OMICS International Review Article Environment Pollution and Climate Change Araújo and Chrispim, Environ Pollut Climate Change 2017, 1:3 DOI: 10.4172/2573-458X.1000126 Volume 1 • Issue 3 • 1000126 Environ Pollut Climate Change, an open access journal ISSN: 2573-458X E n v i r o n m e n t P o ll u t i o n a n d C l i m a t e C h a n g e ISSN: 2573-458X Keywords: Environmental preservation; Deforestation; Pollution; Virtual degradation Introduction Human society is constantly in search of development. In this search, anthropic actions ofen result in pollution and degradation of the environment. Te world population has about 7 billion people and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 [1]. With this sharp growth, the production of food and all material consumer goods will also grow. As each country can not produce everything that is consumed in its own territory, the international trade is fundamental. Te example that has become classic was the concept of virtual water created by Allan [2], in which a country when consuming a product is also consuming the water used in its production. Economic or social development does not guarantee environmental development. In this sense, this article discusses the idea of “environmental underdevelopment”. Idea in which the country, society or citizen can be considered underdeveloped environmental that does not preserve or preserve little, the natural resources. In this sense, a country can be developed socially and economically but underdeveloped environmentally. Conversely, a country may be underdeveloped socially and economically but developed environmentally. Te world and the concern for environmental preservation have evolved a lot, Rio 92 was an important landmark, but there is still a long way to reach a balance between anthropic space and natural space. Regarding the problem of deforestation, there are still few actions regarding the preservation of the planet’s forest resources. Te vegetation of river banks, surroundings of springs, forests among others, have been subtracted over time, for economic reasons but also cultural. It is important to observe and study these areas more by maps and satellite images. When viewing deforestation images, it is ofen more shocking than observing data in tables or graphs. Unsustainable Soil Occupation With the concept of sustainability [3] it is observed that anthropic actions in search of economic development is ofen not compatible with the environmental health of the planet. Tere are many urban problems today, and from the most diverse categories, such as social, economic, constructive, environmental. Of particular note are: pollution of water resources (surface and groundwater), high demographic and built densities, deforestation, soil pollution and waterproofng, etc. All of these problems are in some way related to occupation and land use in urban and rural areas. And they can be caused by legal or illegal modifcations in urban planning [4]. Deforestation Deforestation is a frequent occurrence throughout the world. In the Amazon Forest, due to its great size and importance, in recent years these events have been observed more frequently. According to data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) through the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (PRODES), the rate of deforestation in the Amazon from August 2015 to July 2016 was 7,989 km², indicating an increase of 29% in relation to the previous year [5]. Te data, while impressive, are not as shocking as the images of the destruction, especially those captured by satellite. Te satellite images of the State of Mato Grosso – MT and Rondônia – RO (Figures 1 and 2), compared to the map of Brazil with the Amazon Forest and deforestation areas (Figure 3), clearly illustrates the scale of the problem. In the state of Mato Grosso, the municipality of Lucas do Rio Verde, which had a population of 6,693 inhabitants in 1991 and 45,556 in 2010 (IBGE data), had a growth of agricultural area (corn and soybean plantation) of 67,351 hectares in 1990 to 390,763 hectares in 2012 [6]. In Figures 4 and 5 it is possible to observe the signifcant increase of deforested areas in the region of Lucas do Rio Verde. *Corresponding author: Ronaldo de Sousa Araújo, Universidade Candido Mendes (UCAM); Institutos Superiores de Ensino do Censa (ISECENSA), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil, Tel: +55 22 99780 4663; E-mail: r.saraujo@hotmail.com Received May 04, 2017; Accepted May 23, 2017; Published May 31, 2017 Citation: Araújo RS, Chrispim ZMP (2017) Anthropic Actions in the Environment: The Idea of “Environmental Underdevelopment”. Environ Pollut Climate Change 1: 126. doi: 10.4172/2573-458X.1000126 Copyright: © 2017 Araújo RS, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract This article discusses the idea of environmental underdevelopment. It is observed that anthropic actions in the pursuit of social and economic development often result in pollution and degradation of the environment. The objective is to draw attention to the importance of discussing and taking action to achieve environmental development on the planet. With the bibliographical revision, the problems of unsustainable land occupation, deforestation and environmental pollution were highlighted. Were given examples of deforestation in the Amazon and environmental disaster in Rio Doce. It is concluded that countries or citizens with practices of environmental degradation can not be considered developed. And that the degree of development must be measured considering also the practices and results of environmental conservation in its territory and outside it. Anthropic Actions in the Environment: The Idea of “Environmental Underdevelopment” Ronaldo de Sousa Araújo 1 * and Zélia Maria Peixoto Chrispim 2 1 Universidade Candido Mendes (UCAM); Institutos Superiores de Ensino do Censa (ISECENSA), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil 2 Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF/CCT/LECIV), Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil