Environmental Issues Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environmental issues.

The environment plays a significant role to support life on earth. But there are some issues that are causing damages to life and the ecosystem of the earth. It is related to the not only environment but with everyone that lives on the planet. Besides, its main source is pollution , global warming, greenhouse gas , and many others. The everyday activities of human are constantly degrading the quality of the environment which ultimately results in the loss of survival condition from the earth.

Environmental Issues Essay

Source of Environment Issue

There are hundreds of issue that causing damage to the environment. But in this, we are going to discuss the main causes of environmental issues because they are very dangerous to life and the ecosystem.

Pollution – It is one of the main causes of an environmental issue because it poisons the air , water , soil , and noise. As we know that in the past few decades the numbers of industries have rapidly increased. Moreover, these industries discharge their untreated waste into the water bodies, on soil, and in air. Most of these wastes contain harmful and poisonous materials that spread very easily because of the movement of water bodies and wind.

Greenhouse Gases – These are the gases which are responsible for the increase in the temperature of the earth surface. This gases directly relates to air pollution because of the pollution produced by the vehicle and factories which contains a toxic chemical that harms the life and environment of earth.

Climate Changes – Due to environmental issue the climate is changing rapidly and things like smog, acid rains are getting common. Also, the number of natural calamities is also increasing and almost every year there is flood, famine, drought , landslides, earthquakes, and many more calamities are increasing.

Above all, human being and their greed for more is the ultimate cause of all the environmental issue.

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How to Minimize Environment Issue?

Now we know the major issues which are causing damage to the environment. So, now we can discuss the ways by which we can save our environment. For doing so we have to take some measures that will help us in fighting environmental issues .

Moreover, these issues will not only save the environment but also save the life and ecosystem of the planet. Some of the ways of minimizing environmental threat are discussed below:

Reforestation – It will not only help in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem but also help in restoring the natural cycles that work with it. Also, it will help in recharge of groundwater, maintaining the monsoon cycle , decreasing the number of carbons from the air, and many more.

The 3 R’s principle – For contributing to the environment one should have to use the 3 R’s principle that is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Moreover, it helps the environment in a lot of ways.

To conclude, we can say that humans are a major source of environmental issues. Likewise, our activities are the major reason that the level of harmful gases and pollutants have increased in the environment. But now the humans have taken this problem seriously and now working to eradicate it. Above all, if all humans contribute equally to the environment then this issue can be fight backed. The natural balance can once again be restored.

FAQs about Environmental Issue

Q.1 Name the major environmental issues. A.1 The major environmental issues are pollution, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and climate change. Besides, there are several other environmental issues that also need attention.

Q.2 What is the cause of environmental change? A.2 Human activities are the main cause of environmental change. Moreover, due to our activities, the amount of greenhouse gases has rapidly increased over the past few decades.

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Environmental Issues - List of Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Global warming: fact or fiction.

Introduction: Global Warming is the theory that the atmosphere of the earth is gradually increasing as a result of the increase in levels of greenhouse gases and pollutants being released. Since the Industrial Revolution, Earth's global average temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (The World Counts, 2014). There are generally two opinions regarding the argument of global warming: those who believe it is occurring and those who do not. People who believe in the issue back their opinions up […]

Carbon Footprint: Global Warming

Global warming (a gradual increase in the earth's and the oceans' average temperature) and carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases primarily carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activities) coincide because without carbon footprint there would not be any global warming. When I was a child and growing up in Virginia, this state seemed experienced all four seasons. Today, this Old Dominion state seems to experience only two seasons summer and winter. I personally think this apparent change […]

Is Global Warming a Hoax?

Introduction As people, we can be privileged to all sorts of opinions. This creates the possibility of many controversies. Much like the argument Is Global warming a hoax? This is one of the most famous controversies happening around the world today. This dispute isn't just between the average person, scientist themselves disagreeing among one another. Which, is something I didn't expect before doing my own research. So the question is, what is global warming and why do some believe while […]

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How Can Climate Change Affect Natural Disasters?

Global warming is considered a consensus problem which affected the lives of many people and nature catastrophically. This terrible phenomenon can be described as the rise of the regular temperature of earth which occurs when pollutants in the atmosphere absorb the heat that has bounced off the surface and should be taken to space. (Venkataramanan, 2011). Many people disagree on its existence, however the usual temperature of earth has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit as said by NASA (Hardy, 2003). […]

Overpopulation in the World

Introduction The current world population stands 7.6 billion as per the United Nations Statistics, while the human population is projected to clock 10.5 billion in the year 2040 and 12 billion by the year 2050. The current human population growth rate per year 70 million. China has got the highest number of people per unit area, with the total population being 1.2 billion. The African continent has reached the highest population growth rate, which is 6 percent while the lowest […]

How does Global Warming Affect the Arctic Animal?

Over the past years, global warming had slowly gotten worse and is now affecting the animals leaving them without a home to go to. Not only does climate change increases the chances of natural disaster but also destructing our natural habitat and creating an unfit environment to survive in. What's worse is the rise in temperature leading a meltdown of ice among the arctic creating an extreme difficult condition and the struggle for species to make a living. Essentially, global […]

Greenhouse Effect & Types of Pollution

Transportation, industrial, phonic, water and air are all types of pollution coming from personal cars, cruise ships and smokestacks, decreasing the clean air to breathe, homes for animals, food production, and great changes to the poles. Global warming is severely affecting our planet, and it continues to grow out of control. Global warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere. This causes the greenhouse gases to increase, increasing the levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and […]

Global Warming – Rising Temperature of the Atmosphere and Ocean

Throughout earth's history, climate has fluctuated (for example ice age). However, if you take into account how many organisms have evolved, and how each one depends on their habitats to survive, fluctuations will be more harmful now, especially to humanity. The main cause of global warming is thought to be the result of human actions, for example; Carbon dioxide emissions (from cars and other transport) interfering with the Ozone layer, deforestation (from workers creating space for cattle grazing), and farming […]

Global Warming: its Causes and its Real Impact on the Earth

The steadily increasing temperature of our planet's atmosphere is known as global warming. Global warming has been a subject of much political and social controversy in recent years due to arguments questioning its legitimacy. When the facts of these arguments are seen in context, their relevance becomes apparent. The data clearly indicate that global warming is happening and that it is human-induced. The anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases negatively impacts our environment, causing an increase in global temperature. This results […]

Global Warming Affects the Natural Balance of Environment

The world climate is changing significantly day by day. What is Global Warming? Global Warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide. Climate change causes an increase in average temperature. However a worldwide temperature adjustment are caused by characteristic occasions and humans that are accepted to be an add to accretion in normal temperatures. An Earth-wide temperature boost is a difficult issue […]

Climatic Changes in Greenland

Greenland is mostly covered in ice making it susceptible to melting from warm temperatures. The reason this country is named Greenland is because when Erik the Red was banned from Iceland he discovered this icy country and gave it the name in hopes of people settling (Pandita). In July and August of this year, the number of surface melt days on the Southwestern coast of Greenland was significantly above average, which is clearly an indication that global warming has begun […]

Global Warming – a Fix for the Future

Everyone has heard the infamous words global warming, but not many understand the disaster that's happening. Terms are thrown out such as carbon emissions and greenhouse gases the list goes on, and those not scientifically savvy tend to brush off what may become the downfall of humanity. According to Nasa's official website, The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and […]

The Art of Global Warming

Mankind has felt the need to leave its mark on history since the dawn of human civilization. There is evidence of this close to home in the tallest skyscrapers of New York and as far-reaching as Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon. But how far is too far? As we have grown, so too has our knowledge of the world and the advancements in science and technology that come with it. So much so, that we are now faced with […]

The Greenhouse Effect

Human activities have contributed to what we now know as 'Global Warming' since the 19th century. Global Warming also known as the Greenhouse Effect is the warming that happens when Earth's atmosphere traps heat, almost like the walls of a greenhouse. Sunlight shines on the Earth where it is then absorbed and radiated back into the atmosphere as heat and is then trapped by what we call greenhouse gasses. Experts warn that we only have until 2030 to stem catastrophic […]

Climate Change: Vulnerability and Responsibility

When it comes to the environment people talk about how it is important to care for the earth we live in. While it is important to discuss such issues it is more beneficial to take action rather than to just talk about it. The earth is in desperate need of aid and though to many, it may not matter that the earth has increased a few degrees it can and has had devastating impacts. Taking responsibility for our home is […]

Climate Change – Scientists and Environmentalists are Deeply Concerned

Anthropogenic climate change and global warming cannot be denied. By reducing pollution, preventing deforestation and curtailing oil drilling, we can preserve the environment and mitigate the effects of global warming. Global warming is detrimental to Earth's environment. Most people are not aware of this and do not consider it as a major threat to earth's biosphere. The purpose of the images shown here is to highlight the causes, impact and mitigation of global warming. There are ways we can mitigate […]

Global Warming and the Future of the World’s Climate

Although hard to imagine, in less than a hundred years the US East Coast and other stretches of coastline around the world could be submerged underwater. Cites such as New York, New Orleans, and Houston could be swamped off the map as the waters of the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico overtook the previously dry land. The skyscrapers of the old downtown areas would become islands poking out of a vast sea of blue covering the roads and old infrastructure. […]

Climate Change – Critical Issue

I believe that among the numerous critical issues facing most Americans in this world today, climate change stands as one of, if not the most urgent. However, understanding and assimilating the different causes of the ever-growing environmental problems critically facing our lives today are crucial for reducing our pollution footprint. Climate change effects include major changes in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, as well as other frequent disastrous weather phenomenon. That said, climate change policy in the US has transformed timidly […]

Global Warming – Several Major Agrarian Concerns

For many years, researchers have focused on maintaining the availability of food sources for the ever-growing human population. There are many factors that may impact the abundance of food; this research will focus on overall increase in temperature across the world and its impact on the agricultural environment. Global warming is a major research topic that presents several major agrarian concerns. In order to combat these concerns, scientists have been trying to find the root causes of problems presented through […]

The World should Turn to Vegetarian Diet to Stop Global Warming

A vegetarian according to vegetarian society is somebody who is on a diet of fruits, seeds, grains, vegetables, legumes, nut, yeast, fungi, algae, and/or some other non-animal grounded food (e.g. salt) with or minus dairy foods, eggs and/or honey. Global warming according to live science is the continuing temperature of the ground's surface, seas and thermosphere are any of the utmost frustrating environmental matters. Normal side heats high an entire of 1.71 units Fahrenheit (0.95 unit Celsius) between 1880 and […]

Causes and Effects of Global Warming

People are arguing if global warming is caused by man or if its a natural occurrence. Well, volcanoes have contributed to global warming such as El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991 they have cooled the earth's temperature but this was temporary. however, the amount of carbon dioxide they reliance is small compared to humans there are other things that can cause natural temperature changes tiny wiggles in the earth's orbit can change when and where sunlight hits even […]

Is a Tax on Carbon Emission a Way to Combat Global Warming?

