Urbanization

Human beings have become an increasingly powerful environmental force over the last 10,000 years. With the advent of agriculture 8,000 years ago, we began to change the land.  And with the industrial revolution, we began to affect our atmosphere. The recent increase in the world’s population has magnified the effects of our agricultural and economic activities. But the growth in the world population has masked what may be an even more important human-environmental interaction: While the world’s population is doubling, the world’s urban population is tripling. Within the next few years, more than half the world’s population will be living in urban areas.

The level and growth of urbanization differ considerably by region. Among developing countries, Latin American countries have the highest proportion of their population living in urban areas. But East and South Asia are likely to have the fastest growth rates in the next 30 years. Almost all of the future world population growth will be in towns and cities. Both the increase in and the redistribution of the earth’s population are likely to affect the natural systems of the earth and the interactions between the urban environments and populations.

Effects of Urbanization:

• Biodiversity:

 As cities grow in number, spatial extent, and density, their environmental and ecological footprints increase. Urban expansion that takes place in forests, wetlands and agricultural systems leads to habitat clearing; degradation and fragmentation of the landscapes. Urban lifestyles, which tend to be consumptive, requiring great natural resources and generating increasing amounts of waste also lead to increased levels of air, water, and soil pollution.

• Inequality Water:

 Approximately 97% of the earth’s water is stored in the oceans, and only a fraction of the remaining portion is usable freshwater. When precipitation falls over the land, it follows various routes. Some of it evaporates, returning to the atmosphere, some seeps into the ground, and the remainder becomes surface water, traveling to oceans and lakes by way of rivers and streams.

• Air Pollution:

 Air pollution often plagues industrialized cities, particularly during their early development. Episodes of high levels of sulfurous smog killed or sickened thousands in Donora in 1948, as well as in London in 1952. Other cities— primarily in the industrialized regions of the United States and Europe—also suffered from notoriously bad air quality. These events were the result of very high emissions of sulfur dioxide, smoke, and other particles during stagnant, foggy weather conditions.

• Diseases:

Urbanization has led to reduced physical activity and unhealthy nutrition. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease will account for 69 percent of all deaths in developing countries. Another urbanization-related threat is infectious diseases. Air travel carries bacteria and viruses from one country to the next. In addition, people relocating from rural areas are not immune to the same diseases as long-time city residents, which puts them at a greater risk of contracting a disease.

• Development of slums:

 The cost of living in urban areas is very high. When this is combined with random and unexpected growth as well as unemployment, there is the spread of unlawful resident settlements represented by slums and squatters. The growth of slums and squatters in urban areas is even further exacerbated by fast-paced industrialization, lack of developed land for housing, a large influx of rural immigrants to the cities in search of a better life, and the elevated prices of land beyond the reach of the urban poor.

Negatives and positives of climate change.

Basic Idea:
                   Climate change is having a detectable effect on bird populations at a European scale, including both negative and positive effects.
                The number of bird species whose populations are observed to be negatively impacted by climatic change is three times larger than those observed to be positively affected by climate warming in this set of widespread European land birds.
           The Climatic Impact Indicator, which illustrates the impact of climate change on bird populations, has increased strongly in the past twenty years, coinciding with a period of rapid climatic warming in Europe. Potential links between changes in bird populations and ecosystem functioning and resilience are not well understood...

What are the negative (and positive) impacts of climate change on biodiversity?

1- Climate change impact indicator for birds:

The indicator demonstrates the impact of climate change on widespread bird populations has increased strongly in the past twenty years. The Climatic Impact Indicator measures the divergence between the population trends of bird species projected to expand their range and those predicted to shrink their range due to climate change.

2- Weighted population trend of species predicted to lose range in response to climatic change (90 Species):

The weighted population index of species expected to lose in range due to climatic change has decreased by 20% since 1989.

3- Weighted population index of species predicted to gain range in response to climatic change (30 species):

The weighted population index of species expected to gain in range due to climatic change has increased by over 30 % since 1989.

