environmental issues to write an essay about

Environmental Issues Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environmental issues.

The environment plays a significant role to support life on earth. But there are some issues that are causing damages to life and the ecosystem of the earth. It is related to the not only environment but with everyone that lives on the planet. Besides, its main source is pollution , global warming, greenhouse gas , and many others. The everyday activities of human are constantly degrading the quality of the environment which ultimately results in the loss of survival condition from the earth.

Source of Environment Issue

There are hundreds of issue that causing damage to the environment. But in this, we are going to discuss the main causes of environmental issues because they are very dangerous to life and the ecosystem.

Pollution – It is one of the main causes of an environmental issue because it poisons the air , water , soil , and noise. As we know that in the past few decades the numbers of industries have rapidly increased. Moreover, these industries discharge their untreated waste into the water bodies, on soil, and in air. Most of these wastes contain harmful and poisonous materials that spread very easily because of the movement of water bodies and wind.

Greenhouse Gases – These are the gases which are responsible for the increase in the temperature of the earth surface. This gases directly relates to air pollution because of the pollution produced by the vehicle and factories which contains a toxic chemical that harms the life and environment of earth.

Climate Changes – Due to environmental issue the climate is changing rapidly and things like smog, acid rains are getting common. Also, the number of natural calamities is also increasing and almost every year there is flood, famine, drought , landslides, earthquakes, and many more calamities are increasing.

Above all, human being and their greed for more is the ultimate cause of all the environmental issue.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Minimize Environment Issue?

Now we know the major issues which are causing damage to the environment. So, now we can discuss the ways by which we can save our environment. For doing so we have to take some measures that will help us in fighting environmental issues .

Moreover, these issues will not only save the environment but also save the life and ecosystem of the planet. Some of the ways of minimizing environmental threat are discussed below:

Reforestation – It will not only help in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem but also help in restoring the natural cycles that work with it. Also, it will help in recharge of groundwater, maintaining the monsoon cycle , decreasing the number of carbons from the air, and many more.

The 3 R’s principle – For contributing to the environment one should have to use the 3 R’s principle that is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Moreover, it helps the environment in a lot of ways.

To conclude, we can say that humans are a major source of environmental issues. Likewise, our activities are the major reason that the level of harmful gases and pollutants have increased in the environment. But now the humans have taken this problem seriously and now working to eradicate it. Above all, if all humans contribute equally to the environment then this issue can be fight backed. The natural balance can once again be restored.

FAQs about Environmental Issue

Q.1 Name the major environmental issues. A.1 The major environmental issues are pollution, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and climate change. Besides, there are several other environmental issues that also need attention.

Q.2 What is the cause of environmental change? A.2 Human activities are the main cause of environmental change. Moreover, due to our activities, the amount of greenhouse gases has rapidly increased over the past few decades.

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119 Environmental Issues Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

The environment is facing numerous challenges today, and it is important for us to address these issues in order to create a sustainable future for our planet. In this article, we will explore 119 environmental issues essay topic ideas and provide examples to help you get started on your own essay.

• Climate change: Discuss the causes and effects of climate change and potential solutions to mitigate its impact.

Example: The role of deforestation in contributing to climate change and the importance of reforestation efforts.

• Air pollution: Analyze the sources of air pollution and its effects on human health and the environment.

Example: The impact of vehicle emissions on air quality in urban areas and ways to reduce pollution from transportation.

• Water pollution: Examine the sources of water pollution and the potential consequences for aquatic ecosystems and human health.

Example: The effects of agricultural runoff on water quality and strategies to prevent pollution from entering waterways.

• Deforestation: Discuss the causes and consequences of deforestation and the importance of preserving forests for biodiversity and climate regulation.

Example: The impact of deforestation on indigenous communities and the loss of traditional knowledge and cultural practices.

• Plastic pollution: Explore the sources and effects of plastic pollution in the ocean and ways to reduce plastic waste.

Example: The role of microplastics in marine ecosystems and the need for regulations to prevent further pollution.

• Biodiversity loss: Analyze the factors contributing to the loss of biodiversity and the importance of protecting endangered species.

Example: The impact of habitat destruction on wildlife populations and the need for conservation efforts to preserve biodiversity.

• Overfishing: Discuss the consequences of overfishing on marine ecosystems and sustainable fishing practices.

Example: The decline of fish stocks due to overfishing and the importance of implementing fishing quotas and marine protected areas.

• E-waste: Examine the growing problem of electronic waste and the environmental and health risks associated with improper disposal.

Example: The challenges of recycling electronic devices and the need for better e-waste management practices.

• Urban sprawl: Analyze the impact of urban sprawl on natural habitats and the importance of smart growth and sustainable urban planning.

Example: The loss of green spaces and farmland to urban development and the benefits of compact, walkable communities.

• Renewable energy: Discuss the potential of renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

Example: The growth of solar and wind power as clean energy alternatives and the challenges of integrating renewables into the grid.

• Ocean acidification: Explore the causes and consequences of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and the need for carbon emission reductions.

Example: The effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs and shellfish populations and the importance of marine conservation efforts.

• Soil erosion: Analyze the causes of soil erosion and the impact on agricultural productivity and ecosystem health.

Example: The loss of topsoil due to deforestation and unsustainable farming practices and strategies to prevent erosion through soil conservation.

• Wildlife trafficking: Discuss the illegal trade of wildlife and the threats to endangered species and biodiversity.

Example: The demand for exotic pets and animal products driving the illegal wildlife trade and the need for stronger enforcement of wildlife protection laws.

• Pesticide use: Examine the environmental and health risks associated with pesticide use in agriculture and the need for sustainable pest management practices.

Example: The impact of pesticide runoff on water quality and non-target species and the benefits of organic farming methods.

• Food waste: Analyze the causes and consequences of food waste and potential solutions to reduce waste and improve food security.

Example: The environmental footprint of food production and distribution and the benefits of composting and food rescue programs.

• Greenhouse gas emissions: Discuss the sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the need for global action to reduce carbon pollution.

Example: The role of the transportation sector in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for electrification and public transit to reduce emissions.

• Climate refugees: Explore the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities and the need for adaptation and resilience measures.

Example: The displacement of communities due to sea-level rise and extreme weather events and the challenges of climate migration.

• Land degradation: Analyze the causes of land degradation and the consequences for food security, water quality, and ecosystem health.

Example: The loss of arable land to desertification and soil erosion and the importance of sustainable land management practices.

• Ocean pollution: Discuss the sources of ocean pollution, including plastic waste, oil spills, and chemical contaminants, and the need for marine conservation.

Example: The impact of oil spills on marine ecosystems and the challenges of cleaning up and restoring affected areas.

• Environmental justice: Explore the intersection of environmental issues with social justice and equity, including the disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities.

Example: The siting of polluting industries in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color and the need for environmental policies that prioritize equity and inclusion.

• Green infrastructure: Discuss

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• 140 Environmental Essay Topics

In any academic discipline, writing an essay on the environment can be a daunting task, no matter what the subject matter. Not only should students understand the complexities of the natural world, but they should also be able to communicate their ideas clearly in writing.

To combat the many challenges students can face when crafting an environmental essay, we’ve created this handy guide detailing how to write an environmental essay and even included 140 environmental essay topics to help get you started.

What Is an Environmental Essay?

An environmental essay is a type of paper where a student must choose a topic related to the environment and present an argument, opinion, or point of view about it. The primary purpose of this type of essay is to educate readers on a given issue and raise awareness about potential solutions.

How to Write an Environmental Essay: A Step-By-Step Guide

Step 1: choose an essay topic.

Before you can start writing your environmental essay, you need to choose a topic. Writing this type of paper may appear simple, but finding the right topic can be the most difficult part of the process. You’ll want to choose a topic that matches the essay format to ensure that the writing process is as smooth as possible.

For example, if you are tasked with writing an argumentative essay on a particular environmental issue, make sure that your topic can be argued. Avoid choosing a topic that is too broad or too specific, as this can make it challenging to develop a clear thesis statement and support your argument.

If your environmental essay is a compare and contrast essay, you’ll want to choose two topics that can be effectively compared and contrasted. And if your essay is a cause and effect essay, make sure that your topic focuses on causes or effects (or both) related to an environmental issue.

Step 2: Develop a Thesis Statement

Once you’ve chosen your essay topic, it’s time to develop a thesis statement. This is a sentence (or two) that summarizes your paper’s central argument. Specificity and focus are the hallmarks of a well-crafted thesis statement. In other words, it should be open to discussion and disagreement.

For example, a weak thesis statement might be something like:

“The environment is important.”

While this statement is true, it’s too general to be the focus of an entire essay. A stronger thesis statement might be:

“It’s time to stop polluting and other activities that harm the environment.”

This is a well-reasoned statement that expresses a firm opinion on the subject. It’s a good topic for an argumentative essay because it’s open to debate.

Step 3: Do Your Research

Now that you have a thesis statement, it’s time to do your research. This will involve finding sources (such as books, articles, and websites) that support your argument. When taking notes from your sources, be sure to write down the author, title, and publication date for each one. This will make it easier to create your Works Cited page later on.

As you’re doing your research, keep your essay format in mind. For example, if you are writing a five-paragraph essay, make sure that you have enough evidence to support your thesis statement and fill out each of the three body paragraphs.

Step 4: Write a Draft

Now it’s time to start writing your first draft. Begin by creating an outline that will help you organize your thoughts and ideas. Then, as you flesh out paragraphs from your outline, keep your audience in mind and make sure that your argument is clear and easy to follow.

Your draft should include an introduction, ideas for each body paragraph, and a conclusion. It is important to include your thesis statement in your introduction and to restate it in your conclusion.

Keep in mind that each body paragraph will always need a clear and interesting topic sentence, as well as a transition sentence that sums up the section. The following are some good examples of sentences that begin or transition:

“Even though many people do not consider the environment to be important, it is vital to our continued existence. It is impossible to survive without a healthy environment.

In order to see this, you can look at the…”

“Humans are clearly causing harm to the environment, but what are the root causes of this? I believe that the most important issue is….”

“We can all see the effects of environmental degradation, but persuading people to alter their behavior is a difficult task. While the…”

Each of these sentences offers a clear and concise argument that can be explored in more depth in the body paragraphs.

Step 5: Edit and Proofread

After writing your essay, it’s time to edit and proofread it. This is the process of making sure that there are no errors in your grammar or spelling. It’s also a good idea to read your essay aloud to make sure that it flows smoothly.

With the helpful guide above detailing the process of creating an environmental essay, you should now have no trouble writing on your topic of choice. However, if you’re still struggling to find the perfect topic, consider one of the following 140 environmental essay topics.

Environmental Essay Topics About Pollution

• The dangers of plastic pollution
• How climate change is affecting our environment
• The causes and effects of water pollution
• Air pollution in cities: a problem that needs to be addressed
• The issue of noise pollution and its effects on our health
• The dangers of pesticides and herbicides
• How deforestation is affecting our environment
• The problem of light pollution
• The dangers of nuclear waste
• How climate change is affecting our weather

Environmental Essay Topics About Conservation

• Why it’s important to conserve water
• How to reduce your carbon footprint
• Why recycling is important for the environment
• The importance of composting
• How to reduce your energy consumption
• Why it’s essential to protect endangered species
• How you can help the environment in your everyday life
• The benefits of organic farming
• Why it’s important to reduce, reuse, and recycle
• The dangers of mountaintop removal mining

Environmental Essay Topics About Animals

• How climate change is affecting animals in the wild
• The declining populations of bees and other pollinators
• How deforestation is affecting wildlife habitats
• The problem of invasive species
• The plight of endangered animals
• How zoos and aquariums are helping to conserve animals
• How to make your home more wildlife-friendly
• The importance of responsible pet ownership
• How to help local wildlife in your area
• Why it’s important to spay and neuter your pets

Environmental Essay Topics About Plants

• The importance of trees for the environment
• Newly discovered flora species with exciting medicinal benefits
• The benefits of permaculture
• How to make your garden more wildlife-friendly
• Why it’s important to plant native species
• How to help local flora in your area
• The specific compounds in herbicides that affect particular plant species
• The benefits of home gardening

Environmental Essay Topics About Sustainability

• What is sustainability?
• The importance of sustainable living
• How to live a more sustainable lifestyle
• The benefits of renewable energy sources
• The problems with nuclear energy
• Public transport v. carpooling: A comparative analysis
• How to make your home more energy-efficient
• The dangers of recycling the wrong items
• Socio-economic factors that make organic farming difficult for the masses
• How to shop sustainably

Environmental Essay Topics About Climate Change

• The causes of climate change
• The effects of climate change on the world’s economy
• The potential impact of climate change on our health
• The effect of climate change on plant and animal species
• Compare and contrast two factors driving climate change
• Analyze arguments for and against climate change
• The possible solutions to climate change
• The role of the individual in combating climate change

Environmental Essay Topics About Environmentalism

• What is environmentalism?
• The history of environmentalism
• The goals of environmentalism
• The different branches of environmentalism
• How you can get involved in environmentalism
• The benefits of environmentalism
• The challenges of environmentalism
• Environmentalism v. consumerism: A comparative analysis
• How environmentalism is affecting our economy
• The future of environmentalism

Environmental Essay Topics About History

• How the Industrial Revolution changed the environment
• The environmental impact of World War I
• The environmental impact of World War II
• How colonialism has impacted the environment
• The environmental effect of the American Civil War
• Reconstruction and its effect on the environment
• The Dust Bowl and its environmental effects
• The environmental impact of the Great Depression
• The environmental consequences of the Cold War
• How 9/11 has impacted the environment

Environmental Essay Topics About Natural Disasters

• The effects of floods on the environment
• The effect of droughts on the environment
• Wildfires: Causes and solutions
• Causes for the growing intensity of environmental storms
• How can we prepare for natural disasters?
• The role of the media in natural disaster relief
• The impact of natural disasters on our economy
• The importance of environmental protection during times of emergency
• Psychological effects of natural disasters
• Natural disasters and their effect on our infrastructure

Environmental Essay Topics About Alternative Resources

• Understanding the benefits of hemp production for paper
• The use of biogas as an environmentally friendly resource
• The pros and cons of nuclear power
• Why solar energy is the way of the future
• How wind turbines are changing the energy game
• The potential of geothermal energy
• The benefits and drawbacks of using tidal power
• The use of rainwater harvesting as an alternative water source
• How to make recycling more effective
• Why we should be using more recycled materials in the construction industry
• The benefits of using recycled materials in the automotive industry
• Why we should be using more alternative energy sources

Environmental Essay Topics About Education

• The role of education in environmental protection
• The importance of environmental education
• Environmental education programs that work
• The challenges of environmental education
• How to make environmental education more effective
• The future of environmental education

Environmental Essay Topics About Water

• Analyze the current state of the world’s water supply
• The importance of freshwater
• The global water crisis
• Solutions to the global water crisis
• How climate change is affecting our water supply
• How to conserve water
• The benefits of recycling wastewater
• The dangers of contaminated water
• The effect of oil spills on the environment
• The role of the individual in protecting water resources
• What we can do to stop water pollution
• How to make our sewage system more efficient

Environmental Essay Topics About Air Pollution

• The effects of air pollution on human health
• The causes of air pollution
• Solutions to air pollution
• How to reduce air pollution
• The impact of air pollution on the environment
• The effect of smog on the environment
• The benefits of reducing emissions
• How to make our cities more livable
• Reducing noise pollution
• Why we should be planting more trees

Environmental Essay Topics About Capitalism

• Compare the environmental effects of capitalism v. socialism
• The role of the government in environmental protection
• The impact of capitalism on the environment
• Is capitalism pushing us into environmental catastrophe?
• How does capitalism contribute to climate change?
• The pros and cons of green capitalism

Environmental Essay Topics About Technology

• The impact of technology on the environment
• The effect of social media on the environment
• The role of technology in environmental protection
• The environmental impact of Bitcoin

These 140 environmental essay topics will give students plenty of material to work with and should make writing the essay relatively easy.

Remember that these topics are just examples and can be altered or combined to better suit your needs. Once you have a topic in mind, follow the writing guide above to ensure you hand in a high-quality environmental essay that will earn you a good grade.

