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A 2020 article from The National Library of Medicine entitled "Impacts of environmental issues on health and wellbeing: a global pollution challenge"

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A 2020 article from The National Library of Medicine entitled "Impacts of environmental issues on health and wellbeing: a global pollution challenge"

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A 2023 article by International Research Journal entitled "Addressing the Global Environmental Crisis: A Comprehensive Review of Current Strategies and Challenges" 

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A 2023 article by International Research Journal entitled "Addressing the Global Environmental Crisis: A Comprehensive Review of Current Strategies and Challenges" 

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A 2024 article from Sentient entitled "Humans Destroying Ecosystems: How to Measure Our Impact on the Environment" 

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A 2024 article from Sentient entitled "Humans Destroying Ecosystems: How to Measure Our Impact on the Environment" 

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Explainer

Human activities like industrialized animal farming are causing the destruction of ecosystems worldwide, including as many as 1 million plant and animal species.

The United Nations reported that 1 million plant and animal species were threatened with extinction in 2019, with many just decades away from a tipping point. The same report also found that three-quarters of land-based environments and two-thirds of marine-based environments have been detrimentally altered by human activities.

In order to reduce habitat loss and slow extinction rates, we have to understand how human activities threaten and endanger ecosystems.

Can Human Activities Destroy Ecosystems?

Humans impact the environment in a variety of damaging ways. Extracting natural resources, polluting air and waterways and razing wild landscapes are some of the most damaging examples industrial destruction. These activities can destroy some or all of an entire ecosystem, wiping out the plants and animals that call these ecosystems home.

As the climate crisis continues to raise temperatures worldwide, experts say continued human encroachment on wildlife threatens the biodiversity that is the hallmark of wild ecosystems.

There are currently 77 animals listed as "extinct in the wild" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an organization that publishes a " red list " of species on the brink of extinction. The IUCN also reports that over 41,000 species are threatened, though not on the brink of extinction, accounting for 28 percent of the total of all species assessed by researchers.

How Many Ecosystems Have Humans Destroyed?

Scientists have found that less than 3 percent of the earth's total land can be considered to still have ecological integrity, a framework used for measuring restoration and mitigation efforts to manage and preserve ecosystems.

Humans are overusing the earth's biologically productive land - including cropland, fisheries and forests - by at least 56 percent, which destroys the ability of these lands to provide important ecosystem services like storing carbon emissions or protecting wildlife. At least 75 percent of the earth's ice-free land has also been significantly altered. The oceans are increasingly polluted as well, and the earth has lost over 90 percent of wetlands since 1700, according to reporting from the Guardian.

Between 2009 and 2018, he U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) found the world lost about 11,700 square kilometers of coral - which is equivalent to 14 percent of the global total - while more than 30 percent of the world's reefs have been affected by rising temperatures. Coral reefs are extremely important natural resources - home to about 25 percent of the ocean's fish and a wide range of other species.

What Are the Ecosystems Destroyed by Humans?

According to a 2020 study published in One Earth, humans significantly altered ecosystems across an area the size of Mexico, as 58 percent of the earth's land ecosystems experienced moderate or intense pressure from human activity. The authors also found that out of the earth's 14 biomes and 795 ecoregions, 46 ecoregions spanning across 10 biomes have been highly affected by human-caused destruction, leading to severe ecosystem and biodiversity loss.

The Living Planet Index found a 68 percent decrease between 1970 and 2016 in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, particularly severe in the tropical subregions of the Americas, where wildlife populations have decreased by 94 percent. Over 3 million species that live in the Amazon rainforest are now threatened by human-caused ecosystem collapse.

The oceans are also under threat. UNEP and other experts have projected that by 2050 there will be a 70-90 percent worldwide decrease in live coral reefs because of climate change, and that coral reefs may even become extinct within our lifetimes. Over one-third of marine mammals and one-third of sharks, shark relatives and reef-forming coral are now threatened with extinction.

How Do Humans Destroy Ecosystems?

