Essay About Environmental Problems

Introduction
The point of this essay is to evaluate if the environment is effected by the poor or not. Various environmental issues such as water pollution, deforestation and poor sanitation systems will be explained, and how such problems could potentially affect the poor and how the poor could possibly be contributing to these environmental problems.
There are many different environmental issues in many different countries all around the world. Gambia faces environmental issues such as; water pollution, the decline in animal populations, soil erosion, deforestation and unsanitary water supplies.
Gambia has a high percentage of poverty, many of which are without sufficient housing and jobs. For people that have no access to housing, well consturcted disposing methods and sanitary systems, brings about a higher chance of the poor adding to environmental problems, rather than helping to sustain the environment.
Are the poor victims or agents of environmental problems?
Agents
The poor affect the environment in a different way than usual. The environmental stress is caused by the lack of means that poor people have to buy food, housing and basic resources they need to survive. Without these means, people become desperate to survive

The effects of climate change can be devastating to those living in poverty. Some effects of climate change are; heavy rains, drought, heat waves and natural disasters. Heavy rains could potentially ruin houses made from natural resources; it could ruin crops and wash waste from the land into the ocean. Drought could dry up the soil and rivers. As the poor generally do not have access to sanitized water as stated above, the rivers that they use as a source of water could dry up and will result in no water at all for cooking, drinking and cleaning. A human needs water to survive, and if there is no access to water at all, people may