nature destruction essay

Environment

Destruction of nature is as big a threat to humanity as climate change.

By Michael Le Page

Farming and housing occupies large amounts of land globally

Steve Proehl/Getty

We are destroying nature at an unprecedented rate, threatening the survival of a million species – and our own future, too. But it’s not too late to save them and us, says a major new report.

“The evidence is incontestable. Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our well-being at least as much as human-induced climate change.”

With these words chair Robert Watson launched a meeting in Paris to agree the final text of a major UN report on the state of nature around the world – the biggest and most thorough assessment to date, put together by 150 scientists from 50 countries.

The report, released today, is mostly grim reading. We humans have already significantly altered three-quarters of all land and two-thirds of the oceans. More than a third of land and three-quarters of freshwater resources are devoted to crops or livestock.

Around 700 vertebrates have gone extinct in the past few centuries. Forty per cent of amphibians and a third of coral species, sharks and marine mammals look set to follow.

Less room for wildlife

Preventing this is vital to save ourselves, the report says. “Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing,” says one of the the report’s authors, Josef Settele. “This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.”

The main reason is simple. Our expanding farms and cities are leaving less room for wildlife. The other major causes are the direct exploitation of wildlife such as hunting, climate change, pollution and the spread of invasive species. Climate change is set to become ever more destructive.

Bioenergy threat

But the challenge is immense. All countries except the US have ratified the 1992 UN Convention of Biodiversity and are supposed to be conserving biodiversity and promoting its sustainable use.

Despite this, more than 80 per cent of the agreed international targets for 2020 will not be met, says the report. In fact, as of 2016, half the signatory countries hadn’t yet drawn up plans on how to meet the targets .

The problem isn’t just our focus on economic growth regardless of the impact on the natural world. Current plans for reducing carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero to limit climate change rely heavily on bioenergy, which requires a lot of land. This will accelerate species loss as well as threatening food and water security, says the report.

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Facts about the nature crisis

What you need to know about the nature crisis

We are experiencing a dangerous decline in nature and humans are causing it:

We are using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our current way of life and ecosystems cannot keep up with our demands. (Becoming Generation Restoration, UNEP)
One million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. (IPBES)
75 percent of the Earth’s land surface has been significantly altered by human actions, including 85 percent of wetland areas. (IPBES)
66 percent of ocean area is impacted by human activities, including from fisheries and pollution. (IPBES)
Close to 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are fully exploited, overexploited or depleted. (UNCTAD)
Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss with agriculture alone being the identified threat 24,000 of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction. (Chatham House and UNEP)
Agricultural expansion is said to account for 70% of the projected loss of terrestrial biodiversity. (CBD)

From 7-19 December 2022, countries met in Montreal for COP15 to strike a landmark agreement to guide global actions on biodiversity. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework lays out an ambitious plan that addresses the key drivers of biodiversity loss and puts us on the path to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. See UNEP’s COP-15 page for more information and the latest updates.

What are the impacts of nature loss and degradation

Nature loss has far-reaching consequences. Damaged ecosystems exacerbate climate change, undermine food security and put people and communities at risk.

Around 3.2 billion people, or 40 percent of the global population, are adversely affected by land degradation.
Up to $577 billion in annual global crop production is at risk from pollinator loss.
25 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are generated by land clearing, crop production and fertilization.
Development is putting animals and humans in closer contact increasing the risk of diseases like COVID-19 to spread. About 60 percent of human infections are estimated to have an animal origin.
100-300 million people are at increased risk of floods and hurricanes because of coastal habitat loss.
Declines in nature and biodiversity at current trajectories will undermine progress toward 35 out of 44 of the targets of SDGs related to poverty, hunger, health, water cities, climate, oceans and land.

What do we need to do to halt and reverse nature loss?

We only have until the end of the decade to bend the curve on nature and biodiversity loss. Transformational change is possible if we start now at every level from local to global. Actions that should be taken include:

The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal later this year must culminate in a clearly defined, ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework that is matched by finances and accountability mechanisms to achieve the framework’s targets. Read more about COP 15 .
Investments in nature-based solutions will need to at least triple by 2030 if the world is to meet its climate change, biodiversity and land degradation targets. Explore UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature report and watch the video.
Preventing the large-scale collapse of nature will require effective conservation of more of our land, inland waters and oceans, as well as the world delivering on its current commitment to restore at least one billion hectares of degraded land in the next decade. Learn about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Agriculture has altered the face of the planet more than any other human activity. We need to transform our food systems to become more sustainable and resilient in order to reverse environmental degradation, restore ecosystems and ensure food and nutritional security. Read about food system impacts on nature and biodiversity.
Governments must assign a financial value on the services that nature provides to people so that environmental action can be prioritized in policy and investment decisions. Read the IPBES new report for how assigning values to nature can help address biodiversity loss.
Tax structures and subsidies should be reformed to incentivize sustainable production and ensure that environmental degradation no longer pays. This joint FAO-UNDP-UNEP report calls for governments to rethink the way agriculture is subsidized and supported.
Corporations should put sustainability at the heart of decision making and focus on new sustainable business models to meet society’s needs in ways less impactful on the environment. UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook for Business briefs provide roadmaps that business can follow to address our environmental challenges.
All financial players should align their business strategies with global and national sustainability goals including the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the upcoming Biodiversity Framework. Read more about how to catalyze action across the financial system .

Related Sustainable Development Goals

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Gorillas are some of the most endangered animals on the planet. They aren't the only species struggling with the effects of humans on their habitat. Image: Eric Kilby /Shutterstock.com

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Humans are causing life on Earth to vanish

Ecosystems, the fabric of life on which we all depend, are declining rapidly because of human actions. But there is still time to save them.

Human pressure on nature has soared since the 1970s. We have been using more and more natural resources, and this has come at a cost.

If we lose large portions of the natural world, human quality of life will be severely reduced and the lives of future generations will be threatened unless effective action is taken.

Over the last 50 years, nature's capacity to support us has plummeted. Air and water quality are reducing, soils are depleting, crops are short of pollinators, and coasts are less protected from storms.

Prof Andy Purvis, a Museum research leader, has spent three years studying human interactions with nature. Alongside experts from more than 50 different countries, he has produced the most comprehensive review ever of the worldwide state of nature, with a summary published in the journal Science .

It was coordinated by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent body that provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity.

The latest report paints a shocking picture. We are changing nature on a global scale and the impacts of our actions are being distributed unequally.

'It was terrifying to see how close we are to playing Russian roulette with the only world we have,' says Andy. 'But it's also been inspiring, because there is a way out of this.

'What has given hope to the many scientists who worked on this report has been the way the public are fully aware of the dangers and want action. We just need to make sure the politicians remember that too.'

A diagram showing the risk of extinction in different groups

A diagram from the report showing the risk of extinction in different groups of species, assuming that species with limited or no data are equally threatened as other species in their taxonomic group.

Nature feeling the squeeze

Since the 1970s, Earth's population has doubled, and consumption has increased by 45% per capita.

The world is increasingly managed in a way that maximises the flow of material from nature, to meet rising human demands for resources like food, energy and timber.

As a result, humans have directly altered at least 70% of Earth's land, mainly for growing plants and keeping animals. These activities necessitate deforestation, the degradation of land, loss of biodiversity and pollution, and they have the biggest impacts on land and freshwater ecosystems.

About 77% of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres no longer flow freely from source to sea, despite supporting millions of people.

The main cause of ocean change is overfishing, but 66% of the ocean's surface has also been affected by other processes like runoff from agriculture and plastic pollution.

Live coral cover on reefs has nearly halved in the past 150 years and is predicted to disappear completely within the next 80 years. Coral reefs are home to some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.

The number of alien species - species found outside their natural range - has risen, as humans move organisms around the world, which disrupts and often diminishes the richness of local biodiversity. This, combined with human-driven changes in habitat, also threatens many endemic species.

In addition, fewer varieties of plants and animals are being preserved due to standardisations in farming practices, market preferences, large-scale trade and loss of local and indigenous knowledge.

Nature also benefits humans in non-material ways. We learn from it and are inspired by it. It gives us physical and psychological experiences and supports our identity and sense of place. But its capacity to provide these services has also diminished.

What's causing it?

The loss of ecosystems is caused mainly by changes in land and sea use, exploitation, climate change, pollution and the introduction of invasive species.

Some things have a direct impact on nature, like the dumping of waste into the ocean.

Other causes are indirect. Those include demographic, economic, political and institutional arrangements underpinned by social values, and they interact with one another.

For example, vast areas of land managed by Indigenous Peoples are experiencing a decline in ecosystems at a slower rate than everywhere else. But the rights of Indigenous Peoples are being threatened, which could result in faster deterioration of these areas. This would have a detrimental impact on wider ecosystems and societies.

Coral reefs are bleaching at an unprecedented rate

Trading overseas has increased by 900% since the start of the post-industrial era and the extraction of living materials from nature has risen by 200%.

The growing physical distance between supply and demand means people don't see the destruction caused by their consumption.

'Before the Industrial Revolution, people had to look after the environment around them because that's where they got their products from,' says Andy. 'If they didn't look after it, they would face the consequences.

'Now with globalisation, we have massive environmental impacts a long way from where we live. But we are insulated from these impacts, so they are abstract to us.'

Overseas trading also creates and increases inequality. The pressure for material goods comes mostly from middle and high-income countries and is often met by low to middle-income countries.

For example, Japan, US and Europe alone consumed 64% of the world's imports of fish products. High income countries have their own fisheries but most of these have collapsed. Fishing now takes place in previously unexploited or underexploited fisheries, most of which belong to low-income countries.

'With the massive increase in trade, there is no longer that imperative to make sustainable choices,' says Andy. 'We can overexploit natural resources somewhere else in the world and the magnitudes of our choices are invisible to us.'

What does the future hold?

The report analysed in detail how the world will look under three very different scenarios.

Global sustainability: the whole world shifts towards sustainability by respecting environmental boundaries and making sure economic development includes everyone. Wealth is distributed evenly, resources and energy are used less, and emphasis is on economic growth and human wellbeing.
Regional competition: there is a rise in nationalism with the focus mostly on domestic issues. There is less investment in education, particularly in the developing world. High-income countries will continue exporting the damage, resulting in some strong and lasting environmental destruction for future generations to deal with.
Economic optimism: the world puts faith in new and innovative technologies that are still to be invented, which help us cope with environmental problems. Emissions will continue, but with the idea that technology will mitigate them. There will be stronger investment in health and education, and global markets are reasonably integrated with shared goals.

Combating the loss of ecosystems is going to be complex and will require a nexus approach. This means thinking about how different components of the problem such as nature, politics and socioeconomics all interact with one another.

An example of a nexus approach would be to reduce biodiversity loss by changing how we farm, while at the same time making sure people have enough food, their livelihoods are not undermined, and social conflicts are not aggravated.

The way to avoid some of these issues may be to focus on regenerating and restoring high-carbon ecosystems such as forests and wetlands. Similarly the need for food could be met by changing dietary choices and reducing waste.

Switching to clean energy is an important step which would allow other changes to happen more easily. Obtaining coal and gas involves destroying vast amounts of land and seascapes as well as polluting the environment beyond extraction.

But in order to achieve this fully, the world needs to revaluate current political structures and societal norms, which tend not to value nature. One way of doing that is by improving existing environmental policies and regulations, as well as removing and reforming harmful policies.

'I hope people can see that this is not a drill,' says Andy. 'This really is an emergency and I hope they act on it.'

The Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have decided that the IPBES Global Assessment Report will form the scientific and technical evidence base for the intergovernmental negotiations in 2020, to agree on a global biodiversity framework for the next decade and to replace the Aichi Biodiversity Targets that expire next year.

IPBES Chair Anna Maria Hernandez concludes, 'This new article makes it even more clear that we need profound, system-wide change and that this requires urgent action from policymakers, business, communities and every individual.

'Working in tandem with other knowledge systems, such as Indigenous and local knowledge, science has spoken, and nobody can say that they did not know. There is literally no time to waste.'

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How are climate change and biodiversity loss linked?

The climate crisis and biodiversity loss are closely connected but the good news is, so are the solutions.

The world is in trouble: one million animals and plants face extinction

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'By destroying nature we destroy ourselves'

Loss of nature carries a huge economic cost, but embracing it as a solution pays handsome dividends

The coronavirus might have its origins in the caves of Yunnan province, but make no mistake: nature did not create this crisis, we did. When we encroach on the natural world, we do more than cause environmental damage. The huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic is an illustration of a larger truth: we pay dearly when we destroy nature.

The emergence of COVID-19 might have appeared an act of nature, but it was entirely predictable. David Quammen explained why in his prophetic book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic , published in 2012. “We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”

New diseases, however, are just the beginning. From coastal erosion to the decline of natural resources such as fisheries and forests, the loss of nature carries a huge economic cost. WWF , the international conservation non-governmental organization, estimates that the total figure over the next 30 years could be as much as £8 trillion.

While some may disagree with the moral imperative to preserve the natural world, and the global commons, there can be no disagreement on the economic imperative of doing so, or the urgency of acting with speed and at scale. The economy, after all, is a wholly owned subsidiary of nature – not the other way around. And we are bankrupting it.

The more important question, therefore, is what we can do. There are, I think, two answers – and neither will succeed without the other.

The first is that we need to reset our relationship with nature by valuing it as the indispensable resource that it is. Rather than destroying our natural world, we need to apply “nature-based solutions” to our greatest challenges and create more robust resilience to systemic shocks in the future. Examples include the restoration of forests, wetlands, and peatlands in our countryside to help regulate water supply and protect communities from floods and landslides.

Other approaches include protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems such as reefs and salt marshes, which guard coasts from storm surges and erosion. For centuries, we have encroached on natural habitats, but through collective action we can help turn back that tide.

If we are to resolve the climate crisis, reduce inequality, maintain the wealth of nations and feed a growing global population, we must protect, restore, and sustainably manage nature. It is no longer enough for businesses to be “less bad,” or even “not bad.” We need to be good. We need to actively reverse the damage we have done.

Besides being the right thing to do, this also makes economic and financial sense. The cost of inaction is simply too high. The World Economic Forum’s Nature Risk Rising report has identified more than half of global GDP as moderately or highly dependent on nature.

Embracing nature as a solution is an investment, not a cost, and it is an investment that pays handsome dividends. Allowing a climate crisis to unfold is a risk that can be described, without overstatement, as existential.

The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) has shown that a $350 billion annual investment in climate solutions would unlock $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities and save $5.7 trillion of damage to people and the planet by 2030. The World Economic Forum has estimated that the nature-positive economy could create nearly 400 million jobs in the next 10 years.

Yet, with some exceptions, few countries and companies are integrating nature-based solutions in their strategies. They would be well advised to do so.