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The 15 Best Argumentative Essay Topics On Environmental Issues

Many people are passionate about various environmental issues. Therefore, it is often a fantastic theme to use as the basis for argumentative essay. However, with so many topics related to environmental issues, it can sometimes be difficult to narrow down the perfect title for your paper.

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In order to help you think of a good title for your argumentative essay on environmental issues, the following will explain some techniques that you can use to think of ideas. Furthermore, at the bottom of this article, there is a list of 15 of the best argumentative essay topics for environmental issues, which you can either use verbatim, or as further inspiration for your own unique title.

One of the best ways to choose a title that you would like to write about is to note down any ideas you have off the top of your head. Some of these ideas may be useless; however, you will most likely be to think of some that you can use or, at the very least, some of the ideas will then inspire you to think of better topics and titles to write about. Essentially, you can use these brainstorming techniques to come up with a range of ideas, which can then be whittled down into you have the ideal title to use.

• The government should do more to end the reliance on non-renewable energy sources
• Should car owners pay more in taxes as a result of the environmental damage caused by pollution?
• Should all future cars be hybrid vehicles to minimise environmental damage and pollution?
• Should individuals face stricter penalties as a result of littering?
• Should companies that are found guilty of dumping toxic waste and materials be shut down?
• Should individual households do more to recycle any rubbish that they produce?
• Is the United States doing enough to reduce CO2 emissions?
• Are humans responsible for climate change?
• Are cheap goods worth it considering the environmental damage caused to produce them?
• Are hybrid cars as environmentally friendly as they are portrayed to be?
• Should the United States set a good example for the rest of the world when it comes to reducing pollution?
• Is the nuclear waste produced by nuclear submarines and nuclear power stations disposed of safely enough?
• Are people overly concerned about the environmental effects of nuclear power?
• Should all people travel by public transport?
• Should the government make public transport free in order to reduce the polluting effect caused by individuals travelling by cars?

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99+ Environmental Persuasive Essay Topics for a Sustainable Future

Explore our list of 99+ environmental persuasive essay topics to write an effective essay that can raise awareness and promote sustainable practices.

The environment is a topic of global concern, as the Earth’s natural resources continue to be depleted and climate change accelerates. Environmental persuasive essays are a great way to raise awareness and inspire action on issues such as pollution, deforestation, global warming, and more. To help you get started on your environmental essay, we have compiled a list of 100+ persuasive essay topics related to the environment. These topics cover a broad range of issues and are suitable for students of all levels.

Table of Contents

List of Environmental Persuasive Essay Topics For Students

• The impact of plastic on the environment
• How to reduce household waste and promote recycling
• The role of businesses in promoting sustainable practices
• The benefits of organic farming
• The effects of deforestation on the environment
• The importance of preserving wildlife habitats
• How to reduce air pollution in cities
• The impact of climate change on the world’s oceans
• The role of renewable energy in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• The effects of water pollution on marine life
• The importance of preserving national parks
• How to reduce energy consumption in homes and buildings
• The impact of fracking on the environment
• The benefits of electric cars for the environment
• The effects of overfishing on marine ecosystems
• The importance of reducing carbon footprint
• How to promote sustainable tourism
• The role of government in protecting the environment
• The benefits of composting
• The effects of industrial agriculture on the environment
• The importance of conserving water resources
• How to reduce food waste
• The impact of nuclear energy on the environment
• The benefits of green building practices
• The effects of urbanization on the environment
• The importance of protecting endangered species
• How to promote sustainable transportation
• The impact of mining on the environment
• The benefits of solar power for the environment
• The effects of climate change on human health
• The importance of reducing meat consumption
• How to promote sustainable fashion
• The impact of tourism on the environment
• The benefits of green roofs and walls
• The effects of pesticides on the environment
• The importance of reducing plastic packaging
• How to promote sustainable living in cities
• The impact of air travel on the environment
• The benefits of bike-sharing programs
• The effects of oil spills on marine life
• The importance of reducing paper waste
• How to promote sustainable waste management
• The impact of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater
• The benefits of wind power for the environment
• The effects of noise pollution on wildlife
• The importance of reducing single-use plastic
• How to promote sustainable food production
• The impact of agriculture on freshwater resources
• The benefits of green technology
• The effects of landfills on the environment
• The importance of reducing energy waste
• How to promote sustainable forestry practices
• The impact of climate change on agriculture
• The benefits of green roofs for urban environments
• The effects of ocean acidification on marine life
• The importance of reducing food packaging waste
• How to promote sustainable urban design
• The impact of marine debris on wildlife
• The benefits of geothermal energy for the environment
• The effects of noise pollution on human health
• The importance of reducing vehicle emissions
• The effects of plastic pollution on marine life
• Is deforestation necessary for economic development?
• The impact of climate change on biodiversity
• Solutions to reduce carbon emissions
• The role of government in promoting environmentally sustainable practices
• How individuals can make a difference in protecting the environment
• The relationship between consumerism and environmental degradation
• The ethical implications of animal testing for cosmetic products
• How to encourage sustainable agriculture
• The dangers of oil spills and their impact on the environment
• The potential of renewable energy sources to combat climate change
• The impact of urbanization on the environment
• The role of corporations in environmental responsibility
• The effect of air pollution on human health
• The debate on nuclear energy and its safety concerns
• The impact of mining on the environment and local communities
• The future of electric cars and their potential to reduce carbon emissions
• How to reduce food waste and promote sustainable food practices
• The impact of pesticides on the environment and human health
• The impact of ocean acidification on marine life
• The need for international collaboration to tackle global environmental issues
• The impact of overfishing on marine ecosystems
• The role of education in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability
• The impact of single-use plastics on the environment
• The effects of noise pollution on wildlife and ecosystems
• The impact of climate change on human health
• The effectiveness of government policies on environmental protection
• The impact of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on the environment and public health
• The role of media in shaping public opinion on environmental issues
• The impact of melting glaciers on sea levels and coastal communities
• The need for sustainable water management practices
• The impact of industrial agriculture on the environment and human health
• The importance of biodiversity for ecosystem stability
• The impact of climate change on agriculture and food security
• The potential of green technology to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability.

In conclusion, persuasive essays are a great way to express your opinions and ideas on a variety of topics. Whether you are writing for a school assignment or for personal interest, it’s important to choose a topic that you are passionate about and can support with solid evidence and logical arguments. With this list of 100+ environmental persuasive essay topics, we hope you have found some inspiration for your next essay. Remember to research your topic thoroughly, consider the opposing views, and use persuasive language to effectively communicate your message. Let’s work together to make our planet a better place for future generations.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

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Writing a Paper about an Environmental Issue

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• Ph.D., Wildlife Ecology, University of Maine
• M.A., Natural Resources, Humboldt State University
• B.S., Biology, Université du Québec à Rimouski

Are you a student tasked with writing a research paper on an environmental issue? These few tips, along with some hard and focused work, should get you most of the way there.

Find a Topic

Look for a topic that speaks to you, that grabs your attention. Alternatively, choose a topic about which you are genuinely interested in learning more. It will be a lot easier to spend time working on something of interest to you.

Here are some places you can find ideas for a paper:

• Global warming
• Biodiversity
• Deforestation
• Fossil fuels
• Water Pollution
• The science or environment sections of major newspapers and news organizations will feature articles about current environmental news and events.
• Environmental news websites like Grist or Environmental News Network .

Conduct Research

Are you using internet resources? Make sure you can assess the quality of the information you find. This article from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab is useful to help with assessing the quality of your sources.

Print resources are not to be neglected. Visit your school or city library, learn how to use their search engine, and talk to your librarian about accessing the resources available.

Are you expected to constrain your sources to primary literature? That body of knowledge consists of peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals. Consult your librarian for help with accessing the proper databases to reach those articles.

Follow Instructions

Carefully read the handout or prompt given to you and which contains instructions about the assignment. Early in the process, make sure you choose a topic that will satisfy the assigned requirements. Once half-way through the paper, and once when it’s done, check it against the instructions to make sure you didn’t drift away from what was required.

Start With a Solid Structure

First craft a paper outline with your main ideas organized, and a thesis statement . A logical outline will make it easy to gradually flesh out ideas and eventually produce complete paragraphs with good transitions between them. Make sure all the sections serve the purpose of the paper outlined in the thesis statement.

After you have a good draft produced, put the paper down, and don’t pick it up until the next day. It’s due tomorrow? Next time, start working on it earlier. This break will help you with the editing stage: you need fresh eyes to read, and re-read your draft for flow, typos, and a myriad other little problems.

Pay Attention to Formatting

Along the way, check that you are following your teacher’s formatting instructions: font size, line spacing, margins, length, page numbers, title page, etc. A poorly formatted paper will suggest to your teacher that not only the form, but the content is of low quality as well.

Avoid Plagiarism

First, make sure you know what plagiarism is , you can then more easily avoid it. Pay especially close attention to properly attributing the work you cite.

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180 Environmental Research Topics & Questions to Write about

Environment affects us all, whether we want it or not. Political leaders and students alike discuss ways to tackle environmental topics & issues. Some might argue about the role humans play in all this. The fact remains that our environment is a delicate matter. That’s why we must educate ourselves on the issues related to it.

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In this article by custom writing experts, you’ll find a list of environmental research questions to scrutinize and write about. The environmental essay topics in the collection below are related to economics, health, sociology, law, and even psychology. These ideas might be helpful either for school or for college students.

• 🔝 Top 10 Topics
• 🌡️🌍 Climate Change Topics
• 🏭🌱 Sustainability
• 🔬🌻 Environmental Science
• 🌳⚖️ Environmental Law
• 🧑🌿 Environmentalism

🔬 Top 10 Environmental Research Topics

• 📖 Environmental Research Questions

🔝 Top 10 Environment Essay Topics

• The life cycle of tornados
• History of environmental studies
• Positive impact of birdwatching
• Drinking water and the environment
• Christianity’s impact on the climate crisis
• Climate’s effect on mountain ecosystems
• How aviation contributes to global warming
• Early commercial adaptation of thermal energy
• What does nuclear meteorology investigate?
• Fruitarianism’s benefits for the environment

🌡️🌍 Environmental Research Topics on Climate Change

Throughout history, the Earth’s climate always fluctuated. Ice ages were followed by warmer periods. However, the increase in temperature we perceive today is unusual. Because of this, climate change is one of today’s most pressing problems. Below we have compiled a list of 25 global warming topics. Have a look!

• What is the difference between climate change and global warming?
• Investigate how humans influence the climate.
• Which regions suffer the most due to the rising sea levels?
• How did the average weather in your region change over the past 20 years?
• Why are coral reefs endangered?
• How do melting glaciers impact the environment?
• Examine what natural disasters are linked to climate change.
• What does ocean acidification mean?
• What are the effects of global warming?
• Analyze the phenomenon of climate refugees.
• How does global warming affect biodiversity?
• Discuss the most significant causes of climate change.
• Why are hurricanes becoming more intense?

• What are the most significant agricultural problems caused by climate change?
• How does the excess of CO2 impact the environment?
• What actions lead to a CO2 increase in the atmosphere?
• Discuss how hydraulic fracturing affects nature.
• Explain how the greenhouse effect works.
• What can each of us do to stop global warming?
• How is ozone depletion related to climate change?
• What was the purpose of the Paris Agreement?
• Investigate how deforestation affects the climate.
• Can we reverse global warming?
• Examine why some people don’t believe in climate change.
• What is the correlation between tree planting and climate change?

🌲 Environmental Research Topics on Ecology

Ecology is a branch of biology that investigates how organisms coexist. The environment shapes the way different species interact with each other. Essential factors can be living, such as nutrition, or nonliving, like water. Here are 25 prompts for your ecology essay:

• Examine the ecological research methods.
• What defines the number of organisms living in a community?
• How does an ecosystem work?
• Why do plants and animals go extinct?
• Do non-native snakes threaten the U.S. ecosystem?
• Explain the elements of population growth.
• What would the world look like without bees?
• How do organisms adapt to their environment?
• Analyze how photosynthesis occurs.
• What different relationships can organisms form with their surroundings?
• Discuss the research methods of bird behavioral ecology.
• How do organisms survive under extreme conditions?
• Why do some birds migrate?

• Investigate why some animals benefit from living alone.
• What can humans do to prevent pandas from extinction?
• How do plants help combat climate change?
• What’s the correlation between water management and ecology issues?
• How does commercial fishing affect the oceans?
• What are the most prominent current environmental threats?
• How does the ecological footprint method work?
• What are the long-term consequences of plastic use?
• Analyze how nutrient cycles work.
• What impact does human waste have on marine ecosystems?
• Examine the different types of healthy bacteria.
• How do cacti grow in the desert?

🏭🌱 Sustainability Topics for an Essay

According to the UN World Commission , sustainable development “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Simply put, sustainability means fulfilling the demand without exhausting any resources. Today, it plays a vital role in protecting the environment.

• Give an example of sustainable practice.
• Analyze the process of recycling.
• Investigate what sustainability wants to achieve.
• Explore the history of the green movement.
• What can a country do to become greener?
• Why do we need the concept of sustainable development?
• Examine the ways of recycling water.
• How can you make food sources more sustainable?
• What does zero-waste mean?
• Talk about the issues related to eco-friendly packaging.
• Discuss ways of saving more energy.
• What are the greener alternatives to plastic?
• Examine the different sources of renewable energy.
• How can a person live more sustainably?
• Explain the three pillars of sustainability.

• How does green construction work?
• What’s the connection between sustainability and climate change?
• What can we do to reduce water pollution?
• Discuss the impact of globalization on sustainable agriculture.
• What is responsible consumption?
• Why should we not use plastic?
• Describe how wind turbines produce electricity.
• How can technology become green?
• What is social sustainability?
• What are the most critical sustainability issues today?

🔬🌻 Environmental Science Topics for an Essay

Environmental science combines various approaches to study nature. In doing so, it tries to find solutions for ecological issues. Research goes into areas such as pollution and alternative energy. If you want to write about it, have a look at our topics:

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• What are the environmental impacts of production and consumption?
• Examine ways of improving agriculture.
• What are the critical elements of environmental science?
• Discuss the advantages of green engineering.
• What are the different types of pollution?
• Determine the primary goals of environmental science.
• What are invasive species?
• Investigate the benefits of reforestation.
• Describe the Amazon rainforest and its role in the environment.
• Explore the various types of agriculture.
• Discuss the pros and cons of GMOs.
• What effects does a biodiversity loss have on humanity?
• How do dams and channels affect ecosystems?
• What is the connection between social and environmental sciences?
• Why is overpopulation a problem?
• Explain the process of desertification.
• How does mining cause environmental disasters?
• Investigate the Gaia Hypothesis.
• What are the causes of acid rain?
• How is our health affected by pollution?

• Explain the importance of energy efficiency.
• Explore the link between globalization and ecological problems.
• Why are fossil fuels harmful to the environment?
• What are ecological niches?
• Analyze the pros and cons of nuclear energy.

🌳⚖️ Environmental Law Topics for Papers

Environmental law aims to protect nature. It’s the legal foundation of human interaction with their surroundings. Besides, it formulates how we should utilize natural resources. Take a look at these compelling topics for your paper:

• How is waste regulated in your community?
• What laws address contaminant cleanup?
• Why do we need chemical safety regulations?
• Examine legal ways to curb hunting and fishing.
• Describe environmental protection in the US and in the Hawaii state.
• Discuss the Rio Declaration.
• Why can environmental laws be controversial?
• What are the advantages of emission certificates?
• Investigate the process of emissions trading.
• How does your country regulate air quality?
• What makes the laws concerning water quality vital?
• What are the general principles of environmental law?
• When can a piece of land be declared a natural reserve?
• Should there be a binding international environmental constitution?
• Explore the history of environmental law.
• What purposes do wildlife reserves serve?
• Discuss the legacy of Kyoto Protocol.
• Analyze the marine pollution prevention efforts in Australia.
• What are environmental assessment mandates?
• Investigate economic incentives for environmental protection.
• Discuss why ecotourism needs to be regulated.
• Why is it difficult for some countries to become green?
• Establish a connection between free trade agreements and ecological problems.
• Do businesses have to incorporate environmental law?
• Compare several international agreements on ecological issues.

