Environmental Damage - Effects

Why is environmental damage relevant to us? Why should we care that it occurs?

Environmental damage can be caused by a multitude of factors. It's an umbrella term covering different aspects of damage sustained by the environment. Let's take a look at some examples:

Biodiversity:

Mass extinctions lead to the collapse of food chains resulting in a  positive feedback loop of loss [1]​

Climate Change:

Changing temperatures affect a myriad of factors including: Sea Level, Habitat changes, Strengthened storms etc…​

Reduced Production:

Overuse of material will limit global production capabilities due to scarcity​

Ozone Depletion:

Greenhouse gasses (GHG) create holes in the ozone resulting in an increased amount of cancer cases​

Habitat Loss:

Natural and man-made changes to habitats force local fauna to leave their traditional homes​

Costs of environmental damage

If you happen to not care about the death and and destruction that climate change can cause perhaps you care about the monetary costs associated with it. Whether it’s due to economic disruption or due to costs associated with defending against the effects of climate change, the costs can be STAGGERING. Investment to prevent climate change from occurring (prospective action) is cheaper than trying to fix the issue later (retrospective action).

Climate change seems to be inevitable despite the measures taken to mitigate it, but is it really? Climate change is expected to have profound effects on cities and other urban regions, whether the locations of the regions are coastal or inland.

Melting ice caps will increase the global sea levels causing cities and islands to partially sink. The global cost to adapt to sea level rise is $15 billion [6].

Many different processes will compound the issue of climate change, for example it is expected that an increase in global temperatures will result in the increased use of air conditioners (AC). AC use will soar in India and China due to the rate of people moving into the middle class meaning more people will be able to afford this 'luxury'.

So how will this compound the effects of climate change? Air conditioning units increase the amount of greenhouse gasses during their operation which will further cause an increase in global temperature thus resulting in more people purchasing and using ACs [7]. This is just one example of a positive feedback loop which ultimately ends up in increasing temperatures.

A more resilient and robust infrastructure network is needed so that it is able to cope with projected climate impacts (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2011). It's clear that a business as usual approach is not acceptable from a moral, humanitarian or commercial point of view.

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References:

[1] Conserve Energy Future. (2019). Causes and Effects of Environmental Pollution. [online] Available at: https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-environmental-pollution.php

[2] The Economist (2015). The cost of inaction: Recognising the value at risk from climate change. The Economist.​

[3] Risky Business (2014). A CLIMATE RISK ASSESSMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES. Risky Business.​

[4] Unfccc.int. (2014). The cost of climate change. [online] Available at: https://unfccc.int/news/the-cost-of-climate-change .​

[5] BBC (2018). Climate change: Warming made UK heatwave 30 times more likely. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46462014 ​

[6] Nicholls, R. J. (2007) ‘Adaptation Options For Coastal Areas And Infrastructure: An Analysis For 2030’, (August), p. 35. Available at: https://www.unfccc.int/files/cooperation_and_support/financial_mechanism/application/pdf/nicholls..pdf.

[7] Lundgren, K. and Kjellstrom, T. (2013) ‘Sustainability Challenges from Climate Change and Air Conditioning Use in Urban Areas’, Sustainability. doi: 10.3390/su5073116.