What is missing, then, is my second solution: enough ambitious leaders who are willing to take bold action. Recent data suggests that the likelihood of our overshooting our Paris climate targets within the next five years has doubled. As the summer fires in Brazil and Siberia remind us, we are running out of time to avert a runaway climate crisis.

So 2020 must be the year that leaders across the world step up to act with courage and urgency. And without putting nature and nature-based solutions front and center of decision-making, they will not be able to meet the 1.5C climate targets set in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 or prevent a catastrophic loss of biodiversity in the “sixth great extinction."

Businesses have an indispensable role to play. First, they should get their own house in order, individually and collectively, by acting together across their value chains and with each other to become nature-positive and carbon-neutral – giving back to nature and the climate more than they take. Examples of this are underway in the fashion and food industry.

In Malaysia, Nestlé restored more than 2,400 hectares of native forest along the Kinabatangan River by incentivizing local people to plant trees. In Mongolia, the luxury fashion brand Kering reduced grazing pressure on native grasslands and lowered costs by teaching cashmere farmers innovative herding and packing methods.

Such initiatives are welcome, but there are too few of them. We need to expand and accelerate our efforts dramatically. Given the lack of effective governance so evident around the world today, we need more than ever courageous business leaders to speak up and advocate for the right actions and policies, to use their voice and commitment to derisk the needed, more ambitious political action.

I encourage all businesses to sign up to Business for Nature’s global campaign Nature is Everyone’s Business to do that and to join a powerful collective business voice calling on governments to reverse nature loss this decade.

While 2020 will forever be remembered as a year of pandemic, what will follow remains – for now – within our hands.

We have seen what happens when we make nature our enemy. If we instead make it our ally, helping us to help ourselves and in doing so create healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses, we will have learnt the greatest lesson from this terrible period. The result will be a world that is not just safer, healthier and more equitable, but one that is prosperous too.

This piece was originally published for the GEF-Telegraph Partnership .

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Why our relationship with technology is destroying the planet

Writing shortly after the Second World War, the philosopher Martin Heidegger argued that we must break free from our use of technology to address the climate crisis.

By Aaron James Wendland

Hardly a day passes without a major news story about climate change and the damage we are doing to our natural habitat. Rising global temperatures, melting arctic sea ice, plastic contamination in the ocean, a steep increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and mass species extinction epitomise the changes currently taking place on our planet.

Given the threat these transformations pose to life on Earth, environmental activists like Greta Thunberg have called on world leaders to drop the language of “climate change” and instead speak of a “climate crisis” or a “climate emergency”. The Canadian and UK parliaments heeded these calls. But what is causing this crisis? What are the exact consequences? And how are we to respond?

In an influential essay written in the ruins of the Second World War, Martin Heidegger characterised the reduction of the natural world to resources for production and consumption as the crisis of modernity. Heidegger claimed this crisis is rooted in our technological worldview. Its consequences include a loss of the sacred, the violation of nature, and the destruction of our home. To adequately address our climate emergency, Heidegger thought, we need to break free from our self-serving use of technology.

According to Heidegger, our modern technological worldview emerged with the scientific revolution in the 17 th century, and is exemplified by the mathematical models of nature we use to manipulate and control our surroundings. The precision with which our scientific and mathematical theories measure and predict natural processes allow us to produce technological devices that are capable of altering or harnessing the natural world for our own ends. As René Descartes famously said in 1637: “[by] knowing the force and the action of fire, water, air, the stars, the heavens, and all other bodies that surround us’ we may render ourselves the ‘masters and possessors of nature”.

Heidegger, for his part, wrote about the way we use our mathematical representations of nature to divide the world into “calculable bits of matter” and therefore ensure “certainty in governing and planning”. In fact, he thought our application of science and technology reduced the natural world to a stock of resources waiting to be used at our beck and call.

Rivers are transformed into hydro-electric dams; forests are treated as timber for our homes; the wind is harnessed to charge our smartphones; humans themselves are described as resources to be used by public ministries and private corporations. As Heidegger put it, by quantifying nature in this way, we turn the world into “a gigantic petrol station”.

Although he acknowledged that modern science had material benefits, Heidegger worried that its power had blinded us to the dangers of treating the natural world as a resource for production and consumption. A self-serving, perfunctory use of technology, he warned, leads to sacrilege, violence and destruction – the very attitudes our current climate emergency is founded upon.

It wasn’t always like this. Before the ascendancy of modern technology, the medieval religious order regarded nature as part of a sacred, life-sustaining system – one that isn’t subject to the arbitrary exercise of human will. Although Heidegger wasn’t committed to any given religious doctrine, he saw the life-sustaining power of nature as worthy of respect and thought it should check our wilful self-assertion.

Contemporary attempts to manipulate and control the natural world have eroded our sense of the sacred. And when we use our science and technology to master and possess nature, Heidegger warned, we force nature to “fit the frame of mind of man’s command” – and end up in a world in which man “always and only sees himself”. Today, human activity has led to the astroturfing of the environment: complex ecosystems have been cleared away for monocrops, grasslands paved over, and formerly diverse landscapes poisoned by pesticides.

This exploitation is a form of violence against the natural world. Taking his example from Aristotle, Heidegger suggested that animals, plants, and geological forces have “ends” of their own. There are, for example, optimal conditions for a pheasant or fir tree to grow, and the unimpeded flow of an estuary balances and supports a host of ecosystems. Yet when we engage in factory farming, clearcutting, or damming, we violate the natural state of pheasants, fir trees, and estuaries. And again, this degradation is achieved through our use of science and technology – and it is done so we can satisfy our own ends.

Ironically, reducing the natural world to resources for human consumption leads to the destruction of our home. Heidegger noted that a home provides us with safety and sustenance, but it can only serve this function if it is well maintained. When it comes to our natural habitat, maintaining it involves respecting and protecting the integrity of our life-sustaining ecosystem. Reducing the planet to a stock of energy brings about the destruction of our habitat, slowly but steadily demolishing our only home.

Heidegger believed we have become so enthralled with the power of science and technology that our use of nature serves an unquestioned and endless cycle of production and consumption. And this means our first step in response to the climate emergency is to twist ourselves free from this self-serving, uncritical use of technology.

He thought this freedom could be achieved through a form of “wilful non-willing” that releases us from our selfish activities and puts us in a position to interact with nature in a sustainable way. Of course, “wilful non-willing” sounds contradictory, but the basic idea is straightforward: we need to resist the tendency to reduce the natural world to a resource.

The Native American backlash against the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as the Extinction Rebellion protests in London, both epitomise this kind of resistance. Greta Thunberg, too, is a powerful example of how a movement can disrupt the global cycle of production and consumption; in her recent speech at Davos , she demanded business executives do whatever they can to “stop our house from burning”.

Yet resistance and calls to action are only the beginning. What we ultimately need is an alternative to the technological worldview that has governed our interaction with nature since the 17 th century. Heidegger accordingly wanted us to engage in various forms of reflective and creative thinking. And while he didn’t work out the details of a new point of view, his diagnosis of the dangers that follow from our use of science and technology does provide a few clues.

A viable alternative to our exploitative worldview is one that protects the integrity of our life-sustaining ecosystems, by respecting the ends of other organisms and checking the arbitrary exercise of human power. Heidegger spoke of “letting things be”, and of shifting our mindset from “masters and possessors of nature” to “shepherds of being”.

This idea of shepherding suggests the policies that simultaneously preserve the natural world and ensure our own well-being; whether those contained in the Paris Climate Agreement or Green New Deal could even begin to adequately protect our life-sustaining ecosystems is an open question. But one thing is clear ahead of the UN’s Climate Action Summit: with rising temperatures and mass extinction, we can no longer afford to reduce nature to a stock of resources waiting to be used at our command. In Heidegger’s words, we need “a new ground and foundation” from which we can “confront the dangers of modern technology”, and “dwell in the world in a totally different way”.

Aaron James Wendland is assistant professor of Philosophy at the Higher School of Economics and the co-editor of Heidegger on Technology. He moderates the New Statesman’s philosophy series Agora, and tweets @ajwendland.

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Nature has inspired a wide range of engineering solutions

As biodiversity degrades, nature’s solutions are lost for ever

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Humanity faces unprecedented engineering challenges if it is to survive. Solutions to these challenges are waiting to be discovered in plants, animals, and microbes, but these could be lost forever, if we do not preserve the rich diversity of life on Earth.

The UN biodiversity conference, COP15 , is due to wrap up on 19 December. This weekend, we are looking at some of the ways that humanity is reliant on biodiversity for a healthy and thriving global ecosystem.

When a species goes extinct, it takes with it all of the physical, chemical, biological, and behavioural attributes that have been selected for that species, after having been tested and re-tested in countless evolutionary experiments over many thousands, and perhaps millions, of years of evolution.

These include designs for heating, cooling, and ventilation; for being able to move most effectively and efficiently through water or air; for producing and storing energy; for making the strongest, lightest, most biodegradable and recyclable materials; and for many, many other functions essential for life.

Nature’s value is not limited to human applications, but the loss of nature and biodiversity represents major losses to human potential as well.

Here are some examples of the ways that nature has inspired engineering solutions.

Professor Akira Obata designed micro-wind turbines that turn and generate electricity, at wind speeds as low as 3 kph, inspired by dragonfly wings

Way of the dragonfly

Inspired by the energy efficiency of dragonfly wings, particularly at low wind speeds, Professor Akira Obata, formerly from Japan’s Nippon Bunri University, designed corrugated blades for micro-wind turbines that turn and generate electricity, at wind speeds as low as 3 kph.

Most wind turbines perform poorly when speeds are less than 10 kph; some will not turn at all. By lowering the minimum wind speed requirements, these micro-wind turbines can harness wind energy in easily accessible locations like rooftops and balconies, and not need expensive towers to capture the higher speed winds found at higher elevations.

By studying and understanding the aerodynamics of dragonfly flight, Obata was able to make inexpensive, lightweight, stable, and efficient micro-wind turbines that can be used in off-grid locations in developing countries.

What is blacker than black?

Some butterflies, birds, and spiders have evolved super black coloration achieved by a variety of complex light-trapping mechanisms that could lead to new energy-efficient designs for solar collection.

The micro and nano-structures of surfaces strongly determine their light absorptive or reflective properties. Understanding not only the composition of the pigments involved but also the fine-structure and the physics of these surfaces, may be useful in designing more energy efficient systems for heating and cooling buildings, and more productive solar energy collectors.

‘Fog basking’

Two species of beetles actively harvest water from fog with a sequence of behaviours called ‘fog basking’. Late at night, in advance of the fog that rolls in nightly in the coastal sections of the Namib desert, the beetles emerge from the sand and climb up the dunes to place themselves in the fog’s path.

Tilting their bodies forward while facing the fog, they harvest moisture on their backs, which are made of hardened forewings called elytra that cover and protect their hind wings, used for flying.

The small water droplets in the fog collect there, coalesce to form larger droplets, which, by the force of gravity, run down the smooth hydrophobic (i.e. water-repelling) surfaces to the beetles’ mouths.

Given WHO estimates that half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed environments by 2025, the specific chemistry and structure of hydrophobic surfaces found in Namib beetles has generated enormous scientific interest for their potential human applications.

Birds and fossil fuels

Gliding and soaring birds are masters of aerodynamic efficiency and their wing-tip feather design inspired engineers to add small up-turned ‘winglets’ that reduce drag caused by vortices at the tips of aircraft wings.

By copying this wing-tip design, commercial airlines have saved 10 billion gallons of fuel, reducing their CO2 emissions by 105 million tonnes per annum.

To sequester this amount of carbon, one would need to plant about 16 million hectares of trees, each year – an area larger than the territory of Norway or Japan.

Humpback whales feed in a bay in Antarctica.

Extinction is not a foregone conclusion

The wastefulness of extinction is perhaps best highlighted by the near-extinction of the humpback whale.

Over-hunting almost wiped out these gigantic creatures, among the largest to ever have lived on the planet, and the humpback population crashed to just 5,000 in 1966.

Conservation organizations and scientists prompted a huge public and political outcry and humpback whales bounced back to an estimated 80,000 today. The humpback, uniquely, has bumpy ‘tubercles’ on the front of its flippers that enable these giants to manoeuvre with extraordinary agility.

The tubercles give the whales a hydrodynamic advantage - they minimize drag, enhance their ability to stay in motion and, critical when attacking prey, allow them to turn at sharper angles. Among other applications these have inspired engineers to make some of the most efficient industrial fan blades and wind power generators. If the humpbacks had gone extinct, we might have never been able to avail ourselves of the tubercle design.

The extraordinary organisms featured above, along with the sustainable engineering designs they have inspired, present a compelling case for why we must preserve biodiversity.

The organisms that create the support systems make all life on Earth, including human life, possible: millions of species are at risk, but losing even a single species can have enormous negative consequences for humanity.

The story is based on the UN Development Programme ( UNDP ) photo essay, Sustainable Engineering Depends on Biodiversity . The full booklet, “How Sustainable Engineering Solutions Depend on Biodiversity” by Eric Chivian M.D., Gael McGill Ph.D., and Jeannie Park, is available here.

biodiversity

Essay on Human Destroying Nature

Students are often asked to write an essay on Human Destroying Nature in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Human Destroying Nature

Introduction.

Humans and nature have always shared a connection. But recently, this bond is being harmed by human activities.

The Destruction

Effects on nature.

Nature suffers as species lose their homes and pollution harms the air and water. This imbalance can lead to disasters like floods and droughts.

We must learn to respect nature. By reducing pollution and planting more trees, we can help protect our planet for future generations.

250 Words Essay on Human Destroying Nature

Deforestation and habitat loss.

Forests, the lungs of our planet, are being ruthlessly cut down for timber, agriculture, and infrastructure. This rampant deforestation is not just eradicating millions of species but also disrupting the carbon cycle, leading to climate change.

Overexploitation of Natural Resources

The insatiable human desire for resources is exhausting the Earth’s reserves. Overfishing, overhunting, and over-mining are pushing many species to the brink of extinction and depleting our non-renewable resources.

Climate Change

Human-induced climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, is causing global warming, ocean acidification, and extreme weather events. These changes threaten biodiversity, human health, and the stability of societies.

Plastic Pollution

The plastic menace is another significant issue. It not only pollutes our lands and oceans but also harms wildlife that mistake it for food.

The relentless human assault on nature is a ticking time bomb. It is crucial to understand that the survival of humanity is intertwined with the health of our planet. Sustainable development should be our guiding principle, where we meet our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It’s high time we shifted from being nature’s conquerors to its custodians.

500 Words Essay on Human Destroying Nature

The human impact on nature, the industrial revolution and its aftermath.

