Human activities have

impacted the environment

more than any other species,
including deforestation, natural
resource depletion, reduced
biodiversity, and pollution of the
air, land and water. Humans
have been impacting the
environment for thousands of
years; however, since the
industrial revolution in the 1800s,
the impact has drastically
increased due to increased
population, industrial
manufacturing and agricultural
practices
 As the human population has grown, the
need for more land has caused an
increase in the cutting down of forest
lands for habitation and farming. The result
has been an increase in soil erosion, an
increase in species extinction from habitat
loss, and a reduction of oxygen supplied
by the trees, as well as lower amounts of
carbon dioxide being removed from the
atmosphere.
Much of the land that has been cleared is
used for agriculture to feed Earth's
growing population. To increase output
farmers have turned to chemical fertilizers
and defoliants that pollute the soil and
watersheds. Increased production of
limited types of crops and livestock for
food has reduced the amount of different
plant and animal species on the planet.
Industrial and personal use of fossil fuels
has dramatically increased the amount of
air pollution in the atmosphere while
systematically using up the supply of the
non-renewable resources such as coal, oil
and natural gas
 Biodiversity
Human impact on biodiversity is
significant, humans have caused
the extinction of many species,
including the dodo and,
potentially, large megafaunal
species during the last ice age.
Though most experts agree that
human beings have accelerated
the rate of species extinction, the
exact degree of this impact is
unknown, perhaps 100 to 1000
times the normal background rate
of extinction.Some authors have
postulated that without human
interference the biodiversity of the
Earth would continue to grow at
an exponential rate.[1]
The Baiji population declined drastically in recent decades as China
industrialized and made heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation, and
hydroelectricity. As China developed economically, pressure on the river
dolphin grew significantly. Industrial and residential waste flowed into the
Yangtze. The riverbed was dredged and reinforced with concrete in many
locations. Ship traffic multiplied, boats grew in size, and fishermen employed
wider and more lethal nets. Noise pollution caused the nearly blind animal to
collide with propellers. In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated half of Baiji deaths
were attributed to entanglement in fishing gear. Only a few hundred were left
by 1970. Then the number dropped down to 400 by the 1980s and then to 13
in 1997 when a full-fledged search was conducted. The dolphin was declared
functionally extinct after an expedition late in 2006 failed to record a single
individual after an extensive search of the animals entire range.
 Human impact on coral reefs is significant.
Coral reefs are dying around the world.In
particular, coral mining, pollution (organic and
non-organic), overfishing, blast fishing and the
digging of canals and access into islands and
bays are serious threats to these ecosystems.
Coral reefs also face high dangers from
pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices
and warming oceans. In order to find answers
for these problems, researchers study the
various factors that impact reefs. The list of
factors is long, including the ocean's role as a
carbon dioxide sink, atmospheric changes,
ultraviolet light, ocean acidification, biological
virus, impacts of dust storms carrying agents to
far flung reefs, pollutants, algal blooms and
others. Reefs are threatened well beyond
coastal areas.
General estimates show approximately 10%
world's coral reefs are already dead.[] It is
estimated that about 60% of the world's reefs
are at risk due to destructive, human-related
activities. The threat to the health of reefs is
particularly strong in Southeast Asia, where 80%
of reefs are endangered.
Most of the Great Barrier Reef above this line is now dead

It's been six months since Australia's Great Barrier Reef experienced its worst coral
bleaching event on record in March, when more than 93 percent of the reef turned
white due to unseasonably warm ocean temperatures.
Researchers have now gone back to assess the long-term damage to see how well
the reefs have bounced back, and it's not good news. The survey has shown that most
of the corals above Port Douglas - which is around a third of the Great Barrier Reef -
are now dead.
 Global warming is the result of increasing atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations which is caused primarily by the
combustion of fossil energy sources such as petroleum, coal,
and natural gas, and to an unknown extent by destruction of
forests, increased methane, volcanic activity and cement
production. Such massive alteration of the global carbon cycle
has only been possible because of the availability and
deployment of advanced technologies, ranging in application
from fossil fuel exploration, extraction, distribution, refining, and
combustion in power plants and automobile engines and
advanced farming practices. Livestock contributes to climate
change both thru the production of greenhouse gases and thru
destruction of carbon sinks such as rain-forests. According to the
2006 United Nations/FAO report, 18% of all greenhouse gas
emissions found in the atmosphere are due to livestock. The
raising of livestock and the land needed to feed them has
resulted in the destruction millions of acres of Rainforest and as
global demand for meat rises, so too will the demand for land.
Ninety-one percent of all rainforest land deforested since 1970 is
now used for livestock.Potential negative environmental
impacts caused by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentrations are rising global air temperatures, altered
hydrogeological cycles resulting in more frequent and severe
droughts, storms, and floods, as well as sea level rise and
ecosystem disruption.
