Conservation Psychology: Importance Of Saving The Environment (70 Characters)

The Relationship Between Humans and Nature

Discuss about the Environment Human Perspective.

As discussed this is a relatively new field which does an extensive study between the relationship between the humans occupying earth and nature. It extensively covers conservation values and conservation behaviours. Conservation values being the attitude believes and the motives that attribute to the human being behaviors. While on the other hand conservation behaviors are the actions of man which are either increasingly helpful or reducing harmful actions (Bennett et al., 2017). It is essential to understand the need for conservation psychology so as to conserve the environment intellectually and this can only be effective by understanding the need to save the environment.

For the saving of the environment to happen, it is important to understand the attitude change and behavior change. Attitude and behavior happen to have a bidirectional behavior where the change in one can affect the change in another (Clayton et al., 2016). For example, the attitude towards a type of a person can lead to the how he behaves around the person. While the opposite of this is equally the same. In the case of the environment, a change in behavior can lead to the change in the attitude with the opposite of this having a similar impact. For the environment, a change of attitude cannot be enough to save the environment, but behavior as well needs to change. For the change of attitude different forms can be taken in account such as Social norms, cognitive dissonance, laws and regulations, tokenism, access to resources all these in relation to the environment contributes to the change in one's attitude towards the environment while on the other hand behavior can be determined by information or communication acts, norms, commitment, goals setting among others which are directly pointed towards the saving of the environment (Clayton & Myers, 2015). 

With the current changes with the human being behaviors, the planet earth can be said to be at the crisis. This is due to problems such as the urban area sprawling, natural environment shrinking, rural land use pattern changing, the increased rise of the population. All these increase the threats to the biodiversity. As seen the consumption patterns of humans and the growing population has been teamed as the biggest threat facing the earth and are seen as the direct threats towards it. An appropriate measure against this can be either education on the need to conserve our earth and the promotion of the pro-environmental behaviors.

Attitude and Behavior Change in Conservation Psychology

There are several classifications of the earth problems which when analyzed can help in the saving of the planet earth. Tame problems which are also referred to as the Benign problems. The problems have a well laid down resolving strategy which entails the definition of a problem, setting of goals to resolve the problems, research which entails the seeking and analysis of information relevant to the problem, tabling the present solutions and comparing the best approach, and finally the evaluation of the outcomes and making necessary modifications so as to implement the solution for the Tame problems. The other form of problems being the wicked problems and just like the name they lack a concrete approach on how to resolve them. They pose constant challenges which one cannot have a specific solving approach. The best examples being planet earth threats brought about by food insecurities, poverty, social conflicts, corruption, gender issues. Some of these have no laid-out approach on how to resolve them and save our planet. And in most cases, they appear similar in many countries around the world. And the resolving of these problems being dependent on governance and management of the problem singularly.

But focused research on the possibility of saving the world being seen, this involves the willingness of people, openness to different creative options, reformed leadership, education on the importance of the mother earth. This shows the possibility of saving the planet earth but the effort of every person critically needed.

As seen, the direct cause of planet earth crisis is man and their different feeding patterns, as well as the movement patterns especially, form the rural to the urban environs. With this it is essential to analyze some things such as the Urban Agriculture, this can be defined as any form and scale of food that is produced within the urban or the peri-urban areas of the town and also is inclusive of livestock (Van, 2014). The engagement in this helps resolve some of the challenging issues such as food insecurities which have been termed as some of the wicked problems affecting the planet earth. With UA such a problem in relation to food security gets attention and a sufficient resolution.

