Is Mankind a Threat to the Environment?

In our society today, mankind plays a huge impact in threatening the environment. Though each class in society plays a role in essentially destroying the environment, it is the corporations who play the leading role. Humans' careless habits, which involve doing anything it takes in the costliest and most profitable way, have had many negative, irreversible effects on the environment, ranging from animal extinction, desertification of lands, and even global warming. These effects are just a few of many ways humans have already altered the Earth forever.

It is nearly impossible to blame one social group entirely for the damage mankind has slowly caused to the environment. Each class in society has both negative and positive effects on the environment. In our society today, the lower class drive older cars which emit more harmful gases, smoke more than higher educated groups, burn firewood in the winter to save money, and most of their neighborhoods appear to be rundown and dirty. However, this social group also consumes less and wastes less than the upper class because they can not afford to just throw things away. Many lower class citizens also use mass transit such as buses, subways, and some even walk, which saves the environment of many gases that would be emmited from cars.

On the other hand, higher class society consume and waste more, go on vacation and travel regularly, drive big vehicles such as hummers, and own large companies which pollute the environment in any way possible to make profit. On the contrary, people of higher class also can afford and some do buy hybrid and other higher mile per gallon vehicles, not as many smoke cigarettes, their neighborhoods appear cleaner than lower class neighborhoods, and some can afford solar paneling instead of regular electricity.

The most common way that all social groups add pollution to the environment is through the automobiles that they drive. These convenient vehicles, that the world practically can not live without, emit five types of gases into the atmosphere that contribute to global warming. These gases include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and ozone smog. "Air pollution claims 70,000 lives annually" ("Air Pollution Fatalities Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1"1) in the United States alone through cancers, cirrhosis of the liver, and even breathing problems such as asthma. Even more overwhelming, the average American now emits about a ton of carbon into the atmosphere each year as opposed to nearly nothing one century ago.

Though the United States only contains "4.5% of the total world population, their citizens drive one third of all the cars in the world, they drive 50% of the world's mileage, and as of 2004, the United States consumes 19,650,000 barrels of oil each day"(qtd in Social Problems (10^th Ed.) 83). This amount is equivalent to 26% of the daily world consumption. Even more overwhelming about the United States' dependence on fossil fuels is the fact that they depend on other countries for "60% of their daily fuel consumption"(qtd in Social Problems (10^th Ed.) 83), totaling 11.79 million barrels of imported oil a day.

By simply enforcing new laws, the United States could raise its restriction on passenger cars from averaging 27.5 miles per gallon to a higher rate in line with other countries. The benefits of doing this would be enormous. Higher milage per gallon cars would mean less dependency from humans for oil as well as less carbon output into the atmosphere, which causes global warming . The reason the United States has not done this yet is because it is all about the money. With more mile per gallon vehicles, the government will lose money on their taxes per gallon of oil and by raising taxes on each gallon like France has, oil consumption will also go down meaning the United States will also lose money on taxes. "California has recently requested a law that would require vehicles in their state to be as efficient in mile per gallon in eleven years from now as China's vehicles are now. California can not even get this law passed because auto companies are suing California claiming it will hurt the economy" (An Inconvenient Truth, 2006).

Demographics also show that humans are destroying the environment. In more concentrated areas, such as New York City, problems of pollution are increased. These increases include emission of automobile gases, effluence of factories, and dumps for garbage and other human refuge. Metropolitan areas, such as New York City, are surrounded by water sources which companies are dependent on. Humans have polluted these water sources as well. "Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean (on the North-East coast of the U.S.) is like swimming in an unflushed toilet" ("Threats to the Environment" 1). Is this occurring naturally, or is there someone to blame? Industries pour a variety of substances into lakes, streams and the ocean. Farmers drain pesticides, fertilizers, and animal wastes into streams, lakes, etc. Cities also dispose their waste into rivers. Many times, these rivers serve as drinking water. Many transnational companies also contribute to polluting the oceans with oil and other chemical spills.

It is evident humans are destroying the environment through both deforestation and desertification as well. Deforestation refers to the process where tree cover is reduced world-wide. Today, each minute, forty different species along with twenty acres of rain forest are killed. Along with this, twenty-nine trees are cut down for every new one planted in Africa. Deforestation will slowly change rainfall patterns on a global scale, as it has already begun to change the climate of the planet. Desertification refers to once usable land that is turned into a desert. This occurs because of overgrazing, harmful agricultural practices, or deforestation. Basically, humans get all of the resources they could out of an area and destroy it in the process. When they are unable to reverse the damages without it being costly, humans simply desert the lands from use.

