degradation is the act of degrading, i.e, to destroy, devastate, screw up or to harm.
Typically, this term is associated with the concept of Ambiental degradation, which consists of a series of actions that are harmful to the balance of the environment.
But, this word can still be applied to represent the damage, deterioration and destruction of other things, such as moral degradation and the social degradation, for example. In these cases, it consists in the depravity of order and moral and social values, respectively.
Some of the main synonyms of degradation they are: decay, putrefaction, decay, decay, wear, corrosion, devastation, desolation, and destruction.
Ambiental degradation
These are all the processes that influence the imbalance of the ecosystem of a given environment, making it impossible to sustain life, whether in fauna or flora.
The degradation of the environment can be motivated by natural causes (climate changes, invasions of species that are harmful to habitat, among others), but, in most cases, environmental degradation ends up being enhanced by human influence (
anthropic actions).Pollution and burning are examples of anthropogenic actions that help to accelerate the degradation of a given environment. THE soil degradation, for example, is the consequence of excessive use of chemicals in the soil or burning, completely eliminating the fertilization of the land.
According to Federal Decree No. 97.632, of April 10, 1989, in Brazil degradation is defined as “processes resulting from damage to the environment, by which some of its properties are lost or reduced, such as the quality or productive capacity of environmental resources”.
Learn more about the meaning of environment pollution.