Environmental Examples Essay

The lamentable condition of the Amazon River is featured in the You Tube video â€Å"The Amazon Dries Up†. It shows major portions of the river drying up with boats stranded, fish dying because of lack of oxygen, and people traveling far in search of clean water to drink. Going through this video brought up feelings of sadness and anxiety at the same time because of the deplorable status of the environment in the area, and the apparent hopelessness of the situation. Forests have been denuded for the benefit of a few but with a predictably great impact in the offing. It is scary to think about the future basing from this video especially since this video was done in 2006 yet. The emphasis of the film is against deforestation and more emission of greenhouse gases which are said to be the culprits behind the drought in the Amazon. Environmental degradation (Ferris & Stein, Ch. 15) has emerged to become one of the world’s major social problems as humans have acknowledged its effects like global warming (Ferris & Stein, Ch. 15) and climate change. The problem is actually one that is of a major dimension because many people will be affected if these problems continue to worsen. As we feel the effects of global warming, not a lot of the world’s inhabitants may survive and some species may become extinct. Furthermore, climate change can bring about devastations of unknown magnitudes. Just the recent flooding and earthquakes which occurred this year are some typical examples of unexpected destruction to the environment, to man and property. Furthermore, ongoing extinction of species may cause ecological imbalance which may also result to other unanticipated results which are still unknown, and may never be reversed. The environment needs to be everyone’s concern. Taking things one step at a time will not bring anyone to the goal immediately, yet slowly but surely, the goal can be reached. Small simple steps like the 3 Rs : Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, making use of car pools, conserving electricity will all add up to make the goal of making the environment more habitable an attainable possibility. The worst case scenario is one where the leaders we look up to seem to be passive in their stance regarding these issues. Nevertheless, it is still a conglomeration of efforts which will be the best way to address these environmental issues. Works Cited Ferris, Kerry & Stein, Jill, The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print.