🧑🌿 Environmentalism Topics to Write About

Movements aiming to protect nature are at the core of environmentalism. The idea first gained traction in the 1960s. Notable organizations include PETA and Greenpeace. If you’re interested in environmentalism, consult this topics list:

• Investigate the history of environmentalism.
• Discuss the negative impacts of urban sprawl.
• What is Earth Day?

• Describe the key concepts of environmentalism.
• What are the different types of green movements?
• Compare the goals of various NGOs.
• What does the WWF do?
• Describe the main achievements of nature activists.
• Explain what apocalyptic environmentalism is.
• Who is Greta Thunberg?
• Discuss the impact of the Fridays for Future movement.
• Explain emancipatory environmentalism.
• Investigate the Animal Liberation Front.
• Analyze the central concerns of ecofeminism.
• Why are environmental movements important?
• Who was John Muir?
• Explain what ecoterrorism is.
• Does going green equal saving the environment?
• Who were the first nature activists?
• Discuss the influence of green political parties.
• What is environmental justice?
• Explain how civic environmentalism works.
• Are the actions of Greenpeace always justified?
• What are some examples of good nature activism tactics?
• Analyze the effect environmentalist movements have on politics.
• Types of marine pollution
• Concepts of ecofeminism
• Causes of grassland degradation
• Advantages of hydroelectricity
• Organic farming support in the US
• Energy conservation in the US
• What does photochemical smog depend on?
• Seasonal behavior of urban heat island
• Nuclear and radiation accident categories
• Can baffle spray scrubbers control pollution?

📖 Top 10 Environmental Research Questions

• What are the causes and effects of air pollution?
• What are the most dangerous effects of climate change?
• What are the most severe diseases caused by water pollution?
• Is global warming real?
• How does deforestation affect people and animals?
• Do carbon offset programs work?
• How to prevent and control soil pollution?
• How does plastic pollution affect marine life?
• What are the most threatened biodiversity hotspots?
• What should we do about overpopulation?

We hope this article helped you decide what your paper will be about. If the topic you’ve chosen is still not perfect, feel free to customize it! Good luck, and have fun with your essay.

You might also be interested in:

• A List of 212 Brilliant Research Proposal Topics to Investigate
• 220 Interesting Biology Topics for Essays & Research Papers
• A List of 220 Physics Topics & Questions to Research
• 300 Interesting Chemistry Topics & Writing Tips
• 281 Best Health & Medical Research Topics

🔍 References

• Environmental Issues Guide: Giving Compass
• Climate Change: National Geographic
• Climate Change and Global Warming: NASA
• What Is Ecology?: Khan Academy
• Ecology: Encyclopedia Britannica
• What Is Sustainability and Why Is It Important?: Environmental Science
• Environmentalism: Learning to Give
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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environment Problems — Environmental Issues

Essays on Environmental Issues

Environmental issues are a crucial topic for essays, as they address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet today. When choosing an environmental issues essay topic, it's important to consider the significance of the subject matter and the potential for impactful discussions. This article will offer advice on selecting a compelling topic and provide a diverse list of recommended essay topics, divided by category.

The Importance of Environmental Issues Essay Topics

Environmental issues encompass a wide range of challenges, including climate change, pollution, deforestation, and endangered species. These topics are critical because they directly impact the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. By addressing environmental issues in essays, students can raise awareness, promote solutions, and contribute to the global conversation about sustainability and conservation.

When choosing a topic for an environmental issues essay, it's essential to consider your interests, the current relevance of the issue, and the potential for generating thought-provoking discussions. You should also take into account the availability of credible sources and data to support your arguments. Additionally, choosing a specific aspect of a broader environmental issue can help narrow the focus of your essay and make your arguments more compelling.

Recommended Environmental Issues Essay Topics

• Climate Change
• The impact of climate change on global food security
• Policy responses to climate change in developing countries
• The role of renewable energy in mitigating climate change
• Climate change adaptation strategies for vulnerable communities
• Carbon pricing and its effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• The impact of climate change on wildlife
• Strategies to mitigate climate change
• The role of renewable energy in combating climate change
• Climate change and its effect on agriculture
• The importance of international cooperation in addressing climate change
• Plastic pollution in the world's oceans
• The health effects of air pollution in urban areas
• Regulatory approaches to controlling industrial pollution
• The impact of electronic waste on the environment
• Strategies for reducing water pollution in agricultural areas
• The effects of air pollution on human health
• Ways to reduce water pollution
• The role of government regulations in controlling pollution
• The impact of industrial pollution on the environment
• Deforestation
• The effects of deforestation on biodiversity in tropical rainforests
• Community-based forest management as a solution to deforestation
• The role of corporate responsibility in combating deforestation
• The impact of deforestation on indigenous communities
• Reforestation efforts and their impact on climate change mitigation

Endangered Species

• The ethical implications of captive breeding for endangered species conservation
• The impact of illegal wildlife trade on endangered species populations
• Conservation strategies for protecting endangered marine species
• The role of ecotourism in supporting endangered species conservation
• The potential for de-extinction in preserving endangered species

Sustainable Development

• Challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban development
• The role of sustainable agriculture in addressing food insecurity
• The impact of consumer behavior on sustainable development goals
• Corporate sustainability initiatives and their impact on the environment
• The role of education in promoting sustainable development practices

Environmental Policy

• The effectiveness of international agreements in addressing environmental issues
• The role of government regulation in promoting environmental conservation
• The impact of environmental lobbying on policy-making decisions
• The potential for market-based solutions in environmental policy
• The influence of public opinion on environmental policy development

Water Scarcity

• The causes of water scarcity in developing countries
• Technological solutions to address water scarcity
• The impact of water scarcity on agriculture
• Strategies for sustainable water management
• The role of government policies in addressing water scarcity

Biodiversity Loss

• The importance of preserving biodiversity
• The impact of habitat destruction on biodiversity
• Strategies for conserving endangered species
• The role of ecotourism in promoting biodiversity conservation
• The ethical implications of biodiversity loss

Waste Management

• The challenges of e-waste disposal
• Strategies for promoting recycling and composting
• The impact of waste management on public health
• The role of circular economy in reducing waste
• The economic benefits of effective waste management

These environmental issues essay topics provide a wide range of options for students to explore and analyze. By choosing a compelling environmental issues essay topic, students can engage in meaningful discussions and contribute to the ongoing efforts to address the challenges facing our planet. It's climate change, pollution, deforestation, endangered species, sustainable development, or environmental policy - there are countless opportunities to explore and raise awareness about important environmental issues through essays.

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Thoreau's Civil Disobedience: a Philosophical Exploration

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Environmental Problems: Challenges and Solutions

Air pollution: causes, effects, and solutions, environmental issues: the problem of climate change, the main factors of adapting to a new environment, the power of change: how you can change the world, different types and sources of pollution, the ecological footprint caused by human activities, geography's role in addressing global environmental risks, water pollution, its factors, and ways to reduce, human – the significant wellspring of global warming, climate change as the one of the biggest threats to humanity now, the long term effects of littering and pollution on the environment, a research on the relationship between the global economy and the environmental protection issues, the environment hazard of plastics, deforestation and the ways to overcome it, global warming and what people can do to save earth, we are causing environmental problems and we are suffering from them, the impact of china's progress on the environment, air pollution its causes and damaging effects, the top three individual contributors to climate change, relevant topics.

• Global Warming
• Invasive Species
• Ocean Pollution
• Fast Fashion
• Natural Disasters

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Environmental Issues - List of Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Global warming: fact or fiction.

Introduction: Global Warming is the theory that the atmosphere of the earth is gradually increasing as a result of the increase in levels of greenhouse gases and pollutants being released. Since the Industrial Revolution, Earth's global average temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (The World Counts, 2014). There are generally two opinions regarding the argument of global warming: those who believe it is occurring and those who do not. People who believe in the issue back their opinions up […]

Carbon Footprint: Global Warming

Global warming (a gradual increase in the earth's and the oceans' average temperature) and carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases primarily carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activities) coincide because without carbon footprint there would not be any global warming. When I was a child and growing up in Virginia, this state seemed experienced all four seasons. Today, this Old Dominion state seems to experience only two seasons summer and winter. I personally think this apparent change […]

Is Global Warming a Hoax?

Introduction As people, we can be privileged to all sorts of opinions. This creates the possibility of many controversies. Much like the argument Is Global warming a hoax? This is one of the most famous controversies happening around the world today. This dispute isn't just between the average person, scientist themselves disagreeing among one another. Which, is something I didn't expect before doing my own research. So the question is, what is global warming and why do some believe while […]

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How Can Climate Change Affect Natural Disasters?

Global warming is considered a consensus problem which affected the lives of many people and nature catastrophically. This terrible phenomenon can be described as the rise of the regular temperature of earth which occurs when pollutants in the atmosphere absorb the heat that has bounced off the surface and should be taken to space. (Venkataramanan, 2011). Many people disagree on its existence, however the usual temperature of earth has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit as said by NASA (Hardy, 2003). […]

Overpopulation in the World

Introduction The current world population stands 7.6 billion as per the United Nations Statistics, while the human population is projected to clock 10.5 billion in the year 2040 and 12 billion by the year 2050. The current human population growth rate per year 70 million. China has got the highest number of people per unit area, with the total population being 1.2 billion. The African continent has reached the highest population growth rate, which is 6 percent while the lowest […]

How does Global Warming Affect the Arctic Animal?

Over the past years, global warming had slowly gotten worse and is now affecting the animals leaving them without a home to go to. Not only does climate change increases the chances of natural disaster but also destructing our natural habitat and creating an unfit environment to survive in. What's worse is the rise in temperature leading a meltdown of ice among the arctic creating an extreme difficult condition and the struggle for species to make a living. Essentially, global […]

Greenhouse Effect & Types of Pollution

Transportation, industrial, phonic, water and air are all types of pollution coming from personal cars, cruise ships and smokestacks, decreasing the clean air to breathe, homes for animals, food production, and great changes to the poles. Global warming is severely affecting our planet, and it continues to grow out of control. Global warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere. This causes the greenhouse gases to increase, increasing the levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and […]

Global Warming – Rising Temperature of the Atmosphere and Ocean

Throughout earth's history, climate has fluctuated (for example ice age). However, if you take into account how many organisms have evolved, and how each one depends on their habitats to survive, fluctuations will be more harmful now, especially to humanity. The main cause of global warming is thought to be the result of human actions, for example; Carbon dioxide emissions (from cars and other transport) interfering with the Ozone layer, deforestation (from workers creating space for cattle grazing), and farming […]

Global Warming: its Causes and its Real Impact on the Earth

The steadily increasing temperature of our planet's atmosphere is known as global warming. Global warming has been a subject of much political and social controversy in recent years due to arguments questioning its legitimacy. When the facts of these arguments are seen in context, their relevance becomes apparent. The data clearly indicate that global warming is happening and that it is human-induced. The anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases negatively impacts our environment, causing an increase in global temperature. This results […]

Global Warming Affects the Natural Balance of Environment

The world climate is changing significantly day by day. What is Global Warming? Global Warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide. Climate change causes an increase in average temperature. However a worldwide temperature adjustment are caused by characteristic occasions and humans that are accepted to be an add to accretion in normal temperatures. An Earth-wide temperature boost is a difficult issue […]

Climatic Changes in Greenland

Greenland is mostly covered in ice making it susceptible to melting from warm temperatures. The reason this country is named Greenland is because when Erik the Red was banned from Iceland he discovered this icy country and gave it the name in hopes of people settling (Pandita). In July and August of this year, the number of surface melt days on the Southwestern coast of Greenland was significantly above average, which is clearly an indication that global warming has begun […]

Global Warming – a Fix for the Future

Everyone has heard the infamous words global warming, but not many understand the disaster that's happening. Terms are thrown out such as carbon emissions and greenhouse gases the list goes on, and those not scientifically savvy tend to brush off what may become the downfall of humanity. According to Nasa's official website, The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and […]

The Art of Global Warming

Mankind has felt the need to leave its mark on history since the dawn of human civilization. There is evidence of this close to home in the tallest skyscrapers of New York and as far-reaching as Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon. But how far is too far? As we have grown, so too has our knowledge of the world and the advancements in science and technology that come with it. So much so, that we are now faced with […]

The Greenhouse Effect

Human activities have contributed to what we now know as 'Global Warming' since the 19th century. Global Warming also known as the Greenhouse Effect is the warming that happens when Earth's atmosphere traps heat, almost like the walls of a greenhouse. Sunlight shines on the Earth where it is then absorbed and radiated back into the atmosphere as heat and is then trapped by what we call greenhouse gasses. Experts warn that we only have until 2030 to stem catastrophic […]

Climate Change: Vulnerability and Responsibility

When it comes to the environment people talk about how it is important to care for the earth we live in. While it is important to discuss such issues it is more beneficial to take action rather than to just talk about it. The earth is in desperate need of aid and though to many, it may not matter that the earth has increased a few degrees it can and has had devastating impacts. Taking responsibility for our home is […]

Climate Change – Scientists and Environmentalists are Deeply Concerned

Anthropogenic climate change and global warming cannot be denied. By reducing pollution, preventing deforestation and curtailing oil drilling, we can preserve the environment and mitigate the effects of global warming. Global warming is detrimental to Earth's environment. Most people are not aware of this and do not consider it as a major threat to earth's biosphere. The purpose of the images shown here is to highlight the causes, impact and mitigation of global warming. There are ways we can mitigate […]

Global Warming and the Future of the World’s Climate

Although hard to imagine, in less than a hundred years the US East Coast and other stretches of coastline around the world could be submerged underwater. Cites such as New York, New Orleans, and Houston could be swamped off the map as the waters of the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico overtook the previously dry land. The skyscrapers of the old downtown areas would become islands poking out of a vast sea of blue covering the roads and old infrastructure. […]

Climate Change – Critical Issue

I believe that among the numerous critical issues facing most Americans in this world today, climate change stands as one of, if not the most urgent. However, understanding and assimilating the different causes of the ever-growing environmental problems critically facing our lives today are crucial for reducing our pollution footprint. Climate change effects include major changes in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, as well as other frequent disastrous weather phenomenon. That said, climate change policy in the US has transformed timidly […]

Global Warming – Several Major Agrarian Concerns

For many years, researchers have focused on maintaining the availability of food sources for the ever-growing human population. There are many factors that may impact the abundance of food; this research will focus on overall increase in temperature across the world and its impact on the agricultural environment. Global warming is a major research topic that presents several major agrarian concerns. In order to combat these concerns, scientists have been trying to find the root causes of problems presented through […]

The World should Turn to Vegetarian Diet to Stop Global Warming

A vegetarian according to vegetarian society is somebody who is on a diet of fruits, seeds, grains, vegetables, legumes, nut, yeast, fungi, algae, and/or some other non-animal grounded food (e.g. salt) with or minus dairy foods, eggs and/or honey. Global warming according to live science is the continuing temperature of the ground's surface, seas and thermosphere are any of the utmost frustrating environmental matters. Normal side heats high an entire of 1.71 units Fahrenheit (0.95 unit Celsius) between 1880 and […]

Causes and Effects of Global Warming

People are arguing if global warming is caused by man or if its a natural occurrence. Well, volcanoes have contributed to global warming such as El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991 they have cooled the earth's temperature but this was temporary. however, the amount of carbon dioxide they reliance is small compared to humans there are other things that can cause natural temperature changes tiny wiggles in the earth's orbit can change when and where sunlight hits even […]

Is a Tax on Carbon Emission a Way to Combat Global Warming?

