Human Impact: Acid Rain, Climate Change, Overfishing, and More

HUMAN IMPACT

Acidic rain: It is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components and results when dioxide (So2) and nitrogen oxides (NO) are emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air currents. Acid rain is caused by the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity, the chemical releases of vehicles and from manufacturing. There are two forms of acid rain: dry deposition which is crust in a sheltered area and wet depositions that are raindrops of sulphurous acid. Acid rain can be very harmful to the environment because it takes away minerals from the leaves and soil and without them plants cannot grow properly. Even if this rain doesn’t fall straight into lakes it can get there through rivers and once there it kills multiple forms of living beings. It also affects our health causing breathing problems and cancer (debris of particles on the air). We can prevent ourselves from this if we clean up smokestacks, resort damages environments, use alternative energy sources and we take measures and encourage international actions.

Climate change

Our planet earth is getting warmer because of global warming caused by human actions. The emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere have increased due to the burning of fossil fuels. These gases have kept the atmosphere warm for our existence but since the industrial revolution there has been a great accumulation resulting in enhanced greenhouse effect (deforestation 15% and vehicles 20% - US 22%). The temperature has increased 0.6º C over the last 100 years. Changing patterns have damaged our planet. Glaciers and ice sheets are melting quickly (polar bears) and this water falls into the ocean causing sea level rise. There are fewer storms, more droughts, hurricanes and coral bleaching. We must start making changes, not burning fossil fuels and being mindful of our overall impact. We must fight: get involved, be energy efficient, trim our waste, green our commute, support, donate and get informed.

Overfishing

Overfishing is a non-sustainable use of the oceans, cause by catching too many fish; fishing so much that the fish cannot sustain their population and causing an economic impact on the fishing industry and food network. Sooner there will be no fish and too many fishermen because every year 77.9 tonnes of fish are fished, an equivalent to three times the mass of the whole population in the US. The top world seafood consumers are Japan, China, the US, Russia and Indonesia. Spain is the top consumer in Europe with hake, cod, and Atlantic salmon being the most consumed. A global collapse of fisheries is projected in 2048, which will cause an economic loss and a marine land imbalance. We can create more marine protected areas, make smart consumer choices, stop trawling and educate people about the topic and spread the word.

Garbage Patch

For many people the idea of a “garbage patch” conjures up many images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. But actually it is not visible from satellites as it is composed by transparent particles; once you are inside it, it looks like a thick soup. The north pacific gyre is 1.38 times Spain (700.000 km2) and around 80% of the plastics come from land and the remaining 20% originates from oil platforms and ships. Many different animals ingest these plastic remains and become sick or die. The government ignores the topic and as the islands are far away from land no nation wants to take neither action nor responsibility. We must reduce, recycle and reduce. Also support NGOs actions.

Waste of food

We live in a planet where 850 million people go hungry which is more than 1 in 7 people. Human population will increase at enormous rates in the following years. Feeding 9 billion people in 2015 will require food production to be doubled. However as climate change increases the amount of food we can produce decreases. Also 1/3 of the food we produce is lost in waste, what is more than 1.3 billion tonnes of aliments wasted. At the end of our lives each of us will have wasted more than 23500kg of food. The real problem is the rich get more than they could ever eat, while the poor starve to death. We can contribute by eating vegetable rich diets (1kg of beef = 6kg of grain) and lentils instead of beef (1/3 farming land - 1/12 water). We must avoid wasting food that is edible and help undeveloped countries develop their food production. Also start adapting crops to future climates by improving their genetics (recombinant plants).

Overpopulation

It is an excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration.

Renewable energy sources

Fossil fuels are the remains of dead plants and animals buried under the Earth’s crust and they come in the form of coal, oil or natural gas. There are non-renewable energy sources that take millions of years to develop and provide us with light to our modern lifestyle. The biggest oil reserves are found in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran. These are the easiest and cheapest to acquire of the 66% of the energy we consume. However, we have consumed an incredible amount, leaving fossil fuels all but gone and the climate seriously damaged. By 2015 we would have run out of fossil fuels, so solutions are needed. The use of tidal, Eolic or solar power has many advantages such as their sustainability, the lower maintenance requirement and the minimal impact on the environment.

SMART CITIES

A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) technology in a secure fashion to manage a city's assets including information systems, schools, hospitals, other networks and community services. It is promoted to use urban informatics and technology to improve the efficiency of services. ICT allows city officials to interact directly with the community and the city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city, how the city is evolving, and how to enable a better quality of life. Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data are collected from citizens and devices – then processed and analysed. The information and knowledge gathered are keys to tackling inefficiency. Accidents: reduce the major causes of fatalities and help create a better functioning of the city. (increase the help for the disabled)  Mobility: reduce the problems of connection between different parts of the city and also many problems that come with transport: traffic, parking, urban noise...  Waste and pollution: solving different aspects related to the contamination of water, air and sound.