Environment as we all know is a complex of surrounding in which a person or organism lives, modifying and determining its life or character

Not all changes to the environment are perceived as threat. Most of our problems are man made. To be honest without people there would be no problems. Thus the more people and the more affluent their lifestyle, the more resources they will use and the more numerous and severe our problems will become. Environment problems grow faster than the rate of population and the growth. For instance, a simple compounded growth of 3% per year will double the world's problems in 25 years; growth of 6% in 12 years! It is not surprising then, that as school children of today we will experience change as never witnessed before and never to be witnessed again, as our elders exhausts some of its most precious resources causing serious trauma to the environment

SIMPLY BY EXISTING, PEOPLE HAVE MADE MAJOR IMPACTS ON THE WORLD THREATENING OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.
A century ago, the list of threat would have been quite short, because human use of the planet's resources was much less, and not perceived as damaging. Today, not only can damage be seen or predicted, it can also be felt personally in the form of shortages and hindrance.

THE THREAT FROM CLIMATE CHANGE.

Global-worming the main cause of Climate change which is the resultant affect of human intervention and is putting huge pressure on many natural resources (communities of plants, animals and other living things). As temperatures continue to rise, climate change could threaten up to a third of all land-living animal species with extinction by 2050.

SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW SPECIES ARE AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE ARE: The first creatures thought to have become extinct due to climate change were amphibians in Costa Rica, including frogs and the Golden Toad - a change in weather patterns triggered disease outbreaks which wiped out the whole species Melting sea ice in the Arctic will reduce the time polar bears have to catch seals and fish easily - numbers are predicted to fall by a third by 2050 Marine turtles are affected by changes to the beaches where they live, damage to coral reefs and changed ocean currents

Arctic ice-cap melting

HABITAT DESTRUCTION

Between a hundred and a thousand species become extinct each year, mainly because the habitats where they live are changing or being destroyed. Man has already destroyed about a half of all the worlds grasslands and a third of its forests - the rate of destruction is speeding up. The World Conservation Union estimates that of the 40,000 species it tracks each year, 16,000 are threatened with extinction. This includes one in three amphibians, a quarter of coniferous trees, one in eight birds and one in four mammals.

HOW SPECIES ARE AFFECTED BY HABITAT LOSS, HUNTING AND ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

Palm tree

Giant Panda

Mackerel

Planktons

sand eel

Only 1,600 giant pandas are now left in China, and the remaining populations have become isolated from each other. Palm oil is found in many products including toothpaste, fuel and processed foods; the palm trees used to produce it are nearly all grown in Indonesia and Malaysia, and clearing land to grow them is widely thought to play a big part in the loss of natural forest in these countries - the only habitat where endangered orang utans live in the wild. In the North Sea, decades of overfishing and climatic changes have reduced the availability of plankton for larger species, such as the sand eel, to feed on, driving them to historically low

HOW SPECIES ARE AFFECTED BY HABITAT LOSS, HUNTING AND ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE. CONT
As the number of sand eels has fallen, other animals which feed on them have also been affected - stocks of cod and Mackerel are at dangerously low levels, and sea birds, such as puffins, terns and fulmars, are badly affected. Freshwater species have suffered some of the most dramatic declines - more than half the Freshwater fish in the Mediterranean region are threatened with extinction. larger freshwater species such as the hippopotamus are also in difficulty because of ivory hunting and exploitation for meat, populations in the Congo, for instance, falling by 95 per cent in recent years. Poaching is threatening rhinos with extinction although international trade in rhino horns is banned, they are still being used in traditional Asian medicines and carved to make ornamental objects such as dagger handles

Wolf

Unicorn Rhino

Deer

OTHER FACTORS THAT PAUSES THREATS TO OUR ENVIRONMENT OZONE DEPLETION

Ozone depletion is caused by the release of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's). Although the tundra itself does not release enough CFC's into the atmosphere to cause damage, winds carry these harmful gases to the North and South Poles where they collect and deplete the ozone layer. At these poles, where the ozone is thinner, ultraviolet rays are strong and might cause damage to plants and wildlife in the tundra as well. Still scientists are unsure exactly how the extra ultraviolet rays will harm the tundra.

OTHER FACTORS THAT PAUSES THREATS TO OUR ENVIRONMENT AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution is also a huge threat to the tundra because of the influence outside winds have on it. Pollution from factories in Russia, other parts of Europe, and the Eastern United States can be carried to the tundra by winds. The foreign pollution forms smog clouds in some tundra areas and contaminates lichen, a large source of food for many animals.

OTHER FACTORS THAT PAUSES THREATS TO OUR ENVIRONMENT MINING

Mining and drilling has also destroyed some areas of the tundra. Mining and drilling is popular in arctic tundra areas because they tend to be rich in mineral resources. Minerals are extracted from the ground of the arctic tundras in Russia, Greenland, and Canada. Around these sites not only is the land ravaged, but harmful dusts and gases are produced which cause air pollution. When dusts settle on neighboring ponds, lakes, and streams these waters become uninhabitable by fish, animals and even people.

WHY IT MATTERS?
There are many reasons why undisturbed environment with its species and habitats are important and should be protected. Biodiversity, the variety of life on the planet is a source of inspiration and ultimately all human life depends on nature for its survival. Natural environment or ecosystems shape the planet and make human life possible. Functioning ecosystems help to regulate our climate and provide us with sources of food, water, breathable air and plant materials that are used for everything from building our homes to producing medicines. Humans depend upon ecosystems, and for ecosystems to work they need a wide range of species - removing just one can change the whole system.