Human actions that alter the natural balance of the environment
The concept of Environmental Impact refers to the effect that a certain human action produces on the environment in its different aspects, in more technical terms, we could say that the environmental impact is that alteration of the baseline as a consequence of anthropic action or of wild type events.
Everything that people can do that directly damages the planet will obviously have a negative environmental impact on its health. Basically, then, it is in this sense that we use the concept, that is, an earthquake or any other weighty climatic phenomenon can cause a tremendous impact, however, we must emphasize that the concept is used in our language to account for those actions that imply exploitation for economic purposes directly on the natural environment.
Man's actions on the environment in order to achieve certain purposes will always cause collateral effects on the natural or social environment in which they act.
Although the effects to be pursued are positive, at least for the person who stars in the action in question, the effects can also turn out to be positive, but, and here comes the complicated thing, they can also have a highly negative consequence for the natural environment.
Economic exploitation versus environmental care
Let's think of a company such as a paper mill, it will employ many people and then dozens of families will depend on its operation, however, many paper mills cause severe environmental damage to the populations near them, then, although from an economic point of view, their contribution will be considered positive, if it is taken from the environmental point of view, it obviously will not be.
There are a wide range of environmental concerns, which mostly come from the form of energy, oil or natural gas and is used in several countries. The pollution of the seas with oil, although important technical and legal provisions have been made and arranged in this regard, the aforementioned type of contamination that severely damages marine fauna, waters and vegetation, It is a problem that unfortunately has not come to a good end yet.
Radioactive energy also generates a lot of radioactive waste and pollutants. that come from nuclear reactions, from radioactive mineral deposits or from plants in which they are refined.
Another impact that is also part of the exploitation of energy resources is the noise pollution, because the noise produced by the industry can considerably decrease the hearing capacity and severely affect the circulatory system.
Too mining and the processing of these types of materials tend to produce negative effects on the air we breathe, soils, water, crops, fauna and even human health.
And another very plausible issue of generating super negative effects on the environment is the greenhouse gas emission, which has become so infamous lately with the campaigns that many organizations and artists are doing with the slogan against climate change. These gases are not only produced as a consequence of combustion due to consumption, but also by obtaining energy from thermal power plants..
Degrees of environmental impact
Meanwhile, due to the effect over time it has an environmental impact, it can be classified into four groups: irreversible (its significance is of such magnitude that it cannot be reverted to its original baseline), temporary (Its magnitude does not generate major consequences and allows the environment to recover to its baseline in the short term), reversible (the medium recovers in the short, long or medium term) and persistent (Actions against the environment result from long-term influence).
Ecology, the great commitment to the health of the planet
Meanwhile, all these actions that we have mentioned in detail above are carefully analyzed by ecology, the most famous discipline when it comes to studying and measuring environmental impact. Even their contribution and commitment to the health of the natural environment reaches the point of promoting specific actions to minimize damage.
As we have already pointed out, unfortunately, our planet is very punished and this has caused ecology to assume a more political and social role in order to fight in the field against this negative advance.
In recent years, awareness in this regard has fortunately grown and so have the voices that fight in favor of it and that is why it is common to see non-governmental associations, one of the most famous is Greenpeace, which are in charge of developing impressive campaigns around the world. to raise awareness about the various damages that humans do to the planet.
Sometimes it is necessary to go to the bone of the problem and do it in a crude way so that the message can sink deep into the public and that is basically Greenpeace's work methodology, which is even often questioned by the legislation for committing crimes in its awareness-raising action. .
