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Over the years, with the rise in global population and change in global climate, a lot has changed in the natural environment of the world. People from all around the world have initiated new technologies and practices that are having lasting effects on the oceans and continents. Certain things are specifically causing tremendous harm to the continents and oceans and quite evidently, the most powerful countries with larger population numbers are causing more harm than the other smaller countries. Terms like environmental degradation, ocean pollution, loss of biodiversity, desertification, landslides due to man-made activities, etc. are terms that are becoming more and more familiar. This topic will discuss some of the main global trends or practices that have significantly altered the condition of the continents and oceans and made them worse by either directly polluting them or changing their characteristics for the worse.
Causes of Danger to Continents and Ocean
Overpopulation- At the beginning of the 20th century, the population of the world was about 2 billion. That figure has now risen to a whopping 7.9 billion at present. This exponential growth of the global population meant that the crowd has increased all over the world and the pressure on the natural resources has increased manifold. Now, when the resources have not grown at the same rate as the human population in the world, it has resulted in catastrophic effects on both oceans and continents.
Effect on continents- Due to the rise in global population, more people are now living on land. Thus, they need more food to survive and larger areas to take shelter. As a collective result, forests have been cut down for land and resources and that has resulted in soil erosion and desertification. Landslides are occurring more frequently, the course of the rivers is altered, ecosystems are being destroyed. Due to over-farming activities, soil quality is also hampered.
Effects on the oceans- Due to population rise, overfishing is done which damages the ocean ecosystem. Many species are unable to find food to survive.
Emission of GreenHouse Gases and Fossil Fuels- Although alternative renewable sources of energy have been used a lot more currently, still the majority of the countries and cities use ‘conventional’ fossil fuels for power generation. Fossil fuels pollute the atmosphere of the earth and when they are burned, they release toxic nitrogen oxides which cause things like acid rain and smog. These greatly affect the natural ecosystems of the continents.
The emission of greenhouse gases like carbon-di-oxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, etc. all make the oceans warmer and hence, result in a rise in sea level, damage to coral reefs, and ocean ecosystems. The ice-capped poles have also started to get warmer and a lot of the hard and cold ice has melted into the water which is largely contributing to the sea-level rise globally and loss of the animal species in the Arctic and Antarctica. As a consequent result of the global rise in sea level, the coastal areas of many places are now getting submerged in water thus, valuable landmasses of the continents and many faraway islands are getting destroyed.
Use of Plastic Materials- Globally, the use of plastics and microplastics has increased a lot in the past 50 years. Today, managing plastic waste has become one of the most difficult and critical problems of mankind. These are non-biodegradable forms of waste and cannot be disposed of easily. As a result, most of it is ending up in the oceans and seas or it is dumped on land and thus, taking up acres of land area with every passing day. Plastic is absolutely cancerous to the oceans as it destroys the ocean environment, has resulted in a loss of ocean biodiversity, and ocean pollution.
Conclusion
The negative changes are no longer a concern for the future, it is happening and it is happening now. Governments, local authorities, educational institutions, and most importantly, the general public must become more aware and act together to stop these catastrophic disasters. It has to be kept in mind that these situations cannot be dealt with easily and brought back to normal once a certain level of damage has been done.
