Conduct a study to find different examples of damage to the lithosphere and hydrosphere in your neighborhood.come up with a list of ways you can help minimise the damage.
Answers
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
The human activity most widely viewed as changing the planet is the burning of fossil fuels. In order to produce the energy that drives the world’s economy, countries rely on carbon-rich fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. By burning these materials, humans have added nearly 400 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere between 1870 and 2013. Right now, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are higher than at any point in human history; the last time they were this high was 800,000 years ago. Carbon dioxide is a heat-trapping gas, and as a result of these atmospheric changes, average temperatures on the planet are rising and global weather patterns are changing. 2015 is expected to be the hottest year on record, following record high in 2014. Some of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed into oceans, increasing their acidity by 30 percent over the past 100 years. This change has far reaching affects on oceanic ecosystems and the food chains that support underwater plant and animal life.
Draining Rivers
Life depends heavily on the supply of fresh water that exists in rivers, lakes, and aquifers. According to Wired Science, it’s estimated that one fourth of Earth’s river basins run dry before ever reaching the ocean. This is the result of reduced rainfall caused by deforestation and the construction of man-made dams that divert water flow in inefficient ways. Less water flowing through river basins has also altered local weather patterns.
Industrial Agriculture
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the amount of farmland needed to provide sufficient food. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 40 percent of Earth’s surface is now comprised of agricultural lands, and a large portion of these lands were once covered by forests. Much of Europe, for example, was once covered with dense temperate forests but over time population growth-driven deforestation has led to more farm land.
Fertilizers used in farming have had far-reaching effects. Their use has injected vast amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous into regional ecosystems. Wired Science reports that 120 million tons of nitrogen are removed from the atmosphere each year and 20 million tons of phosphorous is mined from the ground in order to produce fertilizer to be used for farming. These practices add a tremendous amount of nitrogen and phosphorus to the biosphere than would occur naturally. Runoff from farmland often carries large amounts of fertilizer into rivers and streams that eventually drain into the sea. All of this fertilizer runoff creates rapidly-expanding marine dead zones.
Reef Destruction
Ocean reefs make up the foundation of some of the world’s richest marine ecosystems. Their demise is disturbing the flow of nutrients and energy that support animal and plant life in our oceans. As a result of water pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing, and climate change, experts estimate that one-fifth of global reefs are now dead and one-quarter of reef species may be extinct by 2050. Furthermore, the livelihood of some 500 million people worldwide are dependent on reefs, as these are where many fish and other species start their lives.
Scientists believe northwest Mediterranean once supported a vibrant array of reefs, which provided home to plant and animal species. Today, however, the stripped-down ecosystem is dominated by bacteria and jellyfish, which exhibit a reduced capacity to regulate flows of nutrients and energy.
Plastic Production
Technological development has led to the invention of new materials, such as plastics, that were previously unknown to the planet. Many of these new materials are made up of chemical compounds that can remain active in the environment for thousands of years and have lasting impacts on the delicate regulatory cycles and ecosystems. Today, the world produces approximately 300 million tons of plastics each year. About 20-40 percent of that ends up in landfills, and another 10-20 million tons makes it way to the oceans, disrupting sea life.
At high concentrations, these chemicals can disrupt animal endocrine systems, alter reproduction patterns, and cause cancer. Organic pollutants and plastic-derived endocrine disruptors have been discovered in low concentrations all over the world, even in areas where they’ve never been used, such as Antarctica and at the bottom of the oceans. While the effects of low doses of these chemicals are less understood, they are widespread stresses that ultimately change ecosystems. The damage to marine ecosystems is estimated to be around $13 billion a year.