Sustainability is an important concept to understand, and it could be the key to reversing global warming and preserving the earth and our environment. Sustainability is a lifestyle where an ecosystem or community can support itself without negatively impacting the environment. Whether sustainability using cleaner energy or recycling and reducing waste. But why is it so important? How does it affect our quality of life? How are different ecosystems affected? It may be just one word but it can make a world of a difference.
When people use a lifestyle of sustainability it can improve the quality of life for many people. Factors that apply to a good quality of life include nature and the environment as well as good health. If sustainability is not used, these three factors could be affected and lower quality of life. The natural environment would be affected if sustainability is not used in a community. Pollution of the air, soil and water can harm ecosystems as well as harm the health of humans. This is because harmful chemicals are put into the environment by human activities. Sustainability not only affects the environment but it affects the quality of life for humans too.
The way things happen now, with fossil fuels and other industries, negatively affects multiple different ecosystems in harmful and irreversible ways. One way that ecosystems are affected is the biological diversity in plants and animals. When we clear-cut forests or pollute the air, the biodiversity of plants and animals is put at risk of extinction and habitat loss. We are the main reason that animal and plant species go extinct, and one day a species could get wiped out that was vital to human life. This means it is extremely important we focus on not polluting ecosystems and trying to live more sustainably. Another way ecosystems are negatively affected is the land and soil. Soil can be polluted by acid precipitation or soil can erode from oil and gas development. This means the land is unusable, this is because essential nutrients are either washed away or the soil is polluted with harmful chemicals.
Sustainability is extremely important and we need to incorporate it into our lives more than we have. Without the use of sustainability our quality of life will decline as the quality of our ecosystems deteriorate. And if we keep going down the path we are on now biodiversity will decrease and our ecosystems will be ruined to an extent of permanently ruined. To get started down the right path you can reduce your use of plastic, drive less and be mindful about your water usage. Will this problem be solved overnight? Definitely not. But if we start living more sustainable lives, then we can improve the environment and preserve the early for future generations.
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Resources
H., M. (2016, January 7). Why is sustainability important? Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.permaculturenews.org/2016/01/07/why-is-sustainability-important/