What You Can Do?

#TodayWeCan!

Climate change is the biggest challenge of this century and to battle with it requires resources it is not only the task of a government to battle and reduces but also an individual's responsibility to play his part in reducing it. Although it is a global task a single party can't do this all alone People and Governments have to do this together and they have to support each and every individual who is doing at his level or at the national level.
Here is the thing you can do to avoid climate change:

• Make Your Community Green: Millions of people drive to work every day. However, the bad side is that millions of cars emit harmful gases that destroy our atmosphere. Vehicle emissions are a close second when it comes to the top causes of climate change. There are always other options that you can utilize to make your community work eco-friendly. For starters, taking public transportation to work is a great way to cut out emissions. Going by your bike to work is also incredibly helpful to the environment and is a great method to get exercise.

• Be More Energy Efficient: Becoming more energy efficient is a great way to prevent pollution. It causes the power plants to expend less energy that can lead to the production of greenhouse gasses. This means that you should do what you can to cut down on energy usage in your household. Make sure to turn off lights and unplug devices that you are not using anymore when you are done with them. Replace your light bulbs with energy-efficient light bulbs to help you save electricity too.

• Recycling: Manufacturing of goods emit a large number of harmful gasses per year. It is an unavoidable fact that in the production of goods that we use on our daily basis. However, a cleaner alternative would be to invest in recycling. Recycling is a cost-effective and eco-friendly process that eliminates waste and doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses into the environment. Be sure to collect your discarded paper, glass, plastic, and electronics to your local recycling center. The professionals will take these items to a processing plant where they will be remade into other recyclable materials again.

• Encourage Renewable Energy Usage: We must focus on to spread awareness about renewable energy is the best way to create a positive impact in your community. By informing others about how renewable energy is better than utilizing fossil fuels, you will sway others into investing in the idea.

• Educate Yourself and the Society: The importance of educating others about climate change cannot be overstated in our modern society. There are many platforms for us to utilize that can allow us to spread our message easily. Whether you use word of mouth or social media, there are always ways to educate others on what climate change is doing to our planet. You can help protect the planet by educating others about the dangers of climate change and how to act against it.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS:

• Dr. Adrian Rubin: One of the most active people who fight against climate change is Dr. Adrian Rubin. She has over 30 years of experience studying the weather and has provided valuable data that indicates the dangers we face from climate change. She has a 4-year degree in meteorological science and actively speaks out against the dangers of relying on fossil fuels. She is an inspiration to those who wish to make our planet a better place for future generations.

• Greta Thunberg: She is a 16 years old Swedish Climate activist and had already done a lot in creating awareness about climate change. She is known for her blunt and straightforward speak. She has made speeches in both government and public assembly regarding the worst climate changes.

Proper Waste Management.

Climate change impacts are only one of a number of environmental impacts
that derive from solid waste management options. Other impacts include health effects attributable to air pollutants such as Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfer dioxide, dioxins and fine particles, emissions of ozone depleting substances, contamination of water bodies, depletion of non-renewable resources, disamenity effects, noise, accidents etc. These environmental impacts are in addition to the socio-economic aspects of alternative ways of managing waste. All of these factors need to be properly considered in the determination of a balanced policy for sustainable waste management, of which the climate change elements are but one aspect. The study is not intended as a tool for municipal or regional waste planning, where local factors, such as the availability of existing waste management facilities and duration of waste management contracts, markets for recyclables, geographic and socio-economic factors, will exert the dominant influence.

