We all know what the environment is and what is habitat or, at least, we have a slight idea of the meaning of these concepts. Surely, we also know that the habitats of the world, and with it the environment are being destroyed, are being degraded to the point of their disappearance. Do you know what the main causes are? And the consequences of this environmental problem?
Throughout this ecology article, we will clarify these doubts and others more related to this topic. Keep reading and know what the destruction of the environment and habitat, its causes and consequences.
What is the environment and habitat
On the one hand, The environment It is the set of physical, chemical and biological elements that surround living beings and with which they interact and relate, because from the environment they obtain what is necessary to live. Discover more about what the environment is with this other ecology article.
On the other hand, we can define The natural habitat as the physical space without altering that meets the appropriate characteristics for life to develop. It meets the necessary requirements for animal and plant species to develop, so that they can live and reproduce under these specific conditions.
The habitat does not follow a strict pattern, that is, a habitat can be a puddle or a meadow. The key is that the conditions given in this space are adequate for certain living beings, thus a puddle is the habitat of microorganisms and bacteria but not of a giraffe, the habitat of a giraffe is however a plain or open forests. Here we talk more about habitat and specify the difference between habitat and ecological niche.
What is the destruction of the environment and habitat and its causes
The main cause of the loss of biodiversity is the destruction of habitats and the environment in yes, destruction is synonymous with alteration of the environment, to such an extent of ending the ways of life that are found in it, since the conditions have been modified. Directly or indirectly the cause of this loss and destruction of the environment and habitats It is the human being, of course. When we say directly or indirectly, we refer to the actions that can be direct or derived from other actions but that cause the Habitat fragmentation. And what does this lead to?, In endangered species among other consequences that we will develop later.
These are the main direct and indirect causes of the destruction of the environment and habitat:
Direct causes
- Road construction and infrastructure.
- Deforestation for the transformation of these lands into cultivation fields, such as palm oil crops (so famous in recent times)
- Fires for business reasons ..
- Contamination of forests, meadows, seas, rivers …
- Uncontrolled hunt.
- Poaching.
Indirect causes
- Increased temperatures due to climate change.
- Environmental pollution due to the use of cars, motorcycles, airplanes …
- Pollution by industries or factories.
Destruction of the environment and habitats: consequences
Next, we will mention some of the consequences of habitat destruction.
- Loss of biodiversity.
- Extinction of species, which not only remains in the extinction of one or more species, since everything is chained, due to trophic networks, among other aspects. A species disappears and the one that feeds on it will end the same, and so progressively.
- The elimination of habitats and destruction of the environment not only has consequences for animals and the vegetation that live in it, it also affects us, the human being or the rest of habitats. For example, if we deforest a forest prior to a lake, either by logging or fire, when rains occur they will sweep and drag everything that has been in its path, reaching and deposit everything in the waters of the lake and consequently we will have water pollution and problems for the survival of the aquatic species …
- Increased pollution.
- Increase of some species until the number of individuals that exist, due to lack of predators, who perhaps have been eliminated by the destruction of their habitat are dangerous to the environment.
In short, there is an ecological imbalance.
Examples of the destruction of the environment and habitat – images of before and after
Finally, we show some Examples of the destruction of the environment and habitat with images From before and after the place:
- Aral sea destroyed by contamination (Uzbekistán-Kazajistán).
- Forests like those of Spain razed by fires.
- Amazon jungle razed by deforestation for crops and industry (Brazil). In this other ecology article, we explain more about the deforestation of the Amazon: causes and consequences.
- Coral reefs dead by contamination and the increase in temperatures (Caribbean Sea).
Please, from Ecology Verde, we want that after these images of the destruction of the environment and the habitat (they are placed in the order indicated in the list) we are even more aware of what we are causing and try to remedy it.
If you want to read more articles similar to Destruction of the environment and habitat: causes and consequenceswe recommend that you enter our category of other environment.
