While the increasing world population stimulates an increase in demand for resources, human activities have been changing the makeup of the atmosphere, damaging the environment which provides those resources. Common practices such as burning fossil fuels and removing forests have released unprecedented amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, resulting in a worldwide increase in temperatures referred to as climate change. This increase in heat alters water cycles, effecting significant changes in the availability of fresh water. In addition, abnormal temperatures can disrupt the variety of plants and animals in ecosystems as well as weaken agricultural productivity. As a catalyst for climate change, overpopulation contributes to this increase
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Temperatures rise as the result of greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide and water vapor, being released into the atmosphere in large quantities; after release into the atmosphere, these gases trap heat that is reflected off the surface of the earth. This reflective strength develops as more and more greenhouse gases are released. Because human activities are leading causes of carbon dioxide release, the concentration of the gas has been increasing over time. In 1950, carbon dioxide, for the first time in history, composed three hundred parts per million of the atmosphere, skyrocketing to just under four hundred by 2014 (“Climate Change” 1). World population experienced similar a similar trend. From the start of the 1900s to 1950, world population began to experience an exponential increases, more than doubling from one billion in 1927 to two and a half billion in 1950, the year carbon dioxide started reaching record concentrations (“World Population” 1). As carbon dioxide levels rose, the population would reach just over seven billion. This correlation occurs because as more people populate the earth, more people are driving cars, burning fossil fuels, and removing forests, which releases greater and greater quantities of carbon dioxide each year. While many are skeptical of the realities of climate change, ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree …show more content…
Firstly, the microcystin is unsafe for native fish and birds as well as humans. In an experiment on the effects of microcystin on fish, scientists injected doses of microcystin into the bodies of the population, and fish would die from doses as low as twenty micrograms (Butler et al. 5). As for birds, illness and death among bird species are often linked with high microcystin levels in their respective habitats. For example, biologists observed that as microcystin levels increased in the Chesapeake Bay, native birds began to fall ill more often, sometimes leading to death (Koslow, Lillard, and Benka 5). In addition to microcystin, solids and sediments flowing from eroded ground harm plant and animal life in lakes and rivers. Sediments and solids flush more frequently into freshwater bodies along with phosphorus and nitrogen as a result of heavier precipitation, and when these solids wash into rivers and lakes, they reduce the penetration of light and suffocate bottom-dwelling organism ("Environmental Assessment 4.0" 12). In this way, plant growth is limited, and organisms feeding off those plants become susceptible to starvation as competition for food increases. Consequentially, fishery production will suffer. Without healthy freshwater ecosystems, societies around these lakes and rivers could lose a
Temperatures rise as the result of greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide and water vapor, being released into the atmosphere in large quantities; after release into the atmosphere, these gases trap heat that is reflected off the surface of the earth. This reflective strength develops as more and more greenhouse gases are released. Because human activities are leading causes of carbon dioxide release, the concentration of the gas has been increasing over time. In 1950, carbon dioxide, for the first time in history, composed three hundred parts per million of the atmosphere, skyrocketing to just under four hundred by 2014 (“Climate Change” 1). World population experienced similar a similar trend. From the start of the 1900s to 1950, world population began to experience an exponential increases, more than doubling from one billion in 1927 to two and a half billion in 1950, the year carbon dioxide started reaching record concentrations (“World Population” 1). As carbon dioxide levels rose, the population would reach just over seven billion. This correlation occurs because as more people populate the earth, more people are driving cars, burning fossil fuels, and removing forests, which releases greater and greater quantities of carbon dioxide each year. While many are skeptical of the realities of climate change, ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree …show more content…
Firstly, the microcystin is unsafe for native fish and birds as well as humans. In an experiment on the effects of microcystin on fish, scientists injected doses of microcystin into the bodies of the population, and fish would die from doses as low as twenty micrograms (Butler et al. 5). As for birds, illness and death among bird species are often linked with high microcystin levels in their respective habitats. For example, biologists observed that as microcystin levels increased in the Chesapeake Bay, native birds began to fall ill more often, sometimes leading to death (Koslow, Lillard, and Benka 5). In addition to microcystin, solids and sediments flowing from eroded ground harm plant and animal life in lakes and rivers. Sediments and solids flush more frequently into freshwater bodies along with phosphorus and nitrogen as a result of heavier precipitation, and when these solids wash into rivers and lakes, they reduce the penetration of light and suffocate bottom-dwelling organism ("Environmental Assessment 4.0" 12). In this way, plant growth is limited, and organisms feeding off those plants become susceptible to starvation as competition for food increases. Consequentially, fishery production will suffer. Without healthy freshwater ecosystems, societies around these lakes and rivers could lose a