In today's modern world, and especially during our current political environment, there is a big question of how important environmental issues are going to be now in our changing American government. Now that things are evolving and a new generation is casting their votes, most Americans are curious to see how the votes turn out and what are politicians will do regarding getting more awareness for climate change. After the elections, the next big concern is if the people within […]

Impact of Society on Earth’s Atmosphere

Everyday society is impacting the earth's atmosphere weather it is in a good or bad way. Mostly society effects the earth's atmosphere in a negative way, although people are aware of the current situation, they still continue to do the things that effect the earth atmosphere in a negative way. These things being burning fossil fuels, deforestation, or as easy as using fertilizers. According to climate change sheet 22 last modified on 07/18/2012 nitrogen contained in many fertilizers enhances the […]

Solutions on Pollution Issue

Funding is the most important factor in order to improve the current conditions of Vietnam. Seven principles which pollution control funds should aim to follow can be drawn from the decade of experience with environment funds of various kinds in Vietnam. To be effective, EPFs should: 1.Have a clear and overriding objective of pollution reduction and prevention. 2.Work according to a comprehensive pollution control plan of government which is based on credible and systematic priority setting procedures. 3.Integrate with the […]

How Global Warming Works

There's bright blue in the past, now there is horrible gray in the future and more heat in the summers, and the winters are getting warmer than usual. The seas and oceans rising, the ice caps falling, and animals decreasing. It is time to come to a conflict that could make our planet Earth fall. Welcome to a tremendous problem EVERYONE is trying to solve global warming. Industrializing is a benefit for us and the economy. All of this falls […]

The Global Warming Taboo

It is still hard to understand that the topic of Global Warming is still being thrown under the rug as it is perceived by some that it is not a leading issue that needs to be tackled. It makes me wonder why so much of America can't see the problems that are being created just by our everyday actions. Due to the fact that the issue is still under mass controversy leads the topic of global warming to be a […]

Natural Disasters and Climate Change

Global warming is the gradual increase of temperature in the world's atmosphere. It is often caused by high levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. It may also be increased by fossil fuels and agriculture causing many severe consequences, such as: species extinction, reduced forest and coral reefs, drought increases in Africa, severe flooding in Asia, threats to small islands because of ocean levels rising, and severe weather in hurricane zones. Our society today is destroying the climate. Every time […]

Climate Change: Environmental Protection Agency

Global warming, often referred to as climate change is used to describe the rise in average surface temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth's climate. There is a great debate amongst many as to whether global warming is real( some call it a hoax). There is a broad-based agreement within the scientific community that climate change is real. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space […]

Global Warming and its Effects

Global warming has been a top discussion for a while now. Some people believe it is true based on the change in weather, more fires/floods, and severe droughts in some areas while others deny the fact that it is occurring. Recently, the topic of global warming has become more of a political topic. This is probably because a lot of the industries that are causing some of the issues would be affected financially if they were forced to take responsibility […]

The Story of Stuff

Four main issues have been discussed in the fourth chapter, "Consumption" of The Story of Stuff. The four themes are discussed below: Unhappy People, Nation, and PlanetAnnie emphasizes that many stuff doesn't make us happy but the work done out of hard work makes one satisfied thus one is happy. She goes further to say that "we can only compromise so much until no solution is reached." If one is rich, it is assumed he is happy, and those who […]

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The 15 Best Argumentative Essay Topics On Environmental Issues

Many people are passionate about various environmental issues. Therefore, it is often a fantastic theme to use as the basis for argumentative essay. However, with so many topics related to environmental issues, it can sometimes be difficult to narrow down the perfect title for your paper.

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In order to help you think of a good title for your argumentative essay on environmental issues, the following will explain some techniques that you can use to think of ideas. Furthermore, at the bottom of this article, there is a list of 15 of the best argumentative essay topics for environmental issues, which you can either use verbatim, or as further inspiration for your own unique title.

One of the best ways to choose a title that you would like to write about is to note down any ideas you have off the top of your head. Some of these ideas may be useless; however, you will most likely be to think of some that you can use or, at the very least, some of the ideas will then inspire you to think of better topics and titles to write about. Essentially, you can use these brainstorming techniques to come up with a range of ideas, which can then be whittled down into you have the ideal title to use.

  • The government should do more to end the reliance on non-renewable energy sources
  • Should car owners pay more in taxes as a result of the environmental damage caused by pollution?
  • Should all future cars be hybrid vehicles to minimise environmental damage and pollution?
  • Should individuals face stricter penalties as a result of littering?
  • Should companies that are found guilty of dumping toxic waste and materials be shut down?
  • Should individual households do more to recycle any rubbish that they produce?
  • Is the United States doing enough to reduce CO2 emissions?
  • Are humans responsible for climate change?
  • Are cheap goods worth it considering the environmental damage caused to produce them?
  • Are hybrid cars as environmentally friendly as they are portrayed to be?
  • Should the United States set a good example for the rest of the world when it comes to reducing pollution?
  • Is the nuclear waste produced by nuclear submarines and nuclear power stations disposed of safely enough?
  • Are people overly concerned about the environmental effects of nuclear power?
  • Should all people travel by public transport?
  • Should the government make public transport free in order to reduce the polluting effect caused by individuals travelling by cars?

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Environmental Issues Research Paper Topics

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Designed to serve as a comprehensive guide for students, this page provides a wide array of environmental issues research paper topics . Whether you are just starting your course or are looking for a unique topic for your final project, you will find a wealth of ideas here. The topics are divided into ten categories, each featuring ten distinct research ideas, offering a diverse range of issues to explore. Additionally, you will find expert advice on how to select a suitable topic and how to write an impactful research paper on environmental issues. The page also introduces iResearchNet’s professional writing services, which can assist students in creating high-quality, custom research papers on any environmental issue.

100 Environmental Issues Research Paper Topics

The field of environmental science is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like civil engineering, law, and even healthcare. That is why it is imperative to create a comprehensive and engaging list of environmental issues research paper topics. These topics are not only necessary for your academic career, but they also provide valuable insights into the current state of our planet and the steps we can take to mitigate the adverse effects of human activities.

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Climate Change

  • The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity
  • Climate Change and Agriculture
  • The Role of Renewable Energy in Mitigating Climate Change
  • Climate Change and Public Health
  • Climate Change and Migration
  • Climate Change and Natural Disasters
  • Climate Change and Water Resources
  • Climate Change and Food Security
  • Climate Change and Urbanization
  • Climate Change and Marine Life

Air Pollution

  • The Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health
  • Air Pollution and Climate Change
  • The Role of Transportation in Air Pollution
  • Air Pollution and Ecosystems
  • Indoor Air Pollution
  • Air Pollution and Policy
  • Air Pollution and Energy Production
  • Air Pollution and Urban Planning
  • Air Pollution and Agriculture
  • Air Pollution and Waste Management

Water Pollution

  • The Impact of Water Pollution on Marine Life
  • Water Pollution and Human Health
  • Industrial Waste and Water Pollution
  • Water Pollution and Agriculture
  • Water Pollution and Policy
  • Water Pollution and Waste Management
  • Water Pollution and Climate Change
  • Water Pollution and Urbanization
  • Water Pollution and Food Security
  • Water Pollution and Biodiversity

Soil Erosion

  • The Impact of Soil Erosion on Agriculture
  • Soil Erosion and Climate Change
  • Soil Erosion and Deforestation
  • Soil Erosion and Urbanization
  • Soil Erosion and Water Pollution
  • Soil Erosion and Desertification
  • Soil Erosion and Biodiversity
  • Soil Erosion and Policy
  • Soil Erosion and Land Management
  • Soil Erosion and Food Security

Deforestation

  • The Impact of Deforestation on Biodiversity
  • Deforestation and Climate Change
  • Deforestation and Soil Erosion
  • Deforestation and Urbanization
  • Deforestation and Agriculture
  • Deforestation and Policy
  • Deforestation and Land Management
  • Deforestation and Indigenous Rights
  • Deforestation and Water Cycle
  • Deforestation and Carbon Cycle

Biodiversity Loss

  • The Impact of Biodiversity Loss on Ecosystem Services
  • Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change
  • Biodiversity Loss and Agriculture
  • Biodiversity Loss and Deforestation
  • Biodiversity Loss and Urbanization
  • Biodiversity Loss and Policy
  • Biodiversity Loss and Invasive Species
  • Biodiversity Loss and Extinction
  • Biodiversity Loss and Conservation
  • Biodiversity Loss and Genetic Diversity

Waste Management

  • The Impact of Waste Management on Public Health
  • Waste Management and Climate Change
  • Waste Management and Policy
  • Waste Management and Urbanization
  • Waste Management and Water Pollution
  • Waste Management and Soil Pollution
  • Waste Management and Air Pollution
  • Waste Management and Recycling
  • Waste Management and Landfills
  • Waste Management and Plastic Pollution

Energy Consumption

  • The Impact of Energy Consumption on Climate Change
  • Energy Consumption and Air Pollution
  • Energy Consumption and Policy
  • Energy Consumption and Urbanization
  • Energy Consumption and Transportation
  • Energy Consumption and Renewable Energy
  • Energy Consumption and Fossil Fuels
  • Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Consumption and Economic Growth
  • Energy Consumption and Lifestyle

Overpopulation

  • The Impact of Overpopulation on Natural Resources
  • Overpopulation and Climate Change
  • Overpopulation and Urbanization
  • Overpopulation and Food Security
  • Overpopulation and Water Scarcity
  • Overpopulation and Biodiversity Loss
  • Overpopulation and Policy
  • Overpopulation and Public Health
  • Overpopulation and Migration
  • Overpopulation and Social Inequality

Ozone Layer Depletion

  • The Impact of Ozone Layer Depletion on Human Health
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Climate Change
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Marine Life
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Policy
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Air Pollution
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and UV Radiation
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Agriculture
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Skin Cancer
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Eye Diseases
  • Ozone Layer Depletion and Ecosystems

This comprehensive list of environmental issues research paper topics provides a wide range of areas to choose from for your research. The topics cover major environmental issues, from climate change and air pollution to biodiversity loss and overpopulation. Each of these topics can be explored from various angles, providing a rich source of ideas for your research paper. Remember, the key to a successful research paper is a well-defined topic and a clear focus.

Environmental Issues Research Guide

Welcome to the world of environmental science, a discipline that focuses on understanding and addressing the complex challenges our planet faces today. As our society becomes increasingly aware of the critical importance of environmental sustainability, the study of environmental science has gained immense significance. In this page, we delve into the realm of environmental issues research paper topics, providing students like you with a wealth of ideas, guidance, and resources to embark on impactful research journeys.

Environmental issues, ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss, deforestation, pollution, and resource depletion, pose serious threats to our planet’s well-being. The need for in-depth research, innovative solutions, and informed decision-making has never been more urgent. As students of environmental science, you have a unique opportunity to contribute to this field of study by conducting research papers that explore various aspects of environmental issues. These research papers serve as a platform for understanding the complexities of environmental problems and proposing viable solutions.

The purpose of this page is to empower you in your research endeavors by providing a comprehensive list of environmental issues research paper topics. We recognize that choosing a suitable research topic is a critical step in the research process, and it can significantly impact the outcome and relevance of your work. Moreover, we understand the challenges students face when trying to navigate the vast landscape of environmental issues and find a research topic that aligns with their interests and goals. That’s why we are here to offer expert advice and guidance to help you make informed decisions.

Whether you are a novice researcher exploring the world of environmental science or an experienced student seeking new avenues to expand your knowledge, this page is designed to cater to your needs. Our curated list of environmental issues research paper topics spans a wide range of categories, ensuring that you can find a topic that aligns with your specific interests and academic goals. Each topic has been carefully selected to reflect the current and pressing environmental challenges we face today, allowing you to delve into the intricacies and complexities of these issues.

Moreover, we understand that writing a research paper can be a daunting task, especially for students who are new to the process or grappling with time constraints. In addition to providing you with a comprehensive list of research paper topics, we also offer writing services that allow you to order a custom environmental issues research paper tailored to your unique requirements. Our team of expert degree-holding writers is well-versed in environmental science and has extensive experience in conducting research and crafting high-quality papers.

By availing our writing services, you can benefit from the expertise of our writers, who will ensure that your research paper is meticulously researched, well-written, and aligned with the highest academic standards. We value the importance of in-depth research, customized solutions, and timely delivery. Our team is available 24/7 to provide support and address any queries or concerns you may have throughout the process. With our easy order tracking system, absolute privacy, and a money-back guarantee, you can trust us to deliver a top-quality research paper that meets your expectations.

