What Ways Do Practices Of Consumption Drive Ecological Degradation?

According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an estimated 18 million acres of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year. Undeniably, the deteriorating environmental situation, the increasingly severe pollution of the atmosphere, and water, the severe damage to the living environment of wild animals and plants, the extinction of many species, the deforestation and the transitional mining of mineral resources caused contrary facts. Human existence and development have brought real and more serious potential threats. The scarcity of environmental resources is manifested gradually. As environmental issues are becoming a bottleneck restricting economic growth, it is imperative that lousy effect governed the environment.

The message of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s Governing Board is that human impacts on this resilient natural world are so unprecedented and extensive that we crossed the line into unsustainable consumption some time ago and are now depleting ecosystem capital stock instead of living off its sustainable goods and services.

Minerals can affect society in many ways for example; Surface mining destroys vegetation across large areas, increasing erosion. Open-pit mining uses huge quantities of water. Acid mine drainage is pollution caused when dissolved toxic materials wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams. Minerals is approximately 80 percent of mined ore consists of impurities that become wastes after processing. These wastes, called tailings, are usually left in giant piles on the ground or in ponds near the processing plants (Figure 12.9). The tailings contain toxic materials such as cyanide, mercury, and sulfuric acid. Left

The gold boom of the past decade brought with it unintended consequences- severe health problems for Columbian families from mercury poisoning. Enticed by profit but unable to compete with the industrial mining operations brought in by Western entrepreneurs, some two million artisanal gold miners illegal produced two hundred thousand kilograms of gold per year using mercury to harvest the gold from alluvial deposits, as they are unable to afford industrial production methods (which use cyanide,

Open pit mining creates a hole where groundwater will collect instead of flowing naturally into the watersheds. What water will flow into those watersheds will be contaminated by mercury--from the processing of the ore into taconite pellets and sulfuric acid, causing incredible damage to the ecosystem of the rivers and Lake

Problems include; land degradation, air pollution, water pollution and loss of biodiversity. These harmful impacts to the environment need to be addressed with urgency (Djekic and Tomasevic, 2016).

Often, toxic substances are being drained into the air, waterways, and undergrounds wells. According to the report by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 60 million pounds of deadly chemicals are produced by industries in Florida. Notably, Florida’s water has been suffering mercury contamination until the state’s department of migration issues a circular regularly for regulations of eating freshwater fish in the region (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In fact, such metals emanate from coal combustion’s emissions which run into water bodies. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides utilized by government and homeowners pollute the environment (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Indeed, all chemicals released into the atmosphere find themselves in rivers.

Did you know that there are 13 species of animals who we may have to say goodbye to in 2015, or an estimated 2.2 billion tons of waste is yearly dumped into oceans? There is no need to research the litany of environmental changes; news such as global warming, air pollution, or resource scarcity that choke environmental problems to appear daily on TV screens and in newspapers. Even with these particularly cautions, many of us are still facing environmental catastrophes with overly optimistic attitudes, ignoring how serious the matter is. This form of the unrealistic expectation is similar to the blind development in our technological society that engenders a series of environmental and economic problems. Paul Ehrlich, [1] a Stanford University

Many Americans are influenced by the trends in advertisements and a big part of the problem is impulsivity, because the experience is a satisfying feeling when people shop. Americans, who are unmindful that low prices result from underlying costs, spend excessively caused by desires. While people buy, natural resources are abstracted from the environment at an unstoppable rate causing damages to the community and the species living in it. Unsustainable productions are practiced by businesses, and through their influence parts of society neglects a developing environmental crisis because of overconsumption.

As an ordinary consumer in the United States walks through the grocery store and observes the piles of food, they probably do not think twice about it. However, the process of globalization is fueling consumerism, which causes the overabundance of food present in environments such as grocery stores. One of the often-overlooked items that has a large impact is the high demand for fish, which causes overfishing that disrupts fish populations and by extension coastal communities that depend on fishing as part of their subsistence strategy. Consumerism also increases pollution, climate change, and plastic waste, all of which also devastate marine and freshwater organisms. The consumer industry that is growing along with globalization has a severe negative impact on both aquatic ecosystems and local cultures and economies.

Cyanide overflow incident at the Baia Mare gold mine in Romania caused the death of hundreds tons of fish and other animals, contaminated a major European hydrological system (Anke, 2000), affected the environment, and endangered water supplies in Romania and neighbor countries (Kohl, 2000).

In a culture based on consumption and consumerism businesses are the forefront of society providing every good and service imaginable. Although, in today’s society there has been an increase in significant issues concerning the ecology of our planet that have come along with this consumer culture. With issues such a lack of clean water, lack of food, lack of energy and a rapid decline in biodiversity. This rapid decline in natural resources is due to mostly to the over consumption and alteration of the planet and its resources. Where do we start though in the process to protect and preserve our resources? It starts with the very businesses that we all buy from; a major part of our everyday lives and the largest consumers of resources businesses can play a large role in sustainability and climate action. Increasing pressure is being put on businesses to create a more sustainable society, this is being done through many business sustainable business efforts.

In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.

Nonetheless, over consumption of product from forest and the trade of forest good negatively results in environment. It harmfully impacts on biodiversity, and local community. Report from World Bank (2006) has asserted that in there are about 1

Mining Many of the planet's rainforests lie over rich mineral deposits. The mining process releases harmful toxins, like mercury and cyanide which are often used in the gold extraction process, into local streams and river, polluting both the waters and the surrounding lands. There is, however, good money in the mining industry and many residents are encouraged to work in the mines.