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Preventing environmental problems is cheaper than cleaning them up after the fact, but it requires the ability to foresee those problems and act on them.
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Methods of conserving our natural resources include protecting habitat, reducing the harm from fossil fuel use, and using land in sustainable ways. All of these contribute to global warming, which increases the frequency of flooding, droughts, tornadoes, and other extreme weather in various parts of the world. Deforestation and the elimination of wetlands take away habitats for a great number of organisms.
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Air and water pollution result from a variety of human activities, particularly those that depend on energy generated by the burning of fossil fuels. Mining and burning fossil fuels, clearing land for farming and other kinds of development, and manufacturing and developing industrial products have significant consequences in addition to their intended purposes. Related to infrastructure development, many of the environmental problems we face today are the result of human actions. In some extreme cases certain types of infrastructure-sanitation, for example, or schools-may be nonexistent.
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In contrast, developing countries often suffer from inadequate infrastructure. In general, developed nations have well-planned hard and soft infrastructure. A school of journalism is also part of the soft infrastructure of the magazine business. For example, the editors at a magazine are part of the magazine’s human capital infrastructure, as they provide knowledge and skills to run the magazine. Soft infrastructure is human capital, or knowledge and skills, along with the schools and training programs that develop it. It is often classified as either “hard” or “soft.” Hard infrastructure includes railroads, bridges, water systems, subway systems, and telecommunications. Infrastructure is the underlying foundation or framework of a system, organization, or location.