Agriculture and Logging:
A multitude of solutions can be done to solve the problem of deforestation, caused by logging and agriculture. While they will not reverse what has already been done, it will still help decrease the rate of deforestation. For starters, the governments that are controlling the areas in which this is happening at an alarming rate could flat out release a ban that says loggers cannot destroy the forest in certain areas. This would be especially helpful for the Amazonian tribes, as these bans will keep unwanted people out of their areas, and their hunting and farming grounds can still remain, so they can continue to thrive. Their would be less casualties for the tribal members as well, as preserving what they have been around for so long will not allow them to be exposed to any outside illnesses that could come about from workers or machines, and wipe out a majority of their clans. This may not be seen as a wise choice, however, as this would result in less products made from the trees and the crops produced by farmers who have overrun those areas. But, there are still plenty of places all around the world that produce crops and other farm products, and we don’t have to only cut down trees from one specific place! Another solution is to replant as many trees as possible. This will not show immediate results, but it is still an attempt and will give us resources in a few years down the line. But as the trees are growing, they will need many things to feed themselves, and that includes the carbon dioxide! This will be a small, but courteous effect to decrease the rising rates of CO2 plaguing our atmosphere.
Decrease in Biodiversity:
There are many small things that anyone can do to help improve biodiversity in their neighborhood. One simple way to try and help biodiversity is to only plant native plant species in a neighborhood or garden. This may not seem like a lot, but it does help support the backbone of certain ecosystems, thus keeping the biodiversity in the habitat healthy and present. Normally, planting native species of plants is the best way to support the natural wildlife and biodiversity of an ecosystem or habitat. This is because other native animal species, like birds and bugs, are already built to eat and use that type of plant. Unfortunately, there are always going to be people who will refuse to do simple little tasks like this to help the ecosystem around them. They make excuses like; “It won’t even make that big of a difference, so what’s the point?” Well, sadly for them, small things like planting a specific plant species actually does make a difference. It’s true that planting just natives alone isn’t enough to bring the biodiversity in an ecosystem to its fullest potential, but every little thing does help out in some way. Planting anything in a garden or other habitat does help out a little, and by planting only native species, you can help out even more.
Climate Change:
There are no true “solutions” for climate change; What’s done has been done and there’s a very, very slim chance of ever being able to reverse the global heating. But, something we can do to minimize our contributions to climate change is to abandon the idea of using fossil fuels for energy. At the rate our population is consuming fossil fuels, 11 billion tons per year, oil will only last us until 2052, gas will only last us to 2080, and coal will only last us to 2088! These are only approximations, of course, but even if we find reservoirs with these resources, that will only slightly extend the timeline for our prehistoric energy source. Some great alternatives to these draining materials are solar, wind, and hydro power.
Solar panels are efficient, and easy to install nowadays, and cost much less too! Over the course of one day, solar panels can gather more energy needed to charge our current population for the next 27 years. But, there are one or two disadvantages to this. Not every place on our Earth can get as much sun as everywhere else, such as those living in Russia. People in Russia would have a much more difficult time trying to gather power from solar panels than someone who is living in Texas. But, those who cannot use the solar panels to their full potential have two other options: wind and hydro power!
Wind power works up the wind currents pushing against the turbine’s blades, and those movements spin a gear within a generator to produce electricity. Though, these large wind turbines are often put in open places where wind and come and go freely, but they are not near cities which actually need the electricity, since wind cannot travel freely through a city filled with skyscrapers. But even if they may be far away, they can still give us the power that 20% of fossil fuels can give us.
The last renewable energy source we can use instead of fossil fuels is hydroelectric power. Currently, this source gives us about 10% of the energy we use today. The most common method of this is water flowing through a dam which as spinning turbines in it, the water pushes then and spins a gear connected to a generator to produce electricity, similar to the wind turbines. Two downfalls this method has is the environmental impact, since it is built on top of a lake and/or river, and may cause problems with fish migration. This can be solved with fish ladders, and while it’s not perfect, it does work. It is also quite expensive, though they do not require many workers, has a low maintenance cost, and will pay off in the long run once it’s pumping out possibly more than enough electricity needed!
Ecosystem Falling Apart:
People think we should stop cutting down trees by setting a series of rules and laws to govern it. Money is the biggest influence, to continuing deforestation. Or all together have cutting off forests banned. Or if we must build outwards into our forests, lands that have been stripped of trees, we should urge urban settlements to plant trees within the vicinity of the neighborhoods to replace the cut trees. The cutting must be replaced with young, strong trees to replace old ones. Yes, trees are still being planted every year in hopes of replacement, but most die off early for natural and unnatural causes. They also do not come close to the number we have already lost. If we do this it will bring wildlife back into its habitat, and hopefully generate species we are losing. Data shows on multiple sites show that if we start replacing cut trees, and lessen our use of cut trees the graph will slowly start to increase. Granted people need room for houses, and firewood, and paper they need the trees that are cut down. But with our loss of trees being too low we are at risk of losing many animals in the environment and quickly need to take action.
Soil Erosion and Flooding:
With some small simple steps you can control and prevent erosion. One of the easiest ways to prevent it is by planting vegetation. The roots from plants stabilize the soil and keep it compact. This prevents soil erosion. This very effective because like plants it stabilizes soil. When used around vegetation it is even more effective and makes the solid compact and tight, but enough to let water and nutrients through. It slowly soaks up water and protects from storms and rain water and creates a top coat over fresh soil. It also restores pH levels helping to prevent erosion. Erosion is a big issue when it comes to water pollution. It can run through and clog up drains, waists fresh soil resulting in polluting water, and damaging our fresh water and animals who rely on the clean water. If we use any of the solutions above we will be able to save a lot more fresh water, and keep environment clean and safe for the animals that live within it. Now some people don’t believe in the fact that plants will help keep our water clean, or that soil actually pollutes water. I mean it is all apart of Earth right? Well, yes, but the soil carries pollutants into the water and other minerals that some animals or humans cant intake, hence why we don't just eat dirt. They can also carry pesticides and poisonous things that can damage our fresh water.
Overuse of Resources:
But there is a way that any average person could help out with this problem; just use less. A sure fire way to help stop the overuse of resources is for everyone to be mindful of what they are using every day. The general population should stop using so much wood and paper, and remember to recycle all of the paper that they are discarding. That way the paper and other recycled items can be reused, and less trees will be cut down. For example, recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save approximately 75,000 trees. That means that if every American were to recycle their Sunday newspaper, around 250 million trees could be saved! This solution would help Earth’s general population, because if most people were to use this solution, we would no longer go over the sustainable amount of trees we can use per year. Earth Overshoot Day could even be pushed back by almost an entire month. Earth Overshoot Day marks when humanity's demand for ecological resources surpasses what the planet can replenish per year. Since 1970, Earth Overshoot Day has been happening sooner and sooner, and in 2016 it occurred on August eighth. That means that people had used up all of the resources that they Earth could make in one year, still with almost four months left. And this solution could help with that problem. Although it’s true that this is only a small step, and it would take a quite a while for every person to get on board with this idea, it could still help. This solution is just a first step, but it would be the first of many.