Choosing an Environmental Issues Topic

Choosing the right environmental issues research paper topic is crucial for conducting meaningful and impactful research. With such a broad and diverse field, it can be challenging to narrow down your focus and select a topic that aligns with your interests, academic goals, and the current state of environmental science. In this section, we provide expert advice and guidance to help you navigate the process of selecting environmental issues research paper topics. Here are ten valuable tips to consider:

  • Identify your areas of interest : Begin by reflecting on your personal interests within the field of environmental science. Consider the environmental issues that resonate with you the most and align with your long-term career goals. Are you passionate about climate change, water pollution, biodiversity conservation, or sustainable energy? Identifying your areas of interest will guide you towards topics that you genuinely care about.
  • Stay updated on current environmental challenges : Stay informed about the current environmental challenges and emerging issues. Environmental science is a dynamic field, constantly evolving as new research and discoveries emerge. Subscribe to reputable environmental journals, attend conferences, and follow reputable sources to stay up-to-date with the latest environmental issues and debates. This will help you choose topics that are relevant and address the pressing concerns of the time.
  • Consider the scope and depth of research : Evaluate the scope and depth of research required for each potential topic. Some topics may require extensive data collection, fieldwork, or laboratory experiments, while others may rely more on literature review and theoretical analysis. Consider your available resources, time constraints, and access to relevant data or research materials when selecting a topic that is feasible within the given parameters.
  • Explore interdisciplinary approaches : Environmental issues are often complex and interconnected, requiring interdisciplinary perspectives. Consider topics that allow you to explore the intersections of environmental science with other disciplines such as economics, sociology, policy studies, or public health. Interdisciplinary research can provide a comprehensive understanding of environmental challenges and offer innovative solutions.
  • Assess the significance and impact : Evaluate the significance and potential impact of each research topic. Ask yourself: Does the topic address a critical environmental issue? Does it have the potential to contribute to the existing body of knowledge or influence environmental policy and decision-making? Choosing a topic with significant implications can enhance the relevance and importance of your research.
  • Consider local and global contexts : Environmental issues can vary in their local and global contexts. Consider topics that have relevance and implications at both scales. Local environmental issues may involve studying the impact of pollution on a specific ecosystem or analyzing the effectiveness of local environmental policies. Global topics could encompass climate change, deforestation, or biodiversity loss and their implications on a global scale.
  • Seek guidance from faculty and experts : Consult with your faculty members, advisors, or experts in the field of environmental science. They can provide valuable insights, suggest potential research topics, and guide you towards relevant literature and resources. Their expertise and experience can help you refine your research focus and identify unique research angles.
  • Conduct a preliminary literature review : Before finalizing your topic, conduct a preliminary literature review to familiarize yourself with existing research and identify research gaps. This will enable you to identify topics that have not been extensively explored or provide new perspectives on existing issues. A thorough literature review will also help you develop a solid research question and methodology.
  • Consider the ethical implications : Environmental research often raises ethical considerations. Reflect on the potential ethical implications associated with your research topic. Consider how your research may impact communities, ecosystems, or vulnerable populations. Ensure that your research design and methodology prioritize ethical standards and promote the well-being of the environment and human communities.
  • Stay flexible and open to refinement : Lastly, remain flexible and open to refining your research topic throughout the research process. As you delve deeper into your research, new insights and perspectives may emerge, leading you to adjust your focus or narrow down your research question. Embrace the iterative nature of research and allow yourself the freedom to adapt and refine your topic as needed.

By considering these ten expert tips, you can choose environmental issues research paper topics that align with your interests, contribute to the field of environmental science, and make a meaningful impact. Remember, selecting the right topic is the first step towards conducting a successful and rewarding research study.

How to Write an Environmental Issues Research Paper

Writing an environmental issues research paper requires careful planning, organization, and attention to detail. It involves conducting thorough research, analyzing data, and presenting your findings in a clear and compelling manner. In this section, we provide expert advice and ten valuable tips to guide you through the process of writing an environmental issues research paper.

  • Understand the research question and objectives : Begin by thoroughly understanding the research question and objectives of your paper. Clearly define the scope and purpose of your study, ensuring that it aligns with the overall theme of environmental issues. This clarity will help you stay focused and maintain a logical flow throughout your paper.
  • Conduct comprehensive literature review : Before diving into your research, conduct a comprehensive literature review. Familiarize yourself with existing studies, theories, and methodologies related to your chosen environmental issue. This will provide a foundation of knowledge and help you identify research gaps or areas where your study can contribute.
  • Develop a solid research methodology : Design a robust research methodology that aligns with your research question and objectives. Determine the appropriate data collection methods, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, or laboratory experiments. Consider the ethical implications of your research and ensure compliance with ethical guidelines.
  • Collect and analyze data : Collect relevant data using your chosen research methods. Ensure data integrity and accuracy by using standardized data collection techniques. Analyze the data using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis methods, depending on the nature of your research.
  • Organize your paper effectively : Create a clear and logical structure for your research paper. Organize it into sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. Use headings and subheadings to guide the reader and make the paper easy to navigate.
  • Write a compelling introduction : Begin your paper with an engaging introduction that provides background information on the environmental issue and highlights the significance of your research. Clearly state your research question or hypothesis and provide an overview of your methodology and key findings.
  • Present your findings objectively : Present your research findings objectively, using appropriate data visualization techniques such as tables, graphs, or charts. Clearly interpret the results and explain their implications for the environmental issue you’re studying. Support your findings with references to relevant literature.
  • Engage in critical analysis and discussion : Engage in critical analysis and discussion of your findings. Compare your results with existing research, highlight similarities, differences, or inconsistencies, and discuss possible reasons for these variations. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of your study and suggest areas for future research.
  • Use clear and concise language : Communicate your ideas clearly and concisely. Avoid jargon and use plain language that is accessible to a wide audience. Define technical terms if necessary and ensure that your arguments and explanations are easy to follow.
  • Craft a compelling conclusion : End your research paper with a strong conclusion that summarizes your key findings, reinforces the significance of your research, and suggests avenues for further exploration. Emphasize the implications of your study for addressing the environmental issue and provide recommendations for future actions or policies.

By following these ten expert tips, you can effectively write an environmental issues research paper that is well-structured, supported by solid evidence, and contributes to the field of environmental science. Remember to revise and proofread your paper for clarity, coherence, and grammar before submitting it for review.

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  • Expert Degree-Holding Writers : Our writing team consists of expert degree-holding writers with extensive knowledge and experience in the field of environmental science. They possess the expertise to tackle complex environmental issues and deliver high-quality research papers.
  • Custom Written Works : We understand that every research paper is unique. Our writers will tailor your paper to your specific requirements, ensuring that it is customized and meets your academic standards.
  • In-Depth Research : Our writers conduct thorough research to gather relevant and up-to-date information on the chosen environmental issue. They delve deep into scholarly resources, scientific journals, and credible databases to provide you with well-researched content.
  • Custom Formatting : We adhere to various formatting styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard. Our writers are well-versed in these formatting guidelines and will ensure that your research paper is formatted correctly.
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Harvard students share thoughts, fears, plans to meet environmental challenges

For many, thinking about the world’s environmental future brings concern, even outright alarm.

There have been, after all, decades of increasingly strident warnings by experts and growing, ever-more-obvious signs of the Earth’s shifting climate. Couple this with a perception that past actions to address the problem have been tantamount to baby steps made by a generation of leaders who are still arguing about what to do, and even whether there really is a problem.

It’s no surprise, then, that the next generation of global environmental leaders are preparing for their chance to begin work on the problem in government, business, public health, engineering, and other fields with a real sense of mission and urgency.

The Gazette spoke to students engaged in environmental action in a variety of ways on campus to get their views of the problem today and thoughts on how their activities and work may help us meet the challenge.

Eric Fell and Eliza Spear

Fell is president and Spear is vice president of Harvard Energy Journal Club. Fell is a graduate student at the Harvard John H. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Spear is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

FELL:   For the past three centuries, fossil fuels have enabled massive growth of our civilization to where we are today. But it is now time for a new generation of cleaner-energy technologies to fuel the next chapter of humanity’s story. We’re not too late to solve this environmental challenge, but we definitely shouldn’t procrastinate as much as we have been. I don’t worry about if we’ll get it done, it’s the when. Our survival depends on it. At Harvard, I’ve been interested in the energy-storage problem and have been focusing on developing a grid-scale solution utilizing flow batteries based on organic molecules in the lab of Mike Aziz . We’ll need significant deployment of batteries to enable massive penetration of renewables into the electrical grid.

SPEAR: Processes leading to greenhouse-gas emissions are so deeply entrenched in our way of life that change continues to be incredibly slow. We need to be making dramatic structural changes, and we should all be very worried about that. In the Harvard Energy Journal Club, our focus is energy, so we strive to learn as much as we can about the diverse options for clean-energy generation in various sectors. A really important aspect of that is understanding how much of an impact those technologies, like solar, hydro, and wind, can really have on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. It’s not always as much as you’d like to believe, and there are still a lot of technical and policy challenges to overcome.

I can’t imagine working on anything else, but the question of what I’ll be working on specifically is on my mind a lot. The photovoltaics field is at a really exciting point where a new technology is just starting to break out onto the market, so there are a lot of opportunities for optimization in terms of performance, safety, and environmental impact. That’s what I’m working on now [in Roy Gordon’s lab ] and I’m really enjoying it. I’ll definitely be in the renewable-energy technology realm. The specifics will depend on where I see the greatest opportunity to make an impact.

Photo (left) courtesy of Kritika Kharbanda; photo by Tiera Satchebell.

Kritika Kharbanda ’23 and Laier-Rayshon Smith ’21

Kharbanda is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard Circular Economy Symposium. Smith is a member of Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students at Harvard. Both are students at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

KHARBANDA: I come from a country where the most pressing issues are, and will be for a long time, poverty, food shortage, and unemployment born out of corruption, illiteracy, and rapid gentrification. India was the seventh-most-affected country by climate change in 2019. With two-thirds of the population living in rural areas with no access to electricity, even the notion of climate change is unimaginable.

I strongly believe that the answer lies in the conjugality of research and industry. In my field, achieving circularity in the building material processes is the burning concern. The building industry currently contributes to 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, of which 38 percent is contributed by the embedded or embodied energy used for the manufacturing of materials. A part of the Harvard i-lab, I am a co-founder of Cardinal LCA, an early stage life-cycle assessment tool that helps architects and designers visualize this embedded energy in building materials, saving up to 46 percent of the energy from the current workflow. This venture has a strong foundation as a research project for a seminar class I took at the GSD in fall 2020, instructed by Jonathan Grinham. I am currently working as a sustainability engineer at Henning Larsen architects in Copenhagen while on a leave of absence from GSD. In the decades to come, I aspire to continue working on the embodied carbon aspect of the building industry. Devising an avant garde strategy to record the embedded carbon is the key. In the end, whose carbon is it, anyway?

SMITH: The biggest challenges are areas where the threat of climate change intersects with environmental justice. It is important that we ensure that climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies are equitable, whether it is sea-level rise or the increase in urban heat islands. We should seek to address the threats faced by the most vulnerable communities — the communities least able to resolve the threat themselves. These often tend to be low-income communities and communities of color that for decades have been burdened with bearing the brunt of environmental health hazards.

During my time at Harvard, I have come to understand how urban planning and design can seek to address this challenge. Planners and designers can develop strategies to prioritize communities that are facing a significant climate-change risk, but because of other structural injustices may not be able to access the resources to mitigate the risk. I also learned about climate gentrification: a phenomenon in which people in wealthier communities move to areas with lower risks of climate-change threats that are/were previously lower-income communities. I expect to work on many of these issues, as many are connected and are threats to communities across the country. From disinvestment and economic extraction to the struggle to find quality affordable housing, these injustices allow for significant disparities in life outcomes and dealing with risk.

Lucy Shaw ’21

Shaw is co-president of the HBS Energy and Environment Club. She is a joint-degree student at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

SHAW: I want to see a world where climate change is averted and the environment preserved, without it being at the expense of the development and prosperity of lower-income countries. We have, or are on the cusp of having, many of the financial and technological tools we need to reduce emissions and environmental damage from a wide array of industries, such as agriculture, energy, and transport. The challenge I am most worried about is how we balance economic growth and opportunity with reducing humanity’s environmental impact and share this burden equitably across countries.

I came to Harvard as a joint degree student at the Kennedy School and Business School to be able to see this challenge from two different angles. In my policy-oriented classes, we learned about the opportunities and challenges of global coordination among national governments — the difficulty in enforcing climate agreements, and in allocating and agreeing on who bears the responsibility and the costs of change, but also the huge potential that an international framework with nationally binding laws on environmental protection and carbon-emission reduction could have on changing the behavior of people and businesses. In my business-oriented classes, we learned about the power of business to create change, if there is a driven leadership. We also learned that people and businesses respond to incentives, and the importance of reducing cost of technologies or increasing the cost of not switching to more sustainable technologies — for example, through a tax. After graduate school, I plan to join a leading private equity investor in their growing infrastructure team, which will equip me with tools to understand what makes a good investment in infrastructure and what are the opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of infrastructure while enhancing its value. I hope to one day be involved in shaping environmental and development policy, whether it is on a national or international level.

Photo (left) by Tabitha Soren.

Quinn Lewis ’23 and Suhaas Bhat ’24

Both are with the Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard College.

LEWIS:   When I was a kid, I imagined being an adult as a future with a stable house, a fun job, and happy kids. That future didn’t include wildfires that obscured the sun for months, global water shortages, or billionaires escaping to terrariums on Mars. The threats are so great and so assured by inaction that it’s very hard for me to justify doing anything else with my time and attention because very little will matter if there’s 1 billion climate refugees and significant portions of the continental United States become uninhabitable for human life.