The Industrial Revolution marked a significant turning point in human history. While it led to remarkable advancements in technology and living standards, it also ushered in an era of unprecedented environmental destruction. The increased demand for natural resources led to deforestation, soil erosion, and the extinction of several species. Industrial waste polluted rivers and oceans, while the burning of fossil fuels contributed to global warming.

Urbanization and Habitat Destruction

As the human population expands, so does the demand for land. Urbanization has led to the destruction of natural habitats, threatening biodiversity. Forests are cleared to make way for cities, roads, and agriculture, leading to the displacement of countless species. This not only disrupts the ecological balance but also increases the risk of human-animal conflict.

Climate Change: A Threat of Our Own Making

Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, are major contributors to climate change. The increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has led to a rise in global temperatures, resulting in melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme weather conditions. These changes pose a significant threat to both humans and wildlife.

The Plastics Problem

The path forward.

Despite the grim picture painted above, all is not lost. We have the knowledge and tools to mitigate the harm we’ve inflicted on nature. Sustainable practices in agriculture, energy production, and waste management can help reduce our environmental footprint. Conservation efforts can protect endangered species and restore damaged ecosystems. Education and awareness can foster a culture of respect for nature.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Destruction of Nature by Humans – Essay

Essay / Article – 1

People have learned how to turn wild natural areas to dram land, how to exploit minerals to adapt their needs, how to build roads and houses to expand their territories. People continuously improve their knowledge and develop technologies to improve their lives. It is undeniable that these activities of human beings make their lives better than ever before. Nevertheless, those activities also cause side-effects to the Earth because of pollution, deforestation, and exaggerated natural resources exploitation.

THEIR DESTINY IS DESTRUCTION / NON NEGOTIABLE! | Humanity777's Blog

Image Source: yarr.me/c/260/16/something-is-missing.jpg

Nowadays, pollution becomes one of the most concerned problems. Because of the increasingly expanded factories, the industrialized areas, the burning of population etc, too much pollutants spills out every day. Consequently, all of these things cause bad effect to the Earth. The purity of atmosphere is reduced seriously, the Earth is continuously warmed up, and ozone layer is holed.

Additionally, forest is asking for help in desperation. For last few decades, the forest areas have been reduced to 50 percent because of human deforestation. Green forestland of the Earth can be compared to the lungs of human. How healthy you are if their lungs are trespassed. I am sure that you will get more difficult with aspiration; as a result your health will be affect badly. From this example, we can infer that how serious problem our Earth has to face with. I wonder how long it can endure.

Researches show that the natural means is limited, but today, they are exploited so increasingly to adapt infinite human needs that someday, all mineral can be ended up. Because of serious pollution, alarming deforestation and progressive mineral exploitation, the ecosystem becomes unbalance. Consequently a lot natural calamities happen each year such as flood, hurricanes. A lot wild living creatures are exposed to narrow palace to shelter and lacking foods. For these reasons, the Earth will become unhealthy.

In conclusion, the human beings harm the Earth. Human beings as well as their dear planet, the Earth, have been badly suffered by what caused by humans themselves. I hope that humans are soon aware of those problems so that they can have suitable policies in order to not only improve their lives but also keep and maintain the Earth fresh and green.

Essay / Article – 2

Although the quality of life has improved over the past decades due to new technological advances but the damages made to the earth weigh more. Damages included increase in pollution and change in climatic patterns. Irreversible damage to earth can include depletion of natural resources.

As technology advances more factories are built. These factories dispose waste materials into natural water, which could be harmful to aquatic life. Emissions from the factories and automobiles pollute the air, which we breathe. Nuclear waste and waste and radiation from power plants are harmful to our health.

There can be drastic changes in the climatic pattern due to the increase in the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, which is the main cause of global warming. Global warming would increase the temperature of earth and make it inhospitable. We are cutting more and more trees for furniture’s and wood. Tress purifies the atmosphere by absorbing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing the oxygen. Furthermore, the roots of tree hold the soil and prevent floods.

Resources of petroleum, oil and minerals are not endless. There is shortage of water all over the world. Once depleted of these resources, our life would be difficult, killing elephants for their teeth, and other species for their furs disrupt the food chain. For example killing of carnivorous animals would cause increase in the number of herbivores, which would consume more plants. We also depend on plants for food so there can be shortage of vegetable and cereals for us.

We should preserve the earth and respect all its valuable resources. Pollution and climate changes can make earth inhospitable. Our future would not be good without sustainable development.

How man is causing damage to environment ? – Essay

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Essay On Nature | Nature Essay for Students and Children in 500 Words

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay On Nature: An Essay on Nature helps the students to understand the implications of the natural world. From the various flora and fauna to the expansive biomes, nature has a lot to offer. However, ever since humans and showed up, the planet has started to change drastically. Nature seems to be getting sparser every year, animals disappear, and trees get cut down only to be replaced by skyscrapers.

Hence, it is crucial to enable students to understand that nature should be conserved. And there is no better way to do it than to write an essay on nature. Furthermore, the earlier that students are educated about the plight of nature, the better the chances that future generations act on the matter. Read on about Essay on Nature Conservation, Importance of Nature, Beauty of Nature and for School Children and Kids. Explore the “do’s” and “don’ts” when writing an essay on nature:

You can also find more Essay Writing articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Essay On Nature – Important Points to Note

When writing an essay on nature, or any essay for that matter, remember the following:

Before starting the essay, do your research. This will help you create quality content.
Write an introductory paragraph for the essay
Reduce the use of jargons unless the topic is very technical
Write in points wherever possible
Break up the content into digestible chunks
Use dates, names and factual figures
End the essay with a conclusion
Read through the essay to find and remove grammatical issues or factual errors.

“Look deep into Nature and then you will understand everything Better” – Nature Essay

Essay On Nature – Sample 1 (250 Words)

Nature, in its broadest sense, is a term that refers to the physical world and life in general. It encompasses all life on earth, including humans. However, it does not include human activities. The term nature is derived from the Latin word, “Natura”, which translates to “essential qualities” or “innate disposition.” Nature seems to be getting sparser every year, animals disappear, and trees get cut down only to be replaced by skyscrapers

As stated above, nature includes not just life, but a host of other non-living physical entities. These include the atmosphere, climate, weather, water and even abstract factors like the aesthetic beauty of nature. Nature did not arise spontaneously; hence if we were to make an accurate timeline, it would encompass billion of years of progress and evolution.

The earth is thought to have formed when gravity pulled the stellar gas, dust and debris together, eventually forming a planet. And like the other terrestrial planets in the solar system, the earth is made up of a central core and a rocky mantle. But before the earth got to this stage, scientists believe that the earth’s surface was entirely covered by hot molten rock or magma. Only after a few billion years did it start cooling down, creating the solid crust that we are familiar with today.

Just like the non-living components of nature, life did not arise instantaneously. It took billions of years for the earliest precursors of life to show up. However, these “organisms” were nothing more than a self-replicating molecule. However, from this precursor, life has evolved into the multitude of lifeforms that we see today. Today, the complex interaction between living things and non-living things contributes to the concept of nature.

500 Words Nature Essay

Nature can be understood as a “phenomena” that encompasses the physical world and the life which interacts with it. It includes humans and every other form of life present on the planet. The word nature has its roots in Latin. It is derived from the word “Natura” which means “essential qualities”. However, in ancient times, the word was a literal synonym for “birth”.

Today, the word “nature” refers to wildlife and geology. This means it includes the realm that includes all forms of life and the many processes associated with non-living objects. In most cases, nature also refers to the forests and the wildlife living within. Other definitions indicate places with the absence of human intervention as nature too.

The evolution of nature is not spontaneous; it took billions of years of geological time for its formation. According to scientists, the earth was formed nearly 4.54 billion years ago. Before this time, the earth was a giant, swirling mass of gas and debris orbiting the sun. The early earth was a completely different place. The atmosphere was completely devoid of oxygen, and there was no water on its surface. It was a hellish place with extremely high temperatures.

The landscape was littered with molten magma and thick plumes of toxic smoke. Life was nowhere in sight, and it would not emerge for several billion years more. As the earth cooled down, water condensed and fell as rain. However, it rained for such a long time that the basins and troughs began to fill up with water. This event created the very first oceans of the world. However, the earth was still devoid of life and oxygen was non-existent in the atmosphere.

One of the biggest unsolved mysteries today is the origin of life. There are fossils to support the earliest organisms, but nothing was known of how they came about. Scientists have put forth many speculations and hypotheses stating the origin of life. One of the most popular is the Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents Theory. It states that the earliest precursors to life originated from underwater volcanic vents. These volcanic vents spewed out minerals that were abundant in many nutrients required for early life forms. However, this is just a speculation that there is no conclusive evidence supporting the same.

The first undisputed evidence of life emerged some 3.7 billion years ago. These were similar to today’s cyanobacteria – which were microscopic single-celled organisms. Since then, life has had billions of years to evolve. And when life emerged from the seas on to dry land, major evolutionary leaps were made. The first-ever land plants appeared followed by the invertebrates. Vertebrates made their way on to land much later, evolving into magnificent life forms such as the dinosaurs. On the geological timescale, we humans evolved only recently. The fossils of our earliest ancestors are over 200,000 years old.

Conclusion on Nature Essay

However, our technology and progress have had a detrimental effect on the planet. Our climates are changing and temperatures and rising. We are losing our polar icecaps, and as a result, ocean levels are rising. All these factors can cause destruction in the near future if we do not keep a check on our carbon footprint and deforestation. Essay on Nature In Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Kannada will update soonly.

FAQ’s on Essay On Nature

Question 1. What is nature?

Answer: Nature encompasses the physical world and the life which interacts with it.

Question 2. What is the importance of nature?

Answer: Without nature, the natural balance in the ecosystem is lost. This can lead to many detrimental effects such as global warming, greenhouse effect, rising sea levels, increased natural calamities.

Question 3. How does nature help us?

Answer: Nature provides a lot of resources. Some of these resources are life-saving and others are of significant commercial value. It also keeps a check on the adverse effects of human activities.

Question 4. Are humans nature?

Answer: Humans and all other lifeforms are a part of nature. But human activities are not a part of nature.

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Essay on natural disasters: top 12 essays | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Natural Disasters

Essay Contents:

Essay on the Initiatives Taken by the Government

Essay on Natural Disaster # 1. Introduction:

The definition of natural disasters is any catastrophic event that is caused by nature or the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster is measured in lives lost, economic loss, and the ability of the population to rebuild. Events that occur in unpopulated areas are not considered disasters. So a flood on an uninhabited island would not count as a disaster, but a flood in a populated area is called a natural disaster.

All natural disasters cause loss in some way. Depending on the severity, lives can be lost in any number of disasters. Falling buildings or trees, freezing to death, being washed away, or heat stroke are just some of the deadly effects. Some disasters cause more loss of life than others, and population density affects the death count as well.

Hence, there is loss of property, which affects people’s living quarters, transportation, livelihood, and means to live. Fields saturated in salt water after tsunamis take years to grow crops again. Homes destroyed by floods, hurricanes, cyclones, landslides and avalanches, a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake are often beyond repair or take a lot of time to become livable again. Personal effects, memorabilia, vehicles, and documents also take a hit after many natural disasters.

The natural disasters that really affect people worldwide tend to become more intense as the years go on. Frequency of earthquakes, mega storms, and heat waves has gone up considerably in the last few decades. Heavy population in areas that get hit by floods, cyclones, and hurricanes has meant that more lives are lost.

In some areas, the population has gotten somewhat prepared for the eventuality of disasters and shelters are built for hurricanes and tornadoes. However, loss of property is still a problem, and predicting many natural disasters isn’t easy.

Scientists, geologists, and storm watchers work hard to predict major disasters and avert as much damage as possible. With all the technology available, it’s become easier to predict major storms, blizzards, cyclones, and other weather related natural disasters. But there arestill natural disasters that come up rather unexpectedly, such as earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, or even volcanic eruptions.

Sometimes, a time of warning is there, but it’s often very short with catastrophic results. Areas that are not used to disasters affected by flash floods or sudden hail storms can be affected in an extreme way. However, despite the many natural disasters the world over, mankind has shown amazing resilience.

When an area or country is badly affected by a natural disaster, the reaction is always one of solidarity and aid is quick to come. There are organizations set up with the primary goal of being prepared for natural disasters. These groups work on global and local scale rescue work. Aside from those who have chosen to make disaster relief their life-work, when disasters hit, it’s the individuals who step in who help to make a difference.

Many people talk about when a disaster has hit and their neighbours and countrymen have come to aid, often to their own loss. People will step in and donate items, time, and skills in order to help those affected by a natural disaster. Celebrities will often do what they can to raise money through concerts, phone marathons, and visiting affected areas with aid.

People have also shown that they can rebuild, lives can be remade or start over. Trauma is a big after effect of natural disasters and getting counseling has been the focus of aid-to heal emotionally as well as physically. It’s clear that natural disasters are a part of life as we know it. However, science is making it more possible to predict, aid is faster at coming, and people are learning how to rebuild in safer areas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 2. Earthquake :

India is having a high risk towards earthquakes. More than 58 per cent of India’s land area is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard. During the last 20 years, India has experienced 10 major earthquakes that have resulted in more than 35,000 deaths. The most vulnerable areas, according to the present seismic zone map of India include the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions, Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Depending on varying degrees of seismicity, the entire country can be divided into the following seismic regions: Of the earthquake-prone areas, 12% is proneto very severe earthquakes, 18% to severe earthquakes and 25% to damageable earthquakes.

Though the regions of the country away from the Himalayas and other inter-plate boundaries were considered to be relatively safe from damaging earthquakes, the presence of a large number of non-engineering structures and buildings with poor foundations in these areas make these regions also susceptible to earthquakes.

In the recent past, even these areas also have experienced earthquake, of lower magnitude than the Himalayan earthquakes. The North-eastern part of the country continues to experience moderate to strong earthquakes. On an average, this region experiences an earthquake with magnitude greater than 5.0 every year.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are situated on an inter-plate boundary and therefore are likely to experience damaging earthquakes frequently. The increase in earthquake risk in India in recent times is caused due to a spurt in developmental activities driven by urbanization, economic development and the globalization of India’s economy. The increase in the use of high-technology equipment and tools in manufacturing and service industries have also made them susceptible to disruption due to relatively moderate ground shaking.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 3. Flood and Drought :

The country receives an annual precipitation of 400 million hectare meters. Of the annual rainfall, 75% is received during four months of monsoon (June — September) and, as a result, almost all the rivers carry heavy discharge during this period. The flood hazard is compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronization of river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains.

The area vulnerable to floods is 40 million hectares and the average area affected by floods annually is about 8 million hectares. About 30 million people are affected by flood every year. Floods in the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains are an annual feature. On an average, a few hundred lives are lost, millions are rendered homeless and several hectares of crops are damaged every year around 68% arable land of the country is prone to drought in varying degrees.

