

Amir was smug, Akerman recalls, and he did not respond directly to the question of accomplices. “‘Listen,” he said, according to Akerman, “I succeeded . I was able to do something that many people wanted but no one dared to do. I fired a gun that many Jews held, but I squeezed the trigger because no one else had the courage to do it.”

The Shin Bet investigators demanded to know the identities of the rabbis. Amir was coy at first, but eventually the interrogators drew enough out of him to identify at least two of them. Kalo, the head of the division that oversaw the Jewish Department, went to the attorney general to argue that the rabbis should be detained immediately and prosecuted for incitement to murder. But the attorney general disagreed, saying the rabbis’ encouragement was protected speech and couldn’t be directly linked to the murder. No rabbis were arrested.

Days later, however, the police brought Raviv — the Shin Bet operative known as Champagne — into custody in a Tel Aviv Magistrate Court, on charges that he had conspired to kill Rabin, but he was released shortly after. Raviv’s role as an informant later came to light, and in 1999, he was arrested for his failure to act on previous knowledge of the assassination. He was acquitted on all charges, but he has since become a fixture of extremist conspiracy theories that pose his failure to ring the alarm as evidence that the murder of the prime minister was due not to the violent rhetoric of the settler right, or the death sentences from the rabbis, or the incitement by the leaders of the opposition, but to the all-too-successful efforts of a Shin Bet agent provocateur. A more complicated and insidious conspiracy theory, but no less false, was that it was Shin Bet itself that assassinated Rabin or allowed the assassination to happen.

Gillon, the head of the service at the time, resigned, and ongoing inquiries, charges and countercharges would continue for years. Until Oct. 7, 2023, the killing of the prime minister was considered the greatest failure in the history of Shin Bet. Kalo tried to sum up what went wrong with Israeli security. “The only answer my friends and I could give for the failure was complacency,” he wrote in his 2021 memoir. “They simply couldn’t believe that such a thing could happen, definitely not at the hands of another Jew.”

The Sasson Report

In 2001, as the Second Intifada unleashed a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, Ariel Sharon took office as prime minister. The struggling peace process had come to a complete halt amid the violence, and Sharon’s rise at first appeared to mark another victory for the settlers. But in 2003, in one of the more surprising reversals in Israeli political history, Sharon announced what he called Israel’s “disengagement” from Gaza, with a plan to remove settlers — forcibly if necessary — over the next two years.

The motivations were complex and the subject of considerable debate. For Sharon, at least, it appeared to be a tactical move. “The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process,” his senior adviser Dov Weisglass told Haaretz at the time. “And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.” But Sharon was also facing considerable pressure from President George W. Bush to do something about the ever-expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank, which were a growing impediment to any regional security deals. In July 2004, he asked Talia Sasson, who had recently retired as the head of the special tasks division in the state attorney’s office, to draw up a legal opinion on the subject of “unauthorized outposts” in the West Bank. His instructions were clear: Investigate which Israeli government agencies and authorities were secretly involved in building the outposts. “Sharon never interfered in my work, and neither was he surprised by the conclusions,” Sasson said in an interview two decades later. “After all, he knew better than anyone what the situation was on the ground, and he was expecting only grave conclusions.”

It was a simple enough question: Just how had it happened that hundreds of outposts had been built in the decade since Yitzhak Rabin ordered a halt in most new settlements? But Sasson’s effort to find an answer was met with delays, avoidance and outright lies. Her final report used careful but pointed language: “Not everyone I turned to agreed to talk with me. One claimed he was too busy to meet, while another came to the meeting but refused to meaningfully engage with most of my questions.”

Sasson found that between January 2000 and June 2003, a division of Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry issued 77 contracts for the establishment of 33 sites in the West Bank, all of which were illegal. In some cases, the ministry even paid for the paving of roads and the construction of buildings at settlements for which the Defense Ministry had issued demolition orders.

Several government ministries concealed the fact that funds were being diverted to the West Bank, reporting them under budgetary clauses such as “miscellaneous general development.” Just as in the case of the Karp Report two decades earlier, Sasson and her Justice Ministry colleagues discovered that the West Bank was being administered under completely separate laws, and those laws, she says, “appeared to me utterly insane.”

