The deterioration of the environment by natural or human forces is known as environmental degradation. Natural happenings like heavy rain, floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanoes etc. are not under human control and they play havoc with environment time to time by making the land unfit for cultivation. Here man is helpless. He can do nothing except to see the havoc. But when man himself plays a vital role in degrading the environment in which he lives, then the problem becomes more serious.
Needless to say that environmental degradation is one of the major global issues. The overuse of resources be it land or water and the industrialization process are the major causes of this phenomenon. Man has been felling the tress for his
various purposes. He never minds if this process goes on without check it will lead to soil erosion, floods, silting of irrigation canals and cultivated lands, which finally degrade our environment.
Our population is increasing fast, which has also degraded the environment to a great extent. Man's insatiable needs and distress have disturbed the whole environmental equilibrium. The race of armament among countries is no less responsible for this global issue. Apart from these our industries emit smoke and discharge liquids including polluted water. The smoke contains many undesirable gases such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. All borne particles in solid, liquids and gaseous form.
The pollution in atmosphere has tendency to form their layers and sinks in atmosphere. The chlorofluorocarbons which
come from aerosol sprays nuclear weapons, refrigerators etc., have caused a hole in the ozone layer of atmosphere. This
hole is allowing increased amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching our earth.
The above mentioned factors have really degraded the environment and if ways to check it are not applied we will have face serious consequences. We must put an end to our insatiable needs and desires. There must not be indiscriminate cutting of trees because it will lead to ecological imbalances. Instead, we should know the value of tree plantation and should plant trees as many as we can in our surrounding area. Next, our ever growing population must be checked because it puts an extra burden on our natural resources. Last but not the least, factories should not be allowed to emit large quantities of harmful effluents into air through their chimneys. They should discharge them into the rivers and other water bodies because this dirty water can be treated and recycled to be used again.
Our environment must be protected by all means. We must realize the fact that so long environment is there, our life is there. The day, when there is no environment, there will be a complete doom.