Drought prone areas comprise 108.11 million hectares out of a total land area of 329 million hectares. About 50 million people are affected annually by drought. Of approximately 90 million hectares of rain-fed areas, about 40 million hectares are prone to scanty or no rain.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 4. Cyclone :

India’s long coastline of 7,516 kilometer is exposed to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s tropical cyclones. Of these, the majority has their initial genesis over the Bay of Bengal and strike the east coast of India. On an average, five to six tropical cyclones form every year, of which two or three could be severe.

Cyclones occur frequently on both the Coasts (the West Coast —Arabian Sea; and the East Coast —Bay of Bengal). More Cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1.

An analysis of the frequency of cyclones on the East and West Coasts of India between 1891 and 1990 shows that nearly 262 cyclones occurred (92 severe) in a 50 km wide strip on the East Coast. Less severe cyclonic activity has been noticed on the West Coast, with 33 cyclones occurring in the same period, out of which 19 of these were severe.

In India, Tropical cyclones occur in the months of May-June and October-November. The cyclones of severe intensity and frequency in the north Indian Ocean are bi-modal in character, with their primary peak in November and secondary peak in May. The disaster potential is particularly high at the time of landfall in the north Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) due to the accompanying destructive wind, storm surges and torrential rainfall.

Of these, storm surges are the greatest killers of a cyclone, by which sea water inundates low lying areas of coastal regions and causes heavy floods, erodes beaches and embankments, destroys vegetation and reduces soil fertility.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 5. Landslide :

In the hilly terrain of India including the Himalayas, landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disasters that often strike life and property and occupy a position of major concern. One of the worst tragedies took place at Malpa (Uttrakhand) on 11th and 17th August, 1998. When nearly 380 people were killed when massive landslides washed away the entire village. This included 60 pilgrims going to Lake.

Mansarovar in Tibet. In 2010 Cloud burst led flash mudslides and flash floods killed 196 people, including 6 foreigners and injured more than 400 and swept away number of houses, sweeping away buildings, bus stand and military installations in trans-Himalaya Leh town of Jammu and Kashmir.

Giving due consideration to the severity of the problem various land reform measures have been initiated as mitigation measures. Landslides occur in the hilly regions such as the Himalayas, North-East India, the Nilgiris, and Eastern and Western Ghats.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 6. Avalanche :

Avalanches are river like speedy flow of snow or ice descending from the mountain tops. Avalanches are very damaging and cause huge loss to life and property. In Himalayas, avalanches are common in Drass, Pir Panijat, Lahaul-Spiti and Badrinath areas.

As per Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on an average around 30 people are killed every year due to this disaster in various zones of the Himalayas. Beside killing people, avalanches also damage the roads and others properties and settlements falling in its way.

Area Prone to Avalanches:

I. Avalanches are common in Himalayan region above 3500 m elevation.

II. Very frequent on slopes of 30-45°.

III. Convex slopes more prone to this disaster.

IV. North facing slope have avalanches in winter and south facing slopes during spring.

V. Slopes covered with grass more prone to this hazard.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 7. Tsunami:

Tsunami, or seismic sea waves, are large ocean waves generated by impulses from geophysical events occurring on the ocean floor or along the coastline, such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

Mostly occurring in the Pacific Ocean, tsunamis, although hardly noticeable at sea, can reach gigantic proportions as they reach shallow, coastal waters. In Hawaii and Japan, for example, tsunamis have been known to reach 30 m in height. At least 22 countries along the rim of the Pacific are estimated to beat risk from potential tsunami.

The fact that tsunamis can travel 10,000 km at velocities exceeding 900 km per hour with little loss of energy and are, therefore, capable of hitting areas not directly affected by the inducing event, has led to the establishment of a tsunami early warning service for the whole circum-Pacific area.

However, only a few of the 22 countries most at risk are considered to have standard operating procedures for immediate evacuation or reliable, rapid communication systems capable of receiving real-time warnings from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

About 6,000-people have been killed by tsunami during 1977-1986 alone. Probably the best documented of these events is the occurrence at Noshiro, Japan, in 1983 which caused approximately 100 deaths and extensive property damage and flooding. The tsunami (Dec. 2004) in South East Asia lead to a death tool of over 2.5 lakhs peoples of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and India.

Tsunamis have multiple origin—16.5 per cent resulted from tectonic earthquakes associated with the eruption, 20 per cent from pyroclastic (ash) flows or surges hitting the ocean, 14 per cent from submarine eruptions, 7 per cent resulted from the collapse of the volcano and subsequent caldera formation, 5 per cent from landslides or avalanches, 3 per cent from atmospheric shock waves and 25 per cent had no discernible origin, but probably were produced by submerged volcanic eruptions.

A partial geographical distribution of tsunamis is given in Table 30.2:

Over past two thousand years there have been 10, 00,000 deaths attributed to tsunami in the Pacific region alone. Earlier Pacific Tsunami warning system was established for forecasting the event. Now global network was established in all Oceans & Seas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 8. Windstorms:

Judged by the frequency with which they cause damage and by the surface area of the regions they strike, windstorms can be said to be the most significant of all natural hazards. Windstorms influence precipitation systems floods and, most importantly, cause severe destruction to crops and properties.

Severe tropical cyclones (called “ hurricanes ” in the Atlantic, Caribbean and north-eastern Pacific; “ typhoons ” in the western Pacific; and “ cyclones ” in the Indian Ocean and in the sea around Australia), tornadoes, monsoons and thunderstorms between them affect every country in the world.

Today increasing attention is being paid to windstorms, particularly tropical cyclones as some scientists see their incidence as being a possible indicator of global climatic change and predict an increase in their frequency.

Have tropical cyclone frequencies or their intensities increased with global changes throughout the last century? At present, available evidence does not support this idea, perhaps because the warming is not yet large enough to make its impact felt (WMO/UNEP, 1990).

Global information on Kanor windstorms and their impact is collated by organisations such as UNDRO UNEP and AID/OFDA. However, global listings of disasters rarely include those which occur in small states such as island states, which in areas such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific are particularly prone to tropical cyclones.

This is because listings often set a criteria based on magnitude of impact with which small states cannot compete against larger countries. However, the proportional impact upon small states is often far greater in terms of population, housing and economics.

The impact of cyclones goes far beyond just deaths and building damage. In developing countries destruction of infrastructure and primary agriculture can lead to a decrease in exports and gross national product, while increasing the likelihood of forfeiture of international loan repayments. Contamination of water supplies and destruction of crops can also lead to disease and starvation.

Many mid-latitude cyclonic depressions can give rise to exceptionally heavy rain and widespread flooding and snow fall too. Dust storms are windstorms accompanied by suspended clay, silt materials, usually but not always without precipitation. Average 130-800 million tonnes of dust are entrained by winds each year.

Severe windstorms with high level of flush rain often called thunderstorms associated with lightning, hail and tornadoes cause massive destruction of properties and also human lives through out the world. Early warning and emergency relief operation are the major management activity.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 9. Forest Fire :

Forest or bush fire, though not causing much loss to human life, is a major hazard for forest cover in the country. As per Forest Survey of India report, 50 per cent of the forest cover of the country is fire prone, out of which 6.17 per cent is prone to severe fire damage causing extensive loss to forest vegetation and environment. Average annual physical loss due to forest fire in the country is estimated to worth Rs.440 crores.

The major loss due to forest fire is caused to the environment which gets adversely affected by this calamity. The degradation of climate, soil and water quality, loss of wildlife and its habitat, deterioration of human health, depletion of ozone layer, etc., along with direct loss to timber are the major adverse impact of forest fires.

The coniferous forests in the Himalayan region are very susceptible to fire and every year there are one or more major fire incidences in these areas. The other parts of the country dominated by deciduous forest are also damaged by fire up to an extent. It is worth mentioning that in India 90 per cent of the forest fires are man-made (intentionally or unintentionally).

Essay on Natural Disaster # 10. Volcanoes:

Volcanoes are conduits in the earth’s crust through which gas enriched molten silicate rock magma reaches to the surface of earth crust.

An active volcano occurs where magma (molten rock) reaches the earth’s surface through a central vent or a long crack (fissure) Volcanic activity can release ejecta (debris), liquid lava and gases (H 2 O vapour C 2 , SO 2 , NO x , etc.) to the environment.

There are two types of magma ejected out of volcanoes —silica poor materials, and silica rich materials. The silica poor volcanoes called basaltic volcanoes, while the silica rich volcanoes are andesitic volcanoes.

There are many hazardous phenomena produced directly or as secondary effects, by volcanic eruptions.

The direct hazards of volcanic eruptions are:

a. Lava flow;

b. Ballistics and tephra clouds;

c. Pyroclastic flows and base surges;

d. Gases and acid rains;

e. Lahars (mud flows); and

f. Glacier bursts (Jokulhlamps).

In addition indirectly they are associated with earthquake and tsunami events. Volcanoes are visually one of the most spectacular natural hazardous to occur and probably most devastating in terms of loss of human life.

The volcano likes Mt. Vesurivs, Mt. St Helena, Krakatoa, and Mt, Pelee are significant because of either the enormity of the eruption or the resulting death tool. As per Gaius Pinius Caecilius secundus on 24 August, 79 AD the Nt. Vesuvius eruption causes 2,000 death and burying of the Pompeii city.

There is no doubt that the earth is experiencing on of the most intense periods of volcanism in the last 10,000 years. This period began at the beginning of the seventh century, concomitant with global cooling that peaked in the little ice age.

In contrast the volcanic events of the last century may be viewed as freak eruption of supposedly dormant volcanoes. In the present era, volcanic eruption are pervasive, unpredictable and deadly.

Land use planning better prediction of volcanic eruptions and development of effective evacuation plans reduce the loss of human life from volcanic eruption. The prediction systems related to volcanic activity has improved considerably during past few decades. The environmental consequence of volcanic eruption without or with anthropogenic emission is shown in Fig. 30.3.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 11. Planning For a Safer Tomorrow :

Natural disasters have a severe impact on the society, therefore it is important to plan and develop a safety programme and devise means to efficiently deal with natural disaster. Development programme that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning.

Measures need also to be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local.

The future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with them effectively whenever they occur.

The need of the hour is to chalk out a multi-pronged strategy for total risk management, comprising prevention, preparedness, response and recovery on the one hand, and initiate development efforts aimed towards risk reduction and mitigation, on the other. Only then can we look forward to “sustainable development”.

Prevention and Preparedness :

Disaster prevention is intrinsically linked to preventive planning.

Some of the important steps in this regard are:

1. Introduction of a comprehensive process of vulnerability analysis and objective risk assessment.

2. Building a Robust and Sound Information Database:

A comprehensive database of the landuse, demography, infrastructure developed at the national, state and local levels alongwith current information on climate, weather and man-made structures is crucial in planning, warning and assessment of disasters. In addition, resource inventories of governmental and non-governmental systems including personnel and equipment help inefficient mobilization and optimization of response measures.

3. Creating State-of-the-Art Infrastructure:

The entire disaster mitigation game plan must necessarily be anchored to front line research and development in a holistic mode. State-of-the art technologies available worldwide need to be made available in India for upgrading of the disaster management system; at the same time, dedicated research activities should be encouraged, in all frontier areas related to disasters like biological, space applications, information technology, nuclear radiation etc., for a continuous flow of high quality basic information for sound disaster management planning.

4. Establishing Linkages between all knowledge-based Institutions:

A National Disaster Knowledge Network, tuned to the felt needs of a multitude of users like disaster managers, decision-makers, community etc., must be developed as the network of networks to cover natural, man-made and biological disasters in all their varied dimensions.

Capacity Building :

Reconstruction and rebuilding is a long drawn process and those involved in this exercise have to draw upon knowledge of best practices and resources available to them. Information and training on ways to better respond to and mitigate disasters to the responders go a long way in building the capacity and resilience of the country to reduce and prevent disasters.

Training is an integral part of capacity building as trained personnel respond much better to different disaster sand appreciate the need for preventive measures. The multi-sectoral and multi-hazard prevention based approach to disaster management. Professional training in disaster management is essential and should be built into the existing pedagogic research and education.

Specialised courses should be treated as a distinct academic and professional discipline, the subject needs to be discussed and taught as a specific component in professional and specialised courses like medicine, nursing, engineering, environmental sciences, architecture, and town and country planning.

Secondly, there has to be a focus towards preventive disaster management and development of a national ethos of prevention calls for an awareness generation at all levels. An appropriate level of awareness at the school level will help increase awareness among children and, in many cases, parents and other family members through these children.

Curriculum development with a focus towards dissemination of disaster related information on a sustained basis, covering all school levels may be worked out by the different school boards in the country.

Training facilities for government personnel involved in disaster management are conducted at the national level by the National Centre for Disaster Management at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in New Delhi which functions as the nodal institution in the country for training, research and documentation of disasters.

At the State level, disaster management cells operating within the State Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) provide the necessary training. Presently, 24 ATIs have dedicated faculties. There is a need for strengthening specialized training, including training of personnel in disaster response.

Finally, capacity building should not be limited to professionals and personnel involved in disaster management but should also focus on building the knowledge, attitude and skills of a community to cope with the effects of disasters. Identification and training of volunteers from the community towards first response measures as well as mitigation measures is an urgent imperative.

A programme of periodic drills should be introduced in vulnerable areas to enable prompt and appropriate community response in the event of a disaster which can help save valuable lives.

Communi ty Level:

Disaster management programme must strive to build a disaster resilient community equipped with safer living and sustainable livelihoods to serve its own development purposes. The community is also the first responder in any critical situation there by emphasizing the need for community level initiatives in managing disasters.

There is a need to create awareness through education training and information dissemination, community based approach followed by most NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) should be incorporated in the disaster management sector as an effective means of community participation.

Finally, within a vulnerable community, there exist groups that are more vulnerable like women and children, aged and in firm and physically challenged people who need special care and attention especially during crisis. Efforts are required for identifying such vulnerable groups and providing special assistance in terms of evacuation, relief, aid and medical attention.

Management of disasters should therefore be an interface between a community effort to mitigate and prevent disasters as also an effort from the government machinery to buttress and support popular initiatives.

Developing a St ronger Plan:

Given the damage caused by disaster, planned expenditure on disaster management and prevention measures in addition to the CRF is required. The Central Sector Scheme of Natural Disaster Management Programme has been implemented since 1993-94 by the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation with the objective to focus on disaster preparedness with emphasis on mitigation and preparedness measures for enhanced capability to reduce the adverse impact of disasters.

The major activities undertaken within this scheme include the setting up of the National Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, creation of 24 disaster management faculties in 23 states, research and consultancy services, documentation of major disaster events and forging regional cooperation.

