Environment, environment, environment. We just can’t get enough of it! It’s so good for us, and for the planet too! A healthy planet means thriving ecosystems, and that’s something we can all get behind! Who doesn’t want to see some amazing animals in their natural habitat? We certainly do! So let’s all do our part to keep the environment clean and healthy! It’s the right thing to do.
But it’s not all peaches and cream. There are problems with the environment. Sad but true.
The debate over human-caused climate change aside, the environment is what keeps us all alive. The food we eat, the continued existence of the Earth’s various species, greenhouse gasses in the air, the oceans, drought, pollution and on and on all impact humanity’s quality of life and survival.
The environment is important.
Before the Covid Pandemic it seemed to some that there was some, if not enough, action on behalf of governments and corporations to get serious about addressing so many environmental catastrophes. But with the turmoil following the Pandemic and the impact on oil and food following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many fear that progress is being put on hold, perhaps indefinitely.
Indeed, some fear that as food and energy scarcity threaten citizens’ livelihood as well as corporate profits, taking the drastic steps that must be taken to heal the Earth are all but impossible.
As desperate as the situation appears, we don’t have the luxury of giving up. The alternative to taking seriously the challenge of healing the planet could very well be to condemn future generations to a desertified hellscape.
So how can we fix the environment?
If there is good news, it’s that we have a good idea of what actions we need to take as a species. The problem is that we’re mostly not doing them (because we only do things that make money).
Like on the other “hub” pages on Less Bad (Business, Government, and Society), this page is broken down into four sections – environmental problems, the causes of those problems, environmental goals we want to achieve, and strategies to reach those goals.
As laid out in How to Solve Problems, the idea is that to make progress, to make things Less Bad, we need to understand what we don’t like and why it is that way, and then decide where we want to get to and how to get there.
So we start with the problems.
Problems with the Environment
It is no secret that humans have caused some serious problems for the environment. Humans have done some real damage to the natural world and it is pretty lame. We have polluted the air, the water, and the soil. We have cut down forests and destroyed habitats. We have created a whole lot of trash, and we are running out of places to put it. As a result, the natural world is in danger, and so are we.
Each of the links below leads to its own page. These broad problems with the environment are by no means comprehensive. I will be adding to it as quickly as I can. And some (many?) of the pages linked to are incomplete. But the point is to identify all the problems so that we can break down causes and propose goals and solutions to improve on each problem.
Despite the possibility of alienating some potential allies, I agree with the majority of people who think that humans are causing a lot (most) of the drastic climate change we’re seeing. If you run your car in a closed garage, you die from carbon dioxide poisoning. I have a hard time believing that all the carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gasses) we’ve been pumping into the air is not having a negative impact.
Drastically changing weather patterns, drought and wildfires, declining marine life (specifically coral reef populations), shrinking jungles and forests, fewer apex predators and general extinction, growing deserts, declining access to potable water and much more are all being exacerbated by human behavior.
While the list is certainly too long for me to get on a single page, let alone write about specifically, here are some of what I see as the biggest problems with the environment, things the vast majority of us would agree are no good:
America’s Top Issues
Climate Change
Diminishing Biodiversity: The Tragic Reality of Our Vanishing World
Drought and Water Scarcity – Devastation Awaits
The Planet is Dying
The Plastic Island is an Embarrassment
We’re Fucking Over the Monkeys – And Everything Else
With a few of the biggest environmental issues identified, let’s look at some of the reasons those problems exist.
Causes of Environmental Problems
Those problems listed above are the result of all kinds of things. Individual actions led to them, but what is probably more important to focus on is why those actions happened in the first place. What incentives or motivations caused corporations, governments, and individuals to take those individual actions that, if they didn’t create the problem, at the very least certainly made things worse.
Environmental problems have causes that are both natural and human in origin.
Natural causes can include things like severe weather events, which can lead to flooding or landslides. Other natural causes of environmental problems can include droughts, wildfires, and soil erosion. Human causes of environmental problems are typically much more damaging than natural causes. Things like pollution, deforestation, and overpopulation can have a major negative impact on the environment.
Before we can do a good job of identifying the best ways to fix the environment (and by the way no doubt there are innumerable organizations that are working as hard as they can to tackle so many important environmental issues), it’s important to understand the causes that led to those problems.
In terms of solving complex problems, systems theory emphasizes root cause analysis to understand why things are the way they are.
The following are some of the causes of the biggest problems with the environment.
Deforestation
Desertification – Who Wants to Live in a Barren Wasteland?
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Incentives
Irresponsible Corporations
Lack of awareness
Overpopulation – From One Billion to Nine Billion
Pollution Is Killing Everything
So. Much. Waste.
Vicious Cycles: Escaping the Cycle of Failure
We Only Do Things That Make Money
We’re One, Big Organism
We’re Destroying the Planet
Enough with the bad stuff, let’s look at how we can take action to fix the environment.
Environmental Goals
Most productivity “experts” agree that setting goals is the best way to achieve anything important. That makes sense to me so that’s the approach I’m taking as I explore how to make things Less Bad. After all you can’t get somewhere if you don’t know where you’re going.
The following are some environmental goals that if reached could go a long way toward healing the earth.
I know these goals aren’t “SMART”
Anyone who’s spent time in corporate America would spot a problem with the goals enumerated below, namely they aren’t “SMART” because they aren’t measurable, meaning there aren’t specific numbers or metrics attached to them. So in the world of business, there’s no way to know if the goal is reached.
At this point in the Less Bad journey, I think that general “less of this, more of that” kind of goals are useful enough. I don’t know what the perfect CO2 emission is to return the world to pre-industrial levels. (I don’t think there’s anyone else on the planet that knows that either by the way).
Maybe at a later date, if you and people like you help me grow Less Bad to the point where I can pay for better writers and researchers we can start looking at specific numbers. We’ll see.
Here are pie in the sky, if I could wave a magic wand, circumstances I believe would get the environment back to a healthy state.
A Better Future
A Healthy and Thriving Ocean
A Healthy Planet
The Circular Economy
Transparency
Strategies to Help the Environment
Again, this site is a work in progress; these strategies to fix the environment are not comprehensive, or even the most powerful ways. They are what I’ve been able to come up with (and have had time to write up) after years of reading and paying attention. But I’m strictly an amateur and if you have better ideas, I’d love to hear them (especially if you could write an article about it).
Here are what I see as some of the most powerful strategies we can take to fix the environment.
Build on What Exists
DNA Sequencing: Unlocking the Secrets of Life
Energy Storage
Fixing the World: The Ultimate Guide
How to Solve Problems in Society
Impact Consumerism
Include True Costs in Prices
Making Progress: The Only Way
Pigovian Taxes
Reduce Traffic
Reform the Finance Industry
The Quintessential Example of the Power of Transparency
The Secondhand Economy
Virtuous Cycles Can Solve All Global Challenges
We’re One, Big Organism
It’s pretty clear to me that the environment is in bad shape, and that if we stay on the current course it’s going to get a whole lot worse. This page is by no means complete (and might never be).
But the hope is that by breaking down all the factors hurting the environment, and looking at ways to make the environment better, we as groups and indivduals can do better.
Hopefully, you get what is goin on and understand the urgency of the situation. I hope you want to be a part of the attemps to make things Less Bad.