I was asked that question for my Forestry class at OSU, and was asked to say what I thought was the most pressing issue to deal with when it comes to the environment. My first reaction was something like I said above. Then, I thought for a second about it and remembered my Geology class about natural resources, that I'm sure Guad and Fowl should remember. I remember that we talked a lot about water. In places like Africa, India, and parts of Southeast Asia are having a really hard time with pollution and contamination in their fresh waterways. Contaminates like arsenic, cadmium, fluoride and lead, are in high enough concentration in the fresh water to be harmful to humans and animals. These people have to drink this water daily which will cause health defects in the near future. In the United States, sulfuric acid is a concern in some areas of the country. Sulfur is emitted into the air from the burning of fossil fuels. In the atmosphere, the sulfur is exposed to water vapor and turns into sulfuric acid and falls to the ground from precipitation. Therefore, our fresh waterways are being polluted. In upper New England and some parts of Canada in that region, are finding their lakes and rivers have a higher pH level (which measures the acidity) than they should, due to pollution coming from Ohio, Indiana and Iowa.
I think our fresh water is a very important issue to keep in mind. I would not say that it is the most important, because everything that has to do with the environment (even humans), are all connected in this interconnected web. Everything has an effect on something else, and so on. Kind of like the domino effect, except it can circle back around and hit us in the ass. Which we don't want, or at least I don't, but I guess I can't speak for everyone.