One of the greatest threats to the earth's ecosystems is the food on our plates. Humans destroy nature, accelerate climate change and endanger biodiversity - as a result of a more highly industrialized livestock-based food system.

One U.N. report found that more than one-third of the world's land surface and nearly 75 percent of freshwater resources are devoted to producing food to feed a rapidly growing population. The report also found that in 2015, 33 percent of marine fish were being harvested at unsustainable levels. In a paper published in Science in 2006, scientists found that marine ecosystems were experiencing unprecedented population loss because of overfishing, estimating that marine biodiversity would eventing collapse by 2050 if humans continue along the same unsustainable trajectory.

In addition to the detrimental effects of overfishing, livestock production is to blame for biodiversity loss. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 26 percent of the planet's ice-free land is used for livestock grazing, with 33 percent of cropland used for livestock feed production, together threatening to decimate the earth's biodiversity rates.

Livestock production is one of the biggest drivers of climate change - animal agriculture alone is responsible for at least 16.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Animal agriculture is also a well-known source of air and water pollution, threatening local ecosystems by overloading waterways with fertilizer, manure and pesticides.

One of the world's largest beef producers is the country of Brazil - cattle farming there is causing as much as 80 percent of Brazil's deforestation. Brazilian cattle ranching accounts for the release of 392 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year, which is equivalent to 17 percent of the country's total emissions. This figure does not include land use change, which would add even more to this figure.

If global meat consumption continues to grow - and it's already more than doubled since 1990 - human activities like cattle ranching will continue to destroy the earth's most vital ecosystems, including the Amazon rainforest.

Hunting and Fishing

Hunting and fishing are two human activities that also destroys wild ecosystems. Whenever humans remove animals from their ecosystems - whether for food or sport - it harms ecosystems in direct and indirect ways.

For example, research shows that overhunting can kill forest trees because of the reduction of mammals that eat seeds - posing a risk to the wider ecological dynamics of tropical forests.

In addition, overhunting can decrease species diversity, altering interactions between different types of animals and other creatures, disrupting migration and hibernation patterns and damaging natural food chains, leading to uneven population growth across species - all of which creates a negative impact on ecosystems.

Similarly, fishing can damage seabed ecosystems in unintended ways. A common practice in the commercial fishing industry is trawling, which drags up plants and coral or leads to bycatch, in which marine species such as dolphins, whales, sea turtles and sharks are caught unintentionally and discarded. Trawling stirs up the water in a way that increases sediment and blocks sunlight, creating ocean dead zones.

Introduced Species

Invasive species are a major threat to ecosystems that threaten habitat loss and endanger biodiversity. Some species are introduced by humans to an area deliberately, including for pest control and pet imports. These deliberate introductions can have a detrimental effect on local ecosystems. For example, because pet pythons released in the Everglades have few natural predators there, their introduction has decimated local species. Invasive pythons have caused raccoon and opossum populations to plummet by 99 percent, effectively obliterating the populations of marsh rabbits and foxes in some areas.

Other species are introduced unintentionally through transportation or trade. For example, zebra mussels attach themselves to boats, which enables them to spread easily through bodies of water. The effects of these zebra mussels are akin to an " aquatic pandemic," increasing the chances of algal blooms that kill native species.

Land Use Change

Land use change is the human-led process of transforming natural landscapes, whether by direct or indirect action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that land use change for agriculture can lead to significant habitat and biodiversity loss, as well as land and water degradation.

Converting wild landscapes to farmland or for other human uses has caused most of the world's deforestation and desertification. Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land, either through clear-cutting or selective logging to obtain wood for fuel, as well as for manufacturing, grazing and to grow crops like corn and soy for farmed animal feed. It can lead to biodiversity loss by disrupting the habitats of local species, one of the main causes of extinction. In 2021, 9.3 million acres of trees in the tropics were lost due to rising populations, agriculture and energy demands. Deforestation in the Amazon has forced animals out of their natural ranges as existing habitats are clear-cut, removing their sources of shelter, food and water. It also causes soil erosion and adds to climate change pollution by destroying natural carbon reserves like forests.

