7 Environmental Problems That Are Worse Than We Thought

1. Population Explosion

   Whether we like to admit it or not, our very own rapidly multiplying presence on this planet is the biggest environmental problem there is, and it’s getting bigger by the minute. We voraciously consume resources, pollute the air and water, tear down natural habitats, introduce species into areas where they don’t belong and destroy ecosystems to the point of causing millions of species to become endangered and, all too often, go extinct.

   It took nearly all of human history – from the first days of man on earth until the early 1800’s – to reach a global population of 1 billion. In just 200 years, we’ve managed to reach 6.5 billion. That means the population has grown more since 1950 than in the previous four million years. We’re adding roughly 74 million people to the planet every year, a scary figure that will probably continue to increase. All of those mouths will need to be fed. All of those bodies will need clean water and a place to sleep. All of the new communities created to house those people will continue to encroach upon the natural world.

   All seven environmental problems detailed above are very serious, and we’ve got to start treating them that way. We may not have easy solutions, but the fact is, we simply can’t continue living our lives as if everything is peachy. These problems aren’t going to magically solve themselves. We should have begun acting generations ago, but we can’t go back in time, and that means we have to step up our efforts. If we want to keep this planet a healthy place for humans to live – for our grandchildren to enjoy – it’s time to buckle down and do everything in our power to reverse the damage we’ve done.

2. CO2 Levels in the Atmosphere

   The aforementioned polar sea ice loss is yet another sinister sign of carbon dioxide levels building up in the atmosphere – the main force behind global warming. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by our modern way of life – vehicles, power plants, factories, giant livestock farms – will bring devastating climate change within decades if they stay at today’s levels.

   Average temperatures could increase by as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century if emissions continue to rise, a figure that would easily make the world virtually uninhabitable for humans. A global temperature rise of just 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit would cause a catastrophic domino effect, bringing weather extremes that would result in food and water shortages and destructive floods.

   The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change represents “the final nail in the coffin” of climate change denial, representing the most authoritative picture to date that global warming is caused by human activity. According to the panel, we must make a swift and significant switch to clean, efficient and renewable energy technologies in order to prevent the worst-case scenario.

3. Polar Sea Ice Loss

   Polar sea ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. It’s perhaps the most dramatic, startling visual evidence of global warming, and it’s got scientists rushing to figure out just how big of an effect the melting is going to have on the rest of the world.

   British researchers said last week that the thickness of sea ice in the Arctic decreased dramatically last winter for the first time since records began in the early 1990s. The research showed a significant loss in thickness on the northern ice cap after the record loss of ice during the summer of 2007.

   Scientific American warns that “human fingerprints have been detected” on both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Antarctica had previously appeared to be the only continent on the planet where humanity’s impact on climate change hadn’t been observed. The collapse of the Larsen B and Wilkins ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula shows just how fast the region is warming.

4. Destruction of the Rain Forest

   ‘Saving the rain forest’ has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for decades, yet here we are facing huge losses in the Amazon all the same. You might have thought that, with all the attention the rain forest has gotten, it wouldn’t need so much saving anymore – but unfortunately, global warming and deforestation mean that half of the Amazon rain forest will likely be destroyed or severely damaged by 2030.

   The World Wildlife Fund concluded this summer that agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching will cause major damage to 55 percent of the Amazon rain forest in the next 22 years. Another 4 percent will see damage due to reduced rainfall, courtesy of global warming. These factors will destroy up to 80 percent of the rain forest’s wildlife. Losing 60 percent of the rain forest would accelerate global warming and affect rainfall in places as far away as India. Massive destruction to the rain forest would have a domino effect on the rest of the world.

   The WWF says that the ‘point of no return’, from which recovery will be impossible, is only 15 to 25 years away.

5. Collapsing Fish Stock

   Millions of people across the world depend upon fish as a major staple in their diet. As such, commercial fishermen have been pulling such a huge quantity of fish from the oceans that we’re heading toward a global collapse of all species currently fished – possibly as soon as the year 2048. Like large-scale mammal extinction, the collapse of fish species would have a major impact on the world’s ecosystems.

   It’s not too late – yet – if overfishing and other threats to fish populations are reduced as soon as possible. Marine systems are still biologically diverse, but catastrophic loss of fish species is close at hand. 29 percent of species have been fished so heavily or have been so affected by pollution that they’re down to 10 percent of their previous population levels. If we continue the way we are fishing today, there will be a 100 percent collapse by mid-century, so we’ve got to turn this around fast.