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which
carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere,
geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Along
with the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle, the carbon
cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making
the Earth capable of sustaining life; it describes the
movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout
the biosphere, including carbon sinks
 The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical
cycle by which nitrogen is converted into
various chemical forms as it circulates
among the atmosphere and terrestrial and
marine ecosystems. The conversion of
nitrogen can be carried out through both
biological and physical processes.
Important processes in the nitrogen cycle
include fixation, ammonification,
nitrification, and denitrification. The
majority of Earth's atmosphere (78%) is
nitrogen, making it the largest pool of
nitrogen. However, atmospheric nitrogen
has limited availability for biological use,
leading to a scarcity of usable nitrogen in
many types of ecosystems. The nitrogen
cycle is of particular interest to ecologists
because nitrogen availability can affect
the rate of key ecosystem processes,
including primary production and
decomposition. Human activities such as
fossil fuel combustion, use of artificial
nitrogen fertilizers, and release of nitrogen
in wastewater have dramatically altered
the global nitrogen cycle
 Nitrogen is present in the environment in a wide variety of chemical forms including
organic nitrogen, ammonium (NH+
4), nitrite (NO
2), nitrate (NO
3), nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO) or inorganic nitrogen gas (N2). Organic nitrogen
may be in the form of a living organism, humus or in the intermediate products of organic
matter decomposition. The processes of the nitrogen cycle transform nitrogen from one
form to another. Many of those processes are carried out by microbes, either in their effort
to harvest energy or to accumulate nitrogen in a form needed for their growth. The
diagram above shows how these processes fit together to form the nitrogen cycle.
Nitrogen fixation
Main article: Nitrogen fixation
Atmospheric nitrogen must be processed, or "fixed", in a usable form to be taken up by
plants. Between 5x1012 and 10x1012 g per year are fixed by lightning strikes, but most
fixation is done by free-living or symbiotic bacteria known as diazotrophs. These bacteria
have the nitrogenase enzyme that combines gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to produce
ammonia, which is converted by the bacteria into other organic compounds. Most
biological nitrogen fixation occurs by the activity of Mo-nitrogenase, found in a wide
variety of bacteria and some Archaea. Mo-nitrogenase is a complex two component
enzyme that has multiple metal-containing prosthetic groups.[3] An example of the free-
living bacteria is Azotobacter. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Rhizobium
usually live in the root nodules of legumes (such as peas, alfalfa, and locust trees). Here
they form a mutualistic relationship with the plant, producing ammonia in exchange for
carbohydrates. Because of this relationship, legumes will often increase the nitrogen
content of nitrogen-poor soils. A few non-legumes can also form such symbioses. Today,
about 30% of the total fixed nitrogen is produced industrially using the Haber-Bosch
process,[4] which uses high temperatures and pressures to convert nitrogen gas and a
hydrogen source (natural gas or petroleum) into ammonia.[5]
Assimilation
Main articles: Assimilation (biology) and Nitrogen assimilation
Plants take nitrogen from the soil by absorption through their roots as amino acids, nitrate
ions, nitrite ions, or ammonium ions. Most nitrogen obtained by terrestrial animals can be
traced back to the eating of plants at some stage of the food chain.
Plants can absorb nitrate or ammonium from the soil via their root hairs. If nitrate is
absorbed, it is first reduced to nitrite ions and then ammonium ions for incorporation into
amino acids, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll.[5] In plants that have a symbiotic relationship
with rhizobia, some nitrogen is assimilated in the form of ammonium ions directly from the
nodules. It is now known that there is a more complex cycling of amino acids between
Rhizobia bacteroids and plants. The plant provides amino acids to the bacteroids so
ammonia assimilation is not required and the bacteroides pass amino acids (with the
newly fixed nitrogen) back to the plant, thus forming an interdependent relationship. [6]
While many animals, fungi, and other heterotrophic organisms obtain nitrogen by
ingestion of amino acids, nucleotides and other small organic molecules, other
heterotrophs (including many bacteria) are able to utilize inorganic compounds, such as
ammonium as sole N sources. Utilization of various N sources is carefully regulated in all
organisms.
 Ammonification[edit]
When a plant or animal dies or an animal expels waste, the initial form of nitrogen is
organic. Bacteria or fungi convert the organic nitrogen within the remains back into
ammonium (NH+
4), a process called ammonification or mineralization. Enzymes involved are:
GS: Gln Synthetase (Cytosolic & Plastic)
GOGAT: Glu 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (Ferredoxin & NADH dependent)
GDH: Glu Dehydrogenase:
Minor Role in ammonium assimilation.
Important in amino acid catabolism.
Nitrification[edit]
Main article: Nitrification
The conversion of ammonium to nitrate is performed primarily by soil-living bacteria and
other nitrifying bacteria. In the primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium
(NH+
4) is performed by bacteria such as the Nitrosomonas species, which converts ammonia
to nitrites (NO
2). Other bacterial species such as Nitrobacter, are responsible for the oxidation of the
nitrites into nitrates (NO
3).[5] It is important for the ammonia to be converted to nitrates or nitrites because
ammonia gas is toxic to plants.