Soil erosion and land degradation can cause congested and polluted waterways, increased flooding, and loss of arable land through a process known as desertification. Desertification is a consequence of land degradation, often caused by overgrazing, leading to the deterioration of habitats as the land transforms into desert-like conditions. The U.N. has found that arable land loss is 30 to 35 times higher than the historical rate, and that over 12 million hectares of land is lost each year to desertification.

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a habitat with adverse consequences. Pollutants include everything from car exhaust and the burning of coal to sewage or pesticides, all of which negatively impact land, water and air.

Land pollution can be caused by agriculture, mining, landfills, construction, nuclear waste, urbanization and industry. Land pollution can also poison groundwater through a process called leaching.

The Environmental Protection Agency has discovered that over 20 percent of lakes and 30 percent of streams in the U.S. are polluted by sources like animal waste from industrialized animal agriculture, storm water, waste water, fossil fuels and fertilizers. Pollution from dairy farming, for example, causes water pollution, with pollution from animal waste and fertilizer making its way to oceans and causing one of the largest dead zones ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.

While most air pollution comes from energy use and production, researchers have concluded that fine particle air pollution from industrialized agriculture leads to over 17,000 deaths in the U.S. per year, the bulk of which comes from animal agriculture.

Resource Exploitation

Research has shown that humans are depleting natural resources at almost double the rate at which they can regenerate. By 2050, humans will need 2.5 earths to meet our resource usage demands. The most exploited resources include sand, water, fossil fuels, palm oil, trees and soil. The overuse of these resources - caused by poor farming practices, overpopulation, logging and overconsumption - can create water shortages, oil and mineral depletion, forest cover loss and species extinction.

The expansion of agriculture - mostly for beef production - has been a primary driver of forest loss and degradation. On-farm food waste also has negative impacts, as the water, fuel and fertilizer resources used to produce, pack and transport the food ultimately go to waste too.

How Can We Reduce the Impact of Human Activity on the Environment?

The U.N. has urged the international community pursue sustainable development to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Unfortunately, the United States is not on track to meet U.N. sustainable development goals, despite President Biden rejoining the Paris Agreement in 2021.

The U.N.'s 2022 Sustainable Development Goals Report recommends that countries implement the following changes in order to reduce human-caused damages to the earth and its ecosystems:

Protect and restore the world's wetlands, which are used as breeding grounds for 40 percent of the world's plant and animal species

Reduce food waste

Move away from reliance on natural resources

Increase climate finance that invests in actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Fight ocean acidification

Reduce the flow of litter, waste and runoff into waterways

Increase protected areas of the oceans

Improve regulations and increase the monitoring and surveillance of overfishing

Reduce the felling of forests, mainly caused by agricultural expansion

Fight species extinction by moving away from unsustainable agricultural methods, logging and over-harvesting of wild species

Increase protections identified as key for global biodiversity

In a special Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on land, climate scientists also recommended that people reduce their meat consumption.

What You Can Do

The increase in industrialized animal farming across the globe is the primary driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. In 2021, research supported by the U.N. Environment Programme predicted that devastating biodiversity loss will continue unless our food system undergoes radical change, like shifting to plant-rich diets.

Research has shown again and again that plant-based foods are better for the environment and result in lower greenhouse gas emissions than meat and dairy. A study published in PNAS in 2022 also reinforced the importance of an environmentally sustainable food system with less reliance on these foods.

Reducing your consumption of meat and reducing food waste are two of the most important individual climate actions you can take. You can also vote for politicians that demonstrate a commitment to crafting public policy to protect ecosystems.

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Humans Destroying Ecosystems: How to Measure Our Impact on the Environment

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Human activities like industrialized animal farming are causing the destruction of ecosystems worldwide, including as many as 1 million plant and animal species.

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A 2020 The Guardian article entitled "Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report"

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A 2020 The Guardian article entitled "Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report"

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Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.

