Discuss some of today's key environmental issues and how they might be addressed.

With the technological developments of the modern world, we, humans, have positioned ourselves as the main cause of environmental degradation. The modernization and technological advancements, of course, have made the life of humans easy and comfortable, however, with devastating consequences, which pose the question to human existence in the future. This essay will present the major environmental issues, we are facing today and some solutions to them. Firstly, one of the main environmental issues is the increase in the average temperature of Earth, in other words, global warming. Our modern devices produce Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and other gases, which assist in entrapping the heat from the sun and consequently, increasing the earth’s temperature. According to the research conducted by Ring & et al. (2012), our planet’s global average temperature has risen by approximately 0. 8 C from 1976 to 2010 mostly caused by us, humans. Besides natural causes, we are mostly responsible for this. A solution to this could be the implementation of the carbon tax, a tax system enforcing penalties according to the carbon produced by industries which encourage to adopt more environment-friendly approaches to manufacture the products. For instance, after the implementation of the carbon tax in Sweden, the country’s carbon emission was reduced by 25% since 1995. Another major issue is the loss of biodiversity. Many species of birds and animals have been extinct. Most of the endangered animals have been wiped off the face of the earth. The main cause of this is encroaching the habitats of wildlife and converting them to agricultural fields and residential areas. With the rise in the population of the world, the demand for food and shelter has also been increased. For this, many forests and have been cut down and this has created a serious decline in the population of wildlife. Furthermore, an increase in illegal wildlife trade has also contributed to this serious issue. Thirdly, another issue to be addressed is plastic pollution. With its feature of lightness, non-corrosiveness, and being easily manufacturable, plastic has been the most popular element all around the globe. Almost everything is made up of plastic. However, with the advantages it has, plastic products are the major cause of both land and water pollution in the present context. According to Rhodes (2018), between the period of 1950 to 2015, the total plastic waste generated was 6. 3 billion tons, out of which only 9% was recycled. The main problem is plastic takes more than 400 years to decompose and most of it is not being recycled. Plastic consumption could be reduced by warning people about the negative effects of it, encouraging them to either avoid using it or to recycle/reuse it. In conclusion, the world faces various environmental issues currently, and people need to be concerned about them to ensure the sustainability of life.