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Other Environmental Challenges

  • Air pollution: Particularly severe in rapidly industrializing countries. Indian and Chinese cities have suffered from extremely poor air quality.
  • Plastic pollution: Vast quantities of plastic waste end up in oceans and ecosystems. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has drawn particular attention.
  • Deforestation: The Amazon rainforest and tropical forests in Indonesia and Africa have been cleared for agriculture and timber, releasing carbon and destroying biodiversity.
  • Biodiversity loss: Species are going extinct at rates 100 to 1,000 times normal background rates. The current period is sometimes called the sixth mass extinction.
  • Water scarcity: Many regions face acute water shortages exacerbated by climate change and population growth.
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