Smoke from vehicles and factories, industrial waste, polythene waste, etc is polluting the environment. This is harmful not only to humans but also to animals and plants.
Natural environment is of crucial importance for social and economic life. We use the living world as
a resource for food supply
an energy source
a source for recreation
a major source of medicines
natural resources for industrial products
In this respect the diversity of nature not only offers man a vast power of choice for his current needs and desires. It also enhances the role of nature as a source of solutions for the future needs and challenges of mankind.
State of ecosystems, habitats and species
In the past, human interaction with nature, although often having a disruptive effect on nature, often also enriched the quality and variety of the living world and its habitats - e.g. through the creation of artificial landscapes and soil cultivation by local farmers.
Today, however, human pressure on natural environments is greater than before in terms of magnitude and efficiency in disrupting nature and natural landscapes, most notably:
intensive agriculture replacing traditional farming; this combined with the subsidies of industrial farming has had an enormous effect on western rural landscapes and continues to be a threat.
mass tourism affecting mountains and coasts.
the policies pursued in the industry, transport and energy sectors having a direct and damaging impact on the coasts, major rivers (dam construction and associated canal building) and mountain landscapes (main road networks).
the strong focus of forestry management on economic targets primarily causes the decline in biodiversity, soil erosion and other related effects.
The clearest manifestations of the degradation of the natural environment are:
Reduction and fragmentation of habitats and landscapes
The expansion of humans activities into the natural environment, manifested by urbanisation, recreation, industrialisation, and agriculture, results in increasing uniformity in landscapes and consequential reduction, disappearance, fragmentation or isolation of habitats and landscapes.
It is evident that the increasing exploitation of land for human use greatly reduces the area of each wildlife habitat as well as the total area surface throughout Europe. The consequences are:
A decreased species diversity, due to reduced habitable surface area which corresponds to a reduced "species carrying capacity".
The reduction of the size of habitats also reduces the genetic diversity of the species living there. Smaller habitats can only accommodate smaller populations, this results in an impoverished gene pool.
The reduction of genetic resources of a species diminishes its flexibility and evolutionary adaptability to changing situations. This has significant negative impacts on its survival.
The conditions under which the reduction of habitats often occur prevent living organisms making use of their normal ways to flee their threatened habitat. Those escape routes include migration to other habitats, adaption to the changing environment, or genetic interchange with populations in nearby habitats. Of particular concern is:
The abrupt nature of human intervention; human projects are planned and implemented on a much shorter time scale than natural processes;
Furthermore human intervention, such as the construction of buildings, motorways or railways results in the fragmentation of habitats, which strongly limits the possibility for contact or migration among them;
In extreme cases even the smallest, narrowest connections between habitats are broken off. Such isolation is catastrophic for life in the habitat fragments.
Loss of Species of Fauna and Flora
Although relatively few species of Europe's fauna and flora have actually become totally extinct during this century, the continent's biodiversity is affected by decreasing species numbers and the loss of habitats in many regions. Approximately 30 % of the vertebrates and 20 % of the higher plants are classified as "threatened". Threats are directly linked to the loss of habitats due to destruction, modification and fragmentation of ecosystems as well as from overuse of pesticides and herbicides, intensive farming methods, hunting and general human disturbance. The overall deterioration of Europe's air and water quality add to the detrimental influence.