Sasson’s report took special note of Avi Maoz, who ran the Construction and Housing Ministry during most of this period. A political activist who early in his career spoke openly of pushing all Arabs out of the West Bank, Maoz helped found a settlement south of Jerusalem during the 1990s and began building a professional alliance with Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and would soon go on to his first term as prime minister. Years later, Maoz would be instrumental in ensuring Netanyahu’s political survival.

“The picture that emerges in the eye of the beholder is severe,” Sasson wrote in her report. “Instead of the government of Israel deciding on the establishment of settlements in the territories of Judea and Samaria, its place has been taken, from the mid-1990s and onward, by others.” The settlers, she wrote, were “the moving force,” but they could not have succeeded without the assistance of “various ministers of construction and housing in the relevant periods, some of them with a blind eye, and some of them with support and encouragement.”

This clandestine network was operating, Sasson wrote, “with massive funding from the State of Israel, without appropriate public transparency, without obligatory criteria. The erection of the unauthorized outposts is being done with violation of the proper procedures and general administrative rules, and in particular, flagrant and ongoing violation of the law.” These violations, Sasson warned, were coming from the government: “It was state and public agencies that broke the law, the rules, the procedures that the state itself had determined.” It was a conflict, she argued, that effectively neutered Israel’s internal checks and balances and posed a grave threat to the nation’s integrity. “The law-enforcement agencies are unable to act against government departments that are themselves breaking the law.”

But, in an echo of Judith Karp’s secret report decades earlier, the Sasson Report, made publicly available in March 2005, had almost no impact. Because she had a mandate directly from the prime minister, Sasson could have believed that her investigation might lead to the dismantling of the illegal outposts that had metastasized throughout the Palestinian territories. But even Sharon, with his high office, found himself powerless against the machine now in place to protect and expand the settlements in the West Bank — the very machine he had helped to build.

All of this was against the backdrop of the Gaza pullout. Sharon, who began overseeing the removal of settlements from Gaza in August 2005, was the third Israeli prime minister to threaten the settler dream of a Greater Israel, and the effort drew bitter opposition not only from the settlers but also from a growing part of the political establishment. Netanyahu, who had served his first term as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, and who previously voted in favor of a pullout, resigned his position as finance minister in Sharon’s cabinet in protest — and in anticipation of another run for the top job.

The settlers themselves took more active measures. In 2005, the Jewish Department of Shin Bet received intelligence about a plot to slow the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza by using 700 liters of gasoline to blow up vehicles on a major highway. Acting on the tip, officers arrested six men in central Israel. One of them was Bezalel Smotrich, the future minister overseeing civilian affairs in the West Bank.

Smotrich, then 25, was detained and questioned for weeks. Yitzhak Ilan, one of the Shin Bet officers present at the interrogation, says he remained “silent as a fish” throughout — “like an experienced criminal.” He was released without charges, Ilan says, in part because Shin Bet knew putting him on trial might expose the service’s agents inside Jewish extremist groups, and in part because they believed Smotrich was likely to receive little punishment in any case. Shin Bet was very comfortable with the courts when we fought Palestinian terrorism and we got the heavy punishments we wanted, he says. With the Jewish terrorists it was exactly the opposite.

When Netanyahu made his triumphant return as prime minister in 2009, he set out to undermine Talia Sasson’s report, which he and his allies saw as an obstacle to accelerating the settlement campaign. He appointed his own investigative committee, led by Judge Edmond Levy of the Supreme Court, who was known to support the settler cause. But the Levy report, completed in 2012, did not undermine the findings in the Sasson Report — in some ways, it reinforced them. Senior Israeli officials, the committee found, were fully aware of what was happening in the territories, and they were simply denying it for the sake of political expediency. The behavior, they wrote, was not befitting of “a country that has proclaimed the rule of law as a goal.” Netanyahu moved on.