6. The Ocean Dead Zones

   In oceans around the world, there are eerie areas that are devoid of nearly all life. These ‘dead zones’ are characterized by a lack of oxygen, and they’re caused by excess nitrogen from farm fertilizers, emissions from vehicles and factories, and sewage. The number of dead zones has been growing fast – since the 1960’s, the number of dead zones has doubled every 10 years. They range in size from under a square mile to 45,000 square miles, and the most infamous one of all is in the Gulf of Mexico, a product of toxic sludge that flows down the Mississippi from farms in the Midwest. These ‘hypoxic’ zones now cover an area roughly the size of Oregon.

   Spanish researches recently found that many species die off at oxygen levels well above the current definition of ‘uninhabitable’, suggesting that the extent of dead zones in coastal areas that support fishing is much worse than previously thought. Robert Diaz, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science biologist, said “Everything is pointing towards a more desperate situation in all aquatic systems, freshwater and marine. That’s pretty clear. People should be worried, all over the world.”

   As if that weren’t bad enough, global warming will likely aggravate the problem. A rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will change rainfall patterns, which could create an increase in runoff from rivers into the seas in many areas.


 7. Mammal Extinction

 

One in four mammals is threatened with extinction. That’s 25%, a huge number that will totally change the ecology of every corner of the earth. We could see thousands of species die out in our lifetime, and the rate of habitat loss and hunting in crucial areas like Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Central and South America is growing so rapidly, these animals barely have a chance.

   If you think the extinction of an animal like the beautiful Iberian Lynx is no big deal, and wouldn’t have that much of an effect on the planet, think again. Not only would we be losing – mostly due to our own disregard for our surroundings – so much of the awe-inspiring diversity of nature, mass extinctions like this would cause a serious imbalance in the world’s food chain. When a predator disappears, the prey will multiply. When prey dies out, the predator will see its ranks decrease as well. Many people fail to realize just how interconnected all species on this planet really are.

Old-Growth Forests Are What Giant Pandas Need

" The results of a study recently published in the journal Biology Letters indicate that giant pandas need old-growth forests as much as bamboo forests. This work, which was completed through the collaborative efforts of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science, San Diego Zoo Global, China West Normal University, China Wildlife Conservation Association and the Sichuan Forestry Department, could assist conservationists in creating strategic plans that help conserve this critically endangered bear species."

                                   

   "In this study we show that pandas are associated with old-growth forests more than with any ecological variable other than bamboo," said, Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., one of the authors of the work and a panda researcher with the San Diego Zoo. "This finding indicates that in order to conserve this species, we need to conserve both bamboo and old-growth forests."

   The study, which was conducted from 1999 through 2003, includes data collected from the panda's range in the Sichuan province of China. A key element to the success of this endeavor was the scale of the study, which contributed important information.

  

   "But maps and measures of habitat suitability are only as good as the underlying biological assumptions, which are sometimes influenced by the scale over which data are obtained, " states the study. "Modellers of panda habitat have not ignored the available ecological data but have been forced to rely on data collected over limited temporal and spatial scales."

   Giant pandas are unique among bear species for their reliance on an almost completely herbivorous diet that consists largely of bamboo. This dependence on a bamboo diet has indicated the importance of conserving bamboo forests in order to conserve giant pandas. Information about the panda's additional dependence on old-growth forests is expected to affect conservation efforts for this species in the future.

Modern-Day Plague

                                     Modern-Day Plague

   Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.

   The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.

Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.

Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl.

   Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.

   Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.

Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

   Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere—and increased speed and severity of global warming. The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur. A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earth’s forested land.

Sources of Air Pollution

 Sources of Air Pollution (An overview)

There are many natural sources of air pollution such as eruption of volcanoes, biological decay and lightning-caused forest fire. Naturally, the Earth already has its own air pollution loading. However, industrialization or just everyday routines has become added burden to the existing air pollution loading. Sources of air pollution are as explained below.

Industrial and development activities 

Malaysia’s economic growth is mainly based on its manufacturing (especially electronics), chemical and rubber industries. But higher production rates also lead to higher emissions of organic and inorganic gases, chemicals and dust.

Different industries emit different pollutants. For example, the chemical industry releases emissions that contain many nitrogen and sulphur compounds while refineries discharge sulphur dioxide and hydrocarbons. The metal working industry is partially responsible for the emissions of sulphur dioxide and large amounts of toxic dust. Human activities have resulted in harmful substances and polluting emissions being released into the air. They endanger our health and our natural ecosystem, and lead to an additional greenhouse effect.

Besides emissions of toxic dust, unplanned and uncontrolled development of industrial premises or zones leads to noise pollution and vibration disturbance. The use of conventional piling methods and the sound of exhaust fans in factories are some of the common activities that generate high sound level.

