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1.
Degradation of water (redirected flows, depletion of surface and ground water, wetland drainage, organic enrichment, destruction, and alteration of aquatic biota)
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2.
Soil depletion (destruction of soil structure, erosion, salinization, desertification, acidification, nutrient leaching, destruction, and alteration of soil biota)
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3.
Chemical contamination (land, air, and water pollution from pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and toxic synthetic chemicals; atmospheric ozone depletion; ocean acidification; fish kills; extinctions; biotic homogenization, and biodiversity loss; bioaccumulation; hormone disruption; immunological deficiencies, reproductive and developmental anomalies; respiratory diseases; intergenerational effects)
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4.
Altered biogeochemical cycles (alteration of the water cycle; nutrient enrichment; acid rain; fossil fuel combustion; particulate pollution; degradation of land and water biota; outbreaks of pests, pathogens, and red tides)
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5.
Global climate change (rising greenhouse gas concentrations, altered precipitation and airflow patterns, rising temperatures, effects on individual and community health, shifts among and within global ecosystems)
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| Direct depletion of nonhuman life |
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1.
Overharvest of renewable resources such as fish and timber (depleted populations, extinctions, altered food webs)
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2.
Habitat fragmentation and destruction (extinctions, biotic homogenization, emerging and reemerging pests and pathogens, loss of landscape mosaics and connectivity)
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3.
Biotic homogenization (extinctions and invasions)
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4.
Genetic engineering (homogenization of crops, antibiotic resistance, potential extinctions and invasions if genes escape, other unknown ecological effects)
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| Direct degradation of human life |
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1.
Emerging and reemerging diseases (occupational hazards, asthma and other respiratory ills, pandemics, Ebola, AIDS, hantavirus, tuberculosis, Lyme disease, West Nile fever, antibiotic resistance, diseases of overnutrition, higher death rates)
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2.
Loss of cultural diversity (genocide, ethnic cleansing, loss of cultural and linguistic diversity, loss of knowledge)
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3.
Reduced quality of life (malnutrition and starvation, failure to thrive, poverty, environmental refugees)
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4.
Environmental injustice (environmental discrimination and racism; economic exploitation; growing gaps between rich and poor individuals, segments of society, and nations; gender inequities; trampling of the environmental and economic rights of future generations)
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5.
Political instability (civil violence, especially under intransigent regimes; resource wars; international terrorism; increased number of environmental refugees)
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6.
Cumulative effects (environmental surprises, increased frequency of catastrophic natural events, boom-and-bust cycles, interactions between disease and biodiversity, collapse of civilizations)
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