North America - environmental issues. Environmental problems of the North American continent

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

An environmental problem is the deterioration of the natural environment associated with the negative impact of a natural character, and in our time the human factor also plays an important role. Depletion of the ozone layer, pollution or destruction of the environment - all this, one way or another, entails adverse consequences now or in the near future.

North America is one of the most progressive regions in the world, with significant environmental problems and an extremely acute environmental issue. For the sake of prosperity, the United States and Canada have to sacrifice their nature. So what are the difficulties in ensuring environmental safety facing the inhabitants of the North American continent, and what do they threaten in the future?

Technological progress

First of all, it should be noted that over time, the living conditions of the urban population are deteriorating, especially in industrial centers. The reason for this is the active exploitation of natural resources - soil, surface water,air and environmental pollution, destruction of vegetation. However, the most important links of the natural environment - soil, hydrosphere and atmosphere - are interconnected, and human impact on each of them affects the others, so destructive processes become global.

While North America is developing, the continent's environmental problems are becoming more acute. Along with progress, the destruction and displacement of the natural landscape occurs, followed by its replacement with an artificial environment, which can be harmful and even unsuitable for human life. Already in the second half of the 20th century, the mass of waste on the North American continent amounted to 5-6 billion tons per year, of which at least 20% were chemically active.

Exhaust

Exhaust gas is a global issue today, but on the US West Coast, California, the situation is particularly dire. In these places, a cold current passes along the mainland, as a result of which steam condenses over coastal waters, in which large volumes of car exhaust gases are concentrated. In addition, during the summer half of the year, there is anticyclone weather here, which contributes to an increase in the influx of solar radiation, as a result of which complex chemical transformations occur in the atmosphere. The consequence of this is a dense fog, in which a mass of toxic substances is concentrated.

Specialists who study the environmental problems of the North American continent call excessive emissions of exhaust gases a serious challenge to society, because they not only adversely affect nature, but also cause many human diseases.

Water depletion

What other environmental problems exist in North America? On the mainland today, things are very bad with water resources - they are simply depleted. On the continent, the level of water consumption is constantly growing, and today it already exceeds the permissible. Back in the last century, the American specialist A. Walman published the results of studies, according to which more than half of the population of the United States consumes water that has been used at least once and passed through the sewer.

Under such circumstances, it is difficult to fulfill two very important conditions: along with the restoration of water quality, it is necessary to constantly ensure the presence of its natural volume in rivers and other reservoirs. In 2015, the water level in the country's largest reservoir dropped sharply, and scientists warn that this could be the beginning of a longer drought.

Water pollution

The environmental problems of the rivers of North America are not limited to depletion alone. The list of negative factors in this area is quite long, but mostly it is the pollution of water bodies. They throw out waste, which does not contain anything, and shipping also causes significant damage.

Also today, thermal pollution causes quite a lot of harm. Approximately one third of the water withdrawn annually from rivers falls on nuclear and thermal power plants, in which it is heated and returned to the reservoir. The temperature of such water is 10-12% higher, and the oxygen content is noticeably lower, which plays a significant role and often causes the death of many living organisms.

Already in the second half of the 20th century, 10-17 million fish died from water pollution in the United States every year, and the Mississippi, which is the largest river in North America, is now one of the ten most polluted in the world.

The rest of nature

North America, located in almost all latitudes of the hemisphere, has a unique landscape and a very rich flora and fauna. Environmental problems have reached the virgin nature of the mainland. On its territory there are several dozens of national parks, which in today's conditions have become almost the only corners in which many millions of city residents can take a break from the noise and dirt of megacities. The influx of visitors and tourists, increasing at an incredible rate, is affecting their ecological balance, which is why today some unique species of animals and plants are on the verge of extinction.

It is a sad fact that not only humans are a source of pollution - they are washed out by rainwater and blown away by the wind, and then move torivers various toxic substances contained in rock dumps. Such dumps can often stretch along the riverbed for long distances, constantly polluting the reservoir.

Even in the north of Canada, where natural resources are not being developed as intensively, today one can notice significant changes in nature. Ecological problems of the taiga in North America are being studied by employees of Wood Buffalo, one of the largest national parks in the world.

Exploitation of natural resources

As already mentioned, the environmental problems of the continent are largely associated with the high technological level of development of the United States and Canada. The natural resources of North America are diverse and numerous: the bowels of the mainland are rich in oil, natural gas, and the most important minerals. The vast timber reserves in the north and the agriculturally favorable lands in the south have been overused for many years, resulting in many environmental problems.

Shale Gas

Recently, there has been a big buzz around shale gas - it is increasingly being produced by North America. The environmental issues that may arise with the use of certain technologies appear to be of little concern to companies involved in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons from shale formations. Unfortunately, political intrigue plays a role in promoting this type of energy resource extraction, and the possible consequences for the environment are sometimes not taken into account at all. Thus, the US government has taken a course towards acquiring independence from suppliesenergy carriers from foreign markets, and if yesterday the country purchased gas from neighboring Canada, today it is already positioning itself as a hydrocarbon exporting state. And all this is done at the expense of the environment.

Conclusions for the future

This short article briefly reviewed the environmental problems of North America. Of course, we did not consider all the information, but, based on the available material, we can conclude that in the pursuit of profit and in the pursuit of material we alth, people have methodically caused and continue to cause serious damage to the environment, while rarely thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Trying to achieve the maximum effect in the exploitation of natural resources, we paid little attention to preventive measures, and now we have what we have. A good example of this is the North American continent, perhaps the most highly developed region of the world, whose environmental problems are also very significant.