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An environmental impact is the effect of human activity on the natural environment. This is usually negative but can also be positive. At a high level, most impact is related to consuming resources, creating waste and disrupting ecosystems. However, there are a large number of special cases such as the release of extremely hazardous chemicals or the extinction of a species whereby impact can be very high. The following are illustrative examples of environmental impact.
Agricultural runoff | Air pollution | Biodiversity loss | Chemical contamination | Chemical spills | Construction dust | Deforestation | Destruction of blue spaces | Destruction of green spaces | Destruction of natural heritage | Destruction of natural landscapes | Disruption of natural habitats e.g. noise pollution that disrupts nature | Energy consumption | Erosion | Fragmentation of habitats | Greenhouse gas emissions | Habitat destruction | Hazardous materials such as electronic waste | Heat-absorbing materials such as asphalt infrastructure | Human health impacts | Impact of industrial, nuclear and transportation accidents | Land use | Light pollution | Marine debris | Noise and vibrations | Pesticide drift | Radioactive pollution | Release of toxic chemicals | Resource overconsumption | Social and cultural impacts | Soil degradation | Transportation emissions | Urban runoff | Visual impact such as landscapes of concrete infrastructure | Volatile organic compounds from chemicals and materials | War related destruction including nuclear weapons | Waste generation | Waste management impacts | Water overconsumption | Water pollution |
Consuming a renewable resource in a sustainable way can be quite low impact. In some cases, supposed solutions to environmental problems can have unintended consequences or can directly create negative impacts. For example, covering a natural lake with solar panels whereby you impact natural ecosystems and blue spaces for solar panels that could just as well be on an unused roof.Next read: Examples of Environmental Issues
More about environmental issues:
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