On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)'s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.

The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was complied by 134 experts from around the world. It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded.

The analysis tracked global data on 20,811 populations of 4,392 vertebrate species. Those monitored include high-profile threatened animals such as pandas and polar bears as well as lesser known amphibians and fish. The figures, the latest available, showed that in all regions of the world, vertebrate wildlife populations are collapsing, falling on average by more than two-thirds since 1970.

Q&A
What is biodiversity and why does it matter?

Biodiversity - short for biological diversity - is the variety of life on Earth, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammals. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat all rely on it - without plants there would be no oxygen and without bees to pollinate there would be no fruit or nuts.

Scientists are still trying to understand how the web of life fits together and, despite advances in technology, we can still only guess at the true number of species on our planet. But Earth is experiencing the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs, and humans are to blame. The way we mine, pollute, hunt, farm, build and travel is putting at least one million species at risk of extinction, say experts. The sixth mass extinction in geological history has already begun, some scientists assert, with billions of individual populations being lost.

The five biggest threats to biodiversity are: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of natural resources; the climate crisis; pollution and invasive species.

The extinction of animals, insects, plants, and all living things has huge knock-on effects. Species have to work together in harmony in order to thrive and provide the essential services humans need to survive. The services provided by ecosystems are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars. About half of global GDP - equal to $42tn (£37tn) - is dependent on the healthy functioning of the natural world, according to the UN.

The world has so far failed to meet any UN targets on halting the loss of nature but new targets will be set at the Cop15 biodiversity summit in Montreal in December 2022.

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Robin Freeman, who led the research at ZSL, said: "It seems that we've spent 10 to 20 years talking about these declines and not really managed to do anything about it. It frustrates me and upsets me. We sit at our desks and compile these statistics but they have real-life implications. It's really hard to communicate how dramatic some of these declines are."

Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the most alarming drop, with an average fall of 94% in vertebrate wildlife populations. Reptiles, fish and amphibians in the region were most negatively affected, driven by the overexploitation of ecosystems, habitat fragmentation and disease.

A tiger in Bardia national park, Nepal, a species that is showing signs of recovery. Photograph: Emmanuel Rondeau/WWF

Africa and the Asia Pacific region have also experienced large falls in the abundance of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles, dropping 65% and 45% respectively. Europe and central Asia recorded a fall of 24%, while populations dropped 33% on average in North America. To form the Living Planet Index (LPI), akin to a stock market index of wildlife, more biodiverse parts of the world, such as tropical regions, are given more weighting.

Experts said the LPI was further evidence of the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, with one million species at risk because of human activity, according to the UN's global assessment report in 2019. Deforestation and the conversion of wild spaces for human food production have largely been blamed for the destruction of Earth's web of life.

The report highlights that 75% of the Earth's ice-free land has been significantly altered by human activity, and almost 90% of global wetlands have been lost since 1700.

Mike Barrett, executive director of conservation and science at WWF, said: "Urgent and immediate action is necessary in the food and agriculture sector. All the indicators of biodiversity loss are heading the wrong way rapidly. As a start, there has got to be regulation to get deforestation out of our supply chain straight away. That's absolutely vital."

Freshwater areas are among the habitats suffering the greatest damage, according to the report, with one in three species in those areas threatened by extinction and an average population drop of 84%. The species affected include the critically endangered Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River, which is down by 97%.

Using satellite analysis, the report also finds that wilderness areas - defined as having no human imprint - only account for 25% of the Earth's terrestrial area and are largely restricted to Russia, Canada, Brazil and Australia.

Matécho Forest in French Guiana. Rainforests around the world are subject to overexploitation. Photograph: Roger Leguen/WWF

Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said: "We are wiping wildlife from the face of the planet, burning our forests, polluting and over-fishing our seas and destroying wild areas. We are wrecking our world - the one place we call home - risking our health, security and survival here on Earth."

Sir David Attenborough said that humanity has entered a new geological age - the anthropocene - where humans dominate the Earth, but said it could be the moment we learn to become stewards of our planet.

