Main Concepts of Sustainable Development, Impact of Production, Trade, and Biotechnology on Diversity - Essay Example

Topic: Sustainability & Environmental Issues Name Course name Institution?s name Instructor?s name Contents Abstract 2 Main Concepts of Sustainable Development 2 Climate Changes 2 Wetlands: 3 Impact of Production, Trade and Biotechnology on Diversity 3 Pollution: 4 Deforestation 4 Industrial growth 4 Globalization 5 Concept of Citizenship and Individual Responsibility In The Promotion Of Sustainable Development 6 Impact of the Changes towards Sustainability 6 Pollution Control 7 Air pollution 7 Water Pollution: 7 Current sustainability strategies for water pollution 8 Benefits of Pollution mitigation plans 9 Issues in Waste Control 9 Abstract The quality of the environment is greatly affected by factors such as air and water pollution, climatic changes, deforestation, desertification, overexploitation of natural resources, soil degradation, and global warming. Consequently, the environment is adversely degraded and this brings about poverty and exposure to many environmental disasters. Future generations are faced with more environmental degradation issues due to the fact that environmental degradation is on the rise. Environmental sustainability means carrying out developments to realize the needs of current generations while taking into consideration the capacity of the environment to meet the needs of future generations. Therefore, it is imperative for nations around the world to use science and technology and other means in devising efficient strategies to sustain the environment. Main Concepts of Sustainable Development Climate Changes: Climate changes refer to the variations in the distribution of weather over particular time periods ranging from a few years to hundreds of years. These changes may affect certain areas or the whole world. Climate changes are brought about by global warming, which is the increase in temperature of the earth?s atmosphere as a result of high levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. These effects are related to human activities such as combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles, industries, and in the production of electric power that lead to the emission of carbon dioxide. Therefore, to achieve environmental sustainability, people should change their lifestyles to reduce the evolution of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. For instance, instead of using personal cars, people should use buses as this will reduce the number of vehicles thus reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released to the environment. Additionally, other means of electricity production should be used such as geothermal sources that do not need the burning of fossil fuels. Wetlands: Wetlands are other places that need conservation in order to sustain the environment. They serve many functions like provision of habitats for endangered species. However, for a long time, people have always regarded the wetlands as useless swamps for waste dumping. This is detrimental to both the inhabitants of the wetlands as well as people living near them. Wetlands have also been used as landfills where they are filled with earth matter to level the land for other purposes such as construction. Problems associated with landfills are sinking and shifting. This is because constructions done on landfills do not have strong foundations. Therefore, it is important avoid using wetlands as dumping sites and landfills. This will help conserve them for future generations and avoid the associated adverse effects such environmental pollution due to waste dumping as well as sinking and shifting due to landfills. Impact of Production, Trade and Biotechnology on Diversity Biodiversity is decreasing worldwide as a result of urbanization and other anthropogenic land use. This loss of biodiversity constitutes a profound threat to environmental stability. Conserving beneficial arthropods in urban settings requires an understanding of the unique set of environmental conditions that urban areas present; for example, although many species are undoubtedly hindered by habitat loss and pollution, Man?s actions have been shown to be detrimental to the environment. Trade and production have impacted the environment by contributing to various factors which are negative to the environment. Some of these factors are: Pollution: Pollution is a major issue in environmental degradation. Some forms of pollution include air, water, and soil pollution. Human activities are the major sources of environmental pollution. For instance, industries cause air pollution by the emission of harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and smoke. Water pollution occurs when waste products and sludge are released into rivers, lakes, and seas thus polluting aquatic environment which renders aquatic life difficult. Soil pollution occurs when waste products are dumped on land. Additionally, mining and extraction of fossil fuels affects the soil structure. Poor farming methods such excessive use of fertilizers and lack of crop rotation exhausts the soil thus affecting its productivity and ability to serve future generations. Deforestation: Deforestation is another main problem facing the environment. For instance, the World Rain forest Report of 2004 indicates that over the last forty years, forty percent of tropical forests have been burnt or cut down in Central America. These activities are also rampant in several places worldwide. Forests serve various important functions such as they act water catchment areas, wind breakers, and they also maintain gases in the atmosphere in that they consume carbon dioxide. Moreover, forests are the major habitat for wildlife and thus cutting them down upsets the ecological balance. The major cause of deforestation is human activity in which people cut down trees for fuel or construction among other uses. Deforestation also causes soil degradation in that it facilitates soil erosion. The top fertile soil which is laid bare is carried away by wind or runaway water thus affecting soil fertility. Industrial growth : The growth in population has prompted an increase in production of goods and services. The growth in industrial development in the developing world contributes to environmental degradation. In the developed world, there are some industries that are still challenged by disposal methods of their waste products while in the developing countries, little or no measures are taken to deal with disposal of waste (Lawrence, 2005). Most of the waste in these countries is poorly released to the environment including waste into the river, poisonous gases into the atmosphere as well as noise pollution. Thus, the global environment is deteriorating as the world grows in population, economically as well as socially. In his studies Schneider (2009) states that green house gases are one major contributor of global warming. The main green house gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. Fossil fuel burning and change in land use particularly deforestation have also contributed to the increase in radiative forcing. Globalization: Global trade has contributed towards free movement of goods and services. Globalization and global environment are terms that cannot be separated from one another. The process of globalization encompasses several aspects that have an effect on the environment. Transportation, international trade, global tourism social and political interaction contributes to environmental problems. However, as the world goes global, little effort is applied on measures and policies protecting the environment (Robert and Sven, 2002). The effects of globalization thus, bring problems to the environment especially in the developing world where policies governing the environment are lenient. International trade that allows countries to buy or sell their products in other countries has contributed to the global environmental problem. Some developed countries takes advantage of the developing world?s market availability by selling low quality products that are a threat to the environment. In the car industry for example, some countries manufacture guzzlers that are highly pollutant to the environment to innocent buyers in the developing world. As a result, the global environment continues to worsen. Unfortunately, the destruction of the environment does not only affect the consumer country because the effects are universal and affects the global environment (Robert and Sven, 2002). Concept of Citizenship and Individual Responsibility In The Promotion Of Sustainable Development Participation of the entire community is also another important sustainable measure that will enhance sustainability. Ensuring the participation of the community through an extