Processes such as pollination and the different natural cycles, such as the water cycle, carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle, show us that all living and non-living components of the environment are interdependent.
Many naturally occurring events that often go unnoticed have a huge impact on our lives. Sadly, many human activities, such as deforestation, improper waste disposal and burning of fossil fuels, have had a profound effect on these cycles and thus, on biodiversity.
Climate change, a process that occurred gradually over hundreds of years in the past, has accelerated since the Industrial Revolution. Global warming has brought about significant changes in the Earth’s ecosystems and scientists fear that species that are unable to adapt to the changing climate may be wiped out.
Unseasonal rains, warming of oceans and intense heatwaves have become recurrent over the past few years. A study by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Bengaluru, found that Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming pace. This is causing glacial lakes in the region to expand—some have already expanded to twice their size. The overflowing of these lakes will damage human settlements and claim lives. In other regions, deforestation has led to a lack of drinking water.
List five things we can do to protect the environment. To be featured in the ‘From You to Us’ section of RobinAge, e-mail your comments to [email protected]
