What makes a practice unsustainable?
Unsustainable refers to anything we cannot continue at its current rate, i.e., we cannot keep it going. We use the term for debts, economic development, agricultural practices, and things we do that cause environmental damage. If something is unsustainable, we cannot prolong it or continue with it.
Unsustainable resources are resources that will eventually run out. Examples of unsustainable resources are: Fossil Fuels: they come from the earth, are not reusable, and will someday be depleted. Agricultural Practices: land conversion and habitat loss(rainforest deforestation)
Unsustainable development occurs when present progress is at the expense of future generations. For example, irresponsible planning and environmental degradation through exploitation of resources generates waste and pollution that damages ecosystems. Such practices are not sustainable in the long term.
In short, something is sustainable if it can be maintained indefinitely and something is unsustainable if it cannot be maintained indefinitely.
Some human activities that cause damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a global scale include population growth, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation.
- Policy failure. ...
- Rural inequalities. ...
- Resource imbalances. ...
- Unsustainable technologies. ...
- Trade relations. ...
- Intensification through specialization. ...
- Intensification through diversification.
Pesticides, fertilizers and other toxic farm chemicals can poison fresh water, marine ecosystems, air and soil. They also can remain in the environment for generations. Many pesticides are suspected of disrupting the hormonal systems of people and wildlife. Fertilizer run-off impacts waterways and coral reefs.
In an agricultural sense, unsustainable agriculture is the adoption of practices that will eventually lead to degradation in the quality of soil, land, and other natural resources that are needed for farming and a healthy future.
Food is wasted throughout the entire production chain; from initial crop growth, to supermarket screening, to final household consumption. Food waste includes food scraps, discarded food, and uneaten food. Some facts about food waste: One third (1.3 billion tons) of food produced globally is wasted every year.
Some human activities that cause damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a global scale include population growth, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation.
What energy practices today are unsustainable?
Nonrenewable energy resources include coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear energy. Once these resources are used up, they cannot be replaced, which is a major problem for humanity as we are currently dependent on them to supply most of our energy needs.
Leading among the causes of unsustainable agriculture are inadequate or inappropriate policies which include pricing, subsidy and tax policies which have encouraged the excessive, and often uneconomic, use of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, and the overexploitation of land.
Building houses along coastlines, cutting forests, releasing carbon dioxide, and building in catastrophe-prone areas are all unsustainable activities, but they do not belong to the category of needing to be detoxified. A university campus can become more sustainable in many ways.
- Petroleum.
- Hydrocarbon gas liquids.
- Natural gas.
- Coal.
- Nuclear energy.
Scientists agree that there are only four root causes of unsustainability based on natural cycles; 3 are ecological and 1 is social: they are necessary, sufficient and non-overlapping; If we stop doing these four things we will be sustainable.
Having considered the energy, nutrient, water, soil and land requirements for food production, it must be concluded that the food system is unsustainable and needs to change because the natural resource base, future satisfaction and environmentally non-degrading requirements cannot be met.
Farming our land away
Monoculture farming directly impairs the land, reducing the amount of water and nutrients the soil can retain, risking another Dust Bowl. Agriculture claims 80-90% of water use in the U.S., and has depleted groundwater in parts of the Great Plains by up to 30%.
Definition. The state in which human consumption or activities exceeds the ability of the ecosystem to replenish over time, thus markedly harming the ecosystem (by depressing biodiversity and productivity, depleting natural resources) and the future generations. Supplement.