"Doing so will require systemic shifts in how we produce food, create energy, manage our oceans and use materials. But above all it will require a change in perspective," he wrote in a collection of essays accompanying the report.

"The time for pure national interests has passed, internationalism has to be our approach and in doing so bring about a greater equality between what nations take from the world and what they give back. The wealthier nations have taken a lot and the time has now come to give."

A dead shark surrounded by litter on the beach at Hann in Dakar. Photograph: Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images

While the data is dominated by the decline of wildlife populations around the world, the index showed that some species can recover with conservation efforts. The blacktail reef shark in Australia and Nepalese tiger populations have both shown signs of recovery.

ZSL research associate Louise McRae, who has helped compile the LPI for the last 14 years, said: "Whilst we are giving a very depressing statistic, all hope is not lost. We can actually help populations recover.

"I feel frustrated by having to give a stark and desperate message but I think there's a positive side to it as well."

A separate study released today by Newcastle University and BirdLife International says that at least 28 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented by conservation efforts since the UN Convention on Biological Diversity came into force in 1993.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

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Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale - report

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Animal populations have plunged an average of 68% since 1970, as humanity pushes the planet's life-support systems to the edge

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A 2025 Earth-ORG article entitled "15 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2025"

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A 2025 Earth-ORG article entitled "15 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2025"

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While the climate crisis has many factors that play a role in the exacerbation of the environment, there are some that warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, from deforestation and biodiversity loss to food waste and fast fashion.-
1. Global Warming From Fossil Fuels

The last time carbon dioxide levels on our planet were as high as today was across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, decimating crops, and a regions, the , and increasing more than 4 million years ago. Increased emissions of greenhouse gases have led to a rapid and steady increase in global temperatures, which in turn is causing catastrophic events all over the world - from Australia and the US experiencing some of the most devastating bushfire seasons ever recorded, locusts swarming cientists are constantly warning that the planet has crossed a series of heatwave in Antarctica that saw temperatures rise above 20C for the first time. S tipping points that could have catastrophic consequences, such as advancing permafrost melt in Arctic sixth mass extinction Greenland ice sheet melting at an unprecedented rate, accelerating deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, just to name a few.

The climate crisis is causing tropical storms and other weather events such as hurricanes, heatwaves and flooding to be more intense and frequent than seen before. However, even if all greenhouse gas emissions were halted immediately, global temperatures would continue to rise in the coming years. That is why it is absolutely imperative that we start now to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy sources, and phase our fossil fuels as fast as possible.
You might also like: The Tipping Points of Climate Change: How Will Our World Change?
2. Poor Governance

Economists and environmentalists have urged policymakers for years to increase the price of activities that emit greenhouse gases (one of our biggest environmental problems), the lack of which constitutes the largest market failure, for example through carbon taxes, which will stimulate innovations in low-carbon technologies.

To cut emissions quickly and effectively enough, governments must not only massively increase funding for green innovation to bring down the costs of low-carbon energy sources, but they also need to adopt a range of other policies that address each of the other market failures.

A national carbon tax is currently implemented in 27 countries around the world , including various countries in the EU, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Ukraine and Argentina. However, according to the 2019 OECD Tax Energy Use report, current tax structures are not adequately aligned with the pollution profile of energy sources. For example, the OECD suggests that carbon taxes are not harsh enough on coal production, although it has proved to be effective for the electricity industry. A carbon tax has been effectively implemented in ; the carbon tax is U$127 per tonne and has reduced emissions by 25% since 1995, while its economy has expanded 75% in the same time period.

Further, organisations such as the United Nations are not fit to deal with the climate crisis: it was assembled to prevent another world war and is not fit for purpose. Anyway, members of the UN are not mandated to comply with any suggestions or recommendations made by the organisation. For example, the Paris Agreement, a historic deal within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says that countries need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly so that global temperature rise is below 2C by 2100, and ideally under 1.5C. But signing on to it is voluntary, and there are no real repercussions for non-compliance. Further, the issue of equity remains a contentious issue whereby developing countries are allowed to emit more in order to develop to the point where they can develop technologies to emit less, and it allows some countries, such as China, to exploit this.