A NEW GENERATION

The ascent of a far-right prime minister did little to prevent the virulent, anti-government strain inside the settler movement from spreading. A new generation of Kahanists was taking an even more radical turn, not only against Israeli politicians who might oppose or insufficiently abet them but against the very notion of a democratic Israeli state. A group calling itself Hilltop Youth advocated for the total destruction of the Zionist state. Meir Ettinger, named for his grandfather Meir Kahane, was one of the Hilltop Youth leaders, and he made his grandfather’s views seem moderate.

Their objective was to tear down Israel’s institutions and to establish “Jewish rule”: anointing a king, building a temple in place of the Jerusalem mosques sacred to Muslims worldwide, imposing a religious regime on all Jews. Ehud Olmert, who served as Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009, said in an interview that Hilltop Youth “genuinely, deeply, emotionally believe that this is the right thing to do for Israel. This is a salvation. This is the guarantee for Israel’s future.”

A former member of Hilltop Youth, who has asked to remain anonymous because she fears speaking out could endanger her, recalls how she and her friends used an illegal outpost on a hilltop in the West Bank as a base to lob stones at Palestinian cars. “The Palestinians would call the police, and we would know that we have at least 30 minutes before they arrive, if they arrive. And if they do arrive, they won’t arrest anyone. We did this tens of times.” The West Bank police, she says, couldn’t have been less interested in investigating the violence. “When I was young, I thought that I was outsmarting the police because I was clever. Later, I found out that they are either not trying or very stupid.”

The former Hilltop Youth member says she began pulling away from the group as their tactics became more extreme and once Ettinger began speaking openly about murdering Palestinians. She offered to become a police informant, and during a meeting with police intelligence officers in 2015, she described the group’s plans to commit murder — and to harm any Jews that stood in their way. By her account, she told the police about efforts to scout the homes of Palestinians before settling on a target. The police could have begun an investigation, she says, but they weren’t even curious enough to ask her the names of the people plotting the attack.

In 2013, Ettinger and other members of Hilltop Youth formed a secret cell calling itself the Revolt, designed to instigate an insurrection against a government that “prevents us from building the temple, which blocks our way to true and complete redemption.”

During a search of one of the group’s safe houses, Shin Bet investigators discovered the Revolt’s founding documents. “The State of Israel has no right to exist, and therefore we are not bound by the rules of the game,” one declared. The documents called for an end to the State of Israel and made it clear that in the new state that would rise in its place, there would be absolutely no room for non-Jews and for Arabs in particular: “If those non-Jews don’t leave, it will be permissible to kill them, without distinguishing between women, men and children.”

This wasn’t just idle talk. Ettinger and his comrades organized a plan that included timetables and steps to be taken at each stage. One member even composed a training manual with instructions on how to form terror cells and burn down houses. “In order to prevent the residents from escaping,” the manual advised, “you can leave burning tires in the entrance to the house.”

The Revolt carried out an early attack in February 2014, firebombing an uninhabited home in a small Arab village in the West Bank called Silwad, and followed with more arson attacks, the uprooting of olive groves and the destruction of Palestinian granaries. Members of the group torched mosques, monasteries and churches, including the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. A police officer spotted Ettinger himself attacking a herd of sheep belonging to an Arab shepherd. He stoned a sheep and then slaughtered it in front of the shepherd, the officer later testified. “It was shocking,” he said. “There was a sort of insanity in it.”

Shin Bet defined the Revolt as an organization that aimed “to undermine the stability of the State of Israel through terror and violence, including bodily harm and bloodshed,” according to an internal Shin Bet memo, and sought to place several of its members, including Ettinger, under administrative detention — a measure applied frequently against Arabs.

The state attorney, however, did not approve the request. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 323 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians in 2014; Palestinians were injured in 107 of these incidents. By the following year, the Revolt escalated the violence by openly advocating the murder of Arabs.