Due to their very high solubility and because soils are highly unable to retain anions,
nitrates can enter groundwater. Elevated nitrate in groundwater is a concern for drinking
water use because nitrate can interfere with blood-oxygen levels in infants and cause
methemoglobinemia or blue-baby syndrome.[7][8] Where groundwater recharges stream
flow, nitrate-enriched groundwater can contribute to eutrophication, a process that leads
to high algal population and growth, especially blue-green algal populations. While not
directly toxic to fish life, like ammonia, nitrate can have indirect effects on fish if it
contributes to this eutrophication. Nitrogen has contributed to severe eutrophication
problems in some water bodies. Since 2006, the application of nitrogen fertilizer has been
increasingly controlled in Britain and the United States. This is occurring along the same
lines as control of phosphorus fertilizer, restriction of which is normally considered essential
to the recovery of eutrophied waterbodies.
Denitrification[edit]
Main article: Denitrification
Denitrification is the reduction of nitrates back into nitrogen gas (N2), completing the
nitrogen cycle. This process is performed by bacterial species such as Pseudomonas and
Clostridium in anaerobic conditions.[5] They use the nitrate as an electron acceptor in the
place of oxygen during respiration. These facultatively anaerobic bacteria can also live in
aerobic conditions. Denitrification happens in anaerobic conditions e.g. waterlogged
soils. The denitrifying bacteria use nitrates in the soil to carry out respiration and
consequently produce nitrogen gas, which is inert and unavailable to plants.
Anaerobic ammonia oxidation[edit]
Main article: Ammonia
In this biological process, nitrite and ammonia are converted directly into molecular
nitrogen (N2) gas. This process makes up a major proportion of nitrogen conversion in the
oceans. The balanced formula for this "anammox" chemical reaction is: NH+
4 + NO
2 => N2 + 2H2O (G = -357 kJ mol-1).[9]
Other processes[edit]
Though nitrogen fixation is the primary source of plant-available nitrogen in most
ecosystems, in areas with nitrogen-rich bedrock, the breakdown of this rock also serves as
a nitrogen source.[10][11][12]
Environmental impacts[edit]
Additional risks posed by increased availability of inorganic nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems include water acidification; eutrophication of fresh
and saltwater systems; and toxicity issues for animals, including humans.[24] Eutrophication often leads to lower dissolved oxygen levels in the
water column, including hypoxic and anoxic conditions, which can cause death of aquatic fauna. Relatively sessile benthos, or bottom-dwelling
creatures, are particularly vulnerable because of their lack of mobility, though large fish kills are not uncommon. Oceanic dead zones near the
mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico are a well-known example of algal bloom-induced hypoxia.[25][26] The New York Adirondack Lakes,
Catskills, Hudson Highlands, Rensselaer Plateau and parts of Long Island display the impact of nitric acid rain deposition, resulting in the killing of
fish and many other aquatic species.[27]
Ammonia (NH3) is highly toxic to fish and the level of ammonia discharged from wastewater treatment facilities must be closely monitored. To
prevent fish deaths, nitrification via aeration prior to discharge is often desirable. Land application can be an attractive alternative to the
aeration.
 The rapid destruction of woodlands or the removal of
trees from forests is known as deforestation.
Every year, vast areas of forests are cleared to make
way to agriculture and development.
Tropical rainforests have important ecological roles.
Rainforests are the oldest ecosystems on Earth and
house almost half of the flora and fauna of the world.
They contain many unique species which provide food,
medicine and other biological products. Plants from
the tropical rainforests provide about one quarter of
pharmaceutical products available today.According to
National Cancer Institute, 70% of the plants useful in the
treatment of cancer can only be found in the tropical
rainforests.
Rainforests regulate climate by influencing wind, rainfal,
humidity and temperature patterns.
Rainforests are also called the carbon sink of the Earth
because they absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide
during photosynthesis and at the same time release
oxygen into the atmosphere.
They also serve as water catchment areas.
1.Soil erosion
2.Flash floods
3. Landslides
4. Disruption to the carbon and nitogen cycles.
5. Servere climatic changes
6. The loss of biodiversity
 Without proper development and planning, a land
stripped of its vegetation is subject to soil erosion. Soil
erosion is the removal and thinning of the soil layer due
to physical and climatic processes, such as high
rainfalls.
The absence of plant root systems makes the soil
structure unstable.
When there are heavy rains for a long period of time,
the top layer of the soil crumbles and this leads to
landslides on steep hillsides.
This eroded soil is the carried by moving water and
deposited at the bottom of rivers.
This together with depletion of water catchment areas,
causes flash floods during the rainy seasons.
Soil erosion causes the land to be depleted of minerals
and natural resources making the land infertile.