For whatever reason, I still feel a great deal of hope around giving it a shot. I can’t imagine not working to mitigate the climate crisis. Media and journalism will play a huge role in raising awareness, as they generate public pressure that can sway those in power. Another route for change is to cut directly to those in power and try to convince them of the urgency of the situation. Given that I am 22 years old, it is much easier to raise public awareness or work in media and journalism than it is to sit down with some of the most powerful people on the planet, who tend to be rather busy. At school, I’m on a team that runs the University-wide Student Climate Change Conference at Harvard, which is a platform for speakers from diverse backgrounds to discuss the climate crisis and ways students and educators can take immediate and effective action. Also, I write about and research challenges and solutions to the climate crisis through the lenses of geopolitics and the global economy, both as a student at the College and as a case writer at the Harvard Business School. Outside of Harvard, I have worked in investigative journalism and at Crooked Media, as well as on political campaigns to indirectly and directly drive urgency around the climate crisis.

BHAT:   The failure to act on climate change in the last few decades, despite mountains of scientific evidence, is a consequence of political and institutional cowardice. Fossil fuel companies have obfuscated, misinformed, and lobbied for decades, and governments have failed to act in the best interests of their citizens. Of course, the fight against climate change is complex and multidimensional, requiring scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial expertise, but it will ultimately require systemic change to allow these talents to shine.

At Harvard, my work on climate has been focused on running the Harvard Student Climate Conference, as well as organizing for Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard. My hope for the Climate Conference is to provide students access to speakers who have dedicated their careers to all aspects of the fight against climate change, so that students interested in working on climate have more direction and inspiration for what to do with their careers. We’ve featured Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, members of the Sunrise Movement, and the CEO of Impossible Foods as some examples of inspiring and impactful people who are working against climate change today.

I organize for FFDH because I believe that serious institutional change is necessary for solving the climate crisis and also because of a sort of patriotism I have for Harvard. I deeply respect and care for this institution, and genuinely believe it is an incredible force for good in the world. At the same time, I believe Harvard has a moral duty to stand against the corporations whose misdeeds and falsification of science have enabled the climate crisis.

Libby Dimenstein ’22

Dimenstein is co-president of Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society.

DIMENSTEIN:   Climate change is the one truly existential threat that my generation has had to face. What’s most scary is that we know it’s happening. We know how bad it will be; we know people are already dying from it; and we still have done so little relative to the magnitude of the problem. I also worry that people don’t see climate change as an “everyone problem,” and more as a problem for people who have the time and money to worry about it, when in reality it will harm people who are already disadvantaged the most.

I want to recognize Professor Wendy Jacobs, who recently passed away. Wendy founded HLS’s fantastic Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and she also created an interdisciplinary class called the Climate Solutions Living Lab. In the lab, groups of students drawn from throughout the University would conduct real-world projects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The class was hard, because actually reducing greenhouse gases is hard, but it taught us about the work that needs to be done. This summer I’m interning with the Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. Clean Air Team, and I anticipate a lot of my work will revolve around the climate. After graduating, I’m hoping to do environmental litigation, either with a governmental division or a nonprofit, but I also have an interest in policy work: Impact litigation is fascinating and important, but what we need most is sweeping policy change.

Candice Chen ’22 and Noah Secondo ’22

Chen and Secondo are co-directors of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee. Both attend Harvard College.

SECONDO: The environment is fundamental to rural Americans’ identity, but they do not believe — as much as urban Americans — that the government can solve environmental problems. Without the whole country mobilized and enthusiastic, from New Hampshire to Nebraska, we will fail to confront the climate crisis. I have no doubt that we can solve this problem. To rebuild trust between the U.S. government and rural communities, federal departments and agencies need to speak with rural stakeholders, partner with state and local leaders, and foreground rural voices. Through the Harvard College Democrats and the Environmental Action Committee, I have contributed to local advocacy efforts and creative projects, including an environmental art publication.

I hope to work in government to keep the policy development and implementation processes receptive to rural perspectives, including in the environmental arena. At every level of government, if we work with each other in good faith, we will tackle the climate crisis and be better for it.

CHEN: I’m passionate about promoting more sustainable, plant-based diets. As individual consumers, we have very little control over the actions of the largest emitters, massive corporations, but we can all collectively make dietary decisions that can avoid a lot of environmental degradation. Our food system is currently very wasteful, and our overreliance on animal agriculture devastates natural ecosystems, produces lots of potent greenhouse gases, and creates many human health hazards from poor animal-waste disposal. I feel like the climate conversation is often focused around the clean energy transition, and while it is certainly the largest component of how we can avoid the worst effects of global warming, the dietary conversation is too often overlooked. A more sustainable future also requires us to rethink agriculture, and especially what types of agriculture our government subsidizes. In the coming years, I hope that more will consider the outsized environmental impact of animal agriculture and will consider making more plant-based food swaps.

To raise awareness of the environmental benefits of adopting a more plant-based diet, I’ve been involved with running a campaign through the Environmental Action Committee called Veguary. Veguary encourages participants to try going vegetarian or vegan for the month of February, and participants receive estimates for how much their carbon/water/land use footprints have changed based on their pledged dietary changes for the month.

Photo (left) courtesy of Cristina Su Liu.

Cristina Su Liu ’22 and James Healy ’21

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Liu is with Harvard Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students. Healy is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference. Both are students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

HEALY:   As a public health student I see so many environmental challenges, be it the 90 percent of the world who breathe unhealthy air, or the disproportionate effects of extreme heat on communities of color, or the environmental disruptions to the natural world and the zoonotic disease that humans are increasingly being exposed to. But the central commonality at the heart of all these crises is the climate crisis. Climate change, from the greenhouse-gas emissions to the physical heating of the Earth, is worsening all of these environmental crises. That’s why I call the climate crisis the great exacerbator. While we will all feel the effects of climate change, it will not be felt equally. Whether it’s racial inequity or wealth inequality, the climate crisis is widening these already gaping divides.

Solutions may have to be outside of our current road maps for confronting crises. I have seen the success of individual efforts and private innovation in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, from individuals wearing masks and social distancing to the huge advances in vaccine development. But for climate change, individual efforts and innovation won’t be enough. I would be in favor of policy reform and coalition-building between new actors. As an overseer of the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference and the Harvard Climate Leaders Program, I’ve aimed to help mobilize Harvard’s diverse community to tackle climate change. I am also researching how climate change makes U.S. temperatures more variable, and how that’s reducing the life expectancies of Medicare recipients. The goal of this research, with Professor Joel Schwartz, will be to understand the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities. I certainly hope to expand on these themes in my future work.

SU LIU:  A climate solution will need to be a joint effort from the whole society, not just people inside the environmental or climate circles. In addition to cross-sectoral cooperation, solving climate change will require much stronger international cooperation so that technologies, projects, and resources can be developed and shared globally. As a Chinese-Brazilian student currently studying in the United States, I find it very valuable to learn about the climate challenges and solutions of each of these countries, and how these can or cannot be applied in other settings. China-U.S. relations are tense right now, but I hope that climate talks can still go ahead since we have much to learn from each other.

Personally, as a student in environmental health at [the Harvard Chan School], I feel that my contribution to addressing this challenge until now has been in doing research, learning more about the health impacts of climate change, and most importantly, learning how to communicate climate issues to people outside climate circles. Every week there are several climate-change events at Harvard, where a different perspective on climate change is addressed. It has been very inspiring for me, and I feel that I could learn about climate change in a more holistic way.

Recently, I started an internship at FXB Village, where I am working on developing and integrating climate resilience indicators into their poverty-alleviation program in rural communities in Puebla, Mexico. It has been very rewarding to introduce climate-change and climate-resilience topics to people working on poverty alleviation and see how everything is interconnected. When we address climate resilience, we are also addressing access to basic services, livelihoods, health, equity, and quality of life in general. This is where climate justice is addressed, and that is a very powerful idea.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Issues — Environmental Problems: Challenges and Solutions

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Environmental Problems: Challenges and Solutions

  • Categories: Ecology Environmental Issues

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Words: 1427 |

Published: May 17, 2022

Words: 1427 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, environmental problems, global climate change (greenhouse effect), energy conservation, renewable energy sources, sustainable energy.

  • Greenhouse gas emissions must be balanced or reduced, with the help of RES and energy conservations.
  • Energy conservation is vital to sustainable development and, although it has its limitations, it must be performed in all possible ways. This is necessary not only for us but for the next generation as well.
  • Renewable energy sources and technologies should be used more to prevent upcoming energy shortages and environmental problems.
  • Energy, environment and sustainable development Ibrahim Dincer a, *, Marc A. Rosen
  • A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and climate change mitigation
  • Perman R, Ma Y, McGilvray J. Natural resource and environmental economics. London: Longman, 1996.
  • Dincer I. Energy and environmental impacts: present and future perspectives. Energy Sources 1998;20(4-5):427-53.
  • Aebischer B, Giovannini B, Pain D. Scienti®c and technical arguments for the optimal use of energy. Geneva: IEA, 1989.
  • Anon. Global energy perspectives to 2050 and beyond. London: World Energy Council Technical Report, 1995

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Environmental sciences articles from across Nature Portfolio

Environmental science is the multidisciplinary study of all aspects of the Earth’s physical and biological environments. It encompasses environmental chemistry, soil science, ecology, climatology, vegetation cover, marine and freshwater systems, as well as environmental remediation and preservation, and agriculture and land use.

term paper on environmental problems

A bio-inspired membrane for arsenic removal

A membrane inspired by the arsenic–protein interactions in biological systems allows the efficient removal of various arsenic species from contaminated water.

  • Baolin Deng

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Pervasive fluorinated chemicals

Pollution by per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is widespread in global water resources and likely to be underestimated, according to global analysis of available PFAS data.

  • Mark Strynar

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Artificial intelligence can provide accurate forecasts of extreme floods at global scale

Anthropogenic climate change is accelerating the hydrological cycle, causing an increase in the risk of flood-related disasters. A system that uses artificial intelligence allows the creation of reliable, global river flood forecasts, even in places where accurate local data are not available.

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Geospatial investigation on self-purification capacity of river Estuaries in the Caspian region: reducing heavy metals pollution

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Eco-environmental changes due to human activities in the Erhai Lake Basin from 1990 to 2020

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Architectural design of 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for pharmaceutical pollutant removal

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Arsenic water decontamination by a bioinspired As-sequestering porous membrane

Arsenic water contamination may affect spring water as well as water reservoirs around the world and requires the development of efficient and sustainable remediation technologies. A bioinspired porous membrane allows obtaining filtrated water with an As concentration below the recommendation from the World Health Organization.

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Assessing soil erosion and farmers’ decision of reducing erosion for sustainable soil and water conservation in Burji woreda, southern Ethiopia

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Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals are toxic against Escherichia coli with no evolution of cross-resistance to antibiotics

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Replicating real-world microplastics with accelerated physicochemical ageing

Phuping Sucharitakul explains how artificially aged microplastics can accurately reproduce the properties of microplastics in the environment.

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Don’t dismiss carbon credits that aim to avoid future emissions

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How I use tide gauges to develop geospatial maps

Geographer Muh Aris Marfai collects reference data for Indonesia’s coastal areas to prepare for the impacts of climate change.

  • Nikki Forrester

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Environmental Problems: Care of the Planet Essay

Due to rapid population increases, human-generated conditions have caused significant disruption in the earth’s biosphere. Increased population has caused an increase in deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. According to Brusseau et al. (2019), the world’s population is progressively increasing at a rapid rate. This increase has promoted encroachment of forested land for human settlement. Forest clearance causes climate change, soil erosion, and flooding. Moreover, the burning of fossil fuels due to the development of technology has led to increased emissions of carbon dioxide, which destroys the ozone layer, worsening the problem of climate change. According to research done on the effect of fossil fuel on the environment, fossil fuel is the leading cause of the environmental population (Li et al., 2019). Population pressure and technology have caused significant disruption of the biosphere through deforestation and fossil fuel use.

The earth faces three major environmental crises: overpopulation, climate change, and global warming. Overpopulation is the leading cause of the two other problems. Overpopulation has been caused by the rapid increase in population in developing countries. The rapid population leads to an increase in the clearance of forests and industrialization. The gases produced in these industries disrupt the ozone layer, increasing temperatures. This situation with high temperatures causes the melting of glacial ice and increased precipitation promoting global warming (Tebaldi et al., 2021). Continued global warming slowly leads to changes in climate over time. The continued increase in population, global warming, and climate change has caused an environmental crisis.