Humans are also destroying the environment as we depend more and more on natural resources. As opposed to "50 years ago, humans now use 3 times more water and eat 5 times more seafood"( qtd in Taking Sides (14^th Ed.) 340). Though we still have the same amount of natural resources as 50 years ago, we use shockingly larger amounts. As opposed to 50 years ago, humans also output 4 times more carbon dioxide and burn much more fossil fuel. Capacity for nature to absorb carbon dioxide has changed little but humans are emitting much more. This has led to a rise of CO2 into the atmosphere, ultimately rising temperatures.

A prime example of human's dependence on natural resources is China's dependence on grain. Though much of the world once had grain surpluses, now humans can not even grow enough! Production has fell short 100 million tons in 2002 and again in 2003, leading China to depend on other countries ( who are facing the same problems) for imports to China. This has caused grain scarcity and rising prices because supply can not meet demand. This example rises questions about how people will get fed 50 years from now, as there will be a projected 3 billion more people, yet we can not even meet the quantity of food we need today.

Human's "bad habits" have led to global warming. This is known as the warming of the earth's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels are increasing in the earth's atmosphere which in turn causes the temperature of the planet to rise. Carbon Dioxide is an insulator which allows heat from the sun to reach the surface of the earth, and prevents this heat from escaping. Basically, more carbon dioxide is equivalent to more heat.

Over the last three decades, the earth's average temperature has climbed nearly 1̊F. Four of the last six years were the warmest on record. "During this century, temperatures will rise between 2̊-10̊ F" (qtd in Taking Sides (14^th Ed.) 343). "By July 2085, if carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase two percent a year, the United States will no longer see temperatures under 85 degrees in the summer anywhere in the United States" ("NASA Study Suggests Extreme Summer Warming in the Future"2).

As humans continue to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, temperatures will continue rising, making ocean waters warmer. This will make storms even stronger than Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunamis of 2004. The Earth will face increasing wildfires, droughts, and floods. Warmer temperatures will contribute to polar ice caps melting at quicker rates than they are currently melting. Greenland alone is melting at a rate of three feet per year ("Greenland is Skating on Thinner Ice "1). With ice sheets melting, there will be higher sea levels. which will lead to even more unimaginable scenarios.

Recent slogans such as "Going Green," make it clear that humans truly play a great role in destroying the environment. More than ever, we are now witnessing new ways to conserve, which may help to reverse our mistakes. Cities have tried to ban plastic bags and replace them with cloth or paper bags. Though they have failed, the government has encouraged recycling water bottles by implementing a bottle refund. Energy efficient cars, light bulbs, and other products are becoming more and more advertised. There are even commercials on television encouraging people to "Go Green" and "Flick Off." If humans are not the problem, there would not be any need to start conserving now.

Our society needs to accept reality regarding the harm being caused to the environment. It is now the time for the government to raise restrictions on large companies and relinquish the companies that fail to comply with these new laws instead of just fining them . Companies can afford fines because fines are much cheaper than safer methods which can be costly. Companies make enough profit to invest in ways to create and distribute their products in a more environmental friendly manner. The government needs to inform the public about global warming and what is going on in the world. People truly do not acknowledge the seriousness of global warming and some are just arrogant. If human's ways of life are not changed soon, life will be much worse for our children as temperatures will rise, prices on everything will rise, food will be scarce, and eventually humans will become extinct.

SOURCES

Roberts, Bernie. "Air Pollution Fatalities Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1." Earth Policy Institute. 2002.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update17.htm. (2 October 2007)

Finsterbusch, Kurt. Taking Sides. (14^th Ed.) Iowa: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Eitzen, D. Stanley, and Maxine B. Zinn. Social Problems. (10^th Ed.) Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2006.

An Inconvenient Truth

Long, Russ. "Threats to the Environment."Social Problems. 2007.

http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/problems/chap-04.htm. (2 October 2007)

"Greenland is Skating on Thinner Ice." Washington Post. 2000.

http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/press_release/greenland.html. (2 October 2007)

http://www.nasa.gov/lb/vision/earth/environment/extreme_summer.html.

(2 October 2007)Bettwy, Mike. "NASA Study Suggests Extreme Summer Warming in the Future." Goddard Space Flight Center. 2007.. Dir. by Davis Guggenheim. DVD. Paramount Classics, 2006.