"Human progress is always at the expense of the environment." What are your views?
Key Words and Word Association
'human progress'
improvement in human condition; developmental activity in society; advancement in human behaviour or living conditions; globalisation; industrialisation
'expense of the environment'
'expense'
risk; sacrifice; loss
'environment'
climate; surrounding; habitat; setting
Benefits of Human Progress (Environmentally)
Disadvantages of Human Progress (Environmentally)
Machines taking up land space that could be used for farming etc.
Climate change. Machines, especially those used in factories emit a lot of greenhouse gases which lead to global warming due to the effect on the ozone layer. Nature is left to do the job of sustaining itself.
Overdependence on machines. Machines in today’s world do most of the work. They are left to meet the supply and demand by the humans.
Health issues. Machines can lead to serious health problems such as respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and for the noise it may leads to hearing related problems.
Globalisation
Solar Energy
Greenhouse gases released from factories add to global warming.
"Given the low greenhouse gas emissions from solar power, increasing its adoption is an essential strategy in efforts to combat climate change at an individual and national level.
SolarCity customers can reduce their electric-power carbon footprint at a scale and pace that is not only consistent with, but vastly accelerates America's attainment of Clean Power Plan goals. In fact, the typical SolarCity system starts delivering net carbon reductions in less than 1 year."
Leads to increased amount of energy being saved.
"Some gases are more effective than others at making the planet warmer and "thickening the Earth's blanket."
For each greenhouse gas, a Global Warming Potential (GWP) has been calculated to reflect how long it remains in the atmosphere, on average, and how strongly it absorbs energy. Gases with a higher GWP absorb more energy, per pound, than gases with a lower GWP, and thus contribute more to warming Earth."
"Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.1 The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation."
Describe why taking up land will have a negative impact on the environment.
Describe how greenhouse gases will lead to global warming in the near future.
Describe how the environment benefits from using solar energy, which is a form of human progress.