Analyse the challenges posed to the natural environment as a result of human activities. Give real life situations and scenarios in support of your answer. Also suggest the remedial measures that can be helpful in protecting a natural environment.
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Answer:
Efforts of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address environmental degradation over the last 40 years have had some marked successes, including reductions in particulate and sulfur air pollution, reductions in industrial discharges in waterways, and removal of lead from gasoline. Yet enormous challenges remain. Although many of the more visible environmental problems have been at least partly addressed, persistent problems and new problems affect the environment’s ability to provide the ecosystem services on which humans and other living organisms depend.
Solving current environmental challenges—for example, nutrient overload and eutrophication, climate change, increased body burdens of diverse chemicals, and water-quality declines—requires understanding the nature of the problems and their relationships to other phenomena. In particular, solving environmental challenges requires consideration of root causes and possible unintended consequences of interventions in domains not normally considered. Developing a strong understanding of how various key drivers can affect multiple phenomena relies on the expansive application of systems thinking. Identifying viable and sustainable solutions that will optimize economic, social, and environmental benefits should have high priority. Ensuring that EPA has the scientific capacity to promote those solutions requires a science strategy that builds on accomplishments but includes innovative and diverse tools.
Current and future environmental challenges also include disasters, which require EPA to have an ability to respond quickly to address environmental consequences. Those disasters can arise from natural events such as storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions; from accidents at major industrial facilities, such as pipelines, large bulk-storage facilities, mines and wells, and power and chemical plants; or as the direct or indirect consequence of terrorism events. EPA is and will continue to be responsible for monitoring and addressing the environmental changes resulting from disasters (whether natural or human-caused).