Chapter 3
Ten most important environmental
Threats
Dr. Rola Najib
BAU – ENVI004
What are environmental issues?
Environmental issues are any such issues created due to human
activities and cause harm to the environment.
The big global environmental issues
Overpopulation
• Rapid population growth puts strain on natural resources, which results in the
degradation of our environment.
• More population simply means more demand for food, energy, clothes, and
shelter.
• We are facing a shortage of resources such as food, water and fuel to sustain the
rising global population, particularly in developing countries.
• Intensive agriculture attempting to lessen the problem actually leads to more
damage through the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides.
The big global environmental issues
Pollution
• Air pollution: takes place when gases, dust particles,
fumes or odor are presented in the atmosphere in a
way that makes them noxious to human health and
ecosystems.
• Industrialization, population growth and transport
sector are the fundamental causes of air pollution.
The big global environmental issues
Effects of air
pollution
Long-term
Short-term
chronic
acute effects
effects
Respiratory
Sneezing Coughing
problems
The big global environmental issues
• Water pollution: occurs when harmful substances (such as industrial chemicals,
agricultural runoff, sewage, or microorganisms) contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean,
sea, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or
the environment.
• Land pollution: refers to the degradation of the Earth’s land surface as a result of human
activities (industrial operations, agriculture, and improper waste disposal…).
The big global environmental issues
Global warming
Global warming is the slow increase in the average
temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere, mainly caused by
increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere (like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide) that trap heat from the sun and prevent part of this
heat from escaping back into the space.
The big global environmental issues
Global warming
The big global environmental issues
Acid rain
• Acid rain, or acid deposition, refers to acidic
precipitation that is caused by the release of
pollutants (Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen
dioxide) into the atmosphere. These gases
often come from automobiles, industries, and
the burning of fossil fuels in power plants.
The big global environmental issues
Acid rain
• Once in the atmosphere, these pollutants
react with water vapor (H₂O) to produce
acidic chemicals (sulfuric acid and nitric
acid), which then fall to the Earth as acid
rain, destroying both natural ecosystems
and man-made products.
The big global environmental issues
Acid rain
• Acid rain affects aquatic ecosystem.
• Acid rain affects plants and trees. Thus making them
vulnerable to diseases, insects and extreme weather. Acid
falling on a forest‘s soil is also harmful because it disrupts
soil nutrients, kills microorganisms in the soil, and can
sometimes cause a calcium deficiency.
• Acid rain affects buildings. Acid deposition also has an
impact on architecture and art because of its ability to
corrode certain materials.
The big global environmental issues
Ocean acidification
• The increase in the production of carbon dioxide by humans causes the oceans’
acidity to rise, which has a negative impact on marine life.
• CO₂ reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).
• Marine organisms may experience physiological stress, affecting reproduction,
growth, and survival.
The big global environmental issues
Deforestation
• Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for more homes and
industries.
• Apart from that, the use of forest land for human settlement, agriculture, animal
grazing, harvest for fuelwood, and active quarries are some of the other causes of
deforestation.
• Deforestation contributes to global warming as decreased forest size puts carbon
back into the environment.
The big global environmental issues
Ozone layer depletion
• The ozone layer is a region in the earth’s
stratosphere that contains high
concentrations of ozone and protects the
earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiations
of the sun.
• If the ozone layer was absent, millions of
people would develop skin diseases and may
have weakened immune systems
The big global environmental issues
Ozone layer depletion
• Ozone layer depletion is the gradual thinning of
the earth’s ozone layer in the stratosphere caused
due to the release of chemical compounds
containing gaseous bromine or chlorine from
industries or other human activities.
• These atoms come in contact with ozone
molecules and destroy them.
The big global environmental issues
Ozone layer depletion
Effects Of Ozone Layer Depletion
✓Effects on human health
✓Effects on animals
✓Effects on the environment
✓Effects on marine life
The big global environmental issues
Waste disposal
Plastic
waste
Waste
disposal
Electronic Nuclear
waste waste
The big global environmental issues
Waste disposal
Nuclear waste is a type of hazardous waste that
contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a
result of many activities, including nuclear medicine,
nuclear research, nuclear power generation, and
nuclear weapons reprocessing.
The big global environmental issues
Loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity, or the variety of all living things on our planet, has been declining at an
alarming rate in recent years, mainly due to human activities. This causes an
imbalance in natural processes and poses a threat to ecosystems – coral reef
destruction is particularly affected.
Importance of biodiversity:
1. Supply of food, O2 and medicines
2. Regulation of climate and cycles
3. Soil protection
4. Pest control
5. Ecological importance (regulation of species balance)
6. Supply of goods (papers, woods…..)
7. Recreation (tourism, nature photography…..)
8. Scientific development (biotechnology and genetic engineering…)
The big global environmental issues
Public health issues
Lack of clean water is one of the leading environmental problems currently.
Pollutants in the air also cause issues such as respiratory diseases and cardiovascular
diseases.
Environment Performance Index of Lebanon
• The Environment Performance Index (EPI) is benchmark of the environmental
performance of a country.
• The higher the score over 100 the higher the environment performance of the
country in achieving environment sustainability.
• Lebanon ranked 124th of 180 countries in the world, scoring 40.1 / 100 in the
2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).
EPI at Global & Regional levels
• At a global level, European countries dominate the top 10. Estonia topped the
2024 EPI list of rankings with an overall score of 75.3/100.
• Regionally, the United Arab Emirates emerged as the best performer in the 2024
EPI with an overall score of 52/100 and a global rank of 53.
EPI at Global & Regional levels
EPI at Global & Regional levels
EPI at Global & Regional levels
The main sources of Cost of Environmental Damage (COED) in Lebanon
Environmental damage Cost
Air pollution Negative impact on human health
Poor water and sanitation Water-borne diseases
Active quarries Land and forest degradation
Increased pressures on the marine Coastal zone degradation
environment