General waste management techniques are:

• Landfill: It involves having the waste buried off in empty, deserted locations outside the city. Dumped waste is made to undergo compression to enhance the density and make the fill stable. It is later covered to discourage vermin growth. A gas extraction system is customarily installed to exact the gas (arising out of decomposition) through a burrow pit.
• Incineration: Waste is exposed to high temperature to trigger combustion and ultimately reduce to ash, gas and heat energy. Toxic wastes from industry are thermally treated in furnace and boiler to extract energy. This method is useful where land is scarce. Gasification and Pyrolysis methods involve heating waste in short supply of oxygen at high temperature inside a pressurized and sealed vessel. The resultant residue is used for energy generation.
• Recycling: Paper, plastic, PVC and other homogenous products can be recycled to put them in use in a new garb. This also rids the environment of non-biodegradable, chemical wastes that significantly disturb the ecological balance.
• Biological reprocessing: Wastes of organic origin are made to undergo biological decomposition and re-used as compost or mulch for agriculture and landscaping. Gas collected is used for electricity generation.
• Waste Reduction and Avoidance: The stress is on increased use of second hand products, repaired products and reducing the use of complex disposable items to keep a tab on waste generation in abundance.
• Recycling Solutions: Recycling is a superlative way to capitalize on accumulated waste by chemically treating it to make it fit for re-use. Recycling equipment make the waste processing method streamlined and cost-effective.

What Governments are doing?

Climate Change is the biggest battle of this century and probably the toughest humans have faced until this day. And the more worst part of this is we don't know how much this battle will grow because in this battle we can't differentiate between the enemy and fighter. In this case, both the enemy and the fighter are we...we HUMAN BEINGS and if this is the scenario then how we suppose to end this battle. As the issue of climate change continues to rise with the time governments eventually start pondering on the fact that how we can prevent this phenomenon of climate change that is destroying our planet.
Governments of different developed countries have been taking their best move against this climate change in the world they are launching different awareness campaigns on the national and international levels as well against climate change. This is a serious issue and the world leaders gathered to solve this issue made agreements most notable of them is the PARIS AGREEMENT under the supervision of the United Nation.
International Agreements on Climate Change are listed below:

• Paris Agreement (2016):

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. The agreement's language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st conference of UNFCCC in  Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of November 2019, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 187 have become a party to it.
The Paris Agreement is a long-term temperature controlling agreement that is meant to keep the temperature of this planet to keep in a moderate stage. Its goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, recognizing that this would substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. This should be done by peaking emissions as soon as possible, in order to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. It also aims to increase the ability of parties to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and make "finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development."

• Kyoto Protocol (1997):

In the middle of the last decade of 20th-century UNFCCC members realized that more strong provision is needed to reduce emissions. In the year 1997, all the members agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, which introduced legally binding emission reduction targets for developed countries. It's second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. Approximately 38 countries show their interest in this agreement also including the member states of the European Union. This second period is covered by the Doha amendment, under which participating countries have committed to reducing emissions by at least 18% below the levels decided in1990s. The EU has committed to reducing emissions in this period to 20% below 1990 levels. The main weakness of the Kyoto Protocol is that it only requires developed countries to take action. As the United States has never signed up to the Kyoto Protocol, Canada pulled out before the end of the first commitment period and Russia, Japan, and New Zealand are not taking part in the second commitment period, it also only now applies to around 14% of the world's emissions. However, more than 70 developing and developed countries have made various non-binding commitments to reduce or limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

These are of the 2 major agreements that the world has made regarding their fight against climate change and of course, there are many more agreements regarding climate change. But the main thing is not just to make the agreements and leave those signed papers in the cabinet or highly protected safes of developed countries. But to implement them practically this earth is our only home and if we keep it ignoring the challenges it faces today we will have to face the consequences of it in the near future or till the end of this world.

Stop Deforestation.

