Definition:  Deforestation, the systematic harvesting of forests for lumber, or clearing land for agricultural use (farming), or for other uses such as building infrastructure,

Deforestation harms the natural ecosystem in many ways, because since in deforestation the trees are not replanted, this could have disastrous effects. Deforestation will result in habitat loss for many species, it will reduce tree cover for prey (to avoid predators) and predators(to avoid being seen by prey), and it will collapse the local ecosystem's food web by removing the main producers, and eliminate a source of food for many primary consumers. Deforestation will also result in an imbalance in the carbon cycle: trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen via photosynthesis, and deforestation, combined with increased carbon emissions, will increase the carbon dioxide concentration in the air and reduce the oxygen concentration. This contributes to the greenhouse effect, see Anthropogenic Climate Change

Definition: It explains itself - none required

The creation of roads, buildings and other infrastructure will cause serious harm to the environment: Firstly the creation of these will result in habitat loss, and most likely needs deforestation to clear the land necessary for them. Secondly, roads being paved will harm the surface soil, and kill organisms living in it, as well as cause natural drainage problems and flooding: as water cant infiltrate (see Water Cycle) into the soil thats blocked by roads (and other infrastructure), and also this will disrupt the water table. in addition, the intensive mining and refining process for the resources needed to construct roads, buildings, and other infrastructure will not only deplete the resources necessary to construct them, but will also change the landscape, disturbing and harming many organisms, release pollution into the air and water, and release carbon emissions. The buildings and infrastructure will release pollution: air, water and light pollution too, (which harms animals which use the natural light to navigate and for other important purposes) and the buildings and infrastructure will also release much carbon emissions.

Definition: A change in long term weather patterns (climate change) caused specifically by human industrial activities starting from the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1800s.

Climate change is common in the natural world, true. But not at the rate that it is right now. This is because of human caused, or anthropogenic impacts. There are many causes for anthropogenic climate change including deforestation, pollution, artificial altering of the landscape, but the main reason is "greenhouse gas" emissions. Greenhouse gases are gases which are retained in the atmosphere and prevent more of the Sun's heat from escaping into space, retaining more of the heat, warming up the Earth. (see the diagram below this section to see how greenhouse gases work)

The main greenhouse gases include:

• Nitrous oxide (N2O ), which is a part of the nitrogen cycle (See Chapter 3), and is emitted from agricultural land use and industrial activities, as well as wastewater treatment;

• Methane (CH4), which is released by wetlands naturally, as well as from livestock and other agricultural practices, land use, and waste decay

• Water vapour (H2O) which is a part of the water cycle (See Chapter 3)

• Ozone ( O3), which is a natural layer of the atmosphere which helps deflect harmful UV rays, famous for the ozone hole caused by: (CFCS)

• Chlorofluorocarbons and other fluorinated gases (CFCs) such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride, which are all synthetic (man-made), and are emitted from a variety of industrial sources, and despite being emitted in very small concentrations, are extremely powerful, much more than the other gases, which are all natural;

• Carbon dioxide (CO2), the greenhouse gas so notorious that you think of it immediately when you think of greenhouse gases, although it is a natural part of the carbon cycle (See Chapter 3), it is being emitted at higher concentrations than natural from burning of fossil fuels.

This climate change has many adverse effects:

• Increasing the global temperature, which contributes to

  • • • Drought

      • Fires

      • Rising sea levels and flooding, which can submerge low lying land

• Increase in abnormal weather activity such as powerful storms and other natural disasters

• Melting ice caps will harm land dwelling species in polar regions, such as polar bears

• Higher levels of UV radiation being retained will harm many species living above ground and close to the water surface .

• Many more adverse impacts.

Due to this rapid rate of change in the natural environment, many species will not be able to adapt and they may even become extinct. It is worth noting that we are already in the sixth mass extinction, the only one caused by humans, the Holocene/Anthropocene Mass Extinction Event, one of the greatest reductions in biodiversity of all time.

Further Reading:

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/greenhouse-gas-emissions.html

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/climatesciencenarratives/its-water-vapor-not-the-co2.html

Definition:  The industrial cycle that results in the mass creation of typically single-use goods which are created, consumed, then disposed of in a highly resource intensive and polluting linear system, not a cycle.

These three processes are very intensive and harmful to the environment: First of all, manufacturing the goods is a very resource intensive process, which requires much mining (adverse effects described in Creation of Roads, Buildings and Other Infrastructure). Manufacturing, transportation, and disposal (of all kinds, including recycling), is very energy intensive, and in many cases releases much pollution and carbon emissions. the harvesting of resources causes deforestation and habitat loss in many cases. 

Note: transportation of goods is a particularly carbon intensive/emitting process, which is often not acknowledged. 

In addition, due to marketing and business concepts such as planned obsolescence (objects being made to fail at some point) and perceived obsolescence (making customers have an obsessive need to buy the newest products, increased demand for the latest trendy goods which are often not much better than their predecessors), manufacturing (and by extension transportation and consumption) are "needed" to be increased to unsustainable levels, and also when the usable lifespan of goods is reduced, the number of goods disposed of is increased. This is an unsustainable practice.

Further Information:

Story of Stuff

Story of Electronics

Definition: The unsustainable and often unethical use of a natural resource (biotic or abiotic) to the point where it becomes completely depleted. 

This can apply to our unsustainable use of fossil fuels (which contribute to the greenhouse effect), certain minerals, or the rapidly accelerating unsustainable use of resources that the vast majority of other organisms also need, such as land, water, and trees (lumber). It can also apply to our use of animals for food, and our use of animal parts for food/goods. For example overfishing using methods such as trolling, or the unethical (and now mostly illegal) use of animal parts for food ( shark fin soup), goods (ivory), and some traditional Eastern medicines (tiger paw). There are now much more ethical and often artificial counterparts to these items, and they are being used more.