The Eighth Plan allocation of Rs.6.30 crore for this scheme was increased to Rs.16.32 crore in the Ninth Plan. Within this scheme, NCDM has conducted over 50 training programme, training more than 1000 people, while 24 disaster management centers with dedicated faculty have been established in the states.

Over 4000 people have been trained at the State level. In addition, some important publications and audio-visual training modules have been prepared and documentation of disaster events has been done.

Though limited in scope and outlays, the Scheme has made an impact on the training and research activities in the country. Creation of faculties in disaster management in all 28 states is proposed to be taken up in the Tenth Plan in addition to community mobilisation, human resource development, establishment of Control Rooms and forging international cooperation in disaster management.

There is also an urgent need for strengthening the disaster management pedagogy by creating disaster management faculties in universities, rural development institutes and other organisations of premier research. Sustainability is the key word in the development process.

Development activities that do not consider the disaster loss perspective fail to be sustainable. The compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any community or nation.

Therefore, all development schemes in vulnerable areas should include a disaster mitigation analysis, where by the feasibility of a project is assessed with respect to vulnerability of the area and the mitigation measures required for sustainability. Environmental protection, afforestation programme, pollution control, construction of earthquake resistant structures etc., should therefore have high priority within the plans Mitigation measures on individual structures can be achieved by design standards building codes and performance specifications.

Building codes, critical front-line defence for achieving stronger engineered structures, need to be drawn up in accordance with the vulnerability of the area and implemented through appropriate techno-legal measures. Mitigation measures need to be considered in land use and site planning activities.

Constructions in hazardous areas like flood plains or steep soft slopes are more vulnerable to disasters. Necessary mitigation measures need to be built into the design and costing of development projects. Insurance is a potentially important mitigation measure in disaster-prone areas as it brings quality in the infrastructure consciousness and a culture of safety by its insistence on following building codes, norms, guidelines, quality materials in construction etc.

Disaster insurance mostly works under the premise of ‘higher the risk higher the premium, lesser the risk lesser the premium’, thus creating awareness towards vulnerable areas and motivating people to settle in relatively safer areas?

Essay on Natural Disaster # 12. Major Initiatives taken by Government of India:

Natural disasters have become a recurring phenomenon in the recent past. In the last twenty years or so three million people have been killed as a result of such events. There is a need to focus and develop a plan that would focus on disaster management planning for prevention, reduction, mitigation, preparedness and response to reduce life and property due to natural disaster.

If we take it in the Indian context, the five year plans have never really taken into consideration the issues relating to the management and mitigation of natural disasters. The traditional perception has been limited to the idea of “calamity relief”, which is seen essentially as a non-plan item of expenditure. Disasters can have devastating impact on the economy and is a significant setback to the development in a given region.

Two recent disasters, the Orissa Cyclone and the Gujarat Earthquake, are cases in point. The development process needs to be sensitive towards disaster prevention and mitigation aspects. There is thus a need to look at disasters from a development perspective as well.

Disaster management may not be directly associated with planned financing, but number of schemes are in operation, such as for drought proofing, afforestation, drinking water, etc., which deal with the prevention and mitigation of the impact of natural disasters. Extra assistance for post-disaster reconstruction and streamlining of management structures also is a major consideration of the plan.

A specific, centrally sponsored scheme on disaster management also exists. The plan thus already has a defined role in dealing with the subject. There have been an increasing number of natural disaster over the past years, and with it, increasing losses on account of urbanisation and population growth, as a result of which the impact of natural disasters is now felt to a larger extent.

According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone, natural disasters of medium to high range caused at least 25,000 deaths around the world, more than double the previous year, and economic losses of around US $ 36 billion. Devastations in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged many countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere; droughts that plagued Central Asia including Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the cyclone in Madagascar and Orissa; and floods in Bolivia are global events in recent memory.

However, what is disturbing is the knowledge that these trends of destruction and devastation are on the rise instead of being kept in check.

Natural disasters know no political boundaries and have no social or economic considerations. They are borderless as they affect both developing and developed countries. They are also merciless, and as such the vulnerable tend to suffer more at the impact of natural disasters.

For example, the developing countries are much more seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives, hardship borne by population and the percentage of their GNP lost. Since number of the most vulnerable regions is in India, natural disaster management has emerged as a high priority for the country.

Going beyond the historical focus on relief and rehabilitation after the event, we now have to look ahead and plan for disaster preparedness and mitigation, in order that the periodic shocks to our development efforts are minimized.

Physical vulnerabilities have a direct impact on the population their proximity to the hazard zone and standards of safety maintained to counter the effects. For instance, some people are vulnerable to flood only because they live in a flood prone area. Physical vulnerability also relates to the technical capacity of buildings and structures to resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard event.

However, physical calamities is not the only criteria, there are prevailing social and economic conditions and its consequential effect on human activities within a given society. Parts of the Indian sub-continent are susceptible to different types of disasters owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics.

About 54 per cent of the sub-continent’s land mass is vulnerable to earthquakes while about 4 crore hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods. The decade 1990-2000, has been one of very high disaster losses within the country, losses in the Orissa Cyclone in 1999, and later, the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 alone amount to several thousand crore of Rupees, while the total expenditure incurred on relief and reconstruction in Gujarat alone has been to the tune of Rs.11,500 crore. Disasters often result in enormous economic losses that are both immediate as well as long term in nature and demand additional revenues.

Also, as an immediate fall-out, disasters reduce revenues from the affected region due to lower levels of economic activity leading to loss of direct and indirect taxes. In addition, unplanned budgetary allocation to disaster recovery can hamper development interventions and lead to unmet developmental targets.

Disasters may also reduce availability of new investment, further constricting the growth of the region. Besides, additional pressures may be imposed on finances of the government through investments in relief and rehabilitation work.

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Essay on Conservation of Nature for Students and Children

500+ words essay on conservation of nature.

Nature has provided us numerous gifts such as air , water, land, sunlight , minerals, plants, and animals. All these gifts of nature make our earth a place worth living. Existence on Earth would not be possible without any of these. Now, while these natural resources are present on Earth in plenty. Unfortunately, the necessity of most of these has increased extremely over the centuries due to growth in the human population.

What is Conservation of Nature?

Conservation of nature means the preservation of forests, land, water bodies, and minerals, fuels, natural gases, etc. And to make sure that all these continue to be available in abundance. Thus all these natural resources make life worth living on Earth. Life would not be imaginable without air, water, sunlight as well as other natural resources present on the earth.

Thus, it is essential to conserve these resources in order to retain the environment integral. Here is a look at the types of natural resources existing on Earth and the ways to conserve these:

Types of Natural Resources:

Renewable Resources : These are resources such as air, water, and sunlight that refill naturally.
Non-Renewable Resources: These are resources like fossil fuels and minerals that do not restock reform very slowly.
Biotic: These originate from living beings and organic material like plants and animals.
Abiotic: These come from non-living things and non-organic material. These comprise air, water, and land as well as metals like iron, copper, and silver.

Natural resources are also categories such as actual resources, reserve resources, stock resources and potential resources based on their development stage.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Conserve Nature and Its Resources?

Many of the natural resources are being used at a faster rate as compared to their speed of production. There is so a necessity for conservation of nature and the natural resources it offers. Here are some of the ways in which these resources can be conserved:

Reduce Water Consumption

Water is available in abundance on Earth . This is one of the reasons people do not consider much before using it. However, if we keep using it at this speed. In the future, we may not be left with as much of it. Therefore, simple things such as turn off the tap while brushing or reuse the leftover water to water the plants can help in this direction.

Reduce Usage of Electricity

Use only as much energy as you require. It is thus advised to limit the usage of electricity. Simple habits such as turning off the lights before parting your room, turn off the electric appliances after use. Switching to energy-saving fluorescent or LED bulbs can make a change.

Restrict Usage of Paper

Paper manufacturing depends only on trees. Increasing the use of paper means encouraging deforestation . This is one of the key reasons for concern is in today’s time Always ensure you use only as much paper as necessary. Stop taking print outs and use e-copies instead to do your bit.

Use Newer Agricultural Methods

The government must aware the methods such as mixed cropping, crop rotation. Also, the government should teach the minimum use of pesticides, insecticides. Appropriate use of manures , bio-fertilizers, and organic fertilizers to the farmers.

Spread Awareness

Spreading awareness about the conservation of nature is always a necessary step. It can be achieved only when more and more people understand its importance and the ways in which they can help. Besides this, it is essential to plant more and more tress. It is necessary to contribute towards lowering air pollution. We must use shared transport and employing rainwater harvesting systems to conserve nature.

Nature comprises of everything that surrounds us. The trees, forests, rivers, rivulets, soil, air all are the part of nature. Keeping nature and its resources integral. So, it is very important for the continuation of life on earth. It would be difficult to imagine life on earth, which has a spoiled natural environment.

Therefore, taking appropriate steps to conserve nature in its untouched form. It must be a priority for the human race. Only human beings with their power and ability can save nature in its purest forms.

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Published: 10 April 2024

Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests

Jayden E. Engert ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5558-2058 1 na1 ,
Mason J. Campbell 1 na1 ,
Joshua E. Cinner ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2675-9317 2 nAff4 ,
Yoko Ishida 1 ,
Sean Sloan 1 nAff5 ,
Jatna Supriatna 3 ,
Mohammed Alamgir 1 ,
Jaime Cislowski 1 &
William F. Laurance ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4430-9408 1

Nature volume 629 , pages 370–375 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 15 May 2024

This article has been updated

Roads are expanding at the fastest pace in human history. This is the case especially in biodiversity-rich tropical nations, where roads can result in forest loss and fragmentation, wildfires, illicit land invasions and negative societal effects 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 . Many roads are being constructed illegally or informally and do not appear on any existing road map 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ; the toll of such ‘ghost roads’ on ecosystems is poorly understood. Here we use around 7,000 h of effort by trained volunteers to map ghost roads across the tropical Asia-Pacific region, sampling 1.42 million plots, each 1 km 2 in area. Our intensive sampling revealed a total of 1.37 million km of roads in our plots—from 3.0 to 6.6 times more roads than were found in leading datasets of roads globally. Across our study area, road building almost always preceded local forest loss, and road density was by far the strongest correlate 11 of deforestation out of 38 potential biophysical and socioeconomic covariates. The relationship between road density and forest loss was nonlinear, with deforestation peaking soon after roads penetrate a landscape and then declining as roads multiply and remaining accessible forests largely disappear. Notably, after controlling for lower road density inside protected areas, we found that protected areas had only modest additional effects on preventing forest loss, implying that their most vital conservation function is limiting roads and road-related environmental disruption. Collectively, our findings suggest that burgeoning, poorly studied ghost roads are among the gravest of all direct threats to tropical forests.

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Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin

Mapping roadless areas in regions with contrasting human footprint

Drivers of tropical forest loss between 2008 and 2019

Data availability.

The datasets used for this study (including comprehensive road maps as a raster of road density at 1-km 2 resolution) are available in the Supplementary Information , on request to J.E.E. and W.F.L. or as follows. OpenStreetMap data are available from https://download.geofabrik.de/ , and GRIP road data from https://www.globio.info/download-grip-dataset . National and subnational administrative-region data were obtained from GADM ( https://gadm.org/ ). Population-density data were from WorldPop ( https://www.worldpop.org/ ). GDP data were accessed at https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.dk1j0 . Protected-area data were from Protected Planet ( https://www.protectedplanet.net/en ). Waterways locations were obtained from the Global River Widths from Landsat Database ( https://zenodo.org/records/1297434 ). Elevation data were accessed at http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org , and rainfall data at https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.211 . Data for all soil variables were obtained from Soil Grids ( https://soilgrids.org/ ).

Change history

15 may 2024.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07535-5

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Barlow, R. Chazdon, M. Cochrane, S. Das, M. Goosem, J. Jaeger, P. Negret, C. Souza Jr, R. Talkhani and H. Tao for many helpful comments, and our volunteer road-mappers, including Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends, for their efforts. The Australian Research Council, James Cook University and an anonymous philanthropic donor provided support.

Author information

Joshua E. Cinner

Present address: Thriving Oceans Research Hub, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

Present address: Department of Geography, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

These authors contributed equally: Jayden E. Engert, Mason J. Campbell

Authors and Affiliations

Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Jayden E. Engert, Mason J. Campbell, Yoko Ishida, Sean Sloan, Mohammed Alamgir, Jaime Cislowski & William F. Laurance

College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Research Center for Climate Change, and Department of Biology, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia

Jatna Supriatna

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W.F.L., J.E.E., M.J.C., M.A. and S.S. conceived the study; J.E.E., J.E.C. and W.F.L. coordinated data analysis. W.F.L., J.E.E., J.E.C. and M.J.C. wrote the manuscript. J.E.E., Y.I., J.C. and S.S. generated key road datasets. M.J.C., J.E.C., M.A., S.S. and J.S. provided ideas and critical feedback.

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Correspondence to Jayden E. Engert or William F. Laurance .

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Engert, J.E., Campbell, M.J., Cinner, J.E. et al. Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests. Nature 629 , 370–375 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07303-5

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13 ways to save the Earth from habitat destruction

Your actions make a difference!

Just like people, animals need homes. But when too many forests are cleared to plant crops and build roads, and too many seabeds are destroyed to gather fish, critters struggle to survive. This is called habitat destruction. Read on to learn how small changes from you can mean big help for wildlife.

Tech turnaround

Cell phones and computers contain a mineral mined from African habitats where gorillas and chimpanzees live. The minerals can be reused, so always recycle your tech. (Bonus: It keeps toxic chemicals from polluting soil and water near landfills.)

Scrap junk mail

Is your house full of mail from places like banks and utility companies? Ask your parents to sign up for online alerts. And make sure to recycle newspapers, magazines, and other paper in your home.

Shoe sleuth

Clean your shoes before going on a hike, especially in a new place. The mud caked in your sneakers may contain seeds of invasive plants , which can push out native plants that keep the ecosystem healthy.

Flush clean

Flush only your own waste and toilet paper—no medicine, cleaning wipes, cotton balls, paint, or pet poo. This trash can eventually travel into the water system and affect the animals that live there.

Visit parks

Your attendance matters! Wildlife refuges, parks , bird sanctuaries, and nature preserves are more likely to receive funding to stay open when more people visit them.

Money makes a difference

Work a lemonade stand , host a bake sale, or sell homemade jewelry to raise funds to protect wildlife and their habitats.

Everything in its place

It’s fun to look for frogs and slugs under logs—but always put the logs back. Rocks, leaves, and tree limbs are homes for lots of tiny animals, so it’s important not to destroy them.

Watch your water

Using too much water from lakes and rivers can affect animals’ habitat. Conserve this resource by taking five minute showers, turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth, and bugging your parents to fix leaky pipes.

