Why the environment needs your help? Five basic needs of human beings from the environment are oxygen, water, food, shelter and warmth. We get these from the planet on which we live. walking in our environment We breathe oxygen from the air We get water from the rain which fills our lakes, rivers and creeks and which we store in dams, reservoirs and water tanks. We get food from the plants, animals, fish and birds. We get shelter from the materials we take out of the earth and from plants that grow in the earth (trees) to make our homes. We get warmth from the sun, fire, power (electricity, gas, oil) and our clothing. Apart from warmth and light from the sun, these all come from our planet. But over the years the human population has grown and grown.This has had a huge impact on the environment of our planet. polluting the atmosphereThis impact has caused changes which have affected our atmosphere by polluting it (too much smoke, carbon dioxide and other 'green house gases' such as methane), by making holes in the ozone layer which protects us from some harmful rays of the sun Everything living on the earth has basic needs. Humans have caused so many changes that many living things cannot get what they need. Some of the changes have led to the extinction of many kinds of wildlife (animals, plants, insects, etc). We are beginning to realize that our basic human needs are being affected also.