Motor vehicles

Modern society is highly dependent on motorized transportation such as cars, trucks, and railways. Movement of people and goods requires energy which relies mostly on the burning of fossil fuels, thus causing emissions and noise with adverse local effects.
The air quality of the different transport modes depends on the kind of energy, engine technology and the amount of energy consumed. Within the transport sector motorized road traffic is the main emission source while public transport is environmentally friendlier than passenger cars.

In 2004, nearly 14 million vehicles were registered in Malaysia, almost double the number from a decade ago.The number will increase in the next few years, with higher disposable incomes, rural-urban migration and the lack of efficient public transport systems.

Power Generation

Most of the energy is produced in conventional power plants burning fossil fuels like natural gas, oil or coal. The effectiveness of these power plants is about 35 to 40 per cent with the remaining chemical energy converted into heat.
At the moment, Malaysia produces 86% of its electricity in conventional power plants and 14% in hydroelectric power plants.

Everyday Routine

Household contribute to air pollution mainly through the use of energy that is required to run machines and electrical appliances such as refrigerators. Refrigerators and air conditioners not only consume energy but they pollute the environment when their coolant fluids release Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) into the atmosphere. Chemicals used in houses and gardens are also sources of pollution as well as toxic waste.

Open Burning

Burning of older existing plantations for re-planting creates large amounts of soot particles. These soot particles can be blown over long distances and are mainly responsible for the haze that often covers the sky above Malaysia. These fires not only pollute the air but also destroy the rich habitat of the flora and fauna.

Massive Extinctions From Human Activity

   Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been causing massive extinctions. As the Environment New Service, reported back in August 1999 (previous link): “the current extinction rate is now approaching 1,000 times the background rate and may climb to 10,000 times the background rate during the next century, if present trends continue [resulting in] a loss that would easily equal those of past extinctions.” (Emphasis added)

   A major report, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in March 2005 highlighted a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth, with some 10-30% of the mammal, bird and amphibian species threatened with extinction, due to human actions. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) added that Earth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate from the demands we place on it.


   The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes in a video that many species are threatened with extinction. In addition,

• 75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost
• 75% of the world’s fisheries are fully or over exploited
• Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C
• 1/3^rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction
• Every second a parcel of rainforest the size of a football field disappears
• Over 350 million people suffer from severe water scarcity

   Is this the kind of world we want, it asks? After all, the short video concludes, our lives are inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very survival:

Video 1:  What kind of world do you want?

   In different parts of the world, species face different levels and types of threats. But overall patterns show a downward trend in most cases. As explained in the UN’s 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook, the rate of biodiversity loss has not been reduced because the 5 principle pressures on biodiversity are persistent, even intensifying:

1. Habitat loss and degradation
2. Climate change
3. Excessive nutrient load and other forms of pollution
4. Over-exploitation and unsustainable use
5. Invasive alien species

   Most governments report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that these pressures are affecting biodiversity in their country (see p. 55 of the report).
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red List to assess the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale.

Diagram 1: Proportion of all assessed species in different threat categories of extinction risk on the IUCN Red List, based on data from 47,677 species. 

    Extinction risks out pace any conservation successes. Amphibians are the most at risk, while corals have had a dramatic increase in risk of extinction in recent years.

Diagram 2: Threat status of comprehensively assessed species by IUCN.

Blue Holes Project

     Submerged caves—found both on land and in the sea—are among the least studied and most threatened habitats on Earth. These systems, which hold the drinking water for many of the world’s inhabitants and influence the health of nearby marine ecosystems, also boast a unique biodiversity of microbial and multicellular life. In addition they provide a window into the distant past, as the cave’s geological formations can be analyzed to reconstruct past climate and the

unique water chemistry of the blue holes has preserved skeletal remains of Paleo-Indian as well as extinct and still living species.'

   In 2008, Expeditions Council grantee Kenny Broad and his team, in collaboration with The National Museum of the Bahamas, began the Blue Holes Project, a comprehensive exploration of the biological, geological and cultural characteristics of anchialine caves (marine groundwater caves called inland blue holes) and submarine caves (known as ocean blue holes) of the Bahamas.

   Blue holes can run extremely deep underground, with one Bahamian blue hole exceeding 600 feet (180 meters) below sea level, and contain a series of mazelike passageways going miles in many directions. These cave systems can transition from giant rooms to tiny holes that divers must remove all of their gear in order to squeeze through. To add to the challenge, currents reverse in the ocean caves, making timing of dives critical. All in all, a difficult place to explore and even more challenging to achieve the range of scientific and filming goals that the team has on their agenda.