The Shin Bet and the police identified one of the prominent members of the Revolt, Amiram Ben-Uliel, making him a target of surveillance. But the service failed to prevent the wave of violence that he unleashed. On the night of July 31, 2015, Ben-Uliel set out on a killing spree in a central West Bank village called Duma. Ben-Uliel prepared a bag with two bottles of incendiary liquid, rags, a lighter, a box of matches, gloves and black spray paint. According to the indictment against him, Ben-Uliel sought a home with clear signs of life to ensure that the house he torched was not abandoned. He eventually found the home of Reham and Sa’ad Dawabsheh, a young mother and father. He opened a window and threw a Molotov cocktail into the home. He fled, and in the blaze that followed, the parents suffered injuries that eventually killed them. Their older son, Ahmad, survived the attack, but their 18-month-old toddler, Ali, was burned to death.

It was always clear, says Akerman, the former Shin Bet official, “that those wild groups would move from bullying Arabs to damaging property and trees and eventually would murder people.” He is still furious about how the service has handled Jewish terrorism. “Shin Bet knows how to deal with such groups, using emergency orders, administrative detention and special methods in interrogation until they break,” he says. But although it was perfectly willing to apply those methods to investigating Arab terrorism, the service was more restrained when it came to Jews. “It allowed them to incite, and then they moved on to the next stage and began to torch mosques and churches. Still undeterred, they entered Duma and burned a family.”

Shin Bet at first claimed to have difficulty locating the killers, even though they were all supposed to be under constant surveillance. When Ben-Uliel and other perpetrators were finally arrested, right-wing politicians gave fiery speeches against Shin Bet and met with the families of the perpetrators to show their support. Ben-Uliel was sentenced to life in prison, and Ettinger was finally put in administrative detention, but a fracture was spreading. In December 2015, Hilltop Youth members circulated a video clip showing members of the Revolt ecstatically dancing with rifles and pistols, belting out songs of hatred for Arabs, with one of them stabbing and burning a photograph of the murdered toddler, Ali Dawabsheh. Netanyahu, for his part, denounced the video, which, he said, exposed “the real face of a group that poses danger to Israeli society and security.”

American Friends

The expansion of the settlements had long been an irritant in Israel’s relationship with the United States, with American officials spending years dutifully warning Netanyahu both in public and in private meetings about his support for the enterprise. But the election of Donald Trump in 2016 ended all that. His new administration’s Israel policy was led mostly by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who had a long personal relationship with Netanyahu, a friend of his father’s who had stayed at their family home in New Jersey. Trump, in a broader regional agenda that lined up perfectly with Netanyahu’s own plans, also hoped to scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran that Barack Obama had negotiated and broker diplomatic pacts between Israel and Arab nations that left the matter of a Palestinian state unresolved and off the table.

If there were any questions about the new administration’s position on settlements, they were answered once Trump picked his ambassador to Israel. His choice, David Friedman, was a bankruptcy lawyer who for years had helped run an American nonprofit that raised millions of dollars for Beit El, one of the early Gush Emunim settlements in the West Bank and the place where Bezalel Smotrich was raised and educated. The organization, which was also supported by the Trump family, had helped fund schools and other institutions inside Beit El. On the heels of the Trump transition, Friedman referred to Israel’s “alleged occupation” of Palestinian territories and broke with longstanding U.S. policy by saying “the settlements are part of Israel.”

This didn’t make Friedman a particularly friendly recipient of the warnings regularly delivered by Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, the three-star general who in 2019 arrived at the embassy in Jerusalem to coordinate security between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. A career Green Beret who had combat deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq and served as deputy commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, the military task force with authority over U.S. counterterrorism special missions units, Schwartz wasn’t short on Middle East experience.

But he was immediately shocked by the landscape of the West Bank: settlers acting with impunity, a police force that was essentially nonexistent outside the settlements and the Israeli Army fanning the tensions with its own operations. Schwartz recalls how angry he was about what he called the army’s “collective punishment” tactics, including the razing of Palestinian homes, which he viewed as gratuitous and counterproductive. “I said, ‘Guys, this isn’t how professional militaries act.’” As Schwartz saw it, the West Bank was in some ways the American South of the 1960s. But at any moment the situation could become even more volatile, resulting in the next intifada.