In conclusion, human beings should take good care of their planet. They should use birth control measures to control the rate of population growth. Moreover, governments should encourage the use of renewable energy sources to fossil fuels to reduce the effects of climate change and global warming. More effort should be given to planting trees to encounter the impact of deforestation (Al-Ghussain, 2018). Every person has to take care of the environment. Therefore, every person should make it their role to conserve the environment and save the world from environmental crises.

Brusseau, M. L., Pepper, I. L., & Gerba, C. P. (2019). The Extent of Global Pollution. Environmental and Pollution Science , 3–8. Web.

Li, K., Fang, L., & He, L. (2019). How population and energy price affect China’s environmental pollution? Energy Policy , 129 , 386–396. Web.

Tebaldi, C., Ranasinghe, R., Vousdoukas, M., Rasmussen, D. J., Vega-Westhoff, B., Kirezci, E., Kopp, R. E., Sriver, R., & Mentaschi, L. (2021). Extreme sea levels at different global warming levels. Nature Climate Change , 11 (9), 746–751. Web.

Al-Ghussain, L. (2018). Global warming: Review on driving forces and mitigation. Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy , 38 (1), 13–21. Web.

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15 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2024

15 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2024

While the climate crisis has many factors that play a role in the exacerbation of the environment, some warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, from deforestation and biodiversity loss to food waste and fast fashion.

1. Global Warming From Fossil Fuels

2023 was the hottest year on record , with global average temperatures at 1.46C above pre-industrial levels and 0.13C higher than the eleven-month average for 2016, currently the warmest calendar year on record. The year was marked by six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons.

What’s more, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have never been so high . After being consistently around 280 parts per million (ppm) for almost 6,000 years of human civilisation, CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now well above 420 ppm, more than double what they were before the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad, the steady annual increase is a “direct result of human activity,” mainly from the burning of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation but also from cement manufacturing, deforestation , and  agriculture .

This is undoubtedly one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime: as greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming.

Monthly mean carbon dioxide CO2 measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. Image: Global Monitoring Laboratory

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases have led to a rapid and steady increase in global temperatures, which in turn is  causing catastrophic events all over the world – from Australia and the US experiencing some of the most devastating bushfire seasons ever recorded, locusts swarming across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, decimating crops, and a heatwave in Antarctica that saw temperatures rise above 20C for the first time. S cientists are constantly warning that the planet has crossed a series of tipping points that could have catastrophic consequences, such as  advancing permafrost melt in Arctic regions, the Greenland ice sheet melting at an unprecedented rate, accelerating sixth mass extinction , and increasing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest , just to name a few.

The climate crisis is causing tropical storms and other weather events such as hurricanes, heatwaves and flooding to be more intense and frequent than seen before. However, even if all greenhouse gas emissions were halted immediately, global temperatures would continue to rise in the coming years. That is why it is absolutely imperative that we start now to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy sources, and phase our fossil fuels as fast as possible.

You might also like: The Tipping Points of Climate Change: How Will Our World Change?

2. Poor Governance

According to economists like Nicholas Stern, the climate crisis is a result of multiple market failures .

Economists and environmentalists have urged policymakers for years to increase the price of activities that emit greenhouse gases (one of our biggest environmental problems), the lack of which constitutes the largest market failure, for example through carbon taxes, which will stimulate innovations in low-carbon technologies.

To cut emissions quickly and effectively enough, governments must not only massively increase funding for green innovation to bring down the costs of low-carbon energy sources, but they also need to adopt a range of other policies that address each of the other market failures. 

A national carbon tax is currently implemented in 27 countries around the world , including various countries in the EU, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Ukraine and Argentina. However, according to the 2019 OECD Tax Energy Use report, current tax structures are not adequately aligned with the pollution profile of energy sources. For example, the OECD suggests that carbon taxes are not harsh enough on coal production, although it has proved to be effective for the electricity industry. A carbon tax has been effectively implemented in Sweden ; the carbon tax is U$127 per tonne and has reduced emissions by 25% since 1995, while its economy has expanded 75% in the same time period. 

Further, organisations such as the United Nations are not fit to deal with the climate crisis: it was assembled to prevent another world war and is not fit for purpose. Anyway, members of the UN are not mandated to comply with any suggestions or recommendations made by the organisation. For example, the Paris Agreement , a historic deal within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says that countries need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly so that global temperature rise is below 2C by 2100, and ideally under 1.5C. But signing on to it is voluntary, and there are no real repercussions for non-compliance. Further, the issue of equity remains a contentious issue whereby developing countries are allowed to emit more in order to develop to the point where they can develop technologies to emit less, and it allows some countries, such as China, to exploit this. 

3. Food Waste

A third of the food intended for human consumption – around 1.3 billion tons – is wasted or lost. This is enough to feed 3 billion people. Food waste and loss account for approximately one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions annually ; if it was a country, food waste would be the third-largest emitter  of greenhouse gases, behind China and the US. 

Food production accounts for around one-quarter – 26% – of global greenhouse gas emissions. Our World in Data

Food waste and loss occurs at different stages in developing and developed countries; in developing countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the post-harvest and processing levels, while in developed countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the retail and consumer levels. 

At the retail level, a shocking amount of food is wasted because of aesthetic reasons; in fact, in the US, more than 50% of all produce thrown away in the US is done so because it is deemed to be “too ugly” to be sold to consumers- this amounts to about 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables. This leads to food insecurity , another one of the biggest environmental problems on the list. 

You might also like: How Does Food Waste Affect the Environment?

4. Biodiversity Loss

The past 50 years have seen a rapid growth of human consumption, population, global trade and urbanisation, resulting in humanity using more of the Earth’s resources than it can replenish naturally. 

A 2020 WWF report found that the population sizes of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians have experienced a decline of an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016. The report attributes this biodiversity loss to a variety of factors, but mainly land-use change, particularly the conversion of habitats, like forests, grasslands and mangroves, into agricultural systems. Animals such as pangolins, sharks and seahorses are significantly affected by the illegal wildlife trade, and pangolins are critically endangered because of it. 

More broadly, a recent analysis has found that the sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth is accelerating. More than 500 species of land animals are on the brink of extinction and are likely to be lost within 20 years; the same number were lost over the whole of the last century. The scientists say that without the human destruction of nature, this rate of loss would have taken thousands of years. 

In Antarctica, climate change-triggered melting of sea ice is taking a heavy toll on emperor penguins and could wipe out entire populations by as early as 2100 , according to 2023 research.

You might also like: The Remarkable Benefits of Biodiversity

5. Plastic Pollution

In 1950, the world produced more than 2 million tons of plastic per year . By 2015, this annual production swelled to 419 million tons and exacerbating plastic waste in the environment. 

plastic packaging waste; plastic pollution; beverage single-use plastic bottles in landfill. Photo: PxHere

A report by science journal, Nature, determined that currently, roughly 14 million tons of plastic make their way into the oceans every year, harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in them. The research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. If we include microplastics into this, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040.

Shockingly, National Geographic found that 91% of all plastic that has ever been made is not recycled, representing not only one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, but another massive market failure. Considering that plastic takes 400 years to decompose, it will be many generations until it ceases to exist. There’s no telling what the irreversible effects of plastic pollution will have on the environment in the long run. 

You might also like: 8 Shocking Plastic Pollution Statistics to Know About

6. Deforestation

Every hour, forests the size of 300 football fields are cut down. By the year 2030, the planet might have only 10% of its forests; if deforestation isn’t stopped, they could all be gone in less than 100 years. 

The three countries experiencing the highest levels of deforestation are Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest – spanning 6.9 million square kilometres (2.72 million square miles) and covering around 40% of the South American continent – is also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and is home to about three million species of plants and animals . Despite efforts to protect forest land, legal deforestation is still rampant, and about one-third of global tropical deforestation occurs in Brazil’s Amazon forest, amounting to 1.5 million hectares each year . 

deforestation

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, another one of the biggest environmental problems appearing on this list. Land is cleared to raise livestock or to plant other crops that are sold, such as sugar cane and palm oil . Besides for carbon sequestration, forests help to prevent soil erosion, because the tree roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away, which also prevents landslides. 

You might also like: 10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About

7. Air Pollution 

One of the biggest environmental problems today is outdoor air pollution .

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that an estimated 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year and that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In Africa, 258,000 people died as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2017, up from 164,000 in 1990, according to UNICEF . Causes of air pollution mostly comes from industrial sources and motor vehicles, as well as emissions from burning biomass and poor air quality due to dust storms. 

According to a 2023 study, air pollution in South Asia – one of the most polluted areas in the world – cuts life expectancy by about 5 years . The study blames a series of factors, including a lack of adequate infrastructure and funding for the high levels of pollution in some countries. Most countries in Asia and Africa, which together contribute about 92.7% of life years lost globally due to air pollution, lack key air quality standards needed to develop adequate policies. Moreover, just 6.8% and 3.7% of governments in the two continents, respectively, provide their citizens with fully open-air quality data.

In Europe, a recent report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) showed that more than half a million people living in the European Union died from health issues directly linked to toxic pollutants exposure in 2021.

More on the topic: Less Than 1% of Global Land Area Has Safe Air Pollution Levels: Study

8. Melting Ice Caps and Sea Level Rise

The climate crisis is warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. Today, sea levels are rising more than twice as quickly as they did for most of the 20th century as a result of increasing temperatures on Earth. Seas are now rising an average of 3.2 mm per year globally and they will continue to grow up to about 0.7 metres by the end of this century. In the Arctic, the Greenland Ice Sheet poses the greatest risk for sea levels because melting land ice is the main cause of rising sea levels.

Representing arguably the biggest of the environmental problems, this is made all the more concerning considering that last year’s summer triggered the loss of 60 billion tons of ice from Greenland, enough to raise global sea levels by 2.2mm in just two months . According to satellite data, the Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of ice in 2019: an average of a million tons per minute throughout the year, one of the biggest environmental problems that has cascading effects. If the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level would rise by six metres .

Meanwhile, the Antarctic continent contributes about 1 millimetre per year to sea level rise, which is one-third of the annual global increase. According to 2023 data, the continent has lost approximately 7.5 trillion tons of ice since 1997 . Additionally, the last fully intact ice shelf in Canada in the Arctic recently collapsed, having lost about 80 square kilometres – or 40% – of its area over a two-day period in late July, according to the Canadian Ice Service .  

Over 100,000 images taken from space allowed scientists to create a comprehensive record of the state of Antarctica’s ice shelves. Credit: 66 North/Unsplash

Sea level rise will have a devastating impact on those living in coastal regions: according to research and advocacy group Climate Central, sea level rise this century could flood coastal areas that are now home to 340 million to 480 million people , forcing them to migrate to safer areas and contributing to overpopulation and strain of resources in the areas they migrate to. Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines), and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) are among the cities most at risk of sea level rise and flooding.

You might also like: Two-Thirds of World’s Glaciers Set to Disappear by 2100 Under Current Global Warming Scenario

9. Ocean Acidification

Global temperature rise has not only affected the surface, but it is the main cause of ocean acidification . Our oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide that is released into the Earth’s atmosphere. As higher concentrations of carbon emissions are released thanks to human activities such as burning fossil fuels as well as effects of global climate change such as increased rates of wildfires, so do the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed back into the sea. 

The smallest change in the pH scale can have a significant impact on the acidity of the ocean. Ocean acidification has devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and species, its food webs, and provoke irreversible changes in habitat quality . Once pH levels reach too low, marine organisms such as oysters, their shells and skeleton could even start to dissolve. 

However, one of the biggest environmental problems from ocean acidification is coral bleaching and subsequent coral reef loss . This is a phenomenon that occurs when rising ocean temperatures disrupt the symbiotic relationship between the reefs and algae that lives within it, driving away the algae and causing coral reefs to lose their natural vibrant colours. Some scientists have estimated coral reefs are at risk of being completely wiped by 2050. Higher acidity in the ocean would obstruct coral reef systems’ ability to rebuild their exoskeletons and recover from these coral bleaching events. 

Some studies have also found that ocean acidification can be linked as one of the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean. The accumulating bacteria and microorganisms derived from plastic garbage dumped in the ocean to damage marine ecosystems and contribute towards coral bleaching.

10. Agriculture 

Studies have shown that the global food system is responsible for up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, of which 30% comes from livestock and fisheries. Crop production releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide through the use of fertilisers . 

60% of the world’s agricultural area is dedicated to cattle ranching , although it only makes up 24% of global meat consumption. 

