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Your e-mails: Environmental concerns
 SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- What do you think is today's biggest environmental concern? We asked CNN.com readers to send their comments about the changing Earth. The following are some of their thoughts. The biggest environmental concern is human consumption. The United States leads the way. I'm not a scientist or an environmentalist, but the biggest concern to me is the relentless withdrawing of natural resources from inside the earth. It seems logical that where ever there is a void inside the earth (i.e. oil, water, fossil fuels, and natural gases), that void must be filled with something. The U.S. alone is using 20 million barrels of oil a day. Just imagine what the world uses and the void left behind. We will be the demise of our own human race. Earthquakes will become an everyday occurrence. Our earth will cave in on itself or we will kill each other scrambling for that last drop of fuel to exist in today's world. The biggest environmental concern facing us today is the assumption that global warming is fact and that it can be appreciably affected by humans. Climate change on earth is a constant. It has always been occurring and humans have had little to do with it. Global warming is at best a THEORY and the thought that we can some how control the earth's temperature is presumptuous. False information is our biggest threat. The biggest environmental threat is over-reaction to it. There is no solid scientific evidence to suggest that mankind is in any way shape or form responsible for global changes to the environment. Global warming, or global cooling in the 1970's, the ozone "hole" and even deforestation. Before mankind, these things happened on a regular basis. More oil leaks into the oceans through natural fissures than leak from all ships. More ozone depleting chemicals are shot into the upper atmosphere in one good volcanic eruption than all of mankind has thrown at it throughout the industrialized age. Some countries like the developed countries are too rich to worry about pollution and many countries are too poor to do anything about it. Like it or not, the responsibility is on the backs of the developed countries that have money and resources. I believe today's biggest environmental concern is rooted in a society that is naive enough to believe that less government will aid the environment. Environmental agencies have no "teeth" to inflict pain on violators. This results in the protection of corporations that continue to produce pollution or products known to pollute. Consider the proliferation of fuel-thirsty SUVs for example, and other big ticket items whose short life spans are filling our landfills and eating our children's natural resources. Huge homes dot our country sides with vaulted ceilings that require vast amounts of energy to heat and cool, and house a society that does not want to pay taxes to help increase research funds, enforcement funds, education funds, or clean-up funds. Instead, we elect a president, a Congress, and a Senate that wants to focus on military action while cutting taxes and denying any wrong-doing in their ethics. Is there any wonder the environment is suffering? It had been calculated before it became politically incorrect, that Earth can sustain 2.5 - 3 billion people indefinitely. Not more!!! Production of food is not the problem. The biggest problem is air pollution and the current increasing standard of living in China and India, which, with additional cars and trucks will add further to the demise of the atmosphere. I believe the most dangerous situation humanity could be in is fast approaching. My biggest concern is our rate of consumption. What will happen when the world's supply of natural resources cannot meet the demands our developed countries will place on them? Countries have fought violent wars over many things less important than energy, and in an age of unaccountable proliferation of nuclear technology, and the U.N. losing its powers of persuasion, our future could be very bleak. THE top factor that determines the overall health of the planet is population. There are already too many of us consuming vast quantities of resources and contributing to rising and unmanageable amounts of waste materials. We are all about to learn the hard way that we should have paid much more attention to population control. Years ago there was an experiment with a colony of rats. They were placed in an environment with a plentitude of food, water, and space. As time went on, the colony increased in size but the resources provided were never increased. Eventually, the rats became malnourished, they fought each other constantly, and the pollution levels destroyed their living space and their health. We are those rats. We haven't learned how to manage our resources or our numbers. Life, as we know it is only going to going to become more crisis oriented and we only have ourselves to blame... unless someone has the guts to stand up and spell out our situation in black and white terms that the whole world can understand. Time is getting short. Significant changes in our relationship with this planet are required to head off what I see as a looming disaster of catastrophic proportions. I am a 46-year-old elementary teacher and have always been concerned (since I was in 5th or 6th grade) about the human population explosion and the ramifications. I don't really understand the "need to breed" by enlightened persons, especially since so many humans in the world are not bound by "spiritual beliefs" to procreate. It has always seemed to me that the most serious problems of the world (war, extreme poverty, etc) are due to the plain fact that there are just too many people on the planet to share space and resources effectively. I love children, but I do not think that humans have shown any restraint or self-control whatsoever in this regard. I believe that global warming is today's biggest environmental concern. The fact that the air temperature and water temperature has been rising ever since the Industrial Revolution is frightening. The fact that whole islands are being engulfed by the ever-rising oceans is disturbing. The fact that Louisiana is shrinking because of the rising sea levels is revolting. The fact the most beautiful places on this Earth are disappearing because people don't care. People buy non-energy efficient products. These products are made from diminishing resources and use non-renewable resources to power them. They release carbon dioxide that destroys our atmosphere and raises the temperature. The warm air chokes the life out of the Earth. The fact is that there is no single area for primary concern. The Earth is being both polluted and destroyed on a grand scale in every area and way possible. Man has proven that he is not capable of caring for himself or the planet. Stupidity, greed, egocentricity and denial on the part of policy makers that allow government, corporations, and individuals to pursue wasteful and damaging practices relating to energy, food production, pollution and the overall management of resources. The largest environmental threats originate from leaders who don't resolve the issues. They tend to worry about silly things including profits and Iraq, just to name a few. The facts are in our faces: if we don't care for our environment-the environment will no longer care for us. Honestly, my biggest concern with the environment is us. I know it's a moot point, but we better figure out a way to curb our pollution output soon. It may be impossible, but society is going to have to change the way they live. The problem is trying to convince third world nations, which are just beginning to flourish and grow. It may however be a bit too late. No matter what concessions are made, there will be consequences to our global climate in some way, shape or form. The Kyoto protocol may help in the short term, but it is just not enough and it is going to take a lot more effort, effort on a global scale, to make our future climate as least harsh as possible. Unfortunately, the all mighty dollar will not allow this world to make the necessary changes to our present energy consumption and the way we live. Everyone is just comfortable. Because of this, it appears future generations will have to live with the reality of a much harsher climate. This is definitely a pessimistic view but trying to paint a pretty picture will only cause people to turn their heads on a very serious issue. 
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