unhealthy COMMUNITY AND ENVINROMENT: SAVE our society Africa
Men have undoubtedly been changing local environment since arriving in the scene as a distinct species several hundred thousand years ago. Our debut as the main actors on the global stage – actors comparable effects to classical roles played by erosion, volcanic activity, natural selection, and the like- is much more recent phenomenon. This goes back at most a few thousand years, but has accelerated greatly to the scale and impact of past centuries. According to Crutzen (2002) "We live today in what may be called the" Anthropocene "- a new geological era in which mankind has emerged as a globally significant – and possibly intelligent – force able to reshape the face of the earth". The Italian geologist Anthonio Stoppani (1873) was to describe humanity & # 39; s activities as a "new telluric force, which in power and universality may be the larger forces of the earth." Several international conferences have been held to tackle environmental problems. Examples include, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (summit) in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002, so the need for harnessing science and technology to support the efforts to achieve the the goal of environmentally sustainable development of human Anthropocene was widely recognized at the Johannesburg Summit. environmental hazards are contemporary issues in Africa but before I delve into the causes of the problems and some solutions, I would give some definitions and properties of the environment. I shall also Nigeria (African country) as a case study because of limitations of the work.
Definitions and characteristics ENVIRONMENT
The unfortunate older wrong and simple definition environment is that it is a resource that was created for human use. It is the mechanical element that exists to serve human beings. This definition is unfortunate and wrong for it to explain the environment as something dead; something of which is exclusively for human pleasures and entertainment needs. The background to this definition includes anthropology, religious, psychological, economic and philosophical explanations of the origin and nature of the environment. Environment is also defined as natural to humans, animals and plants live. Uchebu (1998) classified the environment in the physical and non-physical. Environment includes land (terrestrial) air, water (Acquatici) environment and non-physical – cultural and socio-economic environment. Environment actions under the Kankwenda (2001) as:
(1) A source of raw materials and energy (non – renewable resources);
(2) provides services, such as maintenance of the climate system / stability and ecological cycle (renewable resources) with forest, agricultural land, water etc;
(3) and sink for waste.
environmental problems
Environmental problems are the central issue of the twentieth and twenty-first (20th -21st) centuries. This is because of the danger, which is found in it, is as deep and serious as they are pervasive in fact that man and eco-system itself. According to "Awake" magazine, humanity is now sitting on a time-bomb due to environmental effects either in the form of weapons and / or pollution hazards such as floods, drought, soil erosion, deforestation volcanity, earthquake, radio chemical hazards, etc.
Nigeria as a nation includes many climate that demands and sraddles various physiographic units. There are various ecological regions from the Sahel savanna, Sudan and Guinea Savanna Savanna through the rain forest to Mangroves and Swamp forests. The various ecological areas react differently to the effects of human activities in the power of natural stress response capabilities and includes carry capacity. The Sahelian Savanna is highly susceptible to desertification; Sudan Savanna can hardly cope with human pressures emanating from the rapidly growing population, fuel forests, crops and cattle grazing. The Guinea area is usually under stress as a natural buffer between the encroaching desert and forest belts. The rain forest belt is under high pressure through poor regulation and over-exploitation of forest products and other economic activities that lead clearing of vast territory. Mix this, especially in the Niger Delta region, is a large scale exploration, exploitation and processing activities with the oil industry, who have understood the impact of crude oil and petroleum product hazardous, gas flaring – problems, erosion and destruction of farm lands, water pollution and deterioration of critical habitats for fish stock. The distribution of soil and gully erosion, especially in eastern Nigeria, flooding in low-lying belt of mangrove swamps and fresh water, and uncontrolled logging with the inherent problems of its destruction and loss of biodiversity have contributed immensely to further exacerbate the deteriorating environmental situation.
The above are a number of causes and effects of environmental hazards in Nigeria. But there are several noticeable changes in the environment due to the pressure of the human. These are viz
(1) The loss of biodiversity leading to lower genetic diversity of strains of species and ecosystems, depletion and extinction of species, etc.
(2) increase the rate of degradation in soil and desertification as well as air and water pollution.
(3) The rise of green house gases that are expected to lead to a rise in the mean global temperature of 200 to 500C. (Global Warming)
(4) Massive release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the stratosphere resulting in increasing ultraviolet radiation from the sun due to the depletion of the ozone layer
prognosis THE FUTURE
prospects for continued and sustainable improvements in human well-being in a transformed environment is, at best, guarded. The two broad causes of environmental risk in the industry caused environmental pollution and wasteful consumption of the entire population living in modern urban conditions. But former evil is done with a very limited number of mankind, the latter is committed by all humanity that greed has been driven by advertising for the industrial age to want more and more things and waste of natural resources. Consequently, the political rules, laws, civil movements / pressure groups may force the industry to protect the environment. Such coercive measures and institutional arrangements can not work for contamination of all citizens. Rather a change of attitude and action towards environmental issues would be based on the voluntary action of individuals. Because what affects and pollutes the environment is also affected us. I canvass the approach or connection between people and the environment called "Ecocentrism". The spirit behind this approach is to posit that the environment is actually animate in the sense of being alive. It is therefore wrong to interpret the environment as inert or dead.
Thus, the practical way forward for a man to check environmental pollution and hazards according Chigbo Joseph are viz
– Limit consumption of resources to a minimum and devise ways to use waste products in production.
– Making maximum use of the physical energy of the human body in order to maintain greater health.
– Caution Artificii the use food additives and other chemical products and be aware that damage almost invariably accompanies the good that these materials do.
– Scientists and technicians moral / humbly center of research and production
– leaders to be imbued with consciousness save the man and the earth in its decisions.
In addition to the above, it should be the establishment of regulatory bodies with different powers to monitor and effectively control sources of pollutants. An example of this is the FEPA – Federal Environmental Protection Agency / Federal Ministry of Environment.
In a nutshell, the environment is complex and delicate system (I), if properly managed it can be based on production and domestic aesthetic and even spiritual requirements (ii) when poorly managed, the environment could easily become dangerous and threatening human survival.