Schwartz is diplomatic when recalling his interactions with Friedman, his former boss. He was a “good listener,” Schwartz says, but when he raised concerns about the settlements, Friedman would often deflect by noting “the lack of appreciation by the Palestinian people about what the Americans are doing for them.” Schwartz also discussed his concerns about settler violence directly with Shin Bet and I.D.F. officials, he says, but as far as he could tell, Friedman didn’t follow up with the political leadership. “I never got the sense he went to Netanyahu to discuss it.”

Friedman sees things differently. “I think I had a far broader perspective on acts of violence in Judea and Samaria” than Schwartz, he says now. “And it was clear that the violence coming from Palestinians against Israelis overwhelmingly was more prevalent.” He says he “wasn’t concerned about ‘appreciation’ from the Palestinians; I was concerned by their leadership’s embrace of terror and unwillingness to control violence.” He declined to discuss any conversations he had with Israeli officials.

Weeks after Trump lost the 2020 election, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Israel for a trip that delivered a number of gifts to Netanyahu and the settler cause. He announced new guidelines requiring that goods imported to the United States from parts of the West Bank be labeled “Made in Israel.” And he flew by helicopter to Psagot, a winery in the West Bank, making him the first American secretary of state to visit a settlement. One of the winery’s large shareholders, the Florida-based Falic family, have donated millions to various projects in the settlements.

During his lunchtime visit, Pompeo paused to write a note in the winery’s guest book. “May I not be the last secretary of state to visit this beautiful land,” he wrote.

A Settler Coalition

Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to become prime minister for an unprecedented sixth term came with a price: an alliance with a movement that he once shunned, but that had been brought into the political mainstream by Israel’s steady drift to the right. Netanyahu, who is now on trial for bribery and other corruption charges, repeatedly failed in his attempts to form a coalition after most of the parties announced that they were no longer willing to join him. He personally involved himself in negotiations to ally Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Party, making them kingmakers for anyone trying to form a coalition government. In November 2022, the bet paid off: With the now-critical support of the extreme right, Netanyahu returned to office.

The two men ushered into power by this arrangement were some of the most extreme figures ever to hold such high positions in an Israeli cabinet. Shin Bet had monitored Ben-Gvir in the years after Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, and he was arrested on multiple charges including inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization. He won acquittals or dismissals in some of the cases, but he was also convicted several times and served time in prison. During the Second Intifada, he led protests calling for extreme measures against Arabs and harassed Israeli politicians he believed were insufficiently hawkish.

Then Ben-Gvir made a radical change: He went to law school. He also took a job as an aide to Michael Ben-Ari, a Knesset member from the National Union party, which had picked up many followers of the Kach movement. In 2011, after considerable legal wrangling around his criminal record, he was admitted to the bar. He changed his hairstyle and clothing to appear more mainstream and began working from the inside, once saying he represented the “soldiers and civilians who find themselves in legal entanglements due to the security situation in Israel.” Netanyahu made him minister of national security, with authority over the police.

Smotrich also moved into public life after his 2005 arrest by Shin Bet for plotting road blockages to halt the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. He made Shin Bet’s Jewish Department a frequent target of criticism, complaining that it was wasting time and money investigating crimes carried out by Jews, when the real terrorists were Palestinians. His ultraright allies sometimes referred to the Jewish Department as Hamakhlaka Hayehudit — the Hebrew phrase for the Gestapo unit that executed Hitler’s Final Solution.

In 2015, while campaigning for a seat in the Knesset, Smotrich said that “every shekel invested in this department is one less shekel invested in real terrorism and saving lives.” Seven years later, Netanyahu made him both minister of finance and a minister in the Ministry of Defense, in charge of overseeing civilian affairs in the West Bank, and he has steadily pushed to seize authority over the territory from the military. As part of the coalition deal with Netanyahu, Smotrich now has the authority to appoint one of the senior administrative figures in the West Bank, who helps oversee the building of roads and the enforcement of construction laws. The 2022 election also brought Avi Maoz to the Knesset — the former housing-ministry official whom Talia Sasson once marked as a hidden hand of Israeli government support for illegal settlements. Since then, Maoz had joined the far-right Noam party, using it as a platform to advance racist and homophobic policies. And he never forgot, or forgave, Sasson. On “International Anti-Corruption Day” in 2022, Maoz took to the lectern of the Knesset and denounced Sasson’s report of nearly two decades earlier, saying it was written “with a hatred of the settlements and a desire to harm them.” This, he said, was “public corruption of the highest order, for which people like Talia Sasson should be prosecuted.”

