ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Environmental degradation is a process through which the natural environment is compromised in some way, reducing biological diversity and the general health of the environment. This process can be entirely natural in origin, or it can be accelerated or caused by human activities. Many international organizations recognize environmental degradation as one of the major threats facing the planet, since humans have only been given one Earth to work with, and if the environment becomes irreparably compromised, it could mean the end of human existence. One of the major threat the planet faces today, environmental degradation, is bound to make life difficult for all the life forms, including human beings, now or later. Studies by some of the eminent organizations reveal that the deterioration of environment is occurring at an alarming rate. In fact, the High Level Threat Panel of the United Nations has enlisted environmental degradation as one of the ten threats for us. This issue shares space with problems like poverty, terrorism and civil war in the list, and this itself highlights the fact that we are heading for a certain disaster. It is defined as a process wherein the natural environment of the planet is degenerated to such an extent, that the biodiversity and the general health of the planet is subjected to drastic reduction. In other words, this phenomenon can be defined as deterioration of the Earth’s natural surroundings as a result of excessive exploitation of the available resources. These resources include water, air, flora, fauna, soil etc. Basically, the life on the planet is interwoven to such an extent that a decrease in a particular attribute triggers a domino effect on all the other attributes dependent on it. It is the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.