Choosey chocolate

Palm oil is often used in products like chocolate, soap, ice cream, bread, cookies, and shampoo. But some rain forests are being destroyed in order to grow the trees that produce palm oil. Try to avoid buying products that use it, or look for a label that confirms the ingredient was grown in a rain-forest friendly way.

Picky paper

People cut down about 15 billion trees every year, some of it to make paper. Save your sheets by using the back, buying recycled paper, and asking your teacher to sometimes switch from printed homework to online assignments.

Flower power

Ask your parents to plant a garden full of local trees , flowers, and shrubs to provide habitats for native bees , birds, and other animals.

Farewell to fertilizer

Plant fertilizer can dump extra nutrients into the water system, which might create wildlife-killing algae blooms in the ocean. Local flowers, though, don't need as much fertilizer to help them grow. Encourage your parents to plant them.

Sharing is caring

Habitats are often disrupted to create more stuff for people. So try your best to use less: Visit the local library instead of buying a DVD, share games and toys with friends, and reuse school supplies.

Photo credits: Michael Poliza, National Geographic Creative (gorillas);Republica, Getty Images (boots); Jonathan Irish, National Geographic Creative (park); Martin Fowler, Shutterstock (frog); PICSFIVE, Shutterstock (chocolate); CDuschinger, Shutterstock (flowers)

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Environmental Degradation Essay

Introduction.

Have you ever thought about what keeps us living in this world? Is it the air, water, food, land, plants or animals? All these living and nonliving things in the environment are what make life possible in the world. We should be grateful for many things in the environment that enable us to lead a happy life. If you are wondering how the environment balances everything perfectly, you must understand the significance of the environment and the need to control its degradation.

The environmental degradation essay in English will be helpful for students to develop an awareness of environmental degradation. Although environmental degradation is not a recent phenomenon, the continuous exploitation of nature has posed serious threats to the environment. Hence, it is necessary to be aware of the issues and implement effective ways to reduce environmental degradation.

Related essay: Essay on Environment Day

Causes of Environmental Degradation

The human population is growing at an unexpected rate, along with their needs. As human needs are mostly met by the environment, all the natural resources are getting impaired and wasted. Even though most of these resources are said to be renewable, the rising demands of humans lead to their increased use, which eventually results in the depletion of natural resources. So, overpopulation is the main cause of environmental degradation, which is discussed in this environmental degradation essay.

To make our lives comfortable, we highly depend on the environment for food, clothes and shelter. As a result, we cut down several trees to build homes and living spaces. This further affects the environment as it will lead to deforestation. As the forest area is cleared for human purposes, there will be a rise in carbon dioxide levels, which makes the environment unfit for living beings.

Pollution is yet another cause that is detailed in this environmental degradation essay in English. Pollution can happen through air, water or land. There are many industries and factories that emit pollutants into the air, water and land, thus contaminating these natural resources. Some of these pollutants are harmful to us and may cause serious health problems in the long run. By throwing away waste materials like plastics and other chemicals, we are contributing to soil pollution and threatening our lives.

Ways to Solve Environmental Degradation

As we have seen the main factors that contribute to environmental degradation, let us be familiar with how to solve them through this environmental degradation essay in English. We can save our environment if we firmly believe that future generations also need to live here. One of the most important ways to reduce environmental degradation is through reforestation. As we relentlessly cut down trees, let us pledge to plant more trees and bring back the forests. In this way, we can control the level of carbon dioxide in the air. We must also implement the 3 Rs in our lives by reducing, recycling and reusing materials. Along with taking several innovative measures to control pollution, we can address the issue of environmental degradation.

You can find essays similar to the environmental degradation essay, along with a wide range of kids’ learning resources, such as poems, short stories, worksheets, etc., on BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main effects of environmental degradation.

Any adverse change in the environment would affect humans. As toxic gases and pollutants are inhaled by humans, it impacts their health by causing many respiratory issues. Besides, the ozone layer depletes due to the presence of these pollutants, which emits harmful radiation to the Earth. It could also lead to climate change.

What leads to environmental degradation?

Overpopulation and urbanisation are the major factors that contribute to environmental degradation. Humans tend to exploit the environment for their selfish needs. Due to pollution and deforestation, harmful gases get accumulate in the environment, which leads to its degradation.

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4 Best Descriptive Essay Examples About Nature

Opening remarks.

Nature is one of those certain things that you cannot get rid of, whether you live on a farm or in a downtown skyscraper. It has its way to exert its dominance either by sheer beauty to uplift spirits and moods, or by its ferocity to turn foundations upside down.

Writing about nature takes a lot of time and effort. It is not something that can be mastered by simply reading a book or attending a lecture. Apart from practical tips and insights, examples can be great to work on because novice writers can see the elements of the essay working and balancing one another.

Descriptive Essay Writing

A lot of it is self-evident from the nomenclature but certain brass tacks should be covered before moving on to the examples. Descriptive writing is about describing a subject under consideration. A descriptive essay is a subjective or objective account of a person, a thing, a place, an event or experience, and more. It is written with acute reliance on figurative language, sensory details, and other literary devices.

Experts have divided descriptive essay writing into two distinct types. One is objective where only “facts” get to be shared with the readers. The other form is expressionist where a subjective approach and personal angles play out for the writer and ultimately the reader.

In schools and colleges, descriptive writing is employed by instructors, both in the form of full-fledged essays as well as descriptive paragraphs and other short assignments. The exercise allows them to gauge the thinking, writing, and editing capabilities of the students and then award them scores based on the results.

Purpose of Writing A Descriptive Essay

Just like much of writing, the purpose of writing a descriptive essay is to entertain the readers and let them “see” or “feel” the subject that the writer is experimenting on. By relying on literary devices and sensory details, such as similes, metaphors, comparisons, and more, writers can chalk out relevant details of the topic. That’s why the real test of descriptive writing is how much readers actually “saw”, “felt”, “heard”, “touched”, or “tasted” the subject.

The purpose of writing evolves from one place to another. For instance, the rationale behind composing riveting descriptive essays in academic institutions is to woo the teachers and secure higher scores. Descriptive essays are also used by colleges and universities to base the candidature of aspirants for different programs and degrees.

4 Examples of Descriptive Essays On Nature

If you ask a high school student or a college student for that matter, how they can see and define nature, it would be difficult for them. Either they would have too much to say with little value, or too less to put into words with no room for explanation and expansion. To help students better understand and implement aspects of nature into words, we have dedicated this section to cover four different aspects of nature. One is where it is useful in terms of monetary value, the second is where it is furious and punishing, the third is where it is beautiful for the sake of it, and the fourth is where it is transforming essentially covering all the other three aspects.

When Nature Is Useful

A descriptive essay is more than just putting flowery words and phrases into paragraphs to enhance their value. It is to connect readers with the “true” picture of the phenomenon concerning nature. The instance where nature can be useful spans occupations and fields. A fisherman whose livelihood depends on the tame nature of the seas and who goes out away from the shores each day to fetch for himself and his family shows the useful and plentiful side of nature. While writing a descriptive essay on this angle, it is necessary to connect people’s dependence on the sole nature of “nature”.

When Nature Is Furious

From literary works of art to Hollywood movies, you can always get abundant examples of nature in killing frenzy and fury. The very duality of nature, from being beautiful for some and furious and unforgiving for others, creates a “moody” or highly volatile picture for writers. While writing about the ferocity of nature, you can always connect disasters with the narrative, from floods to earthquakes to avalanches and beyond. Again, there is always a need for showing the two sides of the coin or the proverbial picture. Otherwise, the description and the value in it can fall flat and produce lackluster results.

When Nature Is Beautiful

This is somewhat a “universal” truth as many people would blurt out that nature is indeed beautiful and quite enchanting to behold and feel. A garden full of blooming flowers or a gravel pathway in a park during the fall when the leaves turn yellow and cover that gravel path are some of the things that can make your heart skip a beat. In a descriptive essay where the writer is trying to show the beauty of it all, it is necessary to connect the writer with the narrative because the description would be hollow and unbecoming without it. In other cases, there is beauty in understatement.

When Nature Is Transforming

Nature is always transforming and that is a cruel joke of the time. Spring is always running toward the fall and life is longing to meet death. As a writer, the descriptive essay on nature’s transformation and its ability to transform things around it can be anything. It can be as brutal as a hurricane where living breathing cities can become graveyards. It can be as lovely and heart-stealing as the dew drops on cool morning grass. In addition to this, it can be useful as a stream leading fishes and other sea creatures to it for the people to eat and sell and make their livelihood.

Tips For Writing Descriptive Essays On Nature

Even after going through examples of descriptive essays on nature , students could find it hard to connect their minds with the pen and the paper. In these cases, it is necessary to give them some tips and hacks that can help them either kick-start the process or make crucial decisions on the go.

In that spirit, here are some great tips for writing descriptive essays on nature whether it is for a high school assignment or college admission.

Figurative Language & Sensory Details

If we are to narrow down the essentials of a descriptive essay, figurative language and sensory details will take the prize. They are the essential tools that writers rely on when they need to make things come alive. Figurative language denotes the usage of words and phrases in a way where they depict other meanings than their true ones. For instance, a falling tree is not a description, but a falling yellow tree on a roadside is the description. Similarly, sensory details connect the five senses of human beings with the traits of the subjects under consideration. While writing a descriptive nature essay, this is the key!

Solid Introduction With A Hook

After the topic or the title, an introduction is a thing that makes or breaks the deal for the readers. Also called the opening of an essay, these are at the beginning of the essay and sets the proverbial stage for the other elements of the content. Professional readers use “hook” to lure readers in. These hooks come in all forms, shapes, and sizes, but their purpose remains the same. The most common and potent forms of hooks include, but are not limited to, statistics connecting the essay with the facts, a question asked by the readers, a quotation from famous works of literature, and more.

Choosing A Specific Topic

Many students think that they can string five paragraphs together with a semblance of commonality and call it an essay. Sadly, that is not the case. Before actually researching and writing a descriptive essay, they need to choose a specific topic and then research it further before outlining the whole essay. A topic and then a well-groomed title give a much-needed focus and a thread of belonging to the content. Since it is mentioned at the top of the essay, readers and potential readers will read it first before making up their minds, about whether they want to read the whole essay or not.

Can I write a descriptive essay on the beauty aspect of nature?

Of course! Nature is often attributed to as one of the most beautiful things in the universe, among both natural and artificial aspects. Whether it is about meadows or the grasslands to the snowy peaks of the mountains, the beauty of nature is indeed both subjective and objective. By defining the topic and formulating a good working title, you can write a descriptive essay on the beauty aspect of nature.

What is the best way to start a descriptive nature essay?

Readers are well aware of nature, evolving and unfolding around them. But when you are writing a descriptive essay, it is necessary to let them connect with that aspect early on. That’s why you need to set the stage in the introduction phase and let them know what the essay will be about using literary hooks and contraptions. At the end of the introduction, you can top off the introduction with a thesis statement.

How can I show different faces of nature through descriptive writing?

Descriptive writing focuses on sensory details and figurative language to overcome the barriers of space and time between the subject and the readers. When the task is to show different faces of nature through description, it is necessary to take command of figurative language and other literary devices to bridge the gap.

Is it easy to describe nature?

It depends. If a writer has experience and a deep understanding of the language, then it can be easy. For novice writers, nature can be a mixed bag. For the objective ends, it is easy and pretty straightforward. For impressionistic reasons, nature can be a tough nut to crack but things mean different when they are put in different lights.

Should I write exactly how nature makes me feel?

As far as the artistic truth is concerned, you should write about nature and how it makes you feel. Talking about how we feel, a lot depends on what we are going through internally. If your mood is fresh and your spirits are high, you can extract joy from the basest things in nature. On the other hand, you can be irritated by the most soothing things if your mind is on fire.

What is the ideal word count for a descriptive nature essay?

The ideal word count for a descriptive essay is between 800 to 1000 words. Students should aim for five paragraphs with one each for the introduction and conclusion and the remaining three for the main body. When word count is assigned by the instructors, it is best to stay in that range.

Final Thoughts

Nature is one of the most recurring topics that students will find in their essay classes. It can mold and transform by changing only a handful or sometimes even a single variable from the lot. Still, many novice writers find it hard to connect to the essence of the topic and even fail at formulating a good title. In this blog, we have covered the basics of descriptive essay writing, including four examples of nature writing in different scenarios so that students can take inspiration from them and incorporate them into their essays. We have also shared some tips for nature writing in descriptive essays so that they can start and finish at a high.

For complete guidance on descriptive essay writing on nature, feel free to consult this resource at any time!

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Nature: Beautiful or Destructive?

Nature: Beautiful or destructive? Almost every entity in this universe has an opposite. Amongst some examples are the opposite of cold is hot, the opposite of water is fire, love of hate, and beauty of destruction. This idea can even be explained by the theories of science, such as Newton’s 3rdLaw, which states, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. ” Also, there is the famous phrase used between married couples and lovers: “Opposites attract. ” In some relationships, two completely different individuals can complete each other with their different qualities and life experiences as to make a marriage whole and harmonious.

So, in this universe, everything runs on two different ends of the spectrum. Nature follows this parallel of opposites as well. Nature possesses beauty and the ability to cause destruction. A person might ask, “How can something so beautiful also be so terrifying and destructive? ” In Anne Dillard’s “Jest and Earnest,” Dillard attempts to discuss this very quality of nature and its components, along with the purpose of nature and its process of creation and death. Nature is an entity that possesses both beauty and destruction, both of which must work together to maintain the harmony of nature, through the process of creation and death.

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Dillard illustrates many examples of the co-existence of destruction and beauty in nature. First, she describes her visit to an island where she witnesses many frogs in a pond. The frog seems like a normal one with wide, dull eyes. However, right in front of her eyes, she watches as the frog “slowly crumpled and began to sag. (Dillard). ”And she goes on to describe the process of the frog dying in more detail. Here, Dillard emphasizes the process of creation and death in nature. Creation can be equated with beauty, whereas death is usually linked to destruction.

Next, Dillard described the experience of the giant water bug, which is an enormous, heavy-bodied brown beetle. The food it eats is tadpoles, insects, fish, and frogs. She went on to describe the process of how it kills its victim by injecting enzymes during a vicious bite that paralyze its prey. The giant water bug Dillard saw was sucking the life out of the poor frog! These are just a few of the examples Dillard gave to illustrate the dual identity of nature. Dillard went further to make a connection with the purpose of nature, its creation and beauty, and its death and destruction.

She related these ideas to the holy book of the Muslims, the Qur’an, in which Allah asks, “The heaven and the earth and all in between, thinkest thou I made them in jest? ” Dillard mentions that this is a good question, which shows her interest in the purpose of nature and its components. By this verse from the holy Qur’an, she is speculating that everything in this universe is created and destroyed for a reason and it all fits into a bigger picture to create harmony in the end.