In today's modern world, and especially during our current political environment, there is a big question of how important environmental issues are going to be now in our changing American government. Now that things are evolving and a new generation is casting their votes, most Americans are curious to see how the votes turn out and what are politicians will do regarding getting more awareness for climate change. After the elections, the next big concern is if the people within […]

Impact of Society on Earth’s Atmosphere

Everyday society is impacting the earth's atmosphere weather it is in a good or bad way. Mostly society effects the earth's atmosphere in a negative way, although people are aware of the current situation, they still continue to do the things that effect the earth atmosphere in a negative way. These things being burning fossil fuels, deforestation, or as easy as using fertilizers. According to climate change sheet 22 last modified on 07/18/2012 nitrogen contained in many fertilizers enhances the […]

Solutions on Pollution Issue

Funding is the most important factor in order to improve the current conditions of Vietnam. Seven principles which pollution control funds should aim to follow can be drawn from the decade of experience with environment funds of various kinds in Vietnam. To be effective, EPFs should: 1.Have a clear and overriding objective of pollution reduction and prevention. 2.Work according to a comprehensive pollution control plan of government which is based on credible and systematic priority setting procedures. 3.Integrate with the […]

How Global Warming Works

There's bright blue in the past, now there is horrible gray in the future and more heat in the summers, and the winters are getting warmer than usual. The seas and oceans rising, the ice caps falling, and animals decreasing. It is time to come to a conflict that could make our planet Earth fall. Welcome to a tremendous problem EVERYONE is trying to solve global warming. Industrializing is a benefit for us and the economy. All of this falls […]

The Global Warming Taboo

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Natural Disasters and Climate Change

Global warming is the gradual increase of temperature in the world's atmosphere. It is often caused by high levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. It may also be increased by fossil fuels and agriculture causing many severe consequences, such as: species extinction, reduced forest and coral reefs, drought increases in Africa, severe flooding in Asia, threats to small islands because of ocean levels rising, and severe weather in hurricane zones. Our society today is destroying the climate. Every time […]

Climate Change: Environmental Protection Agency

Global warming, often referred to as climate change is used to describe the rise in average surface temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth's climate. There is a great debate amongst many as to whether global warming is real( some call it a hoax). There is a broad-based agreement within the scientific community that climate change is real. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space […]

Global Warming and its Effects

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Essay on Environment: Examples & Tips

• Updated on  
• May 30, 2022

In the 21st century, the Environmental crisis is one of the biggest issues. The world has been potentially impacted by the resulting hindrance in the environmental balance, due to the rising in industrialization and urbanization. This led to several natural calamities which creates an everlasting severe impact on the environment for years. To familiarize students with the importance environment, the subject ‘Environmental Studies’ is part of the curriculum in primary, secondary as well as higher school education. To test the knowledge of the students related to Environment, a question related to the topic in the form of essay or article writing is included in the exam. This blog aims to focus on providing details to students on the way, they can draft a well-written essay on Environment.

This Blog Includes:

Overview on environment, tips on writing an effective essay, format (150 words), sample essay on environment, environment essay (100 words), essay on environment (200-250 words), environment essay (300 words), world environment day.

To begin the essay on Environment, students must know what it is all about. Biotic (plants, animals, and microorganisms) and abiotic (non-living physical factors) components in our surroundings fall under the terminology of the environment. Everything that surrounds us is a part of the environment and facilitates our existence on the planet.

Before writing an effective essay on Environment, another thing students need to ensure is to get familiarised with the structure of essay writing. The major tips which students need to keep in mind, while drafting the essay are:

• Research on the given topic thoroughly : The students must research the topic given in the essay, for example: while drafting an essay on the environment, students must mention the recent events, so to provide the reader with a view into their understanding of this concept.
• Jot down the important points: When the students research the topic, students must note down the points which need to be included in the essay.
• Quote down the important examples: Students must quote the important examples in the introductory paragraphs and the subsequent paragraphs as well.
• Revise the Essay: The student after finishing writing students must revise the content to locate any grammatical errors as well as other mistakes.

Essay on Environment: Format & Samples

Now that you are aware of the key elements of drafting an essay on Environment, take a look at the format of essay writing first:

Introduction

The student must begin the essay by, detailing an overview of the topic in a very simple way in around 30-40 words. In the introduction of the essay on Environment, the student can make it interesting by recent instances or adding questions.

Body of Content

The content after the introduction can be explained in around 80 words, on a given topic in detail. This part must contain maximum detail in this part of the Essay. For the Environment essay, students can describe ways the environment is hampered and different ways to prevent and protect it.

In the essay on Environment, students can focus on summing the essay in 30-40 words, by writing its aim, types, and purposes briefly. This section must swaddle up all the details which are explained in the body of the content.

Below is a sample of an Essay on Environment to give you an idea of the way to write one:

The natural surroundings that enable life to thrive, nurture, and destroy on our planet called earth are referred to as an environment. The natural environment is vital to the survival of life on Earth, allowing humans, animals, and other living things to thrive and evolve naturally. However, our ecosystem is being harmed as a result of certain wicked and selfish human actions. It is the most essential issue, and everyone should understand how to safeguard our environment and maintain the natural balance on this planet for life to continue to exist.

Nature provides an environment that nourishes life on the planet. The environment encompasses everything humans need to live, including water, air, sunshine, land, plants, animals, forests, and other natural resources. Our surroundings play a critical role in enabling the existence of healthy life on the planet. However, due to man-made technical advancements in the current period, our environment is deteriorating day by day. As a result, environmental contamination has risen to the top of our priority list.

Environmental pollution has a detrimental impact on our everyday lives in a variety of ways, including socially, physically, economically, emotionally, and cognitively. Contamination of the environment causes a variety of ailments that can last a person’s entire life. It is not a problem of a neighborhood or a city; it is a global issue that cannot be handled by a single person’s efforts. It has the potential to end life in a day if it is not appropriately handled. Every ordinary citizen should participate in the government’s environmental protection effort.

Between June 5 and June 16, World Environment Day is commemorated to raise awareness about the environment and to educate people about its importance. On this day, awareness initiatives are held in a variety of locations.

The environment is made up of plants, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, water bodies, fish, humans, trees, microbes, and many other things. Furthermore, they all contribute to the ecosystem.

The physical, social, and cultural environments are the three categories of environments. Besides, various scientists have defined different types and numbers of environments.

1. Do not leave rubbish in public areas. 2. Minimize the use of plastic 3. Items should be reduced, reused, and recycled. 4. Prevent water and soil contamination

Hope the blog has given you an idea of how to write an essay on the Environment. If you are planning to study abroad and want help in writing your essays, then let Leverage Edu be your helping hand. Our experts will assist you in writing an excellent SOP for your study abroad consultant application. 

Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

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Environmental argumentative essay topics | example & outline, bob cardens.

• September 8, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas

With the ever-growing population and the consequent demand for natural resources, it’s no wonder that there’s been an increase in environmental problems. If you’re looking for argumentative essay topics about the environment, you can find plenty of material to write about. In this article, we’ll give you some ideas to get you started!

What You'll Learn

Environmental Argumentative Essay Topics

The environment is a hot-button issue these days. No matter what your stance is, there are always going to be people who disagree with you. That’s why having a solid argument is so important when discussing environmental topics . Here are fifty Environmental Argumentative Essay Topics that you can use;

• Should the government do more to protect endangered species?
• Is it morally wrong to eat meat?
• Is climate change man-made?
• Should we be doing more to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?
• What should be done about the problem of plastic pollution?
• How can we best reduce our carbon footprint?
• Is nuclear power a safe and viable alternative to other forms of energy?
• Should we be investing more in renewable energy sources?
• What is the best way to deal with waste management?
• How can we make transportation more environmentally friendly?
• Is it important to preserve wilderness areas?
• Should we be doing more to promote recycling?
• What is the best way to reduce air pollution?
• What is the best way to reduce water pollution?
• What should be done about the problem of toxic chemicals in our environment?
• How can we best clean up contaminated sites?
• Should we be doing more to protect endangered habitats?
• What is the best way to reduce deforestation?
• Should we be doing more to stop the illegal wildlife trade?
• What is the best way to reduce our reliance on pesticides?
• Should we be doing more to reduce the reliance on plastic?
• What are the best ways to promote energy conservation?
• Do we need to do more to prevent global warming?
• Should we be doing more to prevent ocean pollution?
• What is the best way to reduce water shortages?
• Is it necessary to genetically modify crops in order to help them resist pests and diseases?
• How can we make food production more sustainable?
• What is the best way to reduce wastefulness in our everyday lives?
• Should we be doing more to teach children about environmentalism?
• Is it possible for humans to have a significant impact on climate change without causing too much damage?
• Do we need to create a global treaty to address climate change?
• What is the best way to reduce our dependence on oil?
• How can we combat deforestation caused by logging?
• Is it ethical to hunt and fish in ways that damage ecosystems?
• How can we make sure that products we buy are environmentally friendly?
• Should we be investing in renewable energy sources more?
• What is the best way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil?
• What is the best way to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?
• Is it possible to create a sustainable economy?
• How can we make sure that development projects don’t damage the environment?
• What is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
• What are some effective ways to reduce water waste?
• How can we better protect marine ecosystems?
• Should governments invest more in environmental research and development?
• Should we be doing more to promote green infrastructure projects?
• Is it possible for humans to live sustainably without damaging the environment?
• What is the most effective way to reduce wastefulness in our everyday lives?
• Is it possible to have a positive impact on the environment without compromising our way of life?

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• Environmental Issue Essay

Essay on Environmental Issue

Environment is the surrounding of an Organism. This Environment in which an Organism lives is made up of various components like Air, Water, Land, etc. These components are found in fixed proportions to create a Harmonious Balance in the Environment for the Organism to live in. Any kind of undesirable and wanted change in the proportions of these components can be termed as Pollution. This Issue is increasing with every passing year. It is an Issue that troubles Economically, Physically and Socially. The Environmental problem that is worsening with each day needs to be addressed so that its harmful effects on Humans as well as the planet can be redressed. 

Environmental Issue

Our green world is now in Jeopardy. Humans depleted Natural Resources by polluting Water, Soil, and Air. We must tackle the challenges we have created by opening our eyes. The Environment has been profoundly impacted by Industrial Growth. People emit more Pollution for more convenience. Human actions have an impact on the Environment, both directly and indirectly. As a result, there is a symbiotic link between a creature and its surroundings. Let’s discuss some major Issues our Environment Issues which our Environment is facing nowadays:

Global Warming:

Foremost symptom of natural imbalance is Global Warming. When Greenhouse Gasses accumulate and cause the temperature to rise, we see the Greenhouse effect. It has an impact on the rising of the World Ocean level and the melting of Arctic ice. According to specialists, coastal countries and certain islands could be overwhelmed by water over several decades.

Increasing Population:

People require greater space and resources as their population grows, in order to meet all of their food and housing needs. To make room for pastures and agricultural fields, people began cutting down trees. Forests serve as the Earth's main lungs and the primary habitat for a wide range of animals, birds, and insects. Deforestation and Human activities have put a lot of forest species in Jeopardy.

Ozone Layer Depletion:

Depletion of the Ozone layer is a complex Issue that Humanity is grappling with. The Ozone layer absorbs UV radiation, which is damaging to Humans. Increased Ozone hole numbers result in more intense solar radiation and a rise in skin cancer.

Deforestation: 

Plants and trees are essential components of Human life. Everyone benefits from trees because they give air, food, and medicines. Forests are being cut down to meet rising demand. During the summer, natural wildfires are common. To maximize profit, people take down trees in an unethical manner.

Climate change is occurring at a faster rate than it was a century ago. The weather change has an impact on industrial advancement. Climate change has resulted in disastrous hurricanes, floods, and droughts. In recent years, many countries have been hit by a slew of natural disasters.

Polluted Environments can cause a variety of illnesses. Many species of flora and wildlife that are important to flora are threatened with extinction. Nature preserves balance, and all Organisms' feeding habits are linked in a food chain, as we all know. In areas with petroleum refineries, chemicals, iron and steel, non-metal products, pulp and paper manufacturers, and textile industries, the problem of industrial Pollution is often severe.

Causes of Environmental Issue

With the rise of the industries and the migration of people from villages to cities in search of employment, there has been a regular increase in the problem of proper housing and unhygienic conditions of living. These reasons have given rise in factors for Pollution. Environmental Pollution is of five basic types namely; Air, Water, Soil and Noise Pollution.

Air Pollution:  

Air Pollution is a major Issue in today’s world. The smoke pouring out of factory chimneys and automobiles pollute the air that we breathe in. Gasses like Carbon dioxide, Carbon Monoxide and Sulphur Dioxide are emitted which mix with air and cause great harm to the Human body, Flora and Fauna. The dry farm waste, dry grass, leaves and coal used as domestic fuels in our villages also produce harmful Gasses. Acid rain occurs due to excess Sulphur Dioxide in the Air. 

Water Pollution:  

Water Pollution is one of the most serious Environmental Issues. The waste products from the growing industries and sewage water are not treated properly before disposing into rivers and other water bodies, thus creating Pollution. Agricultural processes with excess fertilizers and pesticides also pollute the water bodies.

Soil or Land Pollution:  

The next source of Environmental Pollution is soil. Waste materials such as plastics, polythene, bottles, etc. cause land Pollution and render soil infertile. Moreover, dumping of dead bodies of men and animals, washing of clothes and utensils add to this Issue. It is a very dangerous aspect of Environment since it affects the fertility and food production of the area and the country.

Noise Pollution:  

This Issue is a very subtle form of Pollution. All Human activities contribute to noise Pollution to a large extent. Horns of the vehicles, loud speakers, music system, industrial activities contribute towards this Issue.

Problems like Ozone depletion, Global Warming, Greenhouse effect, change in climatic and weather conditions, melting of glaciers etc. are some more Issues in the Environment.

How to Minimize Environmental Issues?

To minimize this Issue, preventive measures need to be taken.

Principle of 3R’s:  

To save the Environment, use the principle of 3 R’s; Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. 

Reuse products again and again. Instead of throwing away things after one use, find a way to use them again.  Reduce the amount of waste products generated. 

Recycle:  

Paper, plastics, glass and electronic items can be processed into new products while using fewer natural resources and lesser energy.

To prevent and control measures of air Pollution including better-designed equipment and smokeless fuels should be used in homes and industries. 

More and more trees should be planted to balance the ecosystem and control Greenhouse effects.

Noise Pollution can be minimized by better designing and proper maintenance of vehicles. Industrial noise can be reduced by sound proofing equipment like generators, etc. 

To control soil Pollution, usage of plastic bags must be stopped. Sewage should be treated properly before using it as fertilizers and as landfills.  

Several measures can be adopted to control water Pollution. Some of them are that the water requirement can be minimized by altering the techniques involved. Water should be reused with treatment. The quantity of water waste discharged should be reduced. 

People, unfortunately, forget that we are a part of nature. We must live in harmony with nature and take care of it. We need to rethink how we consume natural resources. People must be aware that the natural world is on the verge of collapse. People must recognise that they are not the primary users of the Environment and construct Environmentally suitable homes. We must consider future generations and what will be left behind after we are gone. People come up with remedies to Environmental Issues. We recycle trash, develop electric automobiles, reduce air, water, and soil Pollution, and restore land erosion by planting new trees. But it is not enough; people must drastically alter their lifestyles until nature takes the last drastic measures.

Saving our planet from these Environmental Issues is the responsibility of every individual. If preventive measures are not taken then our future generation will have to face major repercussions. Government is also taking steps to create public awareness. Every individual should be involved in helping to reduce and control Pollution.

FAQs on Environmental Issue Essay

1. What are the Major Environmental Issues?

The major environmental issues are environmental degradation, climate change, global warming, and greenhouse effects.

2. What is the Best Way to Control Greenhouse Effect?

Afforestation is the best way to control greenhouse effect.

3. What is the Principle of 3Rs?

The principle of 3Rs is Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

4. How do you Minimize Soil Pollution?

Stopping the use of plastics can minimize soil Pollution.

Persuasive Essay: Environmental Issues

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Critical stance and development of a strong argument are key strategies when writing to convince someone to agree with your position. In this lesson, students explore environmental issues that are relevant to their own lives, self-select topics, and gather information to write persuasive essays. Students participate in peer conferences to aid in the revision process and evaluate their essays through self-assessment. Although this lesson focuses on the environment as a broad topic, many other topics can be easily substituted for reinforcement of persuasive writing.

Featured Resources

• Persuasion Map : Your students can use this online interactive tool to map out an argument for their persuasive essay.
• Persuasive Writing : This site offers information on the format of a persuasive essay, the writing and peer conferencing process, and a rubric for evaluating students' work.
• Role Play Activity sheet : Give your students the opportunity to see persuasion in action and to discuss the elements of a successful argument.

From Theory to Practice

• The main purpose of persuasive texts is to present an argument or an opinion in an attempt to convince the reader to accept the writer's point of view.
• Reading and reacting to the opinions of others helps shape readers' beliefs about important issues, events, people, places, and things.
• This chapter highlights various techniques of persuasion through the use of minilessons. The language and format of several subgenres of persuasive writing are included as well.