  The Bahamas in particular is one of the few places that afford the opportunity for original exploration and multidisciplinary science in one shot. The inland underground systems serve as aquifers that contain the rain water that percolates down through the porous limestone. In these geologic reservoirs, a thin lens of the lighter freshwater floats above the denser salt water. In addition to its critical role as a source of potable water, this underground world is home to dozens of new species, including a new class of crustaceans. The Bahamian archipelago spans almost 1,000 miles (1,609.3 kilometers), allowing the team to test theories of human and animal migration, and to reconstruct regional climate back hundreds of thousands of years. These reconstructions can help us understand the extent and rates of global sea level rise as well as occurrences of abrupt climate change, both important issues in the face of global warming.

  Many of these cave systems are extremely vulnerable to current development plans. Information gathered during the Blue Hole Project will be integrated into a resource-management plan being developed by the agency charged with leading the protection of these resources: the Bahamian government's Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC).

                                           

How much do you know about Anoxic Environment?

  3/4's of the Earths surface is water. The two main types of water are Oxic and Anoxic. Anoxic waters are areas of sea water or fresh water that are depleted of dissolved oxygen. This condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange.

  In most cases, oxygen is prevented from reaching the deeper levels by a physical barrier (silt) as well as by a pronounced density stratification, in which, for instance, heavier hypersaline waters rest at the bottom of a basin. Anoxic conditions will occur if the rate of oxidation of organic matter by bacteria is greater than the supply of dissolved oxygen.

  Anoxic waters are a natural phenomenon,and have occurred throughout geological history. Anoxic basins exist at present, for example, in the Baltic Sea,  and elsewhere . Recently, there have been some indications that eutrophication has increased the extent of the anoxic areas in areas including the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Picture 1: Baltic Sea

Causes and effects

Anoxic conditions result from several factors; for example, stagnation conditions, density stratification,^[3] inputs of organic material, and strong thermoclines. The bacterial production of sulfide starts in the sediments, where the bacteria find suitable substrates, and then expands into the water column.

When oxygen is depleted in a basin, bacteria first turn to the second-best electron acceptor, which in sea water is nitrate. Denitrification occurs, and the nitrate will be consumed rather rapidly. After reducing some other minor elements, the bacteria will turn to reducing sulfate. If anoxic sea water becomes reoxygenized, sulfides will be oxidized to sulfate according to the chemical equation:

HS⁻ + 2 O₂ → HSO₄⁻

In the Baltic Sea the slowed rate of decomposition under anoxic conditions has left remarkably preserved fossils retaining impressions of soft body parts, in Lagerstätten.

Anoxic Volume

  Although average conditions were observed, the month to month variation in anoxic volume did not follow the usual summer pattern. Typically, the volume of anoxic water in the Bay's mainstem gradually increases during June, reaches a maximum in late July, and declines again in August. For the second year in a row, anoxic volume increased in late June/early July, dropped off in July, and then increased again in August. In 2009, anoxic volume decreased significantly in early July. The volume dropped considerably, with only a small amount of anoxia observed. This reduction in anoxic water may have been due to a wind event that drove southern bay waters into the central portion of the Bay. By the next sampling time in late July, however, the effects of the event had dissipated, and the volume of anoxic water increased to average levels by the end of the season.

Anoxic basins

• Bannock Basin, eastern Mediterranean Sea;
• Black Sea Basin, off eastern Europe, below 50 metres (150 feet);
• Caspian Sea Basin, below 100 metres (300 feet);
• Cariaco Basin, off north central Venezuela;
• Gotland Deep, in the Baltic off Sweden;
• L'Atalante basin, eastern Mediterranean Sea
• Mariager Fjord, off Denmark;
• Orca Basin, northeast Gulf of Mexico;
• Saanich Inlet, off Vancouver Island, Canada;

Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming

Burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming. 

                                    Video 1: A video of "Global Warming" from National Geographic.

You can help to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces global warming, by using energy more wisely. Here are 10 simple actions you can take to help reduce global warming.

Picture 1: Everyone has the responsibilities to save our Earth

 1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home. Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Change a Light Bulb

Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat. If every U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school. When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs. Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

7. Use the "Off" Switch

Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them. It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

8. Plant a Tree

If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company

Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve

Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment. These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.

Do Volcanoes Generate More Greenhouse Gas Than Humans?

  Photo 1: Greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes equal less than one percent of those generated by human activities.

  This argument that human-caused carbon emissions are merely a drop in the bucket compared to greenhouse gases generated by volcanoes has been making its way around the rumor mill for years. And while it may sound plausible, the science just doesn’t back it up. 