These verses from the Qur’an reinstate Dillard’s suggestion that everything is created for a purpose and not made from jest. This chapter from the Qur’an seeks to make the reader understand the seriousness of nature and how everything follows a due course and is interrelated. How can someone believe in all the complex processes and parts of nature without believing that it was God that created all this? People in current society tend to overlook the small things in life that are around us, because we take everything for granted.

But have we ever admired nature for its pure beauty? Granted, there are destructive qualities in nature, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and volcanoes. This comes back to the idea of opposites. God has created beautiful things in nature, but those same things can become destructive. For instance, animals such as sharks and sting rays display immense beauty through their sleek, slender bodies, yet with one bite or swipe of their tail they could kill anything in sight, even a human being.

However, there are some things in nature that are purely beautiful and harmless, such as butterflies and coral reefs which are so beautiful with their intricate designs and many colors. Nature has an intrinsic order to maintain the idea of nature’s dual identity. For example, the lion is one animal that is labeled the “king of the jungle. ” It possesses so much beauty, enough to make one awe-struck. It stands tall with a full head of hair, and is ready to take on anyone and anything. The lion has so much beauty and power that it becomes destructive, to the point where it can attack, eat, and kill man.

The lion has an aura of beauty about it, almost as if to render it untouchable, because its beauty is so destructive as well. Someone may get lured in by the lion’s beauty, which could lead to their death. At the same time, the lion has been made the king of the jungle for a reason. The lion maintains order by being at the top of the food chain. This comes back to the point that God has made everything for a purpose and a certain order, and not out of jest. We must realize this and the fact that even humans can be subject to the danger of the lion though we consider it below us.

God has also created things that are both beautiful and destructive at the same time, to illustrate the purpose of each and further show the necessity of opposites to achieve harmony. The question that arises in the end is whether nature can possess the qualities of both beauty and destruction, and creation and death all at the same time. Some may say that this is too ironic of an idea. However, after delving further into this idea, an individual eventually comes to the conclusion that these qualities must either co-exist or follow each other.

Life is a cycle of creation and beauty, and death and destruction. For death to take place, creation must first occur. Dillard touches on this fact by her example of the crumpling frog and her illustration of its death. It was fine when suddenly it crumpled, its skin sagged, and it eventually withered and died. Through this illustration and the idea of beauty and destruction in nature, one should start to realize the intricate pattern and design of life and that nature and its components were all created for a reason.

The concept of beauty and destruction in nature should serve as a wake-up call to everyone to show that life is a process which is planned and created by God. The perfect example of an entity that possesses beauty, the ability to destroy, and an intricate blueprint is us: humans. We are the prime example of God’s creation. It is true that it’s not a good thing that we are both beautiful and have the capability to cause destruction, but that is part of the human struggle: to overcome our destructive nature and still maintain our beauty.

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Whoever i am: on the quality of life.

1. That This

I must interrupt to say that ‘X’ is what exists inside me. ‘X’—I bathe in that this [ esse isto ]. It’s unpronounceable. All I do not know is in ‘X’ … Always independent, but it only happens to whatever has a body. Though immaterial, it needs our body and the body of the thing. –Clarice Lispector, Agua Viva

The structure of the question is implicit in all experience. –Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method

Life is a series of experiences which need innumerable forms. –Meher Baba

2. Everyone First!

3. is a bone, 4. facing the face, 5. who am i, 6. ellipsis, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