Forests or more precisely Trees have been a part of Human Civilization from the very first day and these are probably the most important factor behind human survival because they produce what is the most important thing we need as human beings for our survival OXYGEN and they also absorb many harmful gasses mainly CO2 which can kill a healthy person. Before humans, the earth mainly consisted of water and trees (Forests) but the day Human civilization started they started using those forests for their survival the early human beings use the tree leaves to cover their body parts and also for FIRE purpose to cook their foods and to keep them warm then as the civilization started to grow they also start using the wood for their light for night and as the population grows the consumption of wood also grows with the time until it reaches today's condition where the forest starts becoming short in resources and it raises major issues as well.
Killing forests at a rapid pace is raising major issues regarding Climate Change which is really a concerning issue for us because the carbon dioxide level is rising very rapidly and it would be very dangerous for us. As the population is growing rapidly the need for space for more humans and wood is also increasing so today's civilization starts cutting down trees in a brutal way and the number of trees starts decreasing and the atmosphere starts polluting because as the trees the materials which protect living organisms from breathing bad air. Deforestation is happening everywhere on the planet for many different reasons that vary from region to region. The killing of the forest also affecting the wildlife which requires forests to survive and the number of species has been facing extinction if we can't stop killing forests.

"Death Of Forest Is The End Of Our Life." 

Trees help regulate the climate, filter water through their root system, capture dust particles and pollutants from the air and stabilize soils against erosion. They perform these vital services equally for everyone. Ending deforestation is the best chance we have to stabilize our climate, save wildlife species and protect our well-being. Protecting the forest is our mutual responsibility, no matter how far away we live from the nearest one. Adopt some of these strategies to help prevent the loss of more trees. There would be a number of solutions for stoping or better if we say minimizing deforestation here are some simple methods listed below which do not need any description to understand them. We have to adopt these methods to save our planet.

1. If we assign ourselves an additional duty of planting a Tree where we can ONE PERSON ONE TREE imagine how rapidly would the number of trees will grow and what benefit they will provide us.
2. Go paperless at home and in the office. Since we are living in a digital era so we have to adopt technology and digital devices.
3. Buying recycled products would also decrease the demand for more and new products which would also mean a decrease in wood demand and then we can also recycle them again and again.
4. Support the products of companies that are committed to reducing deforestation. It’s all about business. If you don’t buy them, they will be encouraged to improve their practices.
5. Raise awareness in your circle and in your community.
6. Buy only what you will use do not buy any additional items just for fun. 
7. Don’t use Palm Oil or products with Palm Oil because they also increase demand in cutting down trees.

This Planet is our only home in this big universe and if we keep destroying it like we are doing right now then our coming Race.

Pollution.

"Pollution is defined as the induction of harmful materials or chemical components to the natural environment." It can be natural or foreign occurring components. Pollution has been a part of human civilization from the very first day. But in today's world due to the rapidly growing Industrial Age, it is very difficult to stop it despite the fact that it is having bad effects on our environment.

There are many kinds of POLLUTION starting from Air to Land and water and many types of pollution. Pollution is something that is certainly not good for our environment and if we didn't take hard steps to stop it it's consequences would be dangerous in the future. It is a fact that in this industrial age we can't eradicate the pollution but we can minimize it by taking the best measures in this regard.

Types of Pollution:

• Air Pollution: It is the type of pollution that is a result of harmful gasses that are being released by Industries and other sites. These gasses go on to mix with the air and pollute it the air than breath by Human's which causes health issues and significant damage to our environment. There are various locations, activities or factors which are responsible for releasing pollutants into the atmosphere. From which some are man-made while some are natural.

         Man-Made:

1. Smoke coming from chimneys of industries which includes harmful gasses for the environment.
2. The automobile industry is also the source of air pollution motor vehicles, marine vessels, and aircrafts all release toxic gasses like Lead Oxide and Carbon Monoxide which are known as silent killers.
3. Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents.
4. Army resources, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gasses, germ warfare, and rocketry. If you just look at this industry that how vastly or rapidly this industry is growing and every country wants to leave the other behind in making nuclear weapons.

        Natural:

1. Dust is a primary source of air pollution which comes from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little vegetation or no vegetation
2. Gasses are also causing environmental pollution Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example, cattle.
3. Radon gas within Earth's crusts. Radon is a colorless, naturally occurring, radioactive gas that is formed from the decay of radium element. It is considered a health hazard and extremely harmful for humans as well as the environment. Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as the basement and it is also known as the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking.
4. Smoke which comes from burning of forests by natural methods also releases harmful gasses and the burning of forests is so frequent these days which is also a result of rising in earth's temperature which is causing the forests around the globe to burn at large.
5. Excessive Volcanic eruption in the world also causing air pollution. Volcanoes are a mixture of gasses that are cooked at high temperatures in Earth's crust.

