Making use of Statistics in Environmental Management

The carbon cycle refers to the movement of carbon in its many forms between the oceans, atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. This movement is essential because it ensures that earth is able to sustain life. All living organism found on earth needs carbon for either energy, structure, or in the case of humans for both. In the atmosphere, carbon exists in different forms. Carbon dioxide and methane are mostly responsible for the greenhouse effect. They are also amongst the most human-contributed greenhouse gases. According to statistics, it is estimated that in the past two centuries human activities have greatly altered the carbon cycle and most significantly in the atmosphere. Human activities have been directly linked to the excessive emissions of greenhouse gases, but there is no conclusive evidence that supports or denies this fact. There are other natural aspects that should be considered even though human activity might be a great contributor to these natural aspects. With the massive industrialization that has been taking place, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions has increased and this has created unnatural fluctuations in the atmosphere, which has resulted in the increased warming of the continent. It is estimated that there is approximately 40 percent more carbon dioxide in the air currently that there was about 100 years ago.
Statistics can be used to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide within the air currently and there can be numerous methodologies that could be developed to reduce the amount of emissions. As indicated by Lewis and Nocera (2006) the possibility of using other energy sources is the best alternative that we have for reducing the amount of greenhouse emissions. Lewis and Nocera (2006) has proposed and demonstrated that making use of solar power has the potential to reduce the emissions significantly and there is a possibility of having much cleaner air. They came to this conclusion after they carried a series of analysis and they were able to estimate based on the data they had available how effective the use of solar power can be to the environment. It is indicated that making use of renewable energy resources is one of the largest exploitable resources that has the potential to provide more energy within 1 hour than could be consumed by all humans in 1 year. Reducing the amount of carbon would result in a much better environment and this would reduce the overall warming of the globe. This is a positive effect because we would now have normal weather patterns and there would be reduced extreme weather conditions like tornadoes and hurricanes.
Activities of Statistics to Global Warming
Scientists have indicated that the Earth's global climate is changing and it is getting warmer faster than had been predicted by all the studies carried out in history. It is a well-known fact that the ice caps have been melting at a higher level and this has hugely contributed to the erratic weather patterns that are been experienced across the globe (Tubiello et al., 2015). In the previous studies, the data that had been used and the predictions that were made were based on the assumption that the carbon dioxide emissions would not increase as much as they have increased. This does not mean the predictions were wrong, it is just that the anticipated amounts have become higher and this has quickened the effects of global warming. As the Earth continues to get warmer, we are bound to have unpredictable weather patterns like extremely high temperatures that result in prolonged droughts. The risk of drought increases as the climate changes. In the western U.S., the prevalence and duration of drought has increased and this is a cause of concern especially considering that it might result in famine. Countries that do not have enough rainfall and their food reserves are minimal are bound to feel the effect of drought more severely. Extreme temperatures could also result in larger and longer wildfires. It has already been noted that the wildfire season is getting longer with each passing year and if this trend continues, there is a possibility that wildfires could last too long and this would have a negative effect on human lives. Having high summer and spring temperatures and early snow melting are all prime conditions for wildfires to ignite and spread.
A majority of the strategies implemented to counter drought normally focus on short-term measures and this has been shown to be less effective. It is vital that we implement long-term strategies that are geared towards increasing resilience towards more frequent drought conditions. Some of the strategies that have been proposed include better monitoring and measuring of water supply and usage nationwide, reduction of indoor water usage, increased recycling of water, and reduced outdoor water usage. These strategies might not be effective immediately, but with continuous civic education and encouragement individuals will learn how to conserve water and this will have a positive effect on the environment. Research has shown that the amount of underwater is also reducing and this is mostly due to the continuous irrigation of lands for agriculture. This has been noted to be a contributor towards global warming because there is less water in the earth. The best technological strategy would be to implement improved irrigation strategies that ensure that there is less water being used, but all the plants receive enough water. These irrigation technologies would assist in reducing the amount of outdoor water used and this would conserve more water.
Activities of Statistics to Overpopulation
Ehrlich and Holdren (1975) posited that the increased human population would have an adverse impact on the global environment. The increase in human population means that the resources available are now spread thinly and the resources cannot sustain the population. This results in human beings venturing in new locations where they have to cut down trees or they have to start farming in areas that increase the soil erosion (Du, Kawashima, Yonemura, Zhang, & Chen, 2004). The earth' population has been growing exponentially with each passing year, and it currently stands at 7 billion. The earth is designed to have as many resources as possible provided these resources are not exploited as is the case currently. The increase in human population means that people have to venture in areas designated for environmental conservation because they can no longer fit in their area. The areas that most people will venture towards are the forests and grasslands. This results in the cutting down of trees and deforestation in order to create lands for farming and agriculture. This deforestation will have a negative effect on the environment. Forests are closely associated with rainfall and it is presumed that trees attract rainfall. Since there are no trees there is likely to be less rainfall and when it does rain, there is a lot of soil erosion since there are no trees to prevent the soil from being eroded.
While it is not easy to inform people that they need to reduce the birth rate, this would be the best solution to the issue of overpopulation. However, there is need to have some more effective strategies like educating individuals on the need to conserve the environment. Farming strategies could also be taught to people to ensure that they make good use of land and they do not cut down all the trees. Understanding the effects of soil erosion on the environment and how this would impact them is probably the most effective strategy.


References
Du, M., Kawashima, S., Yonemura, S., Zhang, X., & Chen, S. (2004). Mutual influence between human activities and climate change in the Tibetan Plateau during recent years. Global and Planetary Change, 41(3), 241-249.
Ehrlich, P. R., & Holdren, J. P. (1975). Human population and the global environment. Population Debate, 92-104.
Lewis, N. S., & Nocera, D. G. (2006). Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(43), 15729-15735.
Tubiello, F. N., Salvatore, M., Ferrara, A. F., House, J., Federici, S., Rossi, S., . . . Flammini, A. (2015). The contribution of agriculture, forestry and other land use activities to global warming, 1990–2012. Global change biology, 21(7), 2655-2660.