By Jared Skye
Living Green
Vocabulary Words
Environment: The natural world
as a whole or a particular area
especially impacted by human
activity.
Ecosystem: A distinct unit which
includes all the living and the
nonliving elements that live with in
it.
Causes of Environmental
Degradation
The primary cause
of environmental
degradation is
human disturbance.
The degree of the
environmental
impact varies with
the cause, the
habitat, and the
plants and animals
that inhabit it.
Degradation: Is the deterioration
in environmental quality from
pollutants, other activities, and
processes such as natural disasters.
Fragmentation: Process of
breaking down the environment
Ecosystem: A biological
community of interacting
organisms and their physical
environment.
Invasive Species: Is defined as an
organism (plant, animal fungus…)
that is not native and has negative
effects on the environment.
Invasive plants and animals are the
second biggest threat to diversity
in the world after the loss of
habitat.
Noxious: harmful
Contaminants: Biological,
chemical, physical or radiological
substance (ordinarily missing in
the environment) which, in
sufficient concentration, can hurt
and affect living organisms
through air, water, soil, and/ or
food.
Precipitation: Rain, snow, sleet or
hail that falls to the ground.
Stewardship: Management or
care of something. In this context it
is the management or care of the
environment.
Figure 1: Deforestation disturbs animal habitats. This is just one
example of how humans affect the environment around them.
Habitat fragmentation carries long term environmental
impacts, some of which can destroy entire ecosystems. An
ecosystem is a distinct unit and includes all the living and nonliving elements that reside within it. Plants and animals are
obvious members, but it will also include other components
on which they rely on such as streams, lakes, and soils.
Habitats become fragmented when development breaks up
solid stretches of land. Examples include roads which may cut
through forests or even trails which wind through prairies.
While it may not sound all bad on the surface, there are
serious consequences. The largest of these consequences are
initially felt by specific plant and animal communities, most of
which are specialized for their bioregion or require large areas
of land to retain a healthy genetic heritage.
Area Sensitive Animals
Some wildlife species require large stretches of land in order
to meet all of their needs for food, habitat, and other
resources. These animals are called area sensitive. When the
environment is fragmented, the large patches of habitat no
longer exist. It becomes more difficult for the wildlife to get
By Jared Skye
Living Green
the resources they to survive, possibly becoming threatened or endangered. The
environment suffers without the animals that play their role in the food web.
Aggressive Plant Life
A more critical result of habitat fragmentation is land disturbance. Many weedy plant species,
such as garlic mustard and purple loosestrife, are both opportunistic and invasive. A breach in
the habitat gives them an opportunity to take hold. These aggressive plants can take over an
environment, displacing the native flora. The result is habitat with a single dominant plant
which doesn't provide adequate food resources for all the wildlife. Entire ecosystems are
threatened with extinction, according to the National Resources Defense Council.
Some weeds are so invasive and aggressive that they are declared noxious by the federal or
state governments to prevent them from destroying unspoiled areas. The cultivation or even
the sale of noxious weeds is prohibited by law.
Human Sources of Environmental Deterioration
Humans and their activities are a major source of environmental degradation.
Water and Air Pollution
Water and air pollution are unfortunately the common causes of environmental degradation.
Pollution introduces contaminants into the environment that can maim or even kill plant and
animal species. The two often go hand in hand. Many of our factories, power plants, and
even the cars we drive cause some of these problems. We will be examining some of these
examples this week. (Northern Pulp, Trenton Power Generating Station, Michelin)
Acid Rain
Acid rain occurs when sulfur dioxide from coal plant emissions combines with moisture
present in the air. A chemical reaction creates this acid precipitation. Acid rain can acidify and
pollute lakes and streams. It causes similar effects to the soil. According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if enough acid rain falls in a given environment, it
can acidify the water or soil to a point where no life can be sustained. Plants die off. The
animals that depend upon them disappear. The condition of the environment deteriorates.
By Jared Skye
Living Green
Agricultural Runoff
Agricultural runoff is a deadly source of pollutants
which can degrade environments, so much so that the
EPA identifies agriculture as the primary source of
water pollution.
Surface water washes over the soil and into lakes and
streams. When it does so, it carries the fertilizers and
pesticides used on the farm lands into water resources. Introducing poisons into waterways
will have dire consequences. Fertilizers, whether or not they are organic, carry equal risks.
Fertilizers containing large amounts of phosphorus can cause explosions of algae in lakes. As
the algae die, bacteria start to breakdown the organic material. It soon develops into a
situation where bacteria are using up the available dissolved oxygen in the water. Plants, fish,
and other organisms begin to die off. The water becomes acidic. Like acid rain, lakes become
dead zones with conditions so toxic that neither plants nor animals can live in these
environments.
Urban Development
According to many noted ecologists, including those at Cornell University, urban
development is one of the primary causes of environmental degradation. As populations
increased, so did the need for land for homes and farms. Wetlands were drained. Prairies
were plowed over. Today, less than 50 percent of the nation's wetlands still exist, according
to the North Carolina State University Water Quality Group. National Geographic states that
only five percent of the native prairie remains.
Environmental degradation is one of most urgent of environmental issues. Depending upon
the damage, some environments may never recover. The plants and animals that inhabited
these places will be lost forever. In order to reduce any future impacts, city planners,
industry, and resource managers must consider the long term effects of development on the
environment. With sound planning, future environmental
degradation can be prevented.
Natural Causes
Mother Nature causes environmental problems, too.
By Jared Skye
Living Green
While environmental degradation is most commonly associated with the activities of
humans, the fact is that environments are also constantly changing over time. With or
without the impact of human activities, some ecosystems degrade over time to the point
where they cannot support the life that is "meant" to live there.
Things like landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and wildfires can completely
decimate local plant and animal communities to the point where they can no longer function.
This can either come about through physical destruction via natural disaster, or by the longterm degradation of resources by the introduction of an invasive alien species to a new
habitat. The latter often occurs after hurricanes, when lizards and insects are washed across
small stretches of water to foreign environments. Sometimes, the environment cannot keep
up with the new species, and degradation can occur.
Understanding Degradation
There are a number of reasons that ecosystems degrade over time. While it may not always
be the fault of humans, humans still need to recognize the extent to which they rely on the
resources that the natural world provides. In this sense, environmental responsibility and
stewardship are very much a matter of self-preservation, and are an integral part of healthy
resource management practices.