Urgent Environmental Problems: From Local to Global
The global human population faces numerous interconnected environmental challenges that contribute to its development. My local community of Charlotte, North Carolina, has several ecological problems that substantially impact the residents.
Deforestation
One such problem is the loss of tree canopy in the city (Portillo, 2020). Loss of tree coverage and trees is associated with increased air pollution, with the particle and ozone pollution in the city being linked to adverse health outcomes (American Lung Association, 2022; Butt et al., 2023).
Wildfires
Meanwhile, the United States as a whole faces a problem of wildfires. According to the Insurance Information Institute (2021), 85% of all wildfires in the country are caused by human activity, while the remaining 15% are attributed to natural causes, such as heat waves or lightning. Wildfires are extremely dangerous and can result in death, physical injury, and loss of property and infrastructure.
Global Warming
The planet faces a variety of environmental challenges, with global warming being one of the most thoroughly discussed and consequential ones. Global warming is associated with a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, pregnancy complications, and heat-related deaths (Herring & Lindsey, 2020). Overall, global warming remains one of the most severe environmental problems faced by the world population today.
Interrelationship of the Problems
It should be noted that the identified challenges of tree canopy loss, wildfires, and global warming are interconnected. Tree loss translates into an increase in carbon dioxide emissions, which leads to global warming and the creation of more favorable conditions for wildfires (Butt et al., 2023). Meanwhile, wildfires lead to further destruction of tree coverage as well as additional release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Therefore, it can be argued that these challenges are equally important and affect the health of the human population equally. However, wildfires carry an additional risk of physical injury and death. Therefore, additional measures should be implemented to address the problem of wildfires and their causes.
References
American Lung Association. (2022). New report: Charlotte’s air quality slightly improves, residents exposed less to unhealthy air pollution. Web.
Butt, A. H., Jamshed, M. A., Ur Rahman, A., Alam, F., Shakya, M., Almadhor, A. S., & Ur-Rehman, M. (2023). Impact of tree cover loss on carbon emission: A learning-based analysis. Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2023, 1– 10. Web.
Herring, D., & Lindsey, R. (2020). How will global warming harm human health and well-being? NOAA Climate. Web.
Insurance Information Institute. (2021). Facts + statistics: Wildfires. Web.
Portillo, E. (2020). The biggest environmental issues facing Charlotte share a common root. UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Web.