Definition of environmental impact

Human actions that alter the Balance natural 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 result of anthropic action or events of the natural.

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 environment natural.

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 desired effects are positive, at least for the person who stars in the performance in question, the effects can turn out to be positive as well, but, and here comes the complicated thing, they can also have a highly negative consequence for the environment natural.

Economic exploitation versus environmental care

Let's think of a company such as a trash can, it will employ many people and then dozens of families will depend on it. However, many paper mills cause severe environmental damage to the populations near them, so if Well, from the economic point of view, their contribution will be considered as positive, if it is taken from the environmental point of view obviously not will be.

There are a wide range of environmental concerns, which mostly come from the form of Energy, oil or natural gas and that is used in several countries. The contamination 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 energetic resources is the noise pollution, because the noise produced by the industry can considerably diminish the hearing capacity and severely affect the circulatory system.
Also mining and the processing of these types of materials tend to have 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 the 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 lines are carefully analyzed by ecology, discipline most famous 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 severely punished and this has generated that ecology assumes a more political and social role in order to fight in the field against this advance negative.

In recent years, awareness has fortunately grown in this regard and also the voices that fight in favor of it and that is why it is common to see non-governmental associations, a One of the most famous is Greenpeace, which is responsible for 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 goes deep in the public and that is basically the methodology of work of Greenpeace, which is even often questioned by the legislation for committing crimes in its awareness-raising action.

Issues in Environmental Impact