Days after assuming his own new position, Ben-Gvir ordered the police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces in Israel, saying they “incite and encourage terrorism.” Smotrich, for his part, ordered drastic cuts in payments to the Palestinian Authority — a move that led the Shin Bet and the I.D.F. intelligence division to raise concerns that the cuts would interfere with the Palestinian Authority’s own efforts to police and prevent Palestinian terrorism.

Weeks after the new cabinet was sworn in, the Judea and Samaria division of the I.D.F. distributed an instructional video to the soldiers of a ground unit about to be deployed in the West Bank. Titled “Operational Challenge: The Farms,” the video depicts settlers as peaceful farmers living pastoral lives, feeding goats and herding sheep and cows, in dangerous circumstances. The illegal outposts multiplying around the West Bank are “small and isolated places of settlement, each with a handful of residents, a few of them — or none at all — bearing arms, the means of defense meager or nonexistent.”

It is the settlers, according to the video, who are under constant threat of attack, whether it be “penetration of the farm by a terrorist, an attack against a shepherd in the pastures, arson” or “destruction of property” — threats from which the soldiers of the I.D.F. must protect them. The commander of each army company guarding each farm must, the video says, “link up with the person in charge of security and to maintain communications”; soldiers and officers are encouraged to cultivate a close and intimate relationship with the settlers. “The informal,” viewers are told, “is much more important than the formal.”

The video addresses many matters of security, but it never addresses the question of law. When we asked the commander of the division that produced the video, Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth, why the I.D.F. was promoting the military support of settlements that are illegal under Israeli law, he directly asserted that the farms were indeed legal and offered to arrange for us to tour some of them. Later, a spokesman for the army apologized for the general’s remarks, acknowledged that the farms were illegal and announced that the I.D.F. would no longer be promoting the video. This May, Bluth was nonetheless subsequently promoted to head Israel’s Central Command, responsible for all Israeli troops in central Israel and the West Bank.

In August, Bluth will replace Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, who during his final months in charge of the West Bank has seen a near-total breakdown of law enforcement in his area of command. In late October, Fox wrote a letter to his boss, the chief of Israel’s military staff, saying that the surge of Jewish terrorism carried out in revenge for the Oct. 7 attacks “could set the West Bank on fire.” The I.D.F. is the highest security authority in the West Bank, but the military’s top commander put the blame squarely on the police — who ultimately answer to Ben-Gvir. Fox said he had established a special task force to deal with Jewish terrorism, but investigating and arresting the perpetrators is “entirely in the hands of the Israeli police.”

And, he wrote, they aren’t doing their jobs.

‘Only One Way Forward’

When the day came early this January for the Supreme Court to hear the case brought by the people of Khirbet Zanuta, the displaced villagers arrived an hour late. They had received entry permits from the District Coordination Office to attend the hearing but were delayed by security forces before reaching the checkpoint separating Israel from the West Bank. Their lawyer, Quamar Mishirqi-Assad, noting that their struggle to attend their own hearing spoke to the essence of their petition, insisted that the hearing couldn’t proceed without them. The judges agreed to wait.

The villagers finally were led into the courtroom, and Mishirqi-Assad began presenting the case. The proceedings were in Hebrew, so most of the villagers were unable to follow the arguments that described the daily terrors inflicted by settlers and the glaring absence of any law-enforcement efforts to stop them.

The lawyers representing the military and the police denied the claims of abuse and failure to enforce the law. When a judge asked what operational steps would be in place if villagers wanted to return, one of the lawyers for the state said they could already — there was no order preventing them from doing so.