The inquiry approach gives students the opportunity to identify topics in which they are interested, research those topics, and present their findings. This approach is designed to be learner-centered as it encourages students to select their own research topics, rather than being told what to study.

• The Saving Black Mountain project highlighted in this article exemplifies critical literacy in action. Students learn that, in a democratic society, their voices can make a difference.
• Critical literacy goes beyond providing authentic purposes and audiences for reading and writing, and considers the role of literacy in societal transformation. Students should be learning a great deal more than how to read and write. They should be learning about the power of literacy to make a difference.
• Endangered species and the environment are compelling topics for students of all ages and excellent raw materials for literacy learning.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

Materials and Technology

• Chart paper and writing materials
• Computers with Internet access

Role Play Activity sheet

Preparation

Student objectives.

Students will

• Develop a critical stance in regard to environmental issues
• Research information to support their stance
• Write persuasive essays
• Participate in peer conferencing
• Evaluate their writing through self-assessment

Independent Work

Students should complete their revisions and prepare a final draft of their persuasive essays to be submitted on the established due date. In addition, students should self-assess their essays using the “Persuasive Essay Rubric.” Finished essays should be submitted, along with the ”Conferencing with a Peer” handouts, the self-assessment rubrics, the persuasion map printouts, and any notes or information printed off the Internet that was used to support the writing.

• Have students share their essays with the class and discuss or debate the topics. Students can also examine the essays to see which ones do the best job of persuading the audience and why.
• Encourage students to write their essays in the form of a letter and send them to a particular person or organization that has an interest in the specified topic. For example, it may be appropriate to send letters to politicians, corporations, the President, etc. Students can use the interactive Letter Generator to compose their letters.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• The “ Conferencing with a Peer ” handouts should clearly show that the writer followed the persuasive essay format. If any elements were missing from the conference sheet, the final draft should reflect that revisions were made to incorporate comments and suggestions from the peer conferencing session.
• The “ Persuasive Essay Rubric ” can be used as a guide to determine whether the student understands all the elements of writing a persuasive essay. Weak areas should be discussed with each individual student for future writing pieces. Strong areas should be reinforced and commended. Individual conferences between the teacher and student would allow for discussion of particular strengths and weaknesses, as well as future goals for the student as a writer.
• Evaluate the completed persuasive essay to assess each student’s ability to compose a thesis statement and to use appropriate language and voice in the essay. Does the essay include an introduction, body, and conclusion? Does it include supporting information to support the student’s stance in the essay?
• Engage students in thinking about how they envision they will be able to use this style of writing in the future. Do they feel this skill will benefit them and in what ways? (This reflection can be completed during individual conferencing, through journal writing, or added to the self-assessment rubric.)
• Calendar Activities
• Lesson Plans
• Student Interactives

Students analyze rhetorical strategies in online editorials, building knowledge of strategies and awareness of local and national issues. This lesson teaches students connections between subject, writer, and audience and how rhetorical strategies are used in everyday writing.

The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

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• Kindergarten K

Human Impacts on the Environment

Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. These negative impacts can affect human behavior and can prompt mass migrations or battles over clean water.

Help your students understand the impact humans have on the physical environment with these classroom resources.

Earth Science, Geology, Geography, Physical Geography

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Eco Criticism › Ecocriticism: An Essay

Ecocriticism: An Essay

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on November 27, 2016 • ( 3 )

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works, both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader , edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm , and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.

Ecocriticism investigates the relation between humans and the natural world in literature. It deals with how environmental issues, cultural issues concerning the environment and attitudes towards nature are presented and analyzed. One of the main goals in ecocriticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react in relation to nature and ecological aspects. This form of criticism has gained a lot of attention during recent years due to higher social emphasis on environmental destruction and increased technology. It is hence a fresh way of analyzing and interpreting literary texts, which brings new dimensions to the field of literary and theoritical studies. Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including “green (cultural) studies”, “ecopoetics”, and “environmental literary criticism.”

Western thought has often held a more or less utilitarian attitude to nature —nature is for serving human needs. However, after the eighteenth century, there emerged many voices that demanded a revaluation of the relationship between man and environment, and man’s view of nature. Arne Naess , a Norwegian philosopher, developed the notion of “Deep Ecology” which emphasizes the basic interconnectedness of all life forms and natural features, and presents a symbiotic and holistic world-view rather than an anthropocentric one.

Earlier theories in literary and cultural studies focussed on issue of class, race, gender, region are criteria and “subjects”of critical analysis. The late twentieth century has woken up to a new threat: ecological disaster. The most important environmental problems that humankind faces as a whole are: nuclear war, depletion of valuable natural resources, population explosion, proliferation of exploitative technologies, conquest of space preliminary to using it as a garbage dump, pollution, extinction of species (though not a human problem) among others. In such a context, literary and cultural theory has begun to address the issue as a part of academic discourse. Numerous green movements have sprung up all over the world, and some have even gained representations in the governments.

Large scale debates over “dumping,” North versus South environmentalism (the necessary differences between the en-vironmentalism of the developed and technologically advanced richer nations—the North, and the poorer, subsistence environmentalism of the developing or “Third World”—the South). Donald Worster ‘s Nature’s Economy (1977) became a textbook for the study of ecological thought down the ages. The historian Arnold Toynbee recorded the effect of human civilisation upon the land and nature in his monumental, Mankind and Mother Earth (1976). Environmental issues and landscape use were also the concern of the Annales School of historians , especially Braudel and Febvre. The work of environmental historians has been pathbreaking too. Rich-ard Grove et al’s massive Nature and the Orient (1998), David Arnold and Ramachandra Guha’s Nature, Culture, Imperialism (1995) have been significant work in the environmental history of India and Southeast Asia. Ramachandra Guha is of course the most important environmental historian writing from India today.

Various versions of environmentalism developed.Deep ecology and ecofeminism were two important developments. These new ideas questioned the notion of “development” and “modernity,” and argued that all Western notions in science, philosophy, politics were “anthropocentric” (human-centred) and “androcentric”(Man/male-centred). Technology, medical science with its animal testing, the cosmetic and fashion industry all came in for scrutiny from environmentalists. Deep ecology, for instance, stressed on a “biocentric” view (as seen in the name of the environmentalist group, “ Earth First! !”).

Ecocriticism is the result of this new consciousness: that very soon, there will be nothing beautiful (or safe) in nature to discourse about, unless we are very careful.

Ecocritics ask questions such as: (1) How is nature represented in the novel/poem/play ? (2) What role does the physical-geographical setting play in the structure of the novel? (3) How do our metaphors of the land influence the way we treat it? That is, what is the link between pedagogic or creative practice and actual political, sociocultural and ethical behaviour towards the land and other non-human life forms? (4) How is science —in the form of genetic engineering, technologies of reproduction, sexualities—open to critical scrutiny terms of the effects of science upon the land?

The essential assumptions, ideas and methods of ecocritics may be summed up as follows. (1) Ecocritics believe that human culture is related to the physical world. (2) Ecocriticism assumes that all life forms are interlinked. Ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere. (3) Moreover, there is a definite link between nature and culture, where the literary treatment, representation and “thematisation” of land and nature influence actions on the land. (4) Joseph Meeker in an early work, The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary Ecology (1972) used the term “literary ecology” to refer to “the study of biological themes and relationships which appear in literary works. It is simultaneously an attempt to discover what roles have been played by literature in the ecology of the human species.” (5) William Rueckert is believed to have coined the term “ecocriticism” in 1978, which he defines as “the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature.”

Source: Literary Theory Today,Pramod K Nair

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Categories: Eco Criticism

Tags: Annales School , Arne Naess , Arnold Toynbee , Cheryll Glotfelty , Deep Ecology , Earth First! , Ecocriticism , green studies , Harold Fromm , Literary Theory , Mankind and Mother Earth , Nature and the Orient , Nature's Economy , The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary Ecology , The Ecocriticism Reader , The Environmental Imagination

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Human Impact on Environment Essay

Ecological problem is one of the most important issues nowadays. Human activities have a negative impact on the environment. Humanity currently faces problems with air, water, and lands pollution, unreasonable agricultural systems, deforestation, and others. As a result, the number of available natural resources is decreasing. Another negative consequence of human activities is the process of global warming and global climate changes. These changes affect the whole Earth and might result in adverse consequences for people and wild nature (“The Consequences of Climate Change”). Therefore, it is obvious that the situation should be improved.

Probably, everybody asks oneself what he or she personally could do to improve the ecological situation. After all, the main source of pollution is the industry sector. However, we all belong to humanity and make our small impact on the environment. And we all could make the situation slightly better. Our daily habits have both positive and negative long-term consequences for the world we live in. It is important to understand to plan our life and our activities.

As far as my family and I are concerned, we performed several steps to reduce the negative impact on the environment. First of all, we all try to save clean water. We always remember to turn off our taps. We do not keep the water running when we brush teeth or wash something. Saving clean water is very important for the environment. The problem of clean water availability, probably, is one of the most pressing. No living creature can survive without clean water. Fewer sources we use, more of them remain for the future generation.

Another important action we perform to improve the situation with water is avoiding water pollution. Our family refused to use cleaning detergents with phosphates as it is known that these substances are harmful to human health. Moreover, it is difficult to eliminate these compounds from water. Therefore, phosphates in the water get to nature and poison living organisms. Thus, it is better to use detergents without phosphates. It helps to keep the healthy and to reduce water pollution.

Except for water pollution, there are a lot of other problems that need to be solved. One of them is waste deposits. These deposits occupy a large area. Different wastes need different (however, always significant) times to decompose. Besides, while decomposing, a lot of harmful compounds appear. These compounds poison the land and can get to the water. In the last decades, a lot of programs of waste separation appeared. People are asked to separate the waste: to combine plastic with plastic, organic with organic, and paper with paper. Different wastes are treated in different ways, which allows cutting pollution. For example, plastic can be remolded and used again, while it requires hundreds of years for its degradation in nature. Moreover, during this process, a lot of harmful products release (Law and Thompson 144). Thus, it is better to separate plastic material and recycle it. It would be even better not to use plastic at all, and when it is possible, try to use biopolymers instead.

It is important to understand that small steps are better than nothing. If we want to improve the ecological situation, we should start with ourselves, analyze our daily activities, and make improvements where it is possible. Carrying about our environment is our responsibility as citizens. Finally, the small effects of such actions might summarize positive global changes.

Works Cited

“The Consequences of Climate Change.” NASA . 2017, Web.

Law, Kara Lavender, and Richard C. Thompson. “Microplastics in the Seas.” Science, vol. 345, no. 6193, 2014, pp. 144-145.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 29). Human Impact on Environment. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/

"Human Impact on Environment." IvyPanda , 29 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Human Impact on Environment'. 29 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Human Impact on Environment." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/.

1. IvyPanda . "Human Impact on Environment." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Human Impact on Environment." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/human-impact-on-environment/.

• Gender and Illness in Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"
• The Effect of Inhibitors and Temperature on Enzyme Reactions
• Adenosine Triphosphate, Energy and Phosphorylation
• Environment and Human Attitude Towards It
• "Heat" Environmental Documentary by PBS
• Episode 2 of "Strange Days on Planet Earth" Series
• "The Great Climate Experiment" by Ken Caldeira
• Human Interaction with the Earth

• B2 Pollution Problems

The essay for B2 First Writing Part 1 is always written for the teacher. It should be well organised, with an introduction, your opinions on the ideas given and an appropriate conclusion.

For this essay, you have been talking about the environment in your class. Now, your English teacher has asked you to write an essay.

Every country in the world has problems with pollution and damage to the environment. Do you think these problems can be solved?

Write about:

1. transport 2. rivers and seas 3. energy at home

Write your article in  140-190  words in an appropriate style.

More exercises available:

You are required to produce two pieces of writing. The first piece is compulsory and will be an essay of 140-190 words. For the second, you can choose from an article, email/letter, essay, review or report (B2 First for schools the report is replaced with a story) of 140-190 words.

• B2 Article Video
• B2 Book Review Video
• B2 Descriptive Email Video
• B2 Place Review Video
• B2 Short Story Video
• B2 Cities of the Future
• B2 Fast Food
• B2 Following Fashion
• B2 Live Concert
• B2 Taking a Gap Year
• B2 A Work of Art
• B2 Being a Celebrity
• B2 Life Away
• B2 Preventing Crime
• B2 School Improvement
• B2 Shopping Online
• B2 Tablet or Laptop
• B2 The Countryside
• School Canteen
• B2 A School Trip to Italy
• B2 An Important Day
• B2 Forgetful Girl
• The Hidden Beach
• The Lost Photo
• B2 IMDb Website Review
• B2 Jurassic Park Book Review
• B2 Mountain Bike Park
• B2 Romeo and Juliet Play Review
• B2 Ted Film Review
• Scarlett Animation Review
• B2 Berlin Travel Report
• B2 Shops Report
• B2 Visiting Places Report
• B2 Birthday Party Letter
• B2 Computer Games Email
• B2 Favourite Film Email
• B2 Holiday in Thailand Email
• B2 New Attraction Letter
• B2 Place to Visit Email
• B2 Spending Money Email
• B2 Visiting Relative Email

You need to be able to understand a range of texts, including how they are organised and the opinions and attitudes expressed in them. The texts will be from sources familiar to you such as magazines, articles, fiction and advertisements, but targeted at the interests of students.

Students’ use of English will be tested by tasks which show how well they can control their grammar and vocabulary.

• Use of English Part 1
• Use of English Part 2
• Use of English Part 3
• Use of English Part 4
• Reading Part 5
• Reading Part 6
• Reading Part 7

For this part, you practice vocabulary by using words with similar meanings, collocations, linking phrases, phrasal verbs, etc.

• B2 First Use of English Video
• Becoming Famous
• Cycling Scheme
• Film Stars and Music Celebrities
• Going on a diet
• Single or Mixed Sex Schools
• The History of Football
• The Poor and Less Fortunate
• The Special Bus
• Why do we need to play?

For this part, you practice grammar and vocabulary.

• Better swimming
• Cardboard Bike
• Dealing with waste plastic
• Drinking Water
• Fit for Sports
• Following Your Nose
• Growing Bananas
• Holiday with a Friend
• Making Perfume
• The Farm Trip
• The Jobs Market
• Tree Climbing
• Weather Forecasting
• Young Enterprise

For this part, you practice vocabulary word-building by changing different words using a base word.

• Angel of Mercy
• Fast Food Industry
• Life on Other Planets
• Music in Schools
• Mystery Weekend Break
• Pollution Problems
• Understanding Time
• Workforce on the Move

For this part,  you have to express a message in different ways showing flexibility and resource in the use of language.

• B2 First Use of English Part 4
• B2 Key Word Transformation 1
• B2 Key Word Transformation 10
• B2 Key Word Transformation 2
• B2 Key Word Transformation 3
• B2 Key Word Transformation 4
• B2 Key Word Transformation 5
• B2 Key Word Transformation 6
• B2 Key Word Transformation 7
• B2 Key Word Transformation 8
• B2 Key Word Transformation 9

For this part, you practice how to understand the details of a text, including opinions and attitudes.

• Cycling to India
• Hottest Place on Earth
• Living and Working in Another Country
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Wrestler who Wrote a Book

For this part, you practice how to understand the structure and follow the development of a text.

• Benefits of Getting Fit
• Our Polluted World

For this part, you practice how to find specific information in a text or texts.

• Collecting Things
• English Seaside Resorts
• Teenage Summer Camps

Requires being able to follow and understand a range of familiar spoken materials, such as news programmes, public announcements and other sources, but targeted at the interests of the learners.

• Speaking Part 1
• Speaking Part 2
• Speaking Part 3
• Speaking Part 4
• Listening Part 1
• Listening Part 2
• Listening Part 3
• Listening Part 4

In this part you talk to the examiner about yourself and your life, e.g. your name, school, interests and future plans.

B2 Speaking Part 1 Exercise 1 B2 Speaking Part 1 Exercise 2 B2 Speaking Part 1 Exercise 3

In this part, you talk about two photos on your own which you have to compare for about 1 minute . After you have finished, your partner will be asked a short question about your photo. When your partner has spoken about their photos for about 1 minute , you will be asked a question about their photos.