3. Food Waste

A third of the food intended for human consumption - around 1.3 billion tons - is wasted or lost. This is enough to feed 3 billion people. Food waste and loss account for a third of greenhouse gas emissions annually; if it was a country, food waste would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the US.

Food waste and loss occurs at different stages in developing and developed countries; in developing countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the post-harvest and processing levels, while in developed countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the retail and consumer levels.

At the retail level, a shocking amount of food is wasted because of aesthetic reasons; in fact, in the US, more than 50% of all produce thrown away in the US is done so because it is deemed to be "too ugly" to be sold to consumers- this amounts to about 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables. This leads to food insecurity, another one of the biggest environmental problems on the list.
You might also like: 25 Shocking Facts About Food Waste
4. Biodiversity Loss

The past 50 years have seen a rapid growth of human consumption, population, global trade and urbanisation, resulting in humanity using more of the Earth's resources than it can replenish naturally.
You might also like: The Remarkable Benefits of Biodiversity
5. Plastic Pollution

A report by science journal, Nature, determined that currently, roughly make their way into the oceans every year, 14 million tons of plastic harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in them. The research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. If we include microplastics into this, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040.

Shockingly, National Geographic found that 91% of all plastic that has ever been made is not recycled, representing not only one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, but another massive market failure. Considering that plastic takes 400 years to decompose, it will be many generations until it ceases to exist. There's no telling what the irreversible effects of plastic pollution will have on the environment in the long run.
You might also like: 8 Shocking Plastic Pollution Statistics to Know About
6. Deforestation

The three countries experiencing the highest levels of deforestation are Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest - spanning 6.9 million square kilometres (2.72 million square miles) and covering around 40% of the South American continent - is also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and is home to about three million species of plants and animals. Despite efforts to protect forest land, legal deforestation is still rampant, and about a third of global tropical deforestation occurs in Brazil's Amazon forest, amounting to 1.5 million hectares each year.

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, another one of the biggest environmental problems appearing on this list. Land is cleared to raise livestock or to plant other crops that are sold, such as sugar cane and palm oil. Besides for carbon sequestration, forests help to prevent soil erosion, because the tree roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away, which also prevents landslides.
You might also like: 10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About
7. Air Pollution

One of the biggest environmental problems today is outdoor air pollution. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that an estimated 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year and that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In Africa, 258,000 people died as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2017, up from 164,000 in 1990, according to . Causes of air pollution mostly comes from industrial sources and motor vehicles, as well as emissions from burning biomass and poor air quality due to dust storms.

In Europe, a recent report from the EU's environment agency showed that air pollution contributed to 400 000 annual deaths in the EU in 2012 (the last year for which data was available).

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, attention has been put on the role that air pollution gases has in transporting the virus molecules. Preliminary studies have identified a air quality is positive correlation between COVID-19-related mortalities and air pollution and there is also a plausible association of airborne particles assisting the viral spread. This could have contributed to the high death toll in China, where r, although more definitive studies must be conducted before such a conclusion can be drawn. notoriously poo

8. Melting Ice Caps and Sea Level Rise

The climate crisis is warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. Today, sea levels are rising more than twice as quickly as they did for most of the 20th century as a result of increasing temperatures on Earth. Seas are now rising an average of 3.2 mm per year globally and they will continue to grow up to about 0.7 metres by the end of this century. In the Arctic, the Greenland Ice Sheet poses the greatest risk for sea levels because melting land ice is the main cause of rising sea levels.

Representing arguably the biggest of the environmental problems, this is made all the more concerning considering that last year's summer triggered the loss of 60 billion tons of ice from Greenland, enough to raise global sea levels by 2.2mm in just two months . According to satellite data, the Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of ice in 2019: an average of a million tons per minute throughout the year, one of the biggest environmental problems that has cascading effects. If the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level would rise by .