With the different changes in the human behaviors, the environment in most of the places has changed over the years. Adelaide, for example, has experienced a significant shift in the environment due to the human behaviors over the years.  This has dramatically been contributed to by the increase in the human. Research continuous to show that in the coming years Adelaide is expected to have a much high population hence threatening planet earth more due to the exhaustion of the lands the human activities. By 2045 the population is expected to have increased by more than 545000 people, 248000 more families an estimate of almost 8300 per year. With this happening the liveability of the city keeps reducing (Wells, Evan & Cheek, 2016). The liveability of the city dependent on the condition and infrastructure, attitude and knowledge, activities and the institutions and governance of the city. The green infrastructure of a city dramatically impacts the livability of the city and can be defined as the network of green spaces and water systems that deliver multiple environmental, economic and social values and benefits. It brings with it multiple advantages which are mainly interconnected with each other (Phan & Hy, 2017). It brings economic benefits due to job increased opportunities, tourism opportunities and more. Human health and wellbeing conservation due to the presence of clean resources such as water and healthy food.

Classification of Earth Problems

A focus on agriculture has been seen as the best approach to resolve the challenges facing the country. It is essential to understand the importance of agriculture in relation to the population. It's the primary source of food, impact on the growth rate, provides safety for people, among other advantages (Rashid, 2015). This also helps in the conservation of the environment by the humans in the process of keeping the natural environment. The development of the human societies has been greatly influenced by natural environment, including climate, geography, and biodiversity.

The other aspect worth addressing in relation to the environment is water. This is one of the most critical components on earth that is crucial for the existence of any life form. There are different essential uses of water which include, the fact that 71% of the entire earth is covered by water (Hounslow, 2018). This makes it necessary for all life forms animals and plants. It is also important for farming. The human body is also comprised of 45 to 65 percent water (Wang et al., 2016). The same water is also important for the production of hydroelectricity which is utilized all over the world.it is important for transportation and for other recreational activities such as swimming among many. Water primarily supports life (Ji, 2017). With there being different forms of water, the uses different from one form to the other.

With the analysis of agriculture, water and other environmental features come pollution. This is the introduction of a contaminant into the natural environment. These contaminants affect the natural environment in so many ways. There are different forms of pollutions such as water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution and others (Carmen et al., 2016). As seen the importance of the previously analyzed natural occurrences, pollution has been dramatically influenced by the different human activities. Humans have been seen as the leading pollution agents within the world. This is due to the rise in population and the increased activities taken up by man with little concern on what the action has on earth. Pollution has a significant impact on the health of a person and nature as well. Air pollution, for instance, can lead to respiratory problems, headaches, cancer risks, skin irritation, nausea and other compilations while water pollution can lead to plantation pollution, the death of aquatic animals among other complications (Delfino et al., 2014). Where waste products have been categorized as the primary source of pollutants. 

Urban Agriculture and Food Insecurities

The environment is one of the most important things to both the human being and all other sorts of life. Throughout the course, we have learned to the connection between nature and human behaviors. The different behaviors and attitudes that are needed so as to save our nature. With the ongoing actions of humans, the planet earth is at great threat, and over the past few years, different climatic problems have been experienced in different parts of the world due to the level to which the planet earth has been depleted. Other issues such as food shortage due to unfertile lands, unreliable weather condition, and other challenges have been experienced all over the world, and all these problems keep growing due to the small effort being undertaken to help save mother nature. It is essential to apply the knowledge from the course so as to educate others on the importance of our planet earth and how to salvage it.

References

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Carmen, F., Szilagyi, H., & Hegyi, A. (2016). Environment and pollution management of pollution volatile organic compounds in Cluj-Napoca. Present Environment and Sustainable Development, 10(2), 207-217.

Clayton, S., Devine-Wright, P., Swim, J., Bonnes, M., Steg, L., Whitmarsh, L., & Carrico, A. (2016). Expanding the role for psychology in addressing environmental challenges. American Psychologist, 71(3), 199.

Clayton, S., & Myers, G. (2015). Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature. John Wiley & Sons.

Delfino, R. J., Wu, J., Tjoa, T., Gullesserian, S. K., Nickerson, B., & Gillen, D. L. (2014). Asthma morbidity and ambient air pollution: effect modification by residential traffic-related air pollution. Epidemiology, 25(1), 48-57.

Hounslow, A. (2018). Water quality data: analysis and interpretation. CRC press.

Ji, Z. G. (2017). Hydrodynamics and water quality: modeling rivers, lakes, and estuaries. John Wiley & Sons.

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