Here’s How Much Our Environment Has Degraded In The Last 10 Years & It’s High Time We Wake Up
1. Earth's Forest Cover
We've been cutting our trees relentlessly and concrete jungles have replaced the actual ones. But we're not stopping at that. You can compare the world forest cover of 10 years ago and today, and you'll realise that we're only going downhill.
2. Global Temperature
According to NASA, 17 of the 18 warmest years in the 136-year record all have occurred since 2001, with the exception of 1998.
3. Ice Mass loss in Antarctica
Global warming and the effect of greenhouse gasses is increasing the temperature of our earth causing the polar caps to melt. Here's how much ice mass Antarctica has lost in last one decade.
4. CO2
Carbon dioxide is a major Greenhouse gas which is the result of activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. CO2 traps heat, hence increasing the overall temperature of the earth. Here's how much the concentration of CO2 has increased in the atmosphere in the last 10 years.
5. Sea Level Rise
There are two reasons why the seawater level rises. One, by the addition of water from melting ice sheets and glaciers and second, by the expansion of seawater as it warms.
You can see that the sea level has raised almost double in the last 10 years.
6. Ocean Acidification
Oceanic acidification is when our water bodies absorb Carbon Dioxide and the chemical reaction that follows reduces its pH level.
No wonder, with the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, our oceans are at a perpetual risk of acidification.