B2 Speaking Part 2 Exercise 1

In this part you express ideas with your partner by looking at a discussion point that the examiner gives you.

This will be available soon.

In this part, you focus on general aspects of a topic with the examiner or you may involve your partner.

In this part, you will hear people talking in eight different situations.

Entertainment Short Conversations Talking about Sports

In this part, you will hear someone being interviewed.

Extreme Snowboarding Future Options Newly Published Book The Talent Show

In this part, you will hear five people talking about different things.

Demonstration Travel Worries

In this part, you will hear an interview.

Protecting the Environment Staying Healthy

• Customs and Traditions
• Entertainment and Leisure
• Environmental and Nature
• Future Jobs and Education
• Identity and Well-being
• Travel and Adventure

Customs and Traditions explores how we celebrate our cultural identity across the globe.

• Christmas Hard Exercises
• Story of Halloween
• Valentine Message

Entertainment and Leisure explores how we spent our free time.

Environment and Nature explores the way humans and animals live, adapt and change on our planet.

• Global Changes

Exploring how different societies create roles for people to develop their skills and knowledge.

• Future Schools
• Sport at School
• School Rules
• Fashion Design

Exploring how we learn and adjust to the world around us. .

• Taking Risks
• Natural Disasters

Exploring how we experience the world through our life journeys

• Travelling around the World

Cambridge English exams are designed for learners at all levels from the pre-intermediate level Cambridge English: Key (KET) to the very advanced level Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE). These exams give candidates proof of their ability to use English in a wide variety of contexts, relevant to work, study and leisure activities.

A2 Key | B1 Preliminary | B2 First

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What Are the Effects of Climate Change?

A rapidly warming planet poses an existential threat to all life on earth. Just how bad it gets depends on how quickly we act.

An area flooded by Super Typhoon Noru in the Bulacan Province of the Philippines, September 26, 2022

Rouelle Umali/Xinhua via Getty Images

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Climate change is our planet’s greatest existential threat . If we don’t limit greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the consequences of rising global temperatures include massive crop and fishery collapse, the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of species, and entire communities becoming uninhabitable. While these outcomes may still be avoidable, climate change is already causing suffering and death. From raging wildfires and supercharged storms, its compounding effects can be felt today, outside our own windows.

Understanding these impacts can help us prepare for what’s here, what’s avoidable, and what’s yet to come, and to better prepare and protect all communities. Even though everyone is or will be affected by climate change, those living in the world’s poorest countries—which have contributed least to the problem—are the most climate-vulnerable. They have the fewest financial resources to respond to crises or adapt, and they’re closely dependent on a healthy, thriving natural world for food and income. Similarly, in the United States, it is most often low-income communities and communities of color that are on the frontlines of climate impacts. And because climate change and rising inequality are interconnected crises, decision makers must take action to combat both—and all of us must fight for climate justice. Here’s what you need to know about what we’re up against.

Effects of climate change on weather

Effects of climate change on the environment, effects of climate change on agriculture, effects of climate change on animals, effects of climate change on humans, future effects of climate change.

As global temperatures climb, widespread shifts in weather systems occur, making events like droughts , hurricanes , and floods more intense and unpredictable. Extreme weather events that may have hit just once in our grandparents’ lifetimes are becoming more common in ours. However, not every place will experience the same effects: Climate change may cause severe drought in one region while making floods more likely in another.

Already, the planet has warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since the preindustrial era began 250 years ago, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) . And scientists warn it could reach a worst-case scenario of 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 if we fail to tackle the causes of climate change —namely, the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) .

Tokyo during a record-breaking heat wave, August 13, 2020

The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images

Higher average temperatures

This change in global average temperature—seemingly small but consequential and climbing—means that, each summer, we are likely to experience increasingly sweltering heat waves. Even local news meteorologists are starting to connect strings of record-breaking days to new long-term trends, which are especially problematic in regions where infrastructure and housing have not been built with intensifying heat in mind. And heat waves aren’t just uncomfortable—they’re the leading cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States.

Longer-lasting droughts

Hotter temperatures increase the rate at which water evaporates from the air, leading to more severe and pervasive droughts . Already, climate change has pushed the American West into a severe “megadrought”—the driest 22-year stretch recorded in at least 1,200 years—shrinking drinking water supplies, withering crops , and making forests more susceptible to insect infestations. Drought can also create a positive feedback loop in which drier soil and less plant cover cause even faster evaporation.

More intense wildfires

This drier, hotter climate also creates conditions that fuel more vicious wildfire seasons—with fires that spread faster and burn longer—putting millions of additional lives and homes at risk. The number of large wildfires doubled between 1984 and 2015 in the western United States. And in California alone, the annual area burned by wildfires increased 500 percent between 1972 and 2018.

Evacuation after Hurricane Harvey in Houston, August 28, 2017

David J. Phillip/AP Photo

Stronger storms

Warmer air also holds more moisture, making tropical cyclones wetter, stronger, and more capable of rapidly intensifying. In the latest report from the IPCC , scientists found that daily rainfall during extreme precipitation events would increase by about 7 percent for each degree Celsius of global warming, increasing the dangers of flooding . The frequency of severe Category 4 and 5 hurricanes is also expected to increase. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey, a devastating Category 4 storm, dumped a record 275 trillion pounds of rain and resulted in dozens of deaths in the Houston area.

From the poles to the tropics, climate change is disrupting ecosystems. Even a seemingly slight shift in temperature can cause dramatic changes that ripple through food webs and the environment.

The lake at Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon in Iceland, which has grown because of continued glacial melting

Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo

Melting sea ice

The effects of climate change are most apparent in the world’s coldest regions—the poles. The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as anywhere else on earth, leading to the rapid melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets, where a massive amount of water is stored. As sea ice melts, darker ocean waters that absorb more sunlight become exposed, creating a positive feedback loop that speeds up the melting process. In just 15 years, the Arctic could be entirely ice-free in the summer.

Sea level rise

Scientists predict that melting sea ice and glaciers, as well as the fact that warmer water expands in volume, could cause sea levels to rise as much as 6.6 feet by the end of the century, should we fail to curb emissions. The extent (and pace) of this change would devastate low-lying regions, including island nations and densely populated coastal cities like New York City and Mumbai.

But sea level rise at far lower levels is still costly, dangerous, and disruptive. According to the 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report from the National Ocean Service, the United States will see a foot of sea level rise by 2050, which will regularly damage infrastructure, like roads, sewage treatment plants, and even power plants . Beaches that families have grown up visiting may be gone by the end of the century. Sea level rise also harms the environment, as encroaching seawater can both erode coastal ecosystems and invade freshwater inland aquifers, which we rely on for agriculture and drinking water. Saltwater incursion is already reshaping life in nations like Bangladesh , where one-quarter of the lands lie less than 7 feet above sea level.

A waterlogged road, caused by rainstorm and upstream flood discharge, in the Shaoguan, Guangdong Province of China, June 21, 2022

Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In addition to coastal flooding caused by sea level rise, climate change influences the factors that result in inland and urban flooding: snowmelt and heavy rain. As global warming continues to both exacerbate sea level rise and extreme weather, our nation’s floodplains are expected to grow by approximately 45 percent by 2100. In 2022, deadly flooding in Pakistan—which inundated as much as a third of the country—resulted from torrential rains mixed with melting glaciers and snow.

Warmer ocean waters and marine heat waves

Oceans are taking the brunt of our climate crisis. Covering more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface, oceans absorb 93 percent of all the heat that’s trapped by greenhouse gases and up to 30 percent of all the carbon dioxide emitted from burning fossil fuels.

Temperature-sensitive fish and other marine life are already changing migration patterns toward cooler and deeper waters to survive, sending food webs and important commercial fisheries into disarray. And the frequency of marine heat waves has increased by more than a third . These spikes have led to mass die-offs of plankton and marine mammals.

To make matters worse, the elevated absorption of carbon dioxide by the ocean leads to its gradual acidification , which alters the fundamental chemical makeup of the water and threatens marine life that has evolved to live in a narrow pH band. Animals like corals, oysters, and mussels will likely feel these effects first, as acidification disrupts the calcification process required to build their shells.

Ecosystem stressors

Land-based ecosystems—from old-growth forests to savannahs to tropical rainforests—are faring no better. Climate change is likely to increase outbreaks of pests, invasive species, and pathogen infections in forests. It’s changing the kinds of vegetation that can thrive in a given region and disrupting the life cycles of wildlife, all of which is changing the composition of ecosystems and making them less resilient to stressors. While ecosystems have the capacity to adapt, many are reaching the hard limits of that natural capacity . More repercussions will follow as temperatures rise.

Climate change appears to be triggering a series of cascading ecological changes that we can neither fully predict nor, once they have enough momentum, fully stop. This ecosystem destabilization may be most apparent when it comes to keystone species that have an outsize- role in holding up an ecosystem’s structure.

Coffee plants destroyed by frost due to extremely low temperatures near Caconde in the São Paulo state of Brazil, August 25, 2021

Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Less predictable growing seasons

In a warming world, farming crops is more unpredictable—and livestock, which are sensitive to extreme weather, become harder to raise. Climate change shifts precipitation patterns, causing unpredictable floods and longer-lasting droughts. More frequent and severe hurricanes can devastate an entire season’s worth of crops. Meanwhile, the dynamics of pests, pathogens, and invasive species—all of which are costly for farmers to manage—are also expected to become harder to predict. This is bad news, given that most of the world’s farms are small and family-run. One bad drought or flood could decimate an entire season’s crop or herd. For example, in June 2022, a triple-digit heat wave in Kansas wiped out thousands of cows. While the regenerative agriculture movement is empowering rural communities to make their lands more resilient to climate change, unfortunately, not all communities can equitably access the support services that can help them embrace these more sustainable farming tactics.

Reduced soil health

Healthy soil has good moisture and mineral content and is teeming with bugs, bacteria, fungi, and microbes that in turn contribute to healthy crops. But climate change, particularly extreme heat and changes in precipitation, can degrade soil quality. These impacts are exacerbated in areas where industrial, chemical-dependent monoculture farming has made soil and crops less able to withstand environmental changes.

Food shortages

Ultimately, impacts to our agricultural systems pose a direct threat to the global food supply. And food shortages and price hikes driven by climate change will not affect everyone equally: Wealthier people will continue to have more options for accessing food, while potentially billions of others will be plummeted into food insecurity—adding to the billions that already have moderate or severe difficulty getting enough to eat.

The poison dart frog’s survival is currently threatened by habitat loss and climate change.

Chris Mattison/Minden Pictures

It’s about far more than just the polar bears: Half of all animal species in the world’s most biodiverse places, like the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands, are at risk of extinction from climate change. And climate change is threatening species that are already suffering from the biodiversity crisis, which is driven primarily by changes in land and ocean use (like converting wild places to farmland) and direct exploitation of species (like overfishing and wildlife trade). With species already in rough shape—more than 500,000 species have insufficient habitat for long-term survival—unchecked climate change is poised to push millions over the edge.

Climate change rapidly and fundamentally alters (or in some cases, destroys) the habitat that wildlife have incrementally adapted to over millennia. This is especially harmful for species’ habitats that are currently under threat from other causes. Ice-dependent mammals like walruses and penguins, for example, won’t fare well as ice sheets shrink. Rapid shifts in ocean temperatures stress the algae that nourishes coral reefs, causing reefs to starve—an increasingly common phenomenon known as coral bleaching . Disappearing wetlands in the Midwest’s Prairie Pothole Region means the loss of watering holes and breeding grounds for millions of migratory birds. (Many species are now struggling to survive, as more than 85 percent of wetlands have been lost since 1700). And sea level rise will inundate or erode away many coastal habitats, where hundreds of species of birds, invertebrates, and other marine species live.

Many species’ behaviors—mating, feeding, migration—are closely tied to subtle seasonal shifts, as in temperature , precipitation level, and foliage. In some cases, changes to the environment are happening quicker than species are able to adapt. When the types and quantity of plant life change across a region, or when certain species bloom or hatch earlier or later than in the past, it impacts food and water supplies and reverberates up food chains.

Wildfire smoke–filled air in Multnomah County, Oregon, September 16, 2020

Motoya Nakamura/Multnomah County Communications, CC BY NC-ND 4.0

Ultimately, the way climate change impacts weather, the environment, animals, and agriculture affects humanity as well. But there’s more. Around the world, our ways of life—from how we get our food to the industries around which our economies are based—have all developed in the context of relatively stable climates. As global warming shakes this foundation, it promises to alter the very fabric of society. At worst, this could lead to widespread famine, disease, war, displacement , injury, and death. For many around the world, this grim forecast is already their reality. In this way, climate change poses an existential threat to all human life.

Human health

Climate change worsens air quality . It increases exposure to hazardous wildfire smoke and ozone smog triggered by warmer conditions, both of which harm our health, particularly for those with pre-existing illnesses like asthma or heart disease.

Insect-borne diseases like malaria and Zika become more prevalent in a warming world as their carriers are able to exist in more regions or thrive for longer seasons. In the past 30 years, the incidence of Lyme disease from ticks has nearly doubled in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Thousands of people face injury, illness , and death every year from more frequent or more intense extreme weather events. At a 2-degree Celsius rise in global average temperature, an estimated one billion people will face heat stress risk. In the summer of 2022 alone, thousands died in record-shattering heat waves across Europe. Weeks later, dozens were killed by record-breaking urban flooding in the United States and South Korea—and more than 1,500 people perished in the flooding in Pakistan , where resulting stagnant water and unsanitary conditions threaten even more.

The effects of climate change—and the looming threat of what’s yet to come—take a significant toll on mental health too. One 2021 study on climate anxiety, published in the journal Nature , surveyed 10,000 young people from 10 different countries. Forty-five percent of respondents said that their feelings about climate change, varying from anxiety to powerlessness to anger, impacted their daily lives.

A patient with dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in Karachi, Pakistan, where the spread of diseases worsened due to flooding, September 2022

Fareed Khan/AP Photo

Worsening inequity

The climate crisis exacerbates existing inequities. Though wealthy nations, such as the United States, have emitted the lion’s share of historical greenhouse gas emissions, it’s developing countries that may lack the resources to adapt and will now bear the brunt of the climate crisis. In some cases, low-lying island nations—like many in the Pacific —may cease to exist before developed economies make meaningful reductions to their carbon emissions.

Even within wealthier nations, disparities will continue to grow between those rich enough to shield themselves from the realities of climate change and those who cannot. Those with ample resources will not be displaced from their homes by wars over food or water—at least not right away. They will have homes with cool air during heat waves and be able to easily evacuate when a hurricane is headed their way. They will be able to buy increasingly expensive food and access treatment for respiratory illness caused by wildfire smoke. Billions of others can’t—and are paying the highest price for climate pollution they did not produce.

Hurricane Katrina, for example, displaced more than one million people around the Gulf Coast. But in New Orleans , where redlining practices promoted racial and economic segregation, the city’s more affluent areas tended to be located on higher ground—and those residents were able to return and rebuild much faster than others.

Displacement

Climate change will drive displacement due to impacts like food and water scarcities, sea level rise, and economic instability. It’s already happening. The United Nations Global Compact on Refugees recognizes that “climate, environmental degradation and disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements.” Again, communities with the fewest resources—including those facing political instability and poverty—will feel the effects first and most devastatingly.

A flood-damaged home in Queens, New York, December 1, 2021

K.C. Wilsey/FEMA

Economic impacts

According to the 2018 National Climate Assessment, unless action is taken, climate change will cost the U.S. economy as much as $500 billion per year by the end of the century. And that doesn’t even include its enormous impacts on human health . Entire local industries—from commercial fishing to tourism to husbandry—are at risk of collapsing, along with the economic support they provide.

Recovering from the destruction wrought by extreme weather like hurricanes, flash floods, and wildfires is also getting more expensive every year. In 2021, the price tag of weather disasters in the United States totaled $145 billion —the third-costliest year on record, including a number of billion-dollar weather events.

The first wave of impacts can already be felt in our communities and seen on the nightly news. The World Health Organization says that in the near future, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year from things like malnutrition, insect-borne diseases, and heat stress. And the World Bank estimates that climate change could displace more than 140 million people within their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America by 2050.

