The era of industrial revolution is noted by population growth and the emergence of industries. These two factors brought higher consumption and higher production. Consequently, human activity is capable to massively exploit the world’s resources. Industries has as much impact on the planet as a city population has on their municipality or a family on their own house.
If a city or a house is neglected, it can rapidly become a mess. If nobody intervenes while it degenerates, the damages inflicted to the specific environment grow, and eventually, it crumbles. Once that point is reached, there is no other alternative but to leave the area, or to destroy and rebuild it.
The planet is no different. Human activity has such an impact on the global environment that we can no longer count on the magnitude of the planet to absorb pollutants. Massive pollution provokes general ecological changes. As we approach a point of no return, it becomes necessary to assess the inflicted damages and find ways to manage them.
As obvious as it may seem, we have no alternative but to stay on planet Earth. In the case of a global deterioration, we would have nowhere to go. This is why environmentalism is not to be taken lightly. It is imperative to assess the damages human activity inflicts on the ecosystem in order to avoid any kind of irreversible damages.