Agriculture not only covers a vast amount of land, but it also consumes a vast amount of freshwater, another one of the biggest environmental problems on this list. While arable lands and grazing pastures cover one-third of Earth’s land surfaces , they consume three-quarters of the world’s limited freshwater resources.

Scientists and environmentalists have continuously warned that we need to rethink our current food system; switching to a more plant-based diet would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the conventional agriculture industry. 

You might also like: The Future of Farming: Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?

11. Food and Water Insecurity

Rising temperatures and unsustainable farming practices have resulted in increasing water and food insecurity.

Globally, more than 68 billion tonnes of top-soil is eroded every year at a rate 100 times faster than it can naturally be replenished. Laden with biocides and fertiliser, the soil ends up in waterways where it contaminates drinking water and protected areas downstream. 

Furthermore, exposed and lifeless soil is more vulnerable to wind and water erosion due to lack of root and mycelium systems that hold it together. A key contributor to soil erosion is over-tilling: although it increases productivity in the short-term by mixing in surface nutrients (e.g. fertiliser), tilling is physically destructive to the soil’s structure and in the long-term leads to soil compaction, loss of fertility and surface crust formation that worsens topsoil erosion.

With the global population expected to reach 9 billion people by mid-century, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) projects that global food demand may increase by 70% by 2050 . Around the world, more than 820 million people do not get enough to eat. 

The UN secretary-general António Guterres says, “Unless immediate action is taken, it is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food security emergency that could have long term impacts on hundreds of millions of adults and children.” He urged for countries to rethink their food systems and encouraged more sustainable farming practices. 

In terms of water security, only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater , and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. 

You might also like: Global Food Security: Why It Matters in 2023

12. Fast Fashion and Textile Waste

The global demand for fashion and clothing has risen at an unprecedented rate that the fashion industry now accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, becoming one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Fashion alone produces more greenhouse gas emissions than both the aviation and shipping sectors combined , and nearly 20% of global wastewater, or around 93 billion cubic metres from textile dyeing, according to the UN Environment Programme.

What’s more, the world at least generated an estimated 92 million tonnes of textiles waste every year and that number is expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030. Discarded clothing and textile waste, most of which is non-biodegradable, ends up in landfills, while microplastics from clothing materials such as polyester, nylon, polyamide, acrylic and other synthetic materials, is leeched into soil and nearby water sources. Monumental amounts of clothing textile are also dumped in less developed countries as seen with Chile’s Atacama , the driest desert in the world, where at least 39,000 tonnes of textile waste from other nations are left there to rot.

fast fashion waste

This rapidly growing issue is only exacerbated by the ever-expanding fast fashion business model, in which companies relies on cheap and speedy production of low quality clothing to meet the latest and newest trends. While the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action sees signatory fashion and textile companies to commit to achieving net zero emission by 2050, a majority of businesses around the world have yet to address their roles in climate change.

While these are some of the biggest environmental problems plaguing our planet, there are many more that have not been mentioned, including overfishing, urban sprawl, toxic superfund sites and land use changes. While there are many facets that need to be considered in formulating a response to the crisis, they must be coordinated, practical and far-reaching enough to make enough of a difference. 

You might also like: Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

13. Overfishing

Over three billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein. About 12% of the world relies upon fisheries in some form or another, with 90% of these being small-scale fishermen – think a small crew in a boat, not a ship, using small nets or even rods and reels and lures not too different from the kind you probably use . Of the 18.9 million fishermen in the world, 90% of them fall under the latter category.

Most people consume approximately twice as much food as they did 50 years ago and there are four times as many people on earth as there were at the close of the 1960s. This is one driver of the 30% of commercially fished waters being classified as being ‘overfished’. This means that the stock of available fishing waters is being depleted faster than it can be replaced.

Overfishing comes with detrimental effects on the environment, including increased algae in the water, destruction of fishing communities, ocean littering as well as extremely high rates of biodiversity loss.

As part of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14) , the UN and FAO are working towards maintaining the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels. This, however, requires much stricter regulations of the world’s oceans than the ones already in place. In July 2022, the WTO banned fishing subsidies to reduce global overfishing in a historic deal. Indeed, subsidies for fuel, fishing gear, and building new vessels, only incentivise overfishing and represent thus a huge problem. 

You might also like: 7 Solutions to Overfishing We Need Right Now

14. Cobalt Mining

Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition . As a key component of battery materials that power electric vehicles (EVs), cobalt is facing a sustained surge in demand as decarbonisation efforts progress. The  world’s largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC), where it is estimated that up to a fifth of the production is produced through artisanal miners.

Cobalt mining , however, is associated with  dangerous workers’ exploitation and other serious environmental and social issues. The environmental costs of cobalt mining activities are also substantial. Southern regions of the DRC are not only home to cobalt and copper, but also large amounts of uranium. In mining regions, scientists have made note of high radioactivity levels. In addition, mineral mining, similar to other industrial mining efforts, often produces pollution that leaches into neighbouring rivers and water sources. Dust from pulverised rock is known to cause breathing problems for local communities as well.

15. Soil Degradation

Organic matter is a crucial component of soil as it allows it to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Plants absorb CO2 from the air naturally and effectively through photosynthesis and part of this carbon is stored in the soil as  soil organic carbon (SOC). Healthy soil has a minimum of 3-6% organic matter. However, almost everywhere in the world, the content is much lower than that.

According to the United Nations, about 40% of the planet’s soil is degraded . Soil degradation refers to the loss of organic matter, changes in its structural condition and/or decline in soil fertility and it is often the result of human activities, such as traditional farming practices including the use of toxic chemicals and pollutants. If business as usual continued through 2050, experts project additional degradation of an area almost the size of South America. But there is more to it. If we do not change our reckless practices and step up to preserve soil health, food security for billions of people around the world will be irreversibly compromised, with an estimated 40% less food  expected to be produced in 20 years’ time despite the world’s population projected to reach 9.3 billion people.

Featured image by Earth.Org Photographer Roy Mangersnes

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  • Environmental Issues

Essays on Environmental Issues

The environment is our habitat, and taking care of it is an inheritable human task that we sometimes forget about, so writing an environmental issues essay will serve as a reminder to appreciate and protect the environment. Today the world faces many environmental issues, such as depletion of natural resources, deforestation, loss of habitat and biodiversity, pollution, global warming just to name a few. An abundance of global problems need to be resolved, therefore there is no lack of material for essay creation, especially for writing essays on environmental issues. There are some good essays samples for you below – make sure to take a peek. Our environmental issues essay samples cover many matters, so there is something of interest for everyone. You most definitely will find some points there to make your own environmental issues essays more informative.

The current state of the earth is still in peril of extinction, and humans are largely to blame. Various writers approach the subject from a variety of angles, but the best ones cleverly draw a link between human societies and environmental degradation. Analyzing the earth from the cultural, political, academic,...

Words: 1260

Around the world, development efforts have a variety of negative effects on the environment. Improvement of the infrastructure and the search for valuable commodities like gasoline are examples of these activities. While such activities are meant to enhance the lives of their dependents and boost government revenue, adequate measures must...

Words: 2344

We learn about the existence of a state-owned park via the site description. The park contains flora and fauna that should be conserved, and their conservation will be regularly monitored. The trees serve as a habitat for the plants. The trees, however, are intended to be destroyed since they would...

Words: 1077

The Kissidougou degradation myth persists for a variety of reasons. For starters, people have been taught for many years that human actions such as fire-setting are to blame for land degradation. Many research investigations have also linked human activities to forest land degradation. This explanation is countered by the claim...

Words: 2736

Impact of Agriculture on the Environment There are several human actions that significantly harm the environment. Agriculture is one of the main human activities that harm the environment, according to Stuart, Schewe, and McDermott (2014). In consequence, this is detrimental to both human life and other forms of life.Aquatic Life and...

Ecosystems and Environmental Deterioration Ecosystems around the world today are suffering from varied degrees of environmental deterioration. The world's declining biodiversity is one of the most important biological issues in terms of conservation as a result. Humans' illegal and disobedient behavior has caused the depletion of natural resources and harm to...

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The Concept of Sustainability The term "sustainability" extends to a variety of policies and principles. However, it is often assumed to concern forests, greenhouse gases, and carbon footprints; as a result, this is an environmental component of sustainability. Firms are continually considering the concept of sustainability in relation to society and...

Myers et al. (2014) state that carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide among other carbon compounds released because of fossil fuels' usage by members of a particular ecosystem. To stop jeopardizing the environment and its sustainability, a carbon footprint decrease by an initial 25% would be vital (Rogelj...

Words: 1591

Climate change is a worldwide concern that has piqued the interest of many academics. Many losses have been suffered in the climate, economy, and culture at large as a result of dramatic shifts in climatic conditions and global temperature. Not only has there been a loss of biodiversity, especially of...

Words: 3913

Plastics have been an integral part of human life. It is one of the most prevalent materials in the world. Plastics are commonly used by industries for packaging purposes (Fanshawe Parsons 5). The Impact on Oceans Studies show that the marine environment carried the biggest mass of the plastic debris...

Words: 1962

You consider it relevant to address Amcor's sustainable approaches for your customer (100-200 words) • 100% polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Amlite Ultra, Amcor Rigid Plastics Pandora (PEC) should be used for packaging. • How the organization deals with environmental problems and concerns should also be simple for customers, i.e. not...

Natural Disasters and Their Impact Natural disasters are triggered by natural and geological forces, but their severity or chance may be enhanced by human operations. Many weather-related events have risen both in severity and frequency because of automation and improvements in manufacturing operations. Earthquakes, tornadoes, sinkholes, flooding, wildfires, droughts, tsunamis, and...

Words: 2898

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Why is the EPA regulating PFAS and what are these ‘forever chemicals’?

Brooke Gray prepares to take a sample while doing research on PFAS removal from water, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its first-ever limits for several common types of PFAS, the so-called "forever chemicals," in drinking water. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Brooke Gray prepares to take a sample while doing research on PFAS removal from water, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its first-ever limits for several common types of PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals,” in drinking water. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Jackson Quinn, foreground, places a bottle contains a PFAS water sample into a rotator, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its first-ever limits for several common types of PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals,” in drinking water. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

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On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized limits on certain common types of PFAS chemicals in drinking water. It is the first time a nationwide limit on so-called forever chemicals has been imposed on water providers. EPA Administrator Michael Regan called it the biggest action the agency has ever taken on PFAS, saying the rule will reduce exposure for 100 million people.

The regulation represents a new era for public health and drinking water. The Biden administration has also proposed new rules that would force utilities to remove harmful lead pipes . It’s part of their overall goal to making tap water safer. Utilities are alarmed at these new requirements and the billions of dollars they will cost.

Here are the essential things to know about the family of chemicals and EPA’s latest action:

WHAT ARE PFAS?

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation’s air, water and soil.

They were manufactured by companies such as 3M, Chemours and others because they were incredibly useful. They helped eggs slide across non-stick frying pans, ensured that firefighting foam suffocates flames and helped clothes withstand the rain and keep people dry.

The chemicals resist breaking down, however, which means they stay around in the environment.

SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Environmental activists say that PFAS manufacturers knew about the health harms of PFAS long before they were made public. The same attributes that make the chemicals so valuable – resistance to breakdown – make them hazardous to people.

PFAS accumulates in the body, which is why EPA set their limits for drinking water at 4 parts per trillion for two common types — PFOA and PFOS — that are phased out of manufacturing but still are present in the environment. Health experts say low doses of the chemicals can build up in the body over time, so even small amounts are a problem.

There’s a wide range of health harms now associated with exposure to certain PFAS, many largely phased out. Cases of kidney disease, low-birthweight and high cholesterol in additional to certain cancers can be prevented by removing PFAS from water, according to the EPA.

The guidance on PFOA and PFOS has changed dramatically in recent years as scientific understanding has advanced. The EPA in 2016 said the combined amount of the two substances should not exceed 70 parts per trillion. Now the EPA says no amount is safe.

WHAT DOES THE NEW RULE DO?

In short, the rule sets limits on several common types of PFAS. The EPA says there is enough evidence to limit PFOA and PFOS at the lowest level they can be reliably detected.

For some other types, the limit is 10 parts per trillion, and there are also limits on certain PFAS combinations.

Water providers will have three years to test for PFAS. They’ll also need to tell the public if results are too high.

And if results are a concern, utilities have two more years to install treatment. The EPA estimates that 6% to 10% of water systems will have levels above the EPA’s new limits.