But the degree to which the climate crisis upends our lives depends on whether global leaders decide to chart a different course. If we fail to curb greenhouse gas emissions, scientists predict a catastrophic 4.3 degrees Celsius , (or around 8 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century. What would a world that warm look like? Wars over water. Crowded hospitals to contend with spreading disease. Collapsed fisheries. Dead coral reefs. Even more lethal heat waves. These are just some of the impacts predicted by climate scientists .

Solar panel installation at a floating photovoltaic plant on a lake in Haltern am See, Germany, April 2022

Martin Meissner/AP Photo

Climate mitigation, or our ability to reverse climate change and undo its widespread effects, hinges on the successful enactment of policies that yield deep cuts to carbon pollution, end our dependence on dangerous fossil fuels and the deadly air pollution they generate, and prioritize the people and ecosystems on the frontlines. And these actions must be taken quickly in order to ensure a healthier present day and future. In one of its latest reports, the IPCC presented its most optimistic emissions scenario, in which the world only briefly surpasses 1.5 degrees of warming but sequestration measures cause it to dip back below by 2100. Climate adaptation , a term that refers to coping with climate impacts, is no longer optional ; it’s necessary, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable populations.

By following the urgent warnings of the IPCC and limiting warming, we may be able to avoid passing some of the critical thresholds that, once crossed, can lead to potentially irreversible, catastrophic impacts for the planet, including more warming. These thresholds are known as climate tipping points and refer to when a natural system "tips" into an entirely different state. One example would be Arctic permafrost, which stores carbon like a freezer: As the permafrost melts from warming temperatures, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Importantly, climate action is not a binary pass-fail test. Every fraction of a degree of warming that we prevent will reduce human suffering and death, and keep more of the planet’s natural systems intact. The good news is that a wide range of solutions exist to sharply reduce emissions, slow the pace of warming, and protect communities on the frontlines of climate impacts. Climate leaders the world over—those on major political stages as well as grassroots community activists—are offering up alternative models to systems that prioritize polluters over people. Many of these solutions are rooted in ancestral and Indigenous understandings of the natural world and have existed for millennia. Some solutions require major investments into clean, renewable energy and sustainable technologies. To be successful, climate solutions must also address intersecting crises—like poverty, racism, and gender inequality —that compound and drive the causes and impacts of the climate crisis. A combination of human ingenuity and immense political will can help us get there.

This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as grammar); you can’t resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you can’t republish our material wholesale or automatically—you need to select stories individually; you can’t republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when you’ve used one of our stories.

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Thousands Believe Covid Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?

All vaccines have at least occasional side effects. But people who say they were injured by Covid vaccines believe their cases have been ignored.

Shaun Barcavage, 54, a nurse practitioner in New York City, said that ever since his first Covid shot, standing up has sent his heart racing. Credit... Hannah Yoon for The New York Times

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By Apoorva Mandavilli

Apoorva Mandavilli spent more than a year talking to dozens of experts in vaccine science, policymakers and people who said they had experienced serious side effects after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.

• Published May 3, 2024 Updated May 4, 2024

Within minutes of getting the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, Michelle Zimmerman felt pain racing from her left arm up to her ear and down to her fingertips. Within days, she was unbearably sensitive to light and struggled to remember simple facts.

She was 37, with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, and until then could ride her bicycle 20 miles, teach a dance class and give a lecture on artificial intelligence, all in the same day. Now, more than three years later, she lives with her parents. Eventually diagnosed with brain damage, she cannot work, drive or even stand for long periods of time.

“When I let myself think about the devastation of what this has done to my life, and how much I’ve lost, sometimes it feels even too hard to comprehend,” said Dr. Zimmerman, who believes her injury is due to a contaminated vaccine batch .

The Covid vaccines, a triumph of science and public health, are estimated to have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths . Yet even the best vaccines produce rare but serious side effects . And the Covid vaccines have been given to more than 270 million people in the United States, in nearly 677 million doses .

Dr. Zimmerman’s account is among the more harrowing, but thousands of Americans believe they suffered serious side effects following Covid vaccination. As of April, just over 13,000 vaccine-injury compensation claims have been filed with the federal government — but to little avail. Only 19 percent have been reviewed. Only 47 of those were deemed eligible for compensation, and only 12 have been paid out, at an average of about $3,600 .

Some scientists fear that patients with real injuries are being denied help and believe that more needs to be done to clarify the possible risks.

“At least long Covid has been somewhat recognized,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist and vaccine expert at Yale University. But people who say they have post-vaccination injuries are “just completely ignored and dismissed and gaslighted,” she added.

In interviews and email exchanges conducted over several months, federal health officials insisted that serious side effects were extremely rare and that their surveillance efforts were more than sufficient to detect patterns of adverse events.

“Hundreds of millions of people in the United States have safely received Covid vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history,” Jeff Nesbit, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an emailed statement.

But in a recent interview, Dr. Janet Woodcock, a longtime leader of the Food and Drug Administration, who retired in February, said she believed that some recipients had experienced uncommon but “serious” and “life-changing” reactions beyond those described by federal agencies.

“I feel bad for those people,” said Dr. Woodcock, who became the F.D.A.’s acting commissioner in January 2021 as the vaccines were rolling out. “I believe their suffering should be acknowledged, that they have real problems, and they should be taken seriously.”

“I’m disappointed in myself,” she added. “I did a lot of things I feel very good about, but this is one of the few things I feel I just didn’t bring it home.”

Federal officials and independent scientists face a number of challenges in identifying potential vaccine side effects.

The nation’s fragmented health care system complicates detection of very rare side effects, a process that depends on an analysis of huge amounts of data. That’s a difficult task when a patient may be tested for Covid at Walgreens, get vaccinated at CVS, go to a local clinic for minor ailments and seek care at a hospital for serious conditions. Each place may rely on different health record systems.

There is no central repository of vaccine recipients, nor of medical records, and no easy to way to pool these data. Reports to the largest federal database of so-called adverse events can be made by anyone, about anything. It’s not even clear what officials should be looking for.

“I mean, you’re not going to find ‘brain fog’ in the medical record or claims data, and so then you’re not going to find” a signal that it may be linked to vaccination, Dr. Woodcock said. If such a side effect is not acknowledged by federal officials, “it’s because it doesn’t have a good research definition,” she added. “It isn’t, like, malevolence on their part.”

The government’s understaffed compensation fund has paid so little because it officially recognizes few side effects for Covid vaccines. And vaccine supporters, including federal officials, worry that even a whisper of possible side effects feeds into misinformation spread by a vitriolic anti-vaccine movement.

‘I’m Not Real’

Patients who believe they experienced serious side effects say they have received little support or acknowledgment.

Shaun Barcavage, 54, a nurse practitioner in New York City who has worked on clinical trials for H.I.V. and Covid, said that ever since his first Covid shot, merely standing up sent his heart racing — a symptom suggestive of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome , a neurological disorder that some studies have linked to both Covid and, much less often, vaccination .

He also experienced stinging pain in his eyes, mouth and genitals, which has abated, and tinnitus, which has not.

“I can’t get the government to help me,” Mr. Barcavage said of his fruitless pleas to federal agencies and elected representatives. “I am told I’m not real. I’m told I’m rare. I’m told I’m coincidence.”

Renee France, 49, a physical therapist in Seattle, developed Bell’s palsy — a form of facial paralysis, usually temporary — and a dramatic rash that neatly bisected her face. Bell’s palsy is a known side effect of other vaccines, and it has been linked to Covid vaccination in some studies.

But Dr. France said doctors were dismissive of any connection to the Covid vaccines. The rash, a bout of shingles, debilitated her for three weeks, so Dr. France reported it to federal databases twice.

“I thought for sure someone would reach out, but no one ever did,” she said.

Similar sentiments were echoed in interviews, conducted over more than a year, with 30 people who said they had been harmed by Covid shots. They described a variety of symptoms following vaccination, some neurological, some autoimmune, some cardiovascular.

All said they had been turned away by physicians, told their symptoms were psychosomatic, or labeled anti-vaccine by family and friends — despite the fact that they supported vaccines.

Even leading experts in vaccine science have run up against disbelief and ambivalence.

Dr. Gregory Poland, 68, editor in chief of the journal Vaccine, said that a loud whooshing sound in his ears had accompanied every moment since his first shot, but that his entreaties to colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explore the phenomenon, tinnitus, had led nowhere.

He received polite responses to his many emails, but “I just don’t get any sense of movement,” he said.

“If they have done studies, those studies should be published,” Dr. Poland added. In despair that he might “never hear silence again,” he has sought solace in meditation and his religious faith.

Dr. Buddy Creech, 50, who led several Covid vaccine trials at Vanderbilt University, said his tinnitus and racing heart lasted about a week after each shot. “It’s very similar to what I experienced during acute Covid, back in March of 2020,” Dr. Creech said.

Research may ultimately find that most reported side effects are unrelated to the vaccine, he acknowledged. Many can be caused by Covid itself.

“Regardless, when our patients experience a side effect that may or may not be related to the vaccine, we owe it to them to investigate that as completely as we can,” Dr. Creech said.

Federal health officials say they do not believe that the Covid vaccines caused the illnesses described by patients like Mr. Barcavage, Dr. Zimmerman and Dr. France. The vaccines may cause transient reactions, such as swelling, fatigue and fever, according to the C.D.C., but the agency has documented only four serious but rare side effects .

Two are associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is no longer available in the United States: Guillain-Barré syndrome , a known side effect of other vaccines , including the flu shot; and a blood-clotting disorder.

The C.D.C. also links mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to heart inflammation, or myocarditis, especially in boys and young men. And the agency warns of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction, which can occur after any vaccination.

Listening for Signals

Agency scientists are monitoring large databases containing medical information on millions of Americans for patterns that might suggest a hitherto unknown side effect of vaccination, said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the C.D.C.’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

“We toe the line by reporting the signals that we think are real signals and reporting them as soon as we identify them as signals,” he said. The agency’s systems for monitoring vaccine safety are “pretty close” to ideal, he said.

Those national surveillance efforts include the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). It is the largest database, but also the least reliable: Reports of side effects can be submitted by anyone and are not vetted, so they may be subject to bias or manipulation.

The system contains roughly one million reports regarding Covid vaccination, the vast majority for mild events, according to the C.D.C.

Federal researchers also comb through databases that combine electronic health records and insurance claims on tens of millions of Americans. The scientists monitor the data for 23 conditions that may occur following Covid vaccination. Officials remain alert to others that may pop up, Dr. Daskalakis said.

But there are gaps, some experts noted. The Covid shots administered at mass vaccination sites were not recorded in insurance claims databases, for example, and medical records in the United States are not centralized.

“It’s harder to see signals when you have so many people, and things are happening in different parts of the country, and they’re not all collected in the same system,” said Rebecca Chandler, a vaccine safety expert at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

An expert panel convened by the National Academies concluded in April that for the vast majority of side effects, there was not enough data to accept or reject a link.

Asked at a recent congressional hearing whether the nation’s vaccine-safety surveillance was sufficient, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the F.D.A.’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said, “I do believe we could do better.”

In some countries with centralized health care systems, officials have actively sought out reports of serious side effects of Covid vaccines and reached conclusions that U.S. health authorities have not.

In Hong Kong, the government analyzed centralized medical records of patients after vaccination and paid people to come forward with problems. The strategy identified “a lot of mild cases that other countries would not otherwise pick up,” said Ian Wong, a researcher at the University of Hong Kong who led the nation’s vaccine safety efforts.

That included the finding that in rare instances — about seven per million doses — the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine triggered a bout of shingles serious enough to require hospitalization.

The European Medicines Agency has linked the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to facial paralysis, tingling sensations and numbness. The E.M.A. also counts tinnitus as a side effect of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, although the American health agencies do not. There are more than 17,000 reports of tinnitus following Covid vaccination in VAERS.

Are the two linked? It’s not clear. As many as one in four adults has some form of tinnitus. Stress, anxiety, grief and aging can lead to the condition, as can infections like Covid itself and the flu.

There is no test or scan for tinnitus, and scientists cannot easily study it because the inner ear is tiny, delicate and encased in bone, said Dr. Konstantina Stankovic, an otolaryngologist at Stanford University.

Still, an analysis of health records from nearly 2.6 million people in the United States found that about 0.04 percent , or about 1,000, were diagnosed with tinnitus within three weeks of their first mRNA shot. In March, researchers in Australia published a study linking tinnitus and vertigo to the vaccines .

The F.D.A. is monitoring reports of tinnitus, but “at this time, the available evidence does not suggest a causal association with the Covid-19 vaccines,” the agency said in a statement.

Despite surveillance efforts, U.S. officials were not the first to identify a significant Covid vaccine side effect: myocarditis in young people receiving mRNA vaccines. It was Israeli authorities who first raised the alarm in April 2021. Officials in the United States said at the time that they had not seen a link.

On May 22, 2021, news broke that the C.D.C. was investigating a “relatively few” cases of myocarditis. By June 23, the number of myocarditis reports in VAERS had risen to more than 1,200 — a hint that it is important to tell doctors and patients what to look for.

Later analyses showed that the risk for myocarditis and pericarditis, a related condition, is highest after a second dose of an mRNA Covid vaccine in adolescent males aged 12 to 17 years.

In many people, vaccine-related myocarditis is transient. But some patients continue to experience pain, breathlessness and depression, and some show persistent changes on heart scans . The C.D.C. has said there were no confirmed deaths related to myocarditis, but in fact there have been several accounts of deaths reported post-vaccination .

Pervasive Misinformation

The rise of the anti-vaccine movement has made it difficult for scientists, in and out of government, to candidly address potential side effects, some experts said. Much of the narrative on the purported dangers of Covid vaccines is patently false, or at least exaggerated, cooked up by savvy anti-vaccine campaigns.

Questions about Covid vaccine safety are core to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. Citing debunked theories about altered DNA, Florida’s surgeon general has called for a halt to Covid vaccination in the state.

“The sheer nature of misinformation, the scale of misinformation, is staggering, and anything will be twisted to make it seem like it’s not just a devastating side effect but proof of a massive cover-up,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a vice dean at Johns Hopkins University.

Among the hundreds of millions of Americans who were immunized for Covid, some number would have had heart attacks or strokes anyway. Some women would have miscarried. How to distinguish those caused by the vaccine from those that are coincidences? The only way to resolve the question is intense research .

But the National Institutes of Health is conducting virtually no studies on Covid vaccine safety, several experts noted. William Murphy, a cancer researcher who worked at the N.I.H. for 12 years, has been prodding federal health officials to initiate these studies since 2021.

The officials each responded with “that very tired mantra: ‘But the virus is worse,’” Dr. Murphy recalled. “Yes, the virus is worse, but that doesn’t obviate doing research to make sure that there may be other options.”

A deeper understanding of possible side effects, and who is at risk for them, could have implications for the design of future vaccines, or may indicate that for some young and healthy people, the benefit of Covid shots may no longer outweigh the risks — as some European countries have determined.

Thorough research might also speed assistance to thousands of Americans who say they were injured.

The federal government has long run the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program , designed to compensate people who suffer injuries after vaccination. Established more than three decades ago, the program sets no limit on the amounts awarded to people found to have been harmed.

But Covid vaccines are not covered by that fund because Congress has not made them subject to the excise tax that pays for it. Some lawmakers have introduced bills to make the change.

Instead, claims regarding Covid vaccines go to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program . Intended for public health emergencies, this program has narrow criteria to pay out and sets a limit of $50,000, with stringent standards of proof.

It requires applicants to prove within a year of the injury that it was “the direct result” of getting the Covid vaccine, based on “compelling, reliable, valid, medical, and scientific evidence.”

The program had only four staff members at the beginning of the pandemic, and now has 35 people evaluating claims. Still, it has reviewed only a fraction of the 13,000 claims filed, and has paid out only a dozen.

Dr. Ilka Warshawsky, a 58-year-old pathologist, said she lost all hearing in her right ear after a Covid booster shot. But hearing loss is not a recognized side effect of Covid vaccination.

The compensation program for Covid vaccines sets a high bar for proof, she said, yet offers little information on how to meet it: “These adverse events can be debilitating and life-altering, and so it’s very upsetting that they’re not acknowledged or addressed.”

