Human impact on environment

Human beings occupy the highest rung of the food chain and are important components of biosphere. Like any other living organism, human beings too give and take from the environment. They also directly and indirectly exert influence on other forms of life and possess the ability to alter environmental conditions to some degree. Human progress has, over a vast period of time, affected the global environment drastically.

Impact on environment

Human activities have had a lasting impact on the environment. Some of the activities that have modified or degraded the environment are:

• Ability to produce food through agriculture
• Transfer excess food to regions of food shortage
• Store excess food in warehouses, cold storage and canneries, thereby preventing food-deterioration
• Impressive and innovative efficiency of energy utilisation has caused shift from wood energy to fossil energy to electric energy to atomic energy
• Ability to provide shelter for self (housing), elderly and the young, protection against unfavourable weather or enemies
• Ability to destroy animal enemies e.g. lions, tigers, wolves, snakes, rats, mice, house hold insects etc
• Ability to reduce competition from other animals by fencing crops and live-stock.
• Reducing the mortality rate by controlling a number of life threatening diseases through proper sanitation, medication, immunization etc
  

Natural as well as human-made interventions in the environment have, through various periods, delivered fatal blows to the human population. Some such problems confronting us are:

Food shortage or famine: It could be because of less agricultural production; transfer of agricultural land for utilisation; improper and inadequate storage, transport- facilities; economic poverty to purchase food etc.

Inadequate shelter: Every individual is not provided with safe shelter and is exposed to extremes of high and cold temperatures of atmosphere, and falling prey to tigers, lions, wolves, leopards, rats, snakes etc.

Diseases: Malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, lack of medical facilities, increased susceptibility to disease especially among young and old, as well as invasion and mutation of the pathogens leads to epidemic/fatal attacks of bubonic plague, malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, dengue, influenza etc.

Calamities: Natural calamities such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami, avalanches etc. uproot human settlements and damage property.

Miscellaneous: Mostly human-made, accidents involving explosions, fire, pollution, ship wrecks, air and road accidents wipe out lives. Thus, you should be able to imagine the tussle between man to change environment to his liking and the environment striking back in one form or the other. If, humans are able to interact with the environment judiciously, an environment friendly life can be led by them.

Measurements of the standard of living

A population is also characterised by certain parameters, such as:

• Life expectancy (should be high)
• Infant mortality rate (should be low)
• Income per head (should be high)
• Literacy (maximum of individuals should be literate)
• Consumption of food, natural resources (should be balanced)
• Kind of energy and activity (eco-friendly)

Such parameters decide the standard of living of a population. The developed rich countries have better standards of living whereas underdeveloped, poor countries have poor standards of living.