Australia's ongoing environmental crisis

While Australia is known for their natural, open scenery, and beautiful spaces, they are currently experiencing a catastrophic environmental crisis to say the least. From the start it was evident that climate change was the source of the problem, but after identifying that, it was only a matter of time to witness the many consequences that came. Natural resources such as water are currently scarce as a result of deforestation. There's numerous amounts of saline water draining onto downstreams, which inevitably contaminates water quality. This occurs due to soil’s salinity increasing when forests are cut. 7% of western Australian land is unfortunately suffering from this issue. Due to the monumental damage, recovery comes at a price of $1 billion a year. Declines in species across Australia has been an alarming issue that has been overlooked for too long. This place is home to over 600,000 species, but a consistent decline has proven that Australia's government is failing to take concrete steps in the right direction. Since the year 2000, 7.7 million habitats of hectares of endangered species were destroyed as a result of Australia's minister neglecting to follow the recommended steps in respect to reform. International agreements were settled for a very long time, but Australia's federal government has yet to keep their promise of protecting and preserving nature. It’s evident here how we have the tools and resources to a plausible solution, but accountability towards those with high power is what lacks.

It should also not go unnoticed that European settlement was a major contributing factor to Australia’s environmental crisis. It began in 1788 when European settlement presented new landscapes, freshwater conflicts arose, and new species, which all eventually affected the way water was used in regards to food production, and population growth. All these new international agreements shaped the way domestic environmental policies violated legislation. The changes that these individuals made drastically changed the future of australia's environment, and just as badly  eventually would hold back on economic development. Because of past mistakes and historical approaches to the environment, we are now seeking new approaches to improve environmental management and policy. Despite these actions being long overdue, It feels great knowing that regions are continuously putting in effort to create positive outcomes.