Discuss the major urban environment problems.
Answers
Urban environmental problems are mostly inadequate water supply, wastewater, solid waste, energy, loss of green and natural spaces, urban sprawl, pollution of soil, air, traffic, noise, etc. ... Air and water pollution and waste are the main environmental problems in most cities.
Pollution of the urban environment and its components is the total resultant of an excessive burden on the environment and the self-cleaning capacity. Environmental problems in urban areas are growing especially in cities in developing countries. Of greatest concern are the state of air quality, noise, and congestion. In cities of economically developed countries, the environmental problems related to industrial production, lodging, and basic infrastructure are reduced, however, the problems of consumption (increasing waste) and traffic problems have increased. Cities consume increasing amounts of natural resources, produce more and more waste and emissions, and all this have an impact on the regional and planetary environment. Air and water pollution and waste are the main environmental problems in most cities. The underlying causes of air pollution of the city are the processes that are associated with the burning of fossil fuels (production and consumption of energy for heating buildings, industrial activities, traffic). Noise is also a special form of pollution, which burdens the urban population. Urbanization causes numerous effects on water resources; these effects can change the hydrology, water quality and availability of aquatic habitats. Deterioration in the quality of ground and river water in the cities is mainly due to the water consumption of the population and industry. Contamination is usually caused by industrial activity as well as the disposal of waste, so in cities is dominated water pollution from municipal and industrial wastewater. The city is marked by large inputs of energy, water, food and a variety of raw materials, resulting in large quantities of goods, as well as waste, which means a huge loss of natural resources in the form of raw materials and energy. Urban ecosystems are indicated by a very high energy consumption and large amounts of solid waste that accumulate in certain places. In this way, they represent landscape degradation factor and adversely affect the quality of water resources and urban air.