As a result of the rule, the EPA says nearly 10,000 fewer deaths will occur in the coming decades and tens of thousands of severe illnesses will be avoided.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT IT?

Well, quite a lot.

Environmental and public health groups have argued that limits should have been in place long ago, but they are generally thrilled with the announcement. They like that it sets limits for PFOA and PFOS at very low level s and that the agency did not agree with some utility groups that wanted a more lenient limit.

They are happy the Biden administration has finally acted to reduce PFAS in tap water, a source of PFAS that’s easier to address than others. They acknowledge it will cost a lot for communities to install treatment facilities, but say that billions of dollars are available from the infrastructure law and court settlements will provide billions more.

Water providers are not the ones that put PFAS in the environment, but now they face mandates to remove it. That’s going to be a big change for them.

They’ve said the EPA’s $1.5 billion annual cost estimate is too low, water bills for consumers will go up and the health benefits of the rule aren’t big enough, especially at low PFAS concentrations, to justify all the expense.

In addition, they say this rule will hurt small communities that have fewer resources and will have a harder time complying.

Then there are the practical challenges. Utilities say they will struggle to find enough experts and workers and the material needed to remove PFAS.

And there are concerns that consumers who hear about high levels of PFAS in their drinking water might stop consuming tap water altogether, further deteriorating trust in an important public resource.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

term paper on environmental problems

Essays on environmental issues

The loss of biodiversity is a serious problem around the world. Things like habitat loss, water pollution, and degradation. Contribute to the loss of biodiversity, “Governments agreed on many actions to accelerate implementation of global biodiversity targets, and enhance the linkage of the biodiversity agenda with other global agendas including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and others.” (environment.org.) “An increasing population and global trade have put unsustainable pressure on renewable natural resources, such as bushmeat, fuel wood or arable land, which is increasing long-term poverty and leads to biodiversity loss.

(theparliamentmagazine.eu)

Illegal animal trade of endangered animals has a major impact on biodiversity, but also represents a real danger to security and development for many African countries. “1.8 million species have been described out of an estimated 5 million to 30 million in existence”

Colombia is working with other countries, in Western world. Columbia is a part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas. In 2008, Colombia and the United States decided to sign a agreement of understanding (MOU) to have stricter, clean energy policies.

Columbia signed this because we want to deal with climate change. Some of the most dangerous threats to Colombia’s ecosystems is the gangs and groups trading international drugs. Columbia and Brazil had a meeting and they are both countries that are trying to stop the drug trafficking for many reasons one being the health of our ecosystem. The drug cartels are dumping waste and chemicals into our environment, which is harming natural habitats.

term paper on environmental problems

Proficient in: Deforestation

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

Columbia is the second biggest biodiverse country in the world. One of Colombia biggest environmental problems are erosion of soil. Columbia also struggles with deforestation and preservation of their environment. “Soil erosion has happened because of loss of vegetation and heavy rainfall.”(nationsencyclopedia.) Another reason causing erosion of soil is overuse of pesticides. Deforestation has resulted from developers building their factories on natural habitats. “In Columbia 2,244,000 acres of natural forest was lost in 1970 due to farming.” (nationsencyclopedia.) Our ecosystem is suffering. Animals are going extinct more hundred times faster today than the average normal rate. The animals lost in just the past 100 years should have needed up to 11,400 years to be lost, if there was no human activity(4). “Development for housing, industry, and agriculture reduces the habitat of native organisms”(National geographic) Something that is going on in columbia and most of South America is In the Amazon rainforest developers are clearing the forests by cutting down and removing the trees and natural habitat. By doing these actions developers are taking away habitats for our Animals and causing some to go extinct. Some animals that have gone extinct because of humans are, African Black Rhinoceros, the Pyrenean Ibex, the dodo bird and so many more. This is a real problem that is going in our world and we should really find a solution.

The Republic of Columbia believes we should find a solution. They believe we should pay more attention to our environment and invest to protect our environment. “By 2020 Columbia hops to reach a net deforestation rate of zero. With new seedlings replacing trees that get cut down. By 2030 Columbia hopes to cut its carbon emissions to 20 percent. “Whether it meets these goals will depend on how rural areas are developed, managed, and conserved.”The Republic of Columbia is struggling with protecting biodiversity because, we have developers building their factories and their homes in natural habitat. By doing that, they are chopping down trees and destroying Columbia’s natural habitat. Columbia believes that there should be change and wants to help with this issue.

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College Term Paper

🖋 best way to write a great college term paper, term paper on environmental issues.

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Environmental Issues Term Paper:

Environmental issues is the name of the set of problems which occur in the environment under the effect of the harmful human activity of different kind. The humanity is proud that it has conquered nature in all aspects, but the consequences of this conquer are terrible. People have ruined thousands of ecosystems of the planet and destroyed millions of species of animals, insects, birds and plants. There is hardly any wild place in the world where animals can live normal life without human intrusion.

Moreover, human activity, mostly industrial and agricultural has influences nature badly. Today there are such problems as pollution (air, water, soil, noise pollution), deforestation, extinction of biological species, etc. and every problem is caused by human activity. Unfortunately, people have forgotten that they are the active part of natural environment and damaging nature, they damage and kill themselves as well. When people have polluted and contaminated everything, it influenced on their health badly. Today because of industry, people have problems with lungs, heart; such diseases as cancer has become so frequent, that it has become a norm. People suffer from the lack of pure water, clean air and soil, and as a result – healthy food, which is grown on this contaminated soil.

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Environmental issues are the most important problems the humanity has to cope with, because without healthy environment money, religion, politics, art will become senseless. When a student writes a term paper he is expected to demonstrate his entire knowledge of the discipline and the topic in particular. A good term paper should be informative, interesting and logical. A student should investigate the problem from all sides, devote much attention to every environmental issue.

The topic is very broad and a student will have to create a detailed outline in order to keep the whole data logically. When one researches the problem profoundly, he will be able to draw smart conclusions and think over effective solutions to the environmental issues.

Student, who has to complete a well-organized term paper should read a lot about the problem in high-quality literary sources. The problems are broadly described in encyclopedias, articles in scientific periodicals and special publications dedicated to the environmental problems of all kinds.

Then, a student can read free sample term papers on environmental issues in India in order to broaden his knowledge and get to know the general standards of paper writing. It is quite easy to find a well-composed free example term paper on environmental issues, which analyzes the problem from all sides and teaches students logical critical thinking, formatting of the paper and correct structure of the paper.

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Opinion: In Utah, we’re using responsible A.I. to take on environmental and health crises

We want to apply the transformational potential of a.i. to problems of regional and global significance while also protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties..

(Illustration by Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah’s reputation as a technology star is on the rise, driven by successful spinouts from our universities, dynamic job growth, a well-educated and talented workforce and strategic support from the state.

Now, as artificial intelligence (A.I.) becomes increasingly integrated in everyday life and applied across myriad fields to address major problems, we have the opportunity to supercharge our rise by showcasing how A.I. can produce innovative solutions and do so responsibly.

The spread of A.I. everywhere, all at once — or so it seems — is rightfully generating concern, from its potential to perpetuate bias to its use to create and spread misinformation and its ability to shatter privacy and intellectual property protections. The challenge before us is to harness the positive aspects of artificial intelligence to facilitate innovation, societal impact and solutions.

This is where the newly launched Responsible AI Initiative at the University of Utah, backed by a $100 million commitment, comes in.

We want to use A.I. to yield viable answers to such problems as environmental sustainability, disease prevention and treatment, mental health, natural disaster prevention and management and other major challenges. We also want to equip our students to fill workforce demands for employees who understand both A.I.’s potential and its pitfalls.

Through the Responsible A.I. Initiative, we aspire to leverage A.I. in ways that model fair, equitable, ethical and transparent applications, overcoming knowledge, technical and social barriers. We want to apply the transformational potential of A.I. to problems of regional and global significance while also protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties.

Technology innovation is part of the University of Utah’s DNA. We’ve used a translational approach in the past to have a global impact on emerging technologies, from our role in the creation of the internet to the computer graphics and visualization revolution . Now, we want to take on that leading role again.

To have a transformational impact, we will combine multidisciplinary excellence with state-of-the-art infrastructure. We will bring together education, training and workforce development to prepare the next generation to most effectively and ethically use A.I.. And we will build guardrails into applications of A.I. by bringing computer scientists together in collaboration with scholars from a range of relevant disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, medicine and law.

We will do this in a way that does not create the “haves” and “have-nots,” democratizing the technology and its impacts.

We are not starting from scratch. We have a foundation of superb achievements in computer science and engineering, visualization and graphics, and multidisciplinary engagement that we will build on, pursuing the brightest talent to join us in this endeavor.

Throughout my career as a computer scientist, I have been drawn to solving challenges. The opportunity to translate technology in a responsible and impactful way is one reason I joined the University of Utah two years ago. And it is the reason I co-chaired the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force, in which we developed a model that would support a national A.I. resource that would allow every researcher and institution access to contribute to the A.I. research ecosystem.

AI is driving discovery, innovation and economic growth; it has the potential to transform science and society. But realizing this potential requires that A.I. research and development progress responsibly. That is our mission.

(Photo courtesy of Manish Parashar) Manish Parashar

Manish Parashar is the director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute and the Responsible AI Initiative at the University of Utah.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here , and email us at [email protected] .

Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible

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Climate Forward

‘narco-deforestation’ and the future of the amazon.

The fate of Colombia’s rainforest may lay in the hands of a rebel group linked to drugs and illegal mining.

A dirt road goes through a forest with smoke rising in the distance.

By Manuela Andreoni

There’s a struggle for law and order in many of the world’s tropical forests, and nature is losing.

Last week, I wrote about the major progress Colombia made in 2023, slashing deforestation rates by 49 percent in a single year. But this week, we learned the trend reversed significantly in the first quarter of this year. Preliminary figures show tree loss was up 40 percent since the start of the year, Colombia’s Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, told reporters on Monday .

Why have things changed so quickly? Mostly because a single armed group controls much of Colombia’s rainforests.

Muhamad explained that conflicts with Estado Mayor Central, a group that is thought to run a sprawling cocaine operation among other illegal activities, were partly behind the striking numbers. “In this case, nature is being placed in the middle of the conflict,” she said. According to experts, E.M.C. had largely banned deforestation and in recent months it seems to have allowed it again.

A 2023 United Nations report referred to this entanglement between drug trafficking and environmental crime as “ narco-deforestation .” Perhaps nowhere is that phenomenon more clear than in Colombia, a country that’s both a stage for the decades-old global war on drugs and one of the most biodiverse corners of the planet, where the Andes Mountains meet the vast Amazon rainforest.

But what’s happening in Colombia underscores a growing challenge for many developing countries. Vast pristine forests are both essential to curb climate change and biodiversity loss, and they’re also prized by groups who want to hide illegal activities beneath thick tree canopies.

Today I want to explain why experts on the ground say that there’s no way to protect crucial forests like the Amazon without dealing with the growing power of armed groups.

The Colombian case

Armed groups in Colombia have long prohibited logging in the forest. The main reason, experts say, was to protect the illegal drug operations that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, ran in the forest.

FARC’s role protecting the forest became clear after 2016, when it signed a peace deal with the Colombian government, which disarmed the group and turned it into a political party called Comunes . When FARC disbanded, a local power vacuum caused deforestation rates to skyrocket as cattle ranchers, illegal miners and dissident groups cut down forests.

But as the dust settled, the Estado Mayor Central, a dissident group controlled by Ivan Mordisco, a former FARC commander , consolidated power in much of the Colombian rainforest. The old FARC tactics of restricting logging seemed to return and deforestation rates started to fall again. Until recently.

Muhamad noted that El Niño may have also made the Amazon more vulnerable to forest fires this year. I called Rodrigo Botero, the director of an environmental nonprofit in Colombia called the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, to understand what else changed. He told me they can see new roads being opened and ranches expanding in the region. Government agents can’t stop it because the group, which is estimated to have over 3,000 troops , controls access to much of the forest.

It’s not totally clear why the E.M.C. seems to have begun allowing logging again. Botero said he feared the E.M.C. could be trying to use deforestation rates as leverage to get more favorable treatment from the government.

First, they showed the government the benefits they could deliver by forbidding deforestation, he explained. And then, Botero added, it was like they told the government, “if you can’t count on us, look at what we can do.”

It’s a global problem, too

There is no evidence that the E.M.C. were successful in what seems to be an attempt to use the Amazon as a political tool. The government says it’s actively trying to arrest Mordisco .

