Photo Credit: ideacreamanuela

We have more technology than ever before to help deal with problems. Yet, things do not seem to be getting better. Why?

Industrial progress was meant to make our lives easier. In some ways it has. However, it is this very “progress” that aggravates the earth’s environmental problems. We appreciate the inventions and advancements that industry has presented to us, but the very production of these and our use of them have often resulted in ruining parts of our world.

An example of this is motor vehicles. These have made travel quicker and easier. Very few people would like to go back to the age of the horse and buggy. Nevertheless, modern transportation has contributed to a host of problems. One of them is global warming. Humans have been altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere by using inventions that spew out millions of tons of gases. These gases are said to cause what is called the greenhouse effect, resulting in the warming of the atmosphere. Temperatures increased during the last century. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that “the 20th century’s 10 warmest years all occurred in the last 15 years of the century.” Some scientists believe that in the 21st century, average global temperature could rise 2.2 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit [1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius].

Scientists believe that higher temperatures will result in increased precipitation, with a greater frequency of extreme weather. Some feel that severe storms like the one that took 90 lives and ruined 270 million trees in France in 1999 are just precursors of things to come. Other researchers feel that climate changes will result in the spread of diseases such as malaria, dengue, and cholera.

Humankind is in a real fix. Everyone knows that there is a problem and that something needs to be done about it. Some nations are putting forth a conscientious effort, but environmental problems are, for the most part, getting worse. Is the earth simply destined to become unfit for human habitation?

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