It’s interesting how some environmental concerns of the world always seem to be center stage and others never even get an honorable mention unless a point is made to feature them.
Topics such as climate change, global warming, greenhouse gases and fossil fuels seem to be a few of the first things that come to mind when you put your environmental thinking cap on. Others are issues concerning the energy of the world including conservation, renewable and non-renewable energy. These are the points of focus on the news, in magazines, on the radio and in schools. But what about the issues that are always getting a backseat, who is it that determines the pecking order here?
What about the ever-growing genetic engineering issues of our planet, like genetic pollution and the genetically modified food controversy? Or how about intensive farming encompassing overgrazing, slash and burn and pesticide drifts? These issues are also destroying our planet and specifically the ecosystem that is critical to life itself. Maybe it’s time we started educating the world on all of the environmental issues that need to be dealt with if we are going to live happily as one with the earth.
Environmental degradation is another topic with devastating environmental issues, covering eutrophication, habitat destruction and invasive species. Have you ever heard of any of these before? Probably not or at least not enough to help with our cause.
Source: soil-net@cranfield.ac.uk
Eutrophication is an issue in which we need to educate people on further. It can be natural or man-mde, in the case of raw sewage. In the Greek language eutrophia refers to health and adequate nutrition and development. Hypertrophication is the moving of a mass of water’s tropic status towards increasing biomass, through man-made or natural substances, like phosphates, in numerous fertilizers or sewage waste, into an aquatic realm.
You may have heard of the ‘bloom’ of phytoplankton in the world’s waters. Something that seems to be spiraling out of hand as of late on a global scale. A result of this massive movement is hypoxia, lowering the oxygen levels in the water to dangerous levels and these in turn reduce various animal and fish species. Devastating to say the least.
On the flip side, some species like Japan’s Nomura jellyfish thrive in this limited environment and that negatively affects the ecosystem balance. This is a huge environmental concern that doesn’t seem to get very much attention and it’s just about time it did.
Source: Wikimedia Commons - KENPEI
If we don’t step in and start making changes now, today, not tomorrow or whenever we get around to it, we will be sorry. Here are a few ideas to get started:
CONSUMPTION
* Make use of non-phosphate detergents and biodegradable products.
* Avoid dumping any sort of waste in or near any type of aquatic system.
FOOD
* When you can, consume foods that are locally grown.
* Limit meat consumption because meat production results in huge masses of manure, which is a main source of nutrients that cause eutrophication.
WASTE
* Compost and buy bulk whenever possible.
* Think of creative ways to reduce household waste.
DISHWASHING
* Ensure usage of phosphate-free detergents.
* Make sure dishwater doesn’t absorb directly into the water system.
OUSIDE ACTIVITY
* Never make a fire close to the water because the ash gets into the water and can eutrophicate it.
* Abstain from using any sort of artificial pesticide or fertilizer in your garden because it can seep into the water system.
These are just a few ideas to help with this huge environmental concern that seems to sit on the bench most of the time. Talk is cheap and it’s time we took action!
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