Politics aside, what the Colombian case made clear to me is that controlling armed groups is now a fundamental part of conservation policy.

Bram Ebus, a consultant at the International Crisis Group and an investigative reporter, has spent years documenting how both drug traffickers and rebel groups like the E.M.C. are expanding their reach in the rainforests of South America in a project called Amazon Underworld .

He told me the illegal trade managed by these powerful criminal groups is no longer restricted to drugs or minerals, though they are still major sources of income. There is growing concern that criminal networks are also tapping into a vast menu of businesses to launder their illegal gains, such as illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, ranching and land grabbing.

Researchers, journalists and government officials have long documented how mining funded conflict in Africa, Asia and Latin Americ a. Nature was collateral damage. Illegal mining operations connected to conflict have been very harmful to biodiversity in the Congo River Basin’s rainforest , for example.

Colombia continues to negotiate for peace, and its Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development didn’t comment on whether the Amazon was being used as a political tool, but added that violations will be investigated and that it will continue working to curb deforestation. (The E.M.C. could not be reached for comment.) But, in many cases, it’s becoming hard to tell politically motived groups from purely criminal gangs. That’s bad news for nature and whoever dares defend it .

Many countries simply don’t have the resources to protect forests, let alone take on armed groups. Right now, one of the developing countries with the biggest budget for forest protection, Brazil, has so few officers that each worker patrols on average an area the size of Denmark, according to an association of environmental protection officers. They are now striking to protest poor working conditions .

Meanwhile, criminal and rebel groups have continued to expand their reach.

“You see that all these groups who are participating in the conflict have one key objective, which is to expand, to get more troops, to get more money, to get more territorial control,” Ebus told me. “The environment right now is a hostage of war.”

Getting rid of ‘forever chemicals’

What happened : For the first time, the federal government is requiring municipal water systems to remove six synthetic chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems that are present in the tap water of hundreds of millions of Americans, my colleague Lisa Friedman reported.

The Environmental Protection Agency will start requiring that water providers reduce perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, to near-zero levels. The compounds, found in everything from dental floss to firefighting foams to children’s toys, are called “forever chemicals” because they never fully degrade and can accumulate in the body and the environment. The new effort will cost at least $1.5 billion per year.

Where PFAS are found: The chemicals are so ubiquitous that they can be found in the blood of almost every person in the United States. A recent study that tested 45,000 water samples around the world found that about 31 percent of samples that weren’t near any obvious source of contamination had PFAS levels considered harmful to human health, as my colleague Delger Erdenesanaa wrote this week .

Exposure to PFAS has been associated with metabolic disorders, decreased fertility in women, developmental delays in children and increased risk of some prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, according to the E.P.A. (Lisa wrote a helpful explainer on what else we need to know about PFAS .)

The new regulation is “life changing,” Michael S. Regan, the E.P.A. administrator, told Lisa. “We are one huge step closer to finally shutting off the tap on forever chemicals once and for all.”

So what can you do to avoid PFAS? The E.P.A. maintains a list of cleaning products that are safe from these chemicals . And the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, has been tracking companies that say they are stripping them from their products. — Manuela Andreoni

More climate news

H&M and Zara are buying cotton linked to environmental destruction and land grabbing in Brazil’s grasslands, according to an investigative report reviewed by Context .

Solar power plants produced more energy in Texas than coal for the first time in March, Canary Media reports .

The Washington Post maps access to nature in neighborhoods across the United States .

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Manuela Andreoni is a Times climate and environmental reporter and a writer for the Climate Forward newsletter. More about Manuela Andreoni

Learn More About Climate Change

Have questions about climate change? Our F.A.Q. will tackle your climate questions, big and small .

“Buying Time,” a new series from The New York Times, looks at the risky ways  humans are starting to manipulate nature  to fight climate change.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of recycling plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver .

The Italian energy giant Eni sees future profits from collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it  into natural gas fields that have been exhausted.

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the East Coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise . A major culprit: the overpumping of groundwater.

Did you know the ♻ symbol doesn’t mean something is actually recyclable ? Read on about how we got here, and what can be done.

Watch CBS News

EPA announces first-ever national regulations for "forever chemicals" in drinking water

By Tracy J. Wholf

Updated on: April 10, 2024 / 8:06 PM EDT / CBS News

For the first time ever, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it is issuing a national regulation limiting the amount of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS , found in drinking water.

Commonly called "forever chemicals," PFAS are synthetic chemicals found nearly everywhere — in air, water , and soil — and can take thousands of years to break down in the environment.

The EPA has stated there is no safe level of exposure to PFAS without risk of health impacts, but now it will require that public water utilities test for six different types of PFAS chemicals to reduce exposure in drinking water. The new standards will reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people, according to the EPA, and prevent thousands of deaths and illnesses.

"Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement Wednesday.

For public water utility companies to comply with the new drinking water standards, the EPA is making $1 billion available to states and territories to implement PFAS testing and treatment at public water systems. That money is part of a $9 billion investment made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist communities impacted by PFAS contamination.

"President Biden believes that everyone deserves access to clean, safe drinking water, and he is delivering on that promise," said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, in a statement.

PFAS have been in use since the 1940s, often to repel oil and water, and are heat resistant, which makes them popular for a variety of products. But according to industry documentation , manufacturers have known for decades that PFAS are toxic.

"They can be found in everything from nonstick cookware to cleaning and personal care products," said Regan during a press briefing. "But there's no doubt that many of these chemicals can be harmful to our health and our environment."

Research confirms that exposure to certain levels of PFAS in the environment can lead to a range of health issues, from reproductive problems, including decreased fertility, to developmental delays in children and low birth weight, as well as a suppressed immune system, increased cholesterol levels, impacts to the cardiovascular system, and certain types of cancer.

"I think the strongest data is for kidney cancer and then testicular cancer," Dr. Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Sciences, told CBS News. "But evidence is growing for several other forms of cancer."

Critics argue the EPA didn't go far enough because there are more than 15,000 PFAS chemicals, and this standard only regulates six.

"I think that we need to begin addressing PFAS as a whole class of chemicals," Birnbaum said. "And we need to ask the question, do we really need them?"

The EPA estimates that of the 66,000 public water utility systems impacted by the standard, 6% to 10% may need to act to comply with the regulations. Operators will have three years to test for PFAS pollution, then an additional two years to identify, purchase and install necessary technology to treat contaminated water.

Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director of health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, tells CBS News that the EPA estimates it will cost about $1.5 billion "to treat all this water and to protect people's health. The benefits, in our view, far outweigh those costs."

Despite knowing the risks for several years, it's taken a significant amount of time to regulate PFAS on the federal level.

"There's just a huge amount of political opposition from the chemical industry and, frankly, from some of the water utilities, that don't want EPA to regulate these chemicals, because they know that once EPA cracks down on them, it's going to cost them a lot of money, and they don't want to spend that money," Olson said.

While the onus on clean up will come at the cost of the water utility companies, the new regulations do little to hold polluters accountable for the damage PFAS have done to the environment and human health. There have been several major settlements in recent years by chemical companies over PFAS contamination, a notable one being a $10.3 billion settlement reached by 3M in June 2023.

If you want to limit your exposure to PFAS in drinking water, you can ask your water utility how it is testing for the chemicals, or have your water tested by a state-certified laboratory using EPA-testing standards. There are several technologies available to purchase to filter PFAS from your home water source. As for PFAS found in other common goods, there are several running lists to help track which companies have banned PFAS from their products.

  • Forever Chemicals

Tracy J. Wholf is a senior coordinating producer of climate and environmental coverage for CBS News and Stations, based in New York. She manages and produces content for all CBS News national platforms and supports CBS stations across the country.

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The Virginian-Pilot

Environment | Extreme heat is a problem in Portsmouth. Here’s…

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Environment | extreme heat is a problem in portsmouth. here’s how researchers want to help..

Excel Paving Corporation worker Eric Franklin wipes his sweat onto a towel in between laying asphalt with the temperature at 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the heat index at 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (Tess Crowley / The Virginian-Pilot)

The summers in Hampton Roads are hot, but for some residents, swelling temperatures and their impacts can be disproportionally worse.

In Portsmouth, for example, a lack of green space and increase of development over time has created urban heat islands, said Elizabeth Malcolm, professor of ocean and atmospheric sciences and director of sustainability at Virginia Wesleyan University.

Urban heat islands occur when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. This effect increases energy costs, air pollution levels and heat-related illness and mortality.

“Remember when you were little and you were walking barefoot outside, and the grass was so much cooler than the the blacktop? So part of it is that change in albedo, so the darker surfaces just absorb more sunlight and they retain the heat,” Malcolm said. “Also, the soil and the plants also cooled by evaporative cooling — just like sweat cools our skin. When soil moisture evaporates or the plants are transpiring, you can get evaporative cooling.

“(In) urban areas, some of our processes like air conditioning and building releases heat, so there’s also anthropogenic heat released into the environment in urban areas.”

Faculty at VWU recently received a $222,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry to complete a two-year project to combat rising temperatures in Portsmouth. The first will focus on mapping hot spots within the city’s limits, and the second year will focus on community input from residents about tree planting and other efforts.

Malcolm said policy choices such as redlining has had lasting environmental impacts on Portsmouth. The University of Richmond has gathered maps and data related to redlining in cities in Virginia and beyond, including Hampton Roads .

An Environmental Protection Agency review of several studies found that some communities in the United States, particularly those that are low-income and with higher populations of people of color, have neighborhoods with higher temperatures relative to adjacent neighborhoods.

“Decisions that might have been made decades ago that affected how dense or how developed an area is — where the green spaces are or where they aren’t — all have implications today for the health and well being of the people who live in that neighborhood,” Malcolm said.

A temperature gauge reads 117 degrees Fahrenheit as Gordon Wile of Norfolk Heating and Cooling works in the attic to repair a broken air conditioning unit on an Ocean View home in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 12, 2023. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)

Reducing urban heat islands also can have economic and social effects, Malcolm added. A 2023 report from Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy research arm of the State University of New York, notes research reflected that the prevalence of trees in public right-of-ways are associated with lower crime rates. Other studies suggest reducing heat islands brings in development and lowers energy costs.

Extreme heat is the most dangerous weather event in terms of death, surpassing tornados, hurricanes and other severe storms, according to the National Weather Service. Each year, extreme heat events  contribute to hundreds of deaths in the United States. Vulnerable populations, such as children, older adults and those with pre-existing conditions become even more at risk as temperatures increase.

Garry Harris, a Portsmouth native and president of the Center for Sustainable Communities, said focusing on heat reduction can improve the lives of those who rely on being outside for jobs and for general quality of life since summers are only getting hotter due to climate change.

“(The project is for) the folks out there on the tarmac who are directly in those places, becoming dehydrated and falling ill,” Harris said. “It’s about gridlock. It is the single air conditioner in our homes, and if it goes out, you suffer. It’s about those older folks who live in those redlined areas and (face) other housing injustice practices.”

Community engagement in the project is going to be a major focus, Harris said. He said the group has already begun reaching out to civic leagues and religious groups, and making connections with residents about sustainability and taking care of the land will make community members more excited and engaged in the project. Harris said community engagement is the key to more sustainable communities and longevity.

“They experience on a daily basis — particulates and those contaminants that the children are inhaling on a daily basis. Now, we layer on top of that: health disparities, respiratory diseases, blood disease and heart disease,” Harris said. “We layer on economic disparities, loss of jobs or no jobs (and) housing injustice. On top of that, we have severe weather, extreme heat. That’s what those communities are facing. That’s what those people are facing.

“Planting trees is going to do something to help that out, but we’re really proud of these folks that leap beyond that to do what’s necessary to make their communities more sustainable and resilient for our residents.”

Eliza Noe, [email protected]

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Federal authorities say a North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England in already devastating year for the vanishing animals. The right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the entangled whale was seen Wednesday about 50 miles south of Rhode Island's Block Island. NOAA says in a statement the whale has rope coming out of both sides of its mouth and has been far from shore. That makes it difficult for rescuers to help.

Environment | Right whale found entangled off New England in devastating year for the vanishing species

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A marine mammal rescue group says a dead humpback whale that has washed ashore on New Jersey's Long Beach Island was the first such death in the state this year.

National News | Dead whale on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island is first of the year, stranding group says

After several endangered North Atlantic right whales have already washed up on beaches this year, including one in Virginia Beach, researchers have released a real-time analysis map to assess speeding of vessels in the ocean. 

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