Humans have adapted to live in hostile environments by carving their niche out of it. The ability of humans to use various tools and build shelter that shields them from the harsh conditions have helped in their survival. Culturally, humans have been motivated to either degrade their environment to meet their economical needs (farming, housing, industrialisation, etc) or to protect and revamp it as a part of various religious practises (through festivals like the Tree planting festival of Oregon, Qingming festival of China, Van mahotsav of India, etc).
The environment, however has become more hostile in places where such cultural practises are not followed. The humans have resorted to use more energy for conditioning their home, cars and public places in response to the climate change due to degradation of environment.