Meanwhile, the Antarctic continent contributes about 1 millimetre per year to sea level rise, which is of the annual global increase. Additionally, the last fully intact ice shelf in Canada in the Arctic recently collapsed, having lost about 80 square kilometres - or 40% - of its area over a two-day period in late July, according to the Canadian Ice Service .

Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines), and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) are among the cities most at risk of sea level rise and flooding.
You might also like: Two-Thirds of World's Glaciers Set to Disappear by 2100 Under Current Global Warming Scenario
9. Ocean Acidification

Global temperature rise has not only affected the surface, but it is the main cause of ocean acidification. Our oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide that is released into the Earth's atmosphere. As higher concentrations of carbon emissions are released thanks to human activities such as burning fossil fuels as well as effects of global climate change such as increased rates of wildfires, so do the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed back into the sea.

Some studies have also found that ocean acidification can be linked as one of the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean. The accumulating bacteria and microorganisms derived from plastic garbage dumped in the ocean to damage marine ecosystems and contribute towards coral bleaching.

10. Agriculture

Studies have shown that the global food system is responsible for up to of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, of which comes from livestock and fisheries. Crop production releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide through the use of fertilisers .

Scientists and environmentalists have continuously warned that we need to rethink our current food system; switching to a more plant-based diet would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the conventional agriculture industry.
You might also like: The Future of Farming: Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?
11. Food and Water Insecurity

Rising temperatures and unsustainable farming practices has resulted in the increasing threat of water and food insecurity and taking the mantle as one of the biggest environmental problems today.

The UN secretary-general António Guterres says, "Unless immediate action is taken, it is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food security emergency that could have long term impacts on hundreds of millions of adults and children." He urged for countries to rethink their food systems and encouraged more sustainable farming practices.

In terms of water security, only 3% of the world's water is fresh water , and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population may face water shortages.
You might also like: Global Food Security: Why It Matters in 2023
12. Fast Fashion and Textile Waste

The global demand for fashion and clothing has risen at an unprecedented rate that the fashion industry now accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, becoming one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Fashion alone produces more greenhouse gas emissions than both the aviation and shipping sectors combined, and nearly 20% of global wastewater, or around 93 billion cubic metres from textile dyeing, according to the UN Environment Programme.

What's more, the world at least generated an estimated 92 million tonnes of textiles waste every year and that number is expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030. Discarded clothing and textile waste ends up in landfills, most of which is non-biodegradable, while microplastics from clothing materials such as polyester, nylon, polyamide, acrylic and other synthetic materials, is leeched into soil and nearby water sources. Monumental amounts of clothing textile are also dumped in less developed countries as seen with Chile's Atacama, the driest desert in the world, where at least 39,000 tonnes of textile waste from other nations are left there to rot.

This rapidly growing issue is only exacerbated by the ever-expanding fast fashion business model, in which companies relies on cheap and speedy production of low quality clothing to meet the latest and newest trends. While the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action sees signatory fashion and textile companies to commit to achieving net zero emission by 2050, a majority of businesses around the world have yet to address their roles in climate change.
You might also like: Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact
While these are some of the biggest environmental problems plaguing our planet, there are many more that have not been mentioned, including overfishing, urban sprawl, toxic superfund sites and land use changes. While there are many facets that need to be considered in formulating a response to the crisis, they must be coordinated, practical and far-reaching enough to make enough of a difference.

13. Overfishing

Over three billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein. About 12% of the world relies upon fisheries in some form or another, with 90% of these being small-scale fishermen - think a small crew in a boat, not a ship, using small nets or even rods and reels and lures not too different from the kind you probably use . Of the 18.9 million fishermen in the world, 90% of them fall under the latter category.