Dr. Zimmerman, the neuroscientist, submitted her application in October 2021 and provided dozens of supporting medical documents. She received a claim number only in January 2023.

In adjudicating her claim for workers’ compensation, Washington State officials accepted that Covid vaccination caused her injury, but she has yet to get a decision from the federal program.

One of her therapists recently told her she might never be able to live independently again.

“That felt like a devastating blow,” Dr. Zimmerman said. “But I’m trying not to lose hope there will someday be a treatment and a way to cover it.”

Apoorva Mandavilli is a reporter focused on science and global health. She was a part of the team that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the pandemic. More about Apoorva Mandavilli

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Opinion Can the world really engineer its way out of climate change?

Readers are skeptical. They’re also eyeing their recycling bins with dismay, dreaming of gardens full of native plants and cheering on the EPA.

It was reckless of the Editorial Board to describe large-scale manipulation of the Earth’s climate systems as “cheap and potentially game-changing.” Moreover, the sort of diplomacy the editorial called for is occurring; it just isn’t producing the results The Post prefers.

The Editorial Board criticized the failure to adopt a Swiss proposal at a recent United Nations Environment Assembly. However, the board failed to note that at the same meeting, 54 African countries, with the support of Colombia and other Global South countries, called for a mechanism to ensure that solar geoengineering would not be used. Their objections include concerns that the continent could be used as an experimental zone whose people and lands are harmed first and worst, and worries that such mitigation efforts are just an excuse for wealthy countries to continue consuming in the same damaging ways, and at the same rate.

This echoes the call by more than 450 scholars for an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering , which notes the unacceptable risk posed by solar geoengineering and the impossibility of fair and effective governance in our current world order. These unproven technologies carry incredibly dangerous risks, among them altering weather patterns across the globe with unknown impacts to ecosystems and biodiversity. Agricultural patterns could be upended, threatening food and water supplies for many millions.

Geoengineering is the ultimate dangerous distraction from bringing about what is unambiguously necessary: a just and equitable fossil fuel phaseout. Our governments don’t need to regulate solar geoengineering. For the sake of a truly sustainable future, they need to permanently ban it.

Benjamin Day , Boston

The writer is a senior campaigner with Friends of the Earth’s climate and energy justice team.

I found the April 28 editorial, “ Who gets to decide to re-engineer the weather? ,” somewhat troubling. Sending sulfur up into the air could increase the possibility of acid rain and harm to plants that remove carbon dioxide and feed people. But we do need creative solutions for managing extreme weather.

Some years ago, I sent an idea to NASA about releasing a test dose of biodegradable iron particles into the atmosphere. These would concentrate near Earth’s magnetic poles to protect the ice caps yet allow solar rays to help crops and forests to grow in temperate and tropical zones along the equator. I never heard back, which reflects domestic inertia, not only the lack of international effort mentioned in the editorial. We need an open forum of ideas, supported by carbon taxes, as it seems today’s world is headed toward the disastrous solution of nuclear winter.

Henry Chang , Bethesda

One word: Plastics

Regarding Eve O. Schaub’s April 23 Tuesday Opinion essay, “ How to celebrate Earth Day? Just dump this toxic stuff. ”:

What a disheartening piece on the futility of plastic recycling. I’m not saying it’s incorrect, just sad.

This is not the first time I’ve heard that recycling plastic might be ineffective. Opinions seem to range from the argument that recycling plastic is well-intentioned but useless, to suggestions that the process is pure hype for marketing purposes (so-called greenwashing). Yet my recycle bin overfloweth!

Given this situation, reducing plastic use is critical, and I suggest a good target is packaging. The amount of entirely unnecessary plastic bags, wraps, ties and fillers that come with every consumer item is staggering. In my experience, Apple is a huge abuser in this regard, with even a simple USB cable packed as though it’s a Christmas gift going to the moon. Another example everyone encounters is bedding that comes in sturdy plastic zipper cases. They might look cute lined up on store shelves, but the case could easily be replaced with cloth or cardboard. Take your own inventory; across every type of product and use, excessive plastic packaging is a scourge on the environment and our health.

Of course, a major change would affect the plastics and packaging industries, the workers they employ and the whole supply chain. Somehow we must take that into account as we move toward environmentally friendly solutions.

Eric Wenocur , Olney

Eve O. Schaub’s argument that recycling plastic is a waste of time took a zero-sum approach to an issue that is complicated — and continually improving.

“Plastics” is a broad category of materials with differing chemical compositions and mechanical properties, all of which affect potential recyclability. That is why the recycling rates for different plastic resin types vary significantly, and why the average recycling rate for plastics is low despite some categories of plastics having high recycling rates.

Over the past several years, the recycled-materials industry has made significant investments in technology, education and partnerships to improve plastics recycling rates, and we are seeing improvements as a result for certain resins.

According to the U.S. Plastic Recycling Study , in 2022, more than 5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic were recovered for recycling (though that figure does represent a slight decline in volume from the previous two years). More than 95 percent of recovered bottles stayed in North America to be remanufactured into new products.

There is still a long way to go, but manufacturers are increasing the use of recycled content and making products that are easier to recycle. They are recognizing the societal value and the demand from their customer base. My organization, for example, is working closely with Colgate-Palmolive, Starbucks and others to address product recyclability and find ways to strengthen recycling across all material categories.

Making a real difference will require a broad commitment from consumers, manufacturers, scientists, engineers and policymakers. This effort is worth everyone’s time.

Robin Wiener , Washington

The writer is president of the Recycled Materials Association.

Regarding the April 26 news article “ Massive volunteer-aided study reveals biggest known plastic polluters ”:

I was disappointed to read that U.S. negotiators at international meetings concerning plastic pollution have been resistant to an agreement that would limit plastic production.

I was a child in the 1940s, and I remember the milkman delivering milk in glass bottles to our house and retrieving the empty bottles for reuse. It was common practice. I drank my share of soft drinks then, but always from glass bottles. We have tried a plastic recycling approach for many decades, and it is apparent this is not working from an environmental perspective. It is time to phase back into the approach that was better for the environment by putting the emphasis on using, and reusing, glass. And if the glass cannot be reused, it can be recycled with a better outcome than trying to recycle plastic.

Robert F. Benson , Silver Spring

Bring back the birds

Regarding Dana Milbank’s April 28 Sunday Opinion essay, “ This tiny flower teaches us all we need to know about growing old ”:

I enjoy reading about Mr. Milbank’s adventures on his new homestead in Virginia’s Piedmont region. This essay about native wildflowers and tree planting was wonderful.

As an avid birdwatcher, I spent more than 20 years in Northern Virginia watching a lot of great habitat being bulldozed and turned into five-acre “estates," a fancy term for a fairly good-sized house with a lawn that was usually mowed down to the nubbin. One maple tree or dogwood would pass for landscaping. Often, streets in these neighborhoods would be named for the birds that used to live there but that no longer had places to nest and feed: Cardinal Court, Bluebird Lane, etc.

I hope Mr. Milbank’s essay will inspire more homeowners to plant trees and wildflowers that are native instead of invasives such as Bradford pears, which are illegal in a growing number of states. This change could do wonders for all the birds that are under threat from increased development.

Rich Rieger , Schuylkill Haven, Pa.

Good for the EPA

Regarding the April 26 Economy & Business article “ EPA rules would slash pollution from power plants ”:

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules limiting coal-fired power-plant emissions will ensure that the United States remains competitive in the renewable-energy economy as well as protect human health and all life. The power industry and its friends have protested that the new rules will be “unrealistic” and “unachievable” and don’t allow enough time to comply. But this argument ignores the fact that the industry has dragged its feet in reducing emissions in the 15 years since the EPA labeled greenhouse gases a health hazard.

Moreover, the power and fossil-fuel industries have both wasted decades of precious time since scientists concluded fossil fuel emissions drive climate change. Given the “pro-life” Republican Party’s opposition to alleviating this threat to life, the outcome of November’s election could very well determine whether power plants will finally clean up their acts — or climate change will be “baked in” to our future.

Michael Wright , Glen Rock, Pa.

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RIP Metaverse

An obituary for the latest fad to join the tech graveyard

The Metaverse , the once-buzzy technology that promised to allow users to hang out awkwardly in a disorientating video-game-like world, has died after being abandoned by the business world. It was three years old.

The capital-M Metaverse, a descendant of the 1982 movie "Tron" and the 2003 video game "Second Life," was born in 2021 when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of his trillion-dollar company to Meta. After a much-heralded debut, the Metaverse became the obsession of the tech world and a quick hack to win over Wall Street investors. The hype could not save the Metaverse, however, and a lack of coherent vision for the product ultimately led to its decline. Once the tech industry turned to a new, more promising trend — generative AI — the fate of the Metaverse was sealed.

The Metaverse is now headed to the tech industry's graveyard of failed ideas. But the short life and ignominious death of the Metaverse offers a glaring indictment of the tech industry that birthed it.

Grand promise

From the moment of its delivery, Zuckerberg claimed that the Metaverse would be the future of the internet. The glitzy, spurious promotional video that accompanied Zuckerberg's name-change announcement described a future where we'd be able to interact seamlessly in virtual worlds: Users would "make eye contact" and "feel like you're right in the room together." The Metaverse offered people the chance to engage in an "immersive" experience, he claimed.

These grandiose promises heaped sky-high expectations on the Metaverse. The media swooned over the newborn concept: The Verge published a nearly 5,000-word-long interview with Zuckerberg immediately following the announcement — in which the writer called it "an expansive, immersive vision of the internet." Glowing profiles of the Metaverse seemed to set it on a laudatory path, but the actual technology failed to deliver on this promise throughout its short life. A wonky virtual-reality interview with the CBS host Gayle King , where low-quality cartoon avatars of both King and Zuckerberg awkwardly motioned to each other, was a stark contrast to the futuristic vistas shown in Meta's splashy introductory video .

The Metaverse also suffered from an acute identity crisis. A functional business proposition requires a few things to thrive and grow: a clear use case, a target audience, and the willingness of customers to adopt the product. Zuckerberg waxed poetic about the Metaverse as "a vision that spans many companies'' and "the successor to the mobile internet," but he failed to articulate the basic business problems that the Metaverse would address. The concept of virtual worlds where users interact with each other using digital avatars is an old one, going back as far as the late 1990s with massively multiplayer online role-player games, such as "Meridian 59," "Ultima Online," and "EverQuest." And while the Metaverse supposedly built on these ideas with new technology, Zuckerberg's one actual product — the VR platform Horizon Worlds, which required the use of an incredibly clunky Oculus headset — failed to suggest anything approaching a road map or a genuine vision. In spite of the Metaverse's arrested conceptual development, a pliant press published statements about the future of the technology that were somewhere between unrealistic and outright irresponsible . The CNBC host Jim Cramer nodded approvingly when Zuckerberg claimed that 1 billion people would use the Metaverse and spend hundreds of dollars there, despite the Meta CEO's inability to say what people would receive in exchange for their cash or why anyone would want to strap a clunky headset to their face to attend a low-quality, cartoon concert.

A high-flying life

The inability to define the Metaverse in any meaningful way didn't get in the way of its ascension to the top of the business world. In the months following the Meta announcement, it seemed that every company had a Metaverse product on offer, despite it not being obvious what it was or why they should.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella would say at the company's 2021 Ignite Conference that he couldn't "overstate how much of a breakthrough " the Metaverse was for his company, the industry, and the world. Roblox, an online game platform that has existed since 2004, rode the Metaverse hype wave to an initial public offering and a $41 billion valuation. Of course, the cryptocurrency industry took the ball and ran with it: The people behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT company conned the press into believing that uploading someone's digital monkey pictures into VR would be the key to "master the Metaverse." Other crypto pumpers even successfully convinced people that digital land in the Metaverse would be the next frontier of real-estate investment . Even businesses that seemed to have little to do with tech jumped on board. Walmart joined the Metaverse. Disney joined the Metaverse.

Companies' rush to get into the game led Wall Street investors, consultants, and analysts to try to one up each other's projections for the Metaverse's growth. The consulting firm Gartner claimed that 25% of people would spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse by 2026. The Wall Street Journal said the Metaverse would change the way we work forever . The global consulting firm McKinsey predicted that the Metaverse could generate up to "$5 trillion in value," adding that around 95% of business leaders expected the Metaverse to "positively impact their industry" within five to 10 years. Not to be outdone, Citi put out a massive report that declared the Metaverse would be a $13 trillion opportunity .

A brutal downfall

In spite of all this hype, the Metaverse did not lead a healthy life. Every single business idea or rosy market projection was built on the vague promises of a single CEO. And when people were actually offered the opportunity to try it out, nobody actually used the Metaverse.

Decentraland, the most well-funded, decentralized, crypto-based Metaverse product (effectively a wonky online world you can "walk" around), only had around 38 daily active users in its "$1.3 billion ecosystem." Decentraland would dispute this number, claiming that it had 8,000 daily active users — but that's still only a fraction of the number of people playing large online games like "Fortnite." Meta's much-heralded efforts similarly struggled: By October 2022, Mashable reported that Horizon Worlds had less than 200,000 monthly active users — dramatically short of the 500,000 target Meta had set for the end of 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that only about 9% of user-created worlds were visited by more than 50 players , and The Verge said that it was so buggy that even Meta employees eschewed it . Despite the might of a then-trillion-dollar company, Meta could not convince people to use the product it had staked its future on. 

The Metaverse fell seriously ill as the economy slowed and the hype around generative AI grew. Microsoft shuttered its virtual-workspace platform AltSpaceVR in January 2023, laid off the 100 members of its "industrial metaverse team ," and made a series of cuts to its HoloLens team . Disney shuttered its Metaverse division in March, and Walmart followed suit by ending its Roblox-based Metaverse projects. The billions of dollars invested and the breathless hype around a half-baked concept led to thousands — if not tens of thousands — of people losing their jobs .

But the Metaverse was officially pulled off life support when it became clear that Zuckerberg and the company that launched the craze had moved on to greener financial pastures. Zuckerberg declared in a March update that Meta's "single largest investment is advancing AI and building it into every one of our products." Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, told CNBC in April that he, along with Mark Zuckerberg and the company's chief product officer, Chris Cox, were now spending most of their time on AI. The company has even stopped pitching the Metaverse to advertisers , despite spending more than $100 billion in research and development on its mission to be "Metaverse first." While Zuckerberg may suggest that developing games for the Quest headsets is some sort of investment, the writing is on the wall: Meta is done with the Metaverse.

Did anyone learn their lesson?

While the idea of virtual worlds or collective online experiences may live on in some form, the Capital-M Metaverse is dead. It was preceded in death by a long line of tech fads like Web3 and Google Glass. It is survived by newfangled ideas like the aforementioned generative AI and the self-driving car. Despite this long lineage of disappointment, let's be clear: The death of the Metaverse should be remembered as arguably one of the most historic failures in tech history.

I do not believe that Mark Zuckerberg ever had any real interest in "the Metaverse," because he never seemed to define it beyond a slightly tweaked Facebook with avatars and cumbersome hardware. It was the means to an increased share price, rather than any real vision for the future of human interaction. And Zuckerberg used his outsize wealth and power to get the whole of the tech industry and a good portion of the American business world into line behind this half-baked idea. 

The fact that Mark Zuckerberg has clearly stepped away from the Metaverse is a damning indictment of everyone who followed him, and anyone who still considers him a visionary tech leader. It should also be the cause for some serious reflection among the venture-capital community, which recklessly followed Zuckerberg into blowing billions of dollars on a hype cycle founded on the flimsiest possible press-release language. In a just world, Mark Zuckerberg should be fired as CEO of Meta (in the real world, this is actually impossible ). 

Zuckerberg misled everyone, burned tens of billions of dollars, convinced an industry of followers to submit to his quixotic obsession, and then killed it the second that another idea started to interest Wall Street. There is no reason that a man who has overseen the layoffs of tens of thousands of people should run a major company. There is no future for Meta with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm: It will stagnate, and then it will die and follow the Metaverse into the proverbial grave.

Ed Zitron  is the CEO of  EZPR , a national tech and business public-relations agency. He is also the author of the tech and culture newsletter  Where's Your Ed At .

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