Among the main local and global actions to preserve the environment we can mention reducing water consumption, promoting recycling, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels or preserving tropical forests.
The current economic model has promoted accelerated development, with the voracious and irrational use of natural resources, at speeds much greater than those of their possible replacement. Not only are resources being depleted, but large amounts of toxic polluting products are also released into the environment, affecting all forms of life..
This economic model has generated serious environmental problems, some of them already irreversible. As harmful effects of human activity on the planet, we can cite:
-Global warming.
-Ocean acidification.
-Pollution by non-biodegradable plastics.
-The destruction of the ozone layer.
-The destruction of the world's forests.
-Soil degradation.
-Water pollution (surface and underground).
It is evident that sustainability strategies are required for the management of natural resources to preserve the planet's environment, the only home of the human species and known forms of life..
The measures to be implemented must be global in scope, and executed by the governments of the countries, but also each citizen can exercise individual personal actions in favor of the environment..
Below we mention 5 actions that can be implemented individually in order to collaborate with the preservation of the environment:
To use water efficiently, you should take short showers, avoid the use of bathtubs, use dry toilets, optimize the process of washing dishes and clothes, among others..
This can be achieved by incorporating solar panels or another type of clean energy generation system in the home and workplace. At the same time, energy consumption must be reduced by consciously using household appliances and energy-saving light bulbs that are not polluting..
Reduce those activities in which CO emissions are generatedtwo. For example, we can avoid the unnecessary and polluting procedure of "warming up car engines" and try to move around in a non-polluting way, be it by bicycle or walking..
The use of public transport instead of the private car, is the best option to travel important routes.
The use of paper and wooden objects should be reduced to the bare minimum, since this is how we reduce deforestation for their production. On the other hand, as citizens we must organize and participate in reforestation actions and protect nearby forests, guaranteeing their conservation..
Currently there is a lot of information available on the processes of generation of the goods and services that we enjoy and their environmental impacts. There is also information on the final disposal of the consumed goods and the toxic and polluting substances that they release into the environment..
Each citizen is also a consumer and with their choices they support specific systems, companies and processes. For this reason, we must be informed about the environmental consequences of our consumer choices..
For example, if we increase the consumption of local products, we reduce our carbon footprint, generated by the transport (in vehicles, planes or boats) of those products from remote locations..
If we increase the consumption of natural products, as less processed and packaged as possible, we reduce our generation of plastic waste into the environment and favor the reduction of these packaging in the market in the medium and long term..
To explore these issues and alternative actions that we can implement to take care of the environment, it is recommended to investigate the world movement called Zero Waste (in English: Zero waste), agroecology and permaculture.
Here are some actions necessary for environmental preservation:
The reduction of GHGs and the preservation of their natural sinks would allow to reestablish the natural atmospheric balance and stop the devastating environmental effects of global warming..
A mitigation measure for the greenhouse effect generated by GHGs would be to substitute the use of carbonated fuels as an energy source with other non-polluting renewable sources such as solar, wind, tidal, wave and geothermal energy..
This measure is urgent, but its implementation is difficult, as it would affect global economic interests. Therefore, a general understanding of the sources and effects of GHGs is essential..
The accelerated industrial development that began with the so-called Industrial Revolution and the replacement of the steam engine by the use of carbonated fossil fuels (coal, petroleum derivatives and natural gas), has altered the balance between sinks and sources of COtwo of the planet.
The vast amounts of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere (COtwo, SWtwo, NERDtwo), produced in various human activities (industrial, transport and trade, domestic), cannot be assimilated by the planet and have generated a serious problem such as global warming of the troposphere.
The surface water bodies of the terrestrial hydrosphere and the vegetation constitute the only natural sinks of COtwo, main greenhouse gas. Surface water has the ability to absorb COtwo to be used by aquatic plants, macroalgae and photosynthesizing microorganisms.
The terrestrial plants and especially the great wooded extensions of the planet, also function as sinks of COtwo through photosynthesis. However, the increasing emissions of COtwo they can no longer be assimilated through natural sinks, and their excess stores the infrared radiation that produces heating.
Global warming is melting the ice off the Earth's polar ice caps with astonishing speed. This fact is not only a threat of extinction to life forms in polar environments, but the resulting volume of liquid water is increasing the level of the sea, causing flooding in islands and coastal cities..
The COtwo In excess of the atmosphere has also caused the acidification of the planet's water bodies, with the threat of extinction of all marine and lake life.
Non-biodegradable products contain compounds called xenobiotics or chemical compounds foreign to nature, and therefore no decomposing life form (fungi or bacteria) can degrade to simple substances, assimilated by the rest of the organisms in the trophic chains.
At present there is the great problem generated by the accumulation of plastics in large "islands" that have been formed in the terrestrial ocean. These plastics are mistaken for food by birds and fish and die from ingestion, asphyxia and digestive obstructions.
Additionally, plastics, when they undergo mechanical fragmentation, emit toxic volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere..
Research is currently being carried out on new biodegradable materials to replace non-degradable plastics..
There is a need to adopt agricultural practices that are not toxic to humans and all other forms of life and do not pollute soils and waters.
It is necessary to promote the use of organic fertilizers instead of petrochemical fertilizers and replace toxic agrochemicals such as herbicides and biocides (pesticides and fungicides) with substances of proven harmlessness.
The implementation of agroecological and permaculture practices are alternatives that allow the support of human needs with the production of a minimum environmental impact.
CFC's compounds undergo photochemical decomposition in the stratosphere, mediated by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This decomposition generates chlorine in atomic form, which is very reactive and causes the destruction of ozone (O3).
The ozone layer of the stratosphere functions as a protective shield against high-energy ultraviolet radiation, which causes cellular damage in all forms of life and particularly cancer in humans..
CFC's compounds are used as aerosol propellants and as cooling gases. In 1987, a large part of the industrialized countries was signatories of the Montreal Protocol, which established goals to reduce their production and their total elimination in the year 2000. This global commitment has not been fulfilled for economic reasons.
Tropical rainforests are the great sinks for COtwo of the planet, as they absorb this gas, and through photosynthesis return oxygen to the atmosphere.
Every second large areas of the Amazon rainforest are cut down by logging, thus reducing in an accelerated and irrational way the so-called "plant lung" of the planet, whose protection is a priority for the survival of life..
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