The next to speak was Col. Roi Zweig-Lavi, the Central Command’s Operations Directorate officer. He said that many of these incidents involved false claims. In fact, he said, some of the villagers had probably destroyed their own homes, because of an “internal issue.” Now they were blaming the settlers to escape the consequences of their own actions.

Colonel Zweig-Lavi’s own views about the settlements, and his role in protecting them, were well known. In a 2022 speech, he told a group of yeshiva students in the West Bank that “the army and the settlements are one and the same.”

In early May, the court ordered the state to explain why the police failed to stop the attacks and declared that the villagers have a right to return to their homes. The court also ordered the state to provide details for how they would ensure the safe return of the villagers. It is now the state’s turn to decide how it will comply. Or if it will comply.

By the time the Supreme Court issued its rulings, the United States had finally taken action to directly pressure the Netanyahu government about the violent settlers. On Feb. 1, the White House issued an executive order imposing sanctions on four settlers for “engaging in terrorist activity,” among other things, in the West Bank. One of the four was Yinon Levi, the owner of Meitarim Farm near Hebron and the man American and Israeli officials believe orchestrated the campaign of violence and intimidation against the villagers of Khirbet Zanuta. The British government issued its own sanctions shortly after, saying in a statement that Israel’s government had created “an environment of near-total impunity for settler extremists in the West Bank.”

The White House’s move against individual settlers, a first by an American administration, was met with a combination of anger and ridicule by ministers in Netanyahu’s government. Smotrich called the Biden administration’s allegations against Levi and others “utterly specious” and said he would work with Israeli banks to resist complying with the sanctions. One message that circulated in an open Hilltop Youth WhatsApp channel said that Levi and his family would not be abandoned. “The people of Israel are mobilizing for them,” it said.

American officials bristle when confronted with the question of whether the government’s actions are just token measures taken by an embattled American president hemorrhaging support at home for his Israel policy. They won’t end the violence, they say, but they are a signal to the Netanyahu government about the position of the United States: that the West Bank could boil over, and it could soon be the latest front of an expanding regional Middle East war since Oct. 7.

But war might just be the goal. Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, said he believes that many members of the ultraright in Israel “want war.” They “want intifada,” he says, “because it is the ultimate proof that there is no way of making peace with the Palestinians and there is only one way forward — to destroy them.”

Additional reporting by Natan Odenheimer.

Top photograph: A member of a group known as Hilltop Youth, which seeks to tear down Israel’s institutions and establish ‘‘Jewish rule.’’ Photograph by Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, for The New York Times.

Read by Jonathan Davis

Narration produced by Anna Diamond

Engineered by David Mason

Peter van Agtmael is a Magnum photographer who has been covering Israel and Palestinian territories since 2012. He is a mentor in the Arab Documentary Photography Program.

Ronen Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel Aviv. His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House. More about Ronen Bergman

Mark Mazzetti is an investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C., focusing on national security, intelligence, and foreign affairs. He has written a book about the C.I.A. More about Mark Mazzetti

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612 Environment Essay Topics & Examples

🏆 Best Environment Essay Examples & Topics

How to Write an Essay on the Environment

Start by Choosing a Good Topic

Brainstorm for Ideas and Create a Plan

Create an Interesting Thesis Statement

Conduct Research and Document Sources

Start Writing as Soon as Possible

Essay On Environment In English [Short & Long]

Short Essay On Environment | 250 Words

Our Duties For The Environment

Long Essay On Environment | 500 Words

Degradation

How to Protect the Environment

Final Words

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Environment Essay

Importance of Environment

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Cause of Environmental Degradation

Frequently Asked Questions on Environment Essay

How does the proper maintenance of the environment help human beings?

What are the main reasons for environmental pollution?

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Essay on Environment

Essay on Environment in 150-200 words

Introduction :

Importance of Environmental Conservation

Environmental Threats

Conservation Strategies

Individual and Collective Responsibility

Benefits of Environmental Conservation

Conclusion :

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Essay on Environmental Pollution

Causes of Environmental Pollution

How Pollution Harms Health and Environment

How to Minimise Environmental Pollution?

Conclusion

FAQs on Environmental Pollution Essay