Most people consume approximately twice as much food as they did 50 years ago and there are four times as many people on earth as there were at the close of the 1960s. This is one driver of the 30% of commercially fished waters being classified as being 'overfished'. This means that the stock of available fishing waters is being depleted faster than it can be replaced.
You might also like: 7 Solutions to Overfishing We Need Right Now
Overfishing comes with detrimental effects on the environment, including increased algae in the water, destruction of fishing communities, ocean littering as well as extremely high rates of biodiversity loss.

14. Cobalt Mining

Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition. As a key component of battery materials that power electric vehicles (EVs), cobalt is facing a sustained surge in demand as decarbonisation efforts progress. The world's largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it is estimated that up to a fifth of the production is produced through artisanal miners.
You might also like: Cobalt Mining: The Dark Side of the Renewable Energy Transition
Cobalt mining, however, is associated with dangerous workers' exploitation and other serious environmental and social issues. The environmental costs of cobalt mining activities are also substantial. Southern regions of the DRC are not only home to cobalt and copper, but also large amounts of uranium. In mining regions, scientists have made note of high radioactivity levels. In addition, mineral mining, similar to other industrial mining efforts, often produces pollution that leaches into neighbouring rivers and water sources. Dust from pulverised rock is known to cause breathing problems for local communities as well.

15. Soil Degradation

Organic matter is a crucial component of soil as it allows it to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Plants absorb CO2 from the air naturally and effectively through photosynthesis and part of this carbon is stored in the soil as soil organic carbon (SOC). Healthy soil has a minimum of 3-6% organic matter. However, almost everywhere in the world, the content is much lower than that.

According to the United Nations, about 40% of the planet's soil is degraded. Soil degradation refers to the loss of organic matter, changes in its structural condition and/or decline in soil fertility and it is often the result of human activities, such as traditional farming practices including the use of toxic chemicals and pollutants. If business as usual continued through 2050, experts project additional degradation of an area almost the size of South America. But there is more to it. If we do not change our reckless practices and step up to preserve soil health, food security for billions of people around the world will be irreversibly compromised, with an estimated 40% less food expected to be produced in 20 years' time despite the world's population projected to reach 9.3 billion people.

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What Can I Do?

1. On A Personal Level

Ways to approach climate action within our personal lives (hint - it evolves personal action but is not focused on small behavioural changes, which whilst worthwhile will not get us there):

Check out our new 'What Can I Do' section, where we publish articles aimed at inspiring you to take action.

Joining a community can be one of the best ways to increase your impact.

First, it can enable you to make hundreds of connections in one go.

Second, a group of people working together can have more impact than individuals. If you are not already, take action by becoming an to support our mission to encourage a billion climate activists.

If you're a younger read ask your parents to take action by bringing your whole family on board as a Family Member.

Reflect on the concept of Effective Altruism , a project that aims to find the best ways to help others, and put them into practice.

Ways to approach climate action within the workplace:

Maintain your career path but consider donating a portion of your income to organisations that are focused on achieving meaningful & impactful goals and call out your boss if the company or organisation you work for does not have clear policies that will result in reduced harm to the environment and a pathway to Net Zero.

Ask your boss to support EO by bringing the whole team onboard with EO company membership - and take action together.

Reconsider your career path, with excellent advice .

3. On A Political Level
Featured image by Roy Mangersnes (EO Photographer)
Ways to approach climate action as a voter or political actor (even if you can't vote):

Protest - make your feelings known - become a vocal and passionate advocate with friends and family (without being over pushy) of the need for climate action. We need a billion activists to turn this ship around.

Join organisations that are organising climate actions and protests locally, whether in your city, district, or even at school.

Vote (if you can) for politicians who will champion effective climate action by governments.

Vote for parties or organisations that espouse self-reform and the adoption of ' Ministers of the Future ' into government.

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The Biggest Environmental Problems Of 2021

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From deforestation and plastic pollution to fast fashion and food waste, here are 15 of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime.

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A 2024 article from Science Direct entitled "Impact of environmental pollution from human activities on water, air quality and climate change"

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A 2024 article from Science Direct entitled "Impact of environmental pollution from human activities on water, air quality and climate change"