  According to the U.S. Geological Survey  (USGS), the world’s volcanoes, both on land and undersea, generate about 200 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, while our automotive and industrial activities cause some 24 billion tons of CO2 emissions every year worldwide. Despite the arguments to the contrary, the facts speak for themselves: Greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes comprise less than one percent of those generated by today’s human endeavors. 

Human Emissions Also Dwarf Volcanoes in Carbon Dioxide Production

Another indication that human emissions dwarf those of volcanoes is the fact that atmospheric CO2 levels, as measured by sampling stations around the world set up by the federally funded Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, have gone up consistently year after year regardless of whether or not there have been major volcanic eruptions in specific years. “If it were true that individual volcanic eruptions dominated human emissions and were causing the rise in carbon dioxide concentrations, then these carbon dioxide records would be full of spikes—one for each eruption,” says Coby Beck, a journalist writing for online environmental news portal Grist.org. “Instead, such records show a smooth and regular trend.” 

Do Volcano Eruptions Cause Global Cooling?

Furthermore, some scientists believe that spectacular volcanic eruptions, like that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, actually lead to short-term global cooling, not warming, as sulfur dioxide (SO2), ash and other particles in the air and stratosphere reflect some solar energy instead of letting it into Earth’s atmosphere. SO2, which converts to sulfuric acid aerosol when it hits the stratosphere, can linger there for as long as seven years and can exercise a cooling effect long after a volcanic eruption has taken place.

Scientists tracking the effects of the major 1991 eruption of the Philippines’ Mt. Pinatubo found that the overall effect of the blast was to cool the surface of the Earth globally by some 0.5 degrees Celsius a year later, even though rising human greenhouse gas emissions and an El Nino event (a warm water current which periodically flows along the coast of Ecuador and Peru in South America) caused some surface warming during the 1991-1993 study period. 

Volcanoes May Melt Antarctic Ice Caps from Below
 

In an interesting twist on the issue, British researchers last year published an article in the peer reviewed scientific journal Nature showing how volcanic activity may be contributing to the melting of ice caps in Antarctica—but not because of any emissions, natural or man-made, per se. Instead, scientists Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey believe that volcanoes underneath Antarctica may be melting the continent’s ice sheets from below, just as warming air temperatures from human-induced emissions erode them from above.

Humans increase the rate of eutrophication

Diagram 1: An eutrophication lake

   


  Eutrophication  is a natural process that occurs in an aging lake or pond as that body of water gradually builds up its concentration of plant nutrients. Cultural or artificial eutrophication occurs when human activity introduces increased amounts of these nutrients.

   Human activities almost always result in the creation of waste, and many of these waste products often contain nitrates and phosphates. Nitrates are a compound of nitrogen, and most are produced by bacteria. Phosphates are phosphorous compounds. Both nitrates and phosphates are absorbed by plants and are needed for growth. However, the human use of detergents and chemical fertilizers has greatly increased the amount of nitrates and phosphates that are washed into our lakes and ponds. When this occurs in a sufficient quantity, they act like fertilizer for plants and algae and speed up their rate of growth. 

  Algae are a group of plantlike organisms that live in water and can make their own food through photosynthesis (using sunlight to make food from simple chemicals). When additional phosphates are added to a body of water, the plants begin to grow explosively and algae takes off or "blooms." In the process, the plants and algae consume greater amounts of oxygen in the water, robbing fish and other species of necessary oxygen.

   All algae eventually die, and when they do, oxygen is required by bacteria in order for them to decompose or break down the dead algae. A cycle then begins in which more bacteria decompose more dead algae, consuming even more oxygen in the process. The bacteria then release more phosphates back into the water, which feed more algae. As levels of oxygen in the body of water become lower, species such as fish and mollusks literally suffocate to death.

Diagram 2: Process of eutrophication lake formation

   Eventually, the lake or pond begins to fill in and starts to be choked with plant growth. As the plants die and turn to sediment that sinks, the lake bottom starts to rise. The waters grow shallower and finally the body of water is filled completely and disappears. This also can happen to wetlands, which are already shallow. Eventually, there are shrubs growing where a body of water used to be.

  In the 1960s and 1970s, Lake Erie was the most publicized example of eutrophication. Called a "dead lake," the smallest and shallowest of the five Great Lakes was swamped for decades with nutrients from heavily developed agricultural and urban lands. As a result, plant and algae growth choked out most other species living in the lake, and left the beaches unusable due to the smell of decaying algae that washed up on the shores. New pollution controls for sewage treatment plants and agricultural methods by the United States and Canada led to drastic reductions in the amount of nutrients entering the lake.