section_path: Environmental issues
section_name: Environmental issues
paragraph_text: Environmental issues
  
  Land degradation is "the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity" of land as a result of human activity. Land degradation is driven by many different activities, including agriculture, urbanization, energy production, and mining. Humans have altered more than three-quarters of ice-free land through habitation and other use, fundamentally changing ecosystems. Human activity is a major factor in the Holocene extinction, and human-caused climate change is causing rising sea levels and ecosystem loss. Environmental scientists study land's ecosystems, natural resources, biosphere (fauna and flora), troposphere, and the impact of human activity on these. Their recommendations have led to international action to prevent biodiversity loss and desertification, and encourage sustainable forest and waste management. The conservation movement lobbies for the protection of endangered species and the protection of natural areas, such as parks. International frameworks have focused on analyzing how humans can meet their needs while using land more efficiently and preserving its natural resources, notably under the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals framework.