• Noise Pollution: Noise pollution or sound pollution is one of the major factors that are polluting our environment. It is mostly in Urban Areas due to much noise of Big vehicles and also due to Industries especially in industrial areas it is causing the human hearing decibel level to drop at dangerous levels. Which can affect our listening abilities actually it is affecting our listening abilities.
• Plastic Pollution: It is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in  Earth's eco-system that negatively affects life on a large scale it includes every kind of life from wildlife to humans and marine life. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro or meso and macro pollutants, based on size. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, and as result levels of plastic production by humans are high which is real trouble because since human thinks that plastics are more beneficial to them and can reduce headache so the ignore it's negative effects on our environment. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result, they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors have led to a high prominence of plastic pollution in the environment. Which is certainly in the bad prospect of our environment and can be fatal in the future if continue ignoring this factor.

On Humans

Overview

The impacts of climate change include warming temperatures, changes in precipitation, increases in the frequency or intensity of some extreme weather events, and rising sea levels. These impacts threaten our health by affecting the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the weather we experience.

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

For centuries, humans have been burning fossil fuels to power their lives. This process releases additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping heat that would escape into space otherwise.
We’ve known for decades about the damage all that extra heat is doing to the Earth. Now, a recent UN-backed report on climate change highlights just how dangerous that process has been. The planet has already warmed 1 degree Celsius and temperatures could rise even more – significantly changing life as we know it.
We’re already seeing the first impacts of this crisis. But here’s the good news – we still have time to turn things around.

HERE ARE THREE WAYS THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY AFFECTING PEOPLE’S LIVES:

1- Health: 

Climate action is just what the doctor ordered. And we mean that quite literally. Medical professionals have increasingly been sounding the alarm about the risks and consequences of continually burning fossil fuels.

Here’s the problem. The same dirty fossil fuel emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect can lead to respiratory diseases – such as asthma – in children and adults. And they can be quite dangerous. Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year, according to the World Health Organization.

By trapping heat into our planet, carbon emissions also damage the human body and mind in other ways. We’ve all heard about the risks of heat strokes. But did you know that warmer temperatures are linked to a 2 percent increase in mental health issues such as stress, anxiety,

2- Home: 

There’s really no place like home. But for many living in coastal communities, sea-level rise could lead to an unwanted (and sudden) move.

As our globe warms, glaciers melt and ocean water expands, leading seas to rise about 7 to 8 inches on average since 1900 – about 3 inches of that since 1993. The added volume of water creeping up coastlines slowly swallows land and homes and fuels more flooding inland (to name just a few impacts).

For example, in the United States, from 2005 to 2015, the median annual number of flood days more than doubled on the East Coast between Florida and North Carolina, thanks in part to rising sea levels.

3- Food:

The world population is expected to grow to almost 10 billion by 2050. With 3.4 billion more mouths to feed, and the growing desire of the middle class for meat and dairy in developing countries, global demand for food could increase by between 59 and 98 percent. This means that agriculture around the world needs to step up production and increase yields. But scientists say that the impacts of climate change—higher temperatures, extreme weather, drought, increasing levels of carbon dioxide and sea level rise—threaten to decrease the quantity and jeopardize the quality of our food supplies.

A recent study of global vegetable and legume production concluded that if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, yields could fall by 35 percent by 2100 due to water scarcity and increased salinity and ozone.

“We’re most concerned about the sharply reduced yields,” said Peter de Menocal, Dean of Science at Columbia University and director of the Center for Climate and Life. “We already have trouble feeding the world and this additional impact on crop yields will impact the world’s poorest and amplify the rich/poor divide that already exists.”

But climate change will not only affect crops—it will also impact meat production, fisheries and other fundamental aspects of our food supply.