Protecting the environment is the act of taking care of natural resources and using them rationally to prevent annihilation and pollution. It also involves the use of comprehensive management measures that can create an environment that supports human activities and life.
Protecting the environment creates sustainable development in an economy. An attractive, natural environment encourages both domestic, and international tourism and this create revenue for the country.
Tourism also contributes to the economic growth of a nation as it leads to the creation of jobs for many people (Holden 177). Some people work as tour guides and agents while others work in food and accommodation sector.
Protecting the environment also attracts many foreign investors into the country. Foreign investors invest their money and introduce industries in other nations, thus promoting economic growth (Goodstein 26).
If a country has a terrible environment, investors will avoid making businesses there, and this reduces economic development in a country.
Another way that protecting the environment creates sustainable development is through preservation of natural resources. Most development activities make use of natural resources, and if the environment lacks protection, such resources may become depleted, thus, making further developments impossible.
Also, environmental protection causes sustainable development as governments cut the money spent on health-care costs. A good natural environment protects human beings from diseases like skin cancer, cataracts and other illnesses that arise due to environmental pollution. This, in turn, makes governments cut down on health costs.
Protecting the environment enhances welfare of human beings. People suffer from health-related issues in areas where the environment gets stressed (Frumkin et al. 4). A harmful environment is accountable for almost a quarter of the worldwide disease problem.
In emerging nations, use of incompetent wood-burning stoves to make food causes illnesses. A rising figure of cleaner and more competent stoves, which cut down both the amount of biomass that needs collection to fuel the stove and domestic airborne particulates, are becoming obtainable.
Proper environmental management can lessen the risk of malaria through destroying mosquito habitats, breeding mosquitoes that are resistant to the malaria parasite as well as reducing populations of mosquitoes.
This fact also relates with the concept of sustainable development as health is a vital element in sustainable development. Sick families cannot meet their daily needs, a mother with respiratory tract infections could be unable to take proper care of the family and a sick child is likely to miss school, or underperform in academics.
Protecting the environment enhances continuity of life. The world has limited resources, and rapid consumption of these resources by humans has led to severe environmental degradation. Failure to protect the environment is a crime as it means that we do not care about future generations.
Therefore, we must attach significance to protection of the environment so that we can give future generations a better living space.
As a result of failing to protect the environment, we continue experiencing much retribution from nature. For instance, there is scarcity in land resources due to expansion of towns and industrial development (Rubio 9).
Besides, there is pollution in lakes and rivers due to the large waste that factories emit. The number of deserts has also increased due to continuous cutting of trees. Toxic gas and liquid air have also caused pollution of water supplies.
Protecting the environment secures both plant and animal lives through preventing ozone depletion. The most common causes of ozone depletion are releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere and cutting down of trees. Depletion of ozone makes higher levels of ultra violet rays to hit into the earth’s surface (McMichael 61).
These rays may cause skin cancer and cataracts among human beings. Equally, ultra violet rays affect growth of plants and aquatic food systems. These rays affect nutrient distribution in plants as well as secondary metabolism, thus causing disease in plants.
Besides, ultra violet rays affect the euphotic zone, which limits productivity of phytoplankton. The euphotic zone is the top cover of water column where there is adequate light to promote net productivity.
Although most phytoplankton can move actively to enhance their efficiency and, thus, their continued existence, contact with ultra violet rays from the sun affects survival rates of phytoplankton. Also, ultra violet rays from the sun affect early developmental phases of shrimp, fish, amphibians and crabs.
Other dangerous effects of ultra violet rays to aquatic life include decreased reproductive ability and weakened development of larvae (McMichael 63).
Considering present levels, solar radiation is a restrictive feature, and small raises in ultra violet exposure could cause noteworthy decrease in the number of animals that feed on these minor organisms.
In conclusion, protecting the environment is essential for enhanced human and plant life, continuity of life, sustainable development of an economy as well as economic enhancement. Natural resources are essential for life on earth, and thus they need protection. Failure to protect the environment may affect future generations of both plants and animals.
Works Cited
Frumkin, Howard, Richard Jackson, and Christine Coussens. Health and the Environment in the Southeastern United States, Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 2002. Print.
Goodstein, Eban. Economics and the Environment, Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. Print.
Holden, Andrew. Environment and Tourism, New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print.
McMichael, Asunta. Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses, Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2003. Print.
Rubio, Jose. Water scarcity, Land Degradation and Desertification in the Mediterranean Region Environmental and Security Aspects, Dordrecht, MA: Springer, 2009. Print.