One way that the environment is affected by poverty is through deforestation. Most of the world’s forests are located in some of the poorest areas on the earth. For fuel and other byproducts, forests become one of the main sources of subsistence survival. When a forest is depleted, people leave and find the next forest area to depend on. Forests provide the world with clean air, in addition to working as “sink holes” that help reduce the drastic climate changes seen in the world today. With the increasing level of deforestation taking place, the environment is taking a heavy blow and finding it difficult to recover. Impoverished communities, unaware of the errant, harmful ways in which they use natural resources, such as forest wood and soil, are continuing the destructive cycle that spirals the environment further downward.
Air pollution is another way in which poverty contributes to environmental degradation. Poor communities lack the proper knowledge when it comes to production techniques. Thus, the ways in which they use resources to help them survive are harmful to the resources around them, and ultimately the world at large. Air pollution is one of the major consequences of poor production techniques. Another health-related impact of climate change is access to clean water. Water pollution is a result of poor water management. Shrinking sources of fresh water, droughts, changes to the water cycle, and few resources for purifying water, all cause less access to clean water and sanitation. Water pollution deprives soil of nourishing elements, kills off fish, and is extremely harmful to human health.
What is the solution?
The more the global population grows, the more weight is placed on the environment. Every human being consumes their share of resources from the environment, and with so many births originating from poor communities, the burdens placed on the environment grow heavier and heavier each day. In order to help the state of the environment, we must first help the state of the poor and education is a key step.
Poor regions need to know what the proper and harmless methods are in which they can dispose of their waste.
They must learn how to tend a healthy and sound agricultural system without the reliance on degraded soil, and other unfit resources. There must be more importance placed on water management and protecting fisheries, as those are essential for the livelihood of many people. In addition, taking action to stop the rampage of deforestation is even more important in order to begin to nourish the environment back to good health.