1	) Not that Sorokin was against quantification per se, which is unthinkable given that “ultimate reality is infinite quantitatively and qualitatively” ( ).
2	, (accessed on 5 June 2024)). On the self-tracking movement, see ( ).
3	).
4	( ) and Ghislain Deslandes, “Life is Not a Quantity: Philosophical Fragments Concerning Governance by Numbers”, in ( ).
5	… is counting, or more exactly, the counting-off, of some number of things. These things, however different they may be, are taken as uniform when counted as ‘objects.’ Insofar as these things underlie the counting process they are understood as of the same kind. That word which is pronounced last in counting off or numbering, gives the ‘counting-number,’ the arithmos of the things involved … In the process of counting, in the actus exercitus (to use scholastic terminology), it is only the multiplicity of the counted things which is the object of attention. Only that can be ‘counted’ which is not one, which is before us in a certain number: neither an object of sense nor one ‘pure’ unit is a number of things or units. The ‘unit’ as such is no arithmos” ( ).
6	). “The ONE is one complete whole and simultaneously a series of ones within the ONE” ( ). As a metaphysical principle, seriality is present for Aristotle both in the ordering of the categories and in the refuted, ‘bad tragedy’ view of nature as “a series of episodes” ( , Metaphysics, 1090b20–1), though his argument for the priority of substance, by entertaining the serial view hypothetically, expresses a certain ambivalence, or play, in the totality of things: “The subject of our inquiry is substance; for the principles and the causes we are seeking are those of substances. For if the universe [to pan] is of the nature of a whole [holon], substance is its first part; and if it coheres merely by virtue of serial succession [ephexes], on this view also substance is first, and is succeeded by quality, and then by quantity” ( , Metaphysics, 1069a19–22). Aquinas articulates such whole/serial ambivalence as a question of perspective, in considering the nature of angelic knowledge: “Now it happens that several things may be taken as several or as one; like the parts of a continuous whole. For if each of the parts be considered severally they are many: consequently neither by sense nor by intellect are they grasped by one operation, nor all at once. In another way they are taken as forming one in the whole; and so they are grasped both by sense and intellect all at once and by one operation; as long as the entire continuous whole is considered” (Thomas Aquinas ( ), Summa Theologica, Ia.58.2, (accessed on 5 June 2024)). So, for Proclus, seriality is a universal principle manifesting the neither-one-nor-many nature of the One: “A series [seirá] or order is a unity … but that which is cause of the series as a unity must be prior to them all … Thus there are henads consequent upon the primal One, intelligences consequent on the primal Intelligence, souls consequent on the primal Soul, and a plurality of natures consequent on the universal Nature” ( ).
7	). On the sorites paradox, see ( ).
8	this or that without properly considering that we are dealing with seriality, no less objectively than subjectively. As many forms of relation and non-relation fall within the general idea of seriality, so do thoughts follow upon each other in all sorts of related and unrelated ways, such that the two are always becoming entangled. Whenever we are perceiving a series, however seemingly random or formally defined, there remains an unshakeable sense of its inseparability from the seriality of experience itself, as if the unity or individuality of one’s own being cannot but mark itself indexically across serially salient points of awareness, and, vice versa, as if our integrity, the unity of oneself, were somehow inseparable from this indicating of unities, one after another. Thus, in the case of the random or coincidental series, say a sequence of stars, there remains, despite the evident dependency upon seeing them as a series, the fact of their seriality being objectively or phenomenally there to notice. And in the case of the most irrefutable, observation-independent series, say, the set of natural numbers, there always remains, despite the awareness of their formal independence from one’s observing or counting them, the fact that one must imaginatively ‘fill them in’, projecting the integers to infinity, in order to grasp the set. The former, a presence of seriality where no regular series is there, pertains to the quantity of quality, in the positive sense of a ‘surplus’ magnitude of integrity, the intensive presence of much and of many qualities which make for more seriality than there are series. The latter, an inherent absence of seriality where a regular series is there, in the negative sense of a seriality’s lack of itself or auto-ellipsis, pertains to the quality of quantity, in the sense of a ‘deficient’ kind of integrity, the absence of the substantiality proper to its magnitude and number as abstractions which ‘never arrive’ or always fail to capture what they measure. Accordingly, we have, on the one hand, the putative ‘law of the series’, the theory put forth by Paul Kammerer, according to which reoccurring forms and events typically labelled as ‘coincidences’ are thought to be expressions of a deeper underlying force of attraction or affinity, “something like a transcendental precondition of all forms of regularity and coherence” ( ). And on the other hand, we have Wittgenstein’s ‘rule-following paradox’, according to which all signs, however clearly they appear to demonstrate that something follows, are suspiciously in need of one’s following or deciding them ( ). Whether we are dealing with a haphazard series of points connected ‘only’ by our connecting them or a series of unmistakable signs making ‘total’ sense, there remains the intriguing synthetic phenomenon of seriality, the being-serial of oneself and the thing, as if everything were held together by an endless spark leaping across the omnipresent gap between the two. Correlatively, we may say that between any two elements of a series, between this and that, there is not only nothing, but everything, just as in all perception, “Synaesthetic perception is the rule [la règle]” ( ).
9	( ) translation modified to express literal sense of the verb. On the being-question, see ( ; ).
10	).
11	as such—being that is one with non-being—thus coincides completely with quality—non-being that is one with being; there is no sharp difference between them. Dasein, therefore, is not to be thought of as the ‘subject’ that ‘has’ qualities but is distinct from them; on the contrary, Dasein is one with—indeed, identical to—quality itself: as Hegel puts it in the Encyclopaedia Logic, “quality is, in general, the determinacy that is immediate, identical with being” (EL 146/195 [ § 90 A]). Being is determinate, therefore, insofar as it is qualitative; or, to put it another way, quality is what makes being determinate” ( ).
12	( ).
13	, 124.
14	II, d.3, n.251, quoted in ( )).
15	; individuality is not dissolved but established at the highest level; all things as individuals participate immediately in divinity, in a way that transcends the hierarchical levels of being” ( ). Cf. “When the soul comes out of the ego-shell and enters into the infinite life of God, its limited individuality is replaced by unlimited individuality. The soul knows that it is God-conscious and thus preserves its individuality. The important point is that individuality is not entirely extinguished, but it is retained in the spiritualised form” ( ).
16	, 1001A, in The Complete Works ( ).
17	, II.3. Fraser comments: “the serial entities [i.e., the various grades of soul] do not share any community of essence—they are not synonyms. What is common between the prior and the posterior entities is just their position relative to one another in the series; they cannot, therefore, be regarded as equal and co-ordinate species of a common genus” ( ). For Young, to embrace the “collective otherness of serialized existence”, in which “a person not only experiences others but also himself as an Other, that is, as an anonymous someone”, is crucial, as it “allows us to see women as a collective without identifying common attributes that all women have or implying that all women have a common identity” ( ). While seriality in Sartre’s view seems to constitute a deficient and superficial form of sociality, its own serial relation to group formation reveals the fundamentality of the series as the process of “constant incarnations” governing the arising and dissolution of social forms: “groups are born of series and often end up by serializing themselves in turn … [what] matters to us is to display the transition from series to groups and from groups to series as constant incarnations of our practical multiplicity” ( ). Kathleen M. Gough ( ) emphasizes the open, relational, and educational dynamic of seriality: “Thinking in a series is always about thinking in multiples. You are never solo, never alone, you are always in relation” (p. 13). Seriality is thus the more authentically democratic form, that which saves individuality from the pressurized collective ego of the political group: “Once of the growth of the party becomes a criterion of goodness, it follows inevitably that the party will exert a collective pressure upon people’s minds … Political parties are organizations that are publicly and officially designed for the purpose of killing in all souls the sense of truth and justice” ( ). Cf. “What the State cannot tolerate in any way, however, is that the singularities form a community without affirming an identity, that humans co-belong without any representable condition of belonging” ( ).
18
19	, 30.
20	, 697A, in Complete Works, 73.
21	, 86.
22	( ).
23	). “In truth, the very notion of the ‘aims’ of public policy is shaped in a deep way by the dictates of quantification. We don’t quantify because we are utilitarians. We are utilitarians because we quantify” ( ). “The ‘in order to’ has become the content of the ‘for the sake of’; in other words, utility established as meaning generates meaninglessness” ( ). “The weakness of humanism’s claim consists in dogmatically imagining not only that man can hold himself up as his own measure and end (so that man is enough for man), but above all that he can do this because he comprehends what man is, when on the contrary nothing threatens man more than any such alleged comprehension of his humanity. For every de-finition imposes on the human being a finite essence, following from which it always becomes possible to delimit what deserves to remain human from what no longer does” (Marion, “Mihi magna quaestio factus sum”, 14).
24	). On individuation and/as stupidity, see ( ; ).
25	).
26	). In other words, mathematics is haunted to infinity by its own indifference toward actual entities: “Mathematics, like dialectics, is an organ of the inner higher intelligence; in practice it is an art, like oratory. Nothing is of value to them both except form: content is a matter of indifference. Mathematics may be calculating pennies or guineas, rhetoric defending truth or falsehood, it’s all the same to both of them” (#605). Henri Bortoft ( ) explains how Goethe’s approach relates to the distinction between primary (quantifiable) and secondary (non-quantifiable) qualities: “Goethe gives attention to the phenomena … so that he begins to experience their belonging together … and thereby to see how they mutually explain each other. Such a holistic explanation is an intrinsic explanation, in contrast to the extrinsic explanation whereby phenomena are explained in terms of something other than themselves—which is conceived to be ‘beyond’ or ‘behind’ the phenomena, i.e., separate from the phenomena in some way. Extrinsic explanation is the mode of explanation typical of theory-based science. But through attention to the concrete, i.e., to the phenomena as such, we begin to encounter the qualities of the phenomena without any concern for their supposed ontological status as dictated by a theory (i.e., whether they are secondary qualities). Attention to the phenomena brings us into contact with quality, not quantity. The latter is in fact reached by abstracting from the phenomena, which entails standing back from the phenomena to produce a head-orientated science (to use Goethe’s phrase) instead of participating in the phenomena through the senses” (p. 214).
27	). He describes the relation between rationalism, materialism, and descent into uniformity as follows: “As soon as it has lost all effective communication with the supra-individual intellect, reason cannot but tend more and more toward the lowest level, toward the inferior pole of existence, plunging ever more deeply into ‘materiality’; as this tendency grows, it gradually loses hold of the very idea of truth, and arrives at the point of seeking no goal other than that of making things as easy as possible for its own limited comprehension, and in this it finds an immediate satisfaction in the very fact that its own downward tendency leads it in the direction of the simplification and uniformization of all things; it submits all the more readily and speedily to this tendency because the results of this submission conform to its desires, and its ever more rapid descent cannot fail to lead at last to what has been called the ‘reign of quantity’” (94–95).
28	) “Kula concludes that in the preindustrial world, the qualitative was always dominant over the quantitative. The regime of discretion and negotiation clearly favored local interests over central powers, as was universally recognized. The privileging of judgment over objectivity in measures was only the tip of the iceberg. Every region, sometimes every village, had its own measures” ( ).
29	( ).
30	, 122.
31
32	).
33	, I.171, italics altered. Taurek’s controversial answer to the trolley problem (give all individuals an equal chance at survival by flipping a coin), regardless of its practicality, exposes the truth of this paradox: “I cannot see how or why the mere addition of numbers should change anything … The numbers, in themselves, simply do not count for me. I think they should not count for any of us” ( ).
34	).
35	world in the sense of a single total sum of all things to be an ironic shadow of homo numerans: “the postulated domain of unified total overall reality corresponds to the idea of unrestricted quantification” ( ). The sense of this irony needs clarification. Given that everything as it appears to us is precisely not a totality, but more of an unbounded and open-ended experiential expanse involving endless individualized co-witnesses with no-less-weird inner and outer worlds, our sense of there being a world, a single totality, is absurd. Now irony, as explained by Kierkegaard, represents the negative, self-suspending freedom of a subject absolutely isolated or alienated from objective reality: “It is not this or that phenomenon but the totality of existence that it contemplates sub specie ironiae [under the aspect of irony]. To this extent we see the correctness of Hegel’s view of irony as infinite absolute negativity … In irony, the subject continually wants to get outside the object, and he achieves this by realizing at every moment that the object has no reality” ( ). Per Kierkegaard’s pun, irony is a kind of bad eternity, comparable to Hegel’s bad infinity, which never stops counting itself. So, irony contemplates negatively what unrestricted quantification contemplates positively (i.e., everything as a sum), exploding the additive mass of all things into an endlessly revisable space of possibilities: “In irony, the subject is negatively free … and as such is suspended, because there is nothing that holds him. But this very freedom, this suspension, gives the ironist a certain enthusiasm, because he becomes intoxicated, so to speak, in the infinity of possibilities, and if he needs any consolation for everything that is destroyed, he can have recourse to the enormous reserve fund of possibility” ( ). Correlatively, unrestricted quantification, that which adds everything up into the totality of a world, may be grasped as a kind of anti-irony which produces for the subject not negative freedom but positive imprisonment, a pseudo-sense of being securely confined in a countable whole. I say ‘pseudo’ both because the whole is never really countable and because the aim of adding it all up is also a way of existing or standing outside the count, discounting the presence of the counter, being virtually beyond the totality, such that quantification’s anti-irony is also itself ironic, a type of negative (or even nihilistic) freedom—there is a world and I have counted it. Consider, for example, how, even at the physical level, the radically unknown is included in our calculation of a universe composed of 95% dark matter, as if we could actually, from some vantage point, see and tally the totality, the 100% beneath, above, and inside our feet. Of course, neither irony’s suspension nor quantification’s fixity suffices the infinite flow of a heart’s desire, which wants both the unlimited play of positive freedom and the absolute safety of negative imprisonment, the ‘prisonless prison’ of eternal security, in the sense of the absence of an outside, which music, neither inside nor outside the world, gives an experience of. What we want, then, is a kind of paradisical, neo-medieval irony, in the sense of a humble, unnihilistic, non-isolating self-suspension harmonizable with subjectivity/objectivity, recalling that “medieval irony stemmed from man’s recognition of his place in creation; it was not at all a challenge to God but rather an acceptance of man’s own inadequacy, bearing out Kenneth Burke’s point that ‘humility is the proper partner of irony’” ( ). In other words, it would be some decent species of sincere irony, a homely double suspension of self and totality that unveils truth. For neither imposing our image upon nor forever hiding from reality are happy or actual options.
36	, dir. Louis van Gasteren (1997), . (accessed on 5 June 2024).
37	, dir. Shaunak Sen (2022), which explores interconnectedness in relation to the meaning of breath: “Life itself is kinship. We are all a community of air. One shouldn’t differentiate between all that breathes”. Cf., “The ordinary man never loses faith. He is as one who climbs up a mountain a certain distance and, experiencing cold and difficulty of breathing, returns to the foot of the mountain. But the scientific mind goes on up the mountain until its heart freezes and dies” (Meher Baba, Everything and the Nothing, 55–6, my emphasis). We may say that breath is literally symbolic of spirit, a confluence of air and life that always speaks to the openness of beings to each other via a shared embodiment belonging to the extra-materiality of nature, its causal non-closure: “Nature goes beyond the universe. It is that which we attempt to know through measurement, but whose complexity always makes it more than we think we know at any time” ( ). Correlatively, Allen argues for the need to think breath in political ecology: “Attending to breath brings previously considered immaterialities (elements, lungs, dust, emotions, affects, atmospheres and breath itself) into sharp focus with implications for how environmental subjectivities and politics come into being and how embodiment figures through these encounters” ( ). Similarly, Gaard argues for the critical importance of ‘airstories’ in the contemporary world: “In an era of anthropogenic climate change, extinctions, migrations, pandemics, refugees and smog, recuperating, and sharing airstories offers a timely approach toward illuminating the interbeing and intra-action of all vital matter, and the life that is continuous, coexistent, and present in every breath” ( ). To consider the spiritual and environmental nature of breath promises a path beyond the overheated “global civilization greenhouse” wherein human beings, haunted by the scientistic worldview of humankind as “towered above on all side by monstrous exteriorities that breathe on it with stellar coldness and extra-human complexity”, are “driven to limit themselves to small, malicious arithmetic units”, a way into a more livable, breathable sphere or “immune-systemically effective space” for “ecstatic beings that are operated upon by the outside” ( ).
38	, 77.
39	).
40	). As Aquinas explains, pleasure perfects operation both as end and as agent, as an as-it-were extra end, a supplementary good added to the good of the action, and as an as-it-were extra agent, an instrumental helper in the action’s completion—‘as-it-were’ because the distinction is essentially logical rather than actual. “Pleasure perfects operation in two ways. First, as an end: not indeed according as an end is that on ‘account of which a thing is’; but according as every good which is added to a thing and completes it, can be called its end. And in this sense the Philosopher says (Ethic. x, 4) that ‘pleasure perfects operation … as some end added to it’: that is to say, inasmuch as to this good, which is operation, there is added another good, which is pleasure, denoting the repose of the appetite in a good that is presupposed. Secondly, as agent; not indeed directly, for the Philosopher says (Ethic. x, 4) that ‘pleasure perfects operation, not as a physician makes a man healthy, but as health does: but it does so indirectly; inasmuch as the agent, through taking pleasure in his action, is more eagerly intent on it, and carries it out with greater care. And in this sense it is said in Ethic. x, 5 that ‘pleasures increase their appropriate activities, and hinder those that are not appropriate” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-1.33.4, (accessed on 5 June 2024)). The question of pleasure’s activity and activity’s pleasure is existential, connected to a deferrable ambivalence at the core of life’s movement, or, further, to the present moment as displacement of the ambivalent ordering of life and pleasure: “But whether we choose life for the sake of pleasure or pleasure for the sake of life is a question we may dismiss for the present” (Aristotle, Ethics, 10.4). This is clarified by Coomaraswamy, drawing on Bonaventure, in relation to the beauty of the opportune: “What is true of factibilia [things to be made] is true in the same way of agibilia [actions to be done]; a man does not perform a particular good deed for the sake of its beauty, for any good deed will be beautiful in effect, but he does precisely that good deed which the occasion requires, in relation to which occasion some other good deed would be inappropriate (ineptum), and therefore awkward or ugly. In the same way the work of art is always occasional, and if not opportune, is superfluous” ( ).
41	]” (De Musica, I.2, (accessed on 5 June 2024)).
42	—an apodictic denial of the reality of the intelligible realm, the specious and at times dangerous conclusions reached by those who held an exclusively quantitative worldview—for example, the proclivity to deracinate the process of intellectual intuition in metaphysics and the results thereby achieved from the ‘respectable and relevant’ academic milieu. Quantity, in the Traditional view, is a complement to quality, not an irreconcilable antithesis; under the right conditions the complexio oppositorum becomes a coincidentia oppositorum” ( ).
43	, 46).
44	).
45	, III.55.
46	, II.92.
47	knowledge, fashioning it as knowledge about an object, as we say, ‘to gather the facts about’ something. This occludes the appreciative dimension of knowing, as hermeneutic appreciation of the thing itself, attending to it with understanding as an inherent reality, a being saturated with its own necessity. As Nietzsche ways, “I want to learn more and more how to see what is necessary in things as what is beautiful in them—thus I will be one of those who make things beautiful” ( ). Fundamentally, this imperative is about insisting on a science which unites rather than separates subjects. Cf. “In non-duality there is … knowledge and appreciation of things as they are” ( ).
48	(1984), in which the paradox of acting inside the tomb of histrio-cinematic observation is investigated. Where the real is confounded with a screenic world-picture and oneself a character, there would seem to be no space for movement and no one who can know.
49	).
50	).
51	colonial land relations” ( ). As Liboiron explains, “the methodological question is: how do I get to a place where these relations are properly scientific, rather than questions that fall outside of science, the same way ethics sections are tacked on at the end of a science textbook? How do I, as a scientist, make alterlives and good Land relations integral to dominant scientific practice?” (20).
52	).
53	( ). Gagné locates this development at the confluence of war and pandemic—specifically mustering and memorial practices—and the emergence of the modern fact, an epistemological unit the peculiar self-effacing emergence of which “was central to creating, then sustaining, the illusion that numbers are somehow epistemologically different from figurative language, that the former are somehow value-free whereas the excesses of the latter disqualify it from all but the most recreational or idealist knowledge-producing projects” ( ). Coupled with the rise of printed news bulletin and the addition of numbers to war monuments after 1500, “the meaning of numbers” was carried “beyond the instrumentality of quantification”, becoming, as Gagné states in an apt mercantile metaphor, “carriers of commemorative freight in extending a cult of memory” (794).
54	).
55	is sitting in the chair, but in fact it is the body which is sitting in the chair. The belief that the soul is sitting in the chair is due to identification with the physical body. In the same way a man believes that he is thinking, but in fact it is the mind which is thinking. The belief that the soul is thinking is due to identification with the mind. It is the mind which thinks and the body which sits. The soul is neither engaged in thinking nor in any other physical actions” ( ). This is equivalent to saying that the spontaneous, uncaused cause of action does not itself act, just the ceaseless present, as the standing now (nunc stans), does not move. Priest writes, “the soul is an initiator. It causes actions but is not caused to cause those actions. At the unconditioned level it is disclosed both that the soul is the cause of its own actions and that there is always the possibility of not acting, or acting otherwise, which is to say the soul has free will” ( ). That one does not fully realize and enjoy this spontaneous freedom is due to the mind’s being conditioned by the impressions (sanskaras) of experience: “The mind is capable of genuine freedom and spontaneity of action only when it is completely free from sanskaric ties and interests” ( ).
56	, 14.
57	).
58	, 189.
59	, 94).
60	. The mind has a place in practical life, but its role begins after the heart has had its say” ( ). Cf., “the natural sciences are unsuitable for ascertaining moral facts using measuring procedures or mathematical theorizing. This in no way means that there are no moral facts, simply that there is a great deal that cannot be scientifically explored or technologically controlled” ( ).
61	( ). Levine diagnoses qualophobia as fear of “disrespect for the authority and objectivity of science” and a “rush to solve the mind-body problem”, which causes qualophobes “to deny the undeniable” (125). Similarly, fear of either the face of reality or God may be seen as the simultaneous fear of seeing oneself, fear of seeing others, and fear of the faceless: “Each face, then, that can look upon Thy face beholdeth naught other or differing from itself, because it beholdeth its own true type … In like manner, if a lion were to attribute a face unto Thee, he would think of it as a lion’s; an ox, as an ox’s, and an eagle, as an eagle’s … In all faces is seen the Face of faces, veiled, and in a riddle; howbeit unveiled it is not seen until …“. ( ).
62
63	) of use and exchange; rather, they open to us the original place solely from which the experience of measurable external space becomes possible. They are therefore held and comprehended from the outset in the topos outopos (placeless place, no-place place) in which our experience of being-in-the-world is situated. The question ’where is the thing?’ is inseparable from the question ’where is the human?’” ( ).
64	, 179.
65	, 86.
66	) Cf. “Every being questions. Just as we question every being, every being questions us. Every questioning is being questioned. In other words, nothing lies beyond questioning. The questioning of questioning is the questioning of all questioning. It is the mother of questioning. It is a generating process, the process of bring forth into the open, and at the same time a process of conserving the bringing forth into the open” ( ). On mysticism as “a pure science of the question, not irrational experience, but the superrational experience of experience, the conscious being of question itself, the question that one is”, see ( ).
67	( ).
68	).
69	). As conscience stands above the judgment of others, questioning stands apart from opinion: “Plato shows in an unforgettable way where the difficulty lies in knowing what one does not know. It is the power of opinion against which it is so hard to obtain an admission of ignorance. It is opinion that suppresses questions. Opinion has a curious tendency to propagate itself. It would always like to be the general opinion, just as the word that the Greeks have for opinion, doxa, also means the decision made by the majority in the council assembly” ( ).
70	( ), italics altered, quoting, ( ).
71	, 2133).
72	, 25.
73	).
74	, I.57.
75	determinateness, is quality—something totally simple, immediate. Determinateness in general is the more universal which, further determined, can be something quantitative as well. On account of this simplicity, there is nothing further to say about quality as such” ( ).
76	, II.192.
77	). For an attempt to think how digital networks might be better tuned to the nature of learning, see ( ). Given that “something is clearly wrong in the technical world that we have built for ourselves” and that “our abstractions have increased the gap between the way nature works and the way people think” (39), the authors argue for the possibility of improving digital networks by restoring network theory to “the micro-foundations of networks in cellular dynamics” (40). While they do not consider the place of questioning in life process as such, the argument does hinge on bio-hermeneutic analogies between cell function and learning, specifically the way cells develop via anticipatory self-modelling and how holes or zero totalities operate in biological processes, both of which are definitive of the nature of questioning (47).
78	).
79	).
80	, I.169–70.
81	, 20, my italics.
82	, I.35.
83	, I.171.
84	). See also Elisabeth Roudinesco’s critique of identity politics which proposes “a possible world in which everyone can adhere to the principle according to which ‘I am myself, that’s all there is to it,’ without denying the diversity of human communities or essentializing either universality or difference. ‘Neither too close nor too far apart,’ as Claude Lévi-Strauss was wont to say” ( ). The connection between totality and the affective or heart-centric core of thinking (and therefore authentic identity) is articulated by Han in contradistinction to so-called artificial intelligence: “Thinking sets out from a totality that precedes concepts, ideas and information. It moves in a ‘field of experience’ before it turns toward the individual objects and facts in that field. Being in its totality, which is the concern of thinking, is disclosed first of all in an affective medium … the world as a totality is pre-reflexively disclosed to humans … Artificial intelligence may compute very quickly, but it lacks spirit … Artificial intelligence is without heart. Heartfelt thinking measures and feels spaces before it works on concepts” ( ).

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Masciandaro, N. Whoever I Am: On the Quality of Life. Religions 2024 , 15 , 735. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060735

Masciandaro N. Whoever I Am: On the Quality of Life. Religions . 2024; 15(6):735. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060735

Masciandaro, Nicola. 2024. "Whoever I Am: On the Quality of Life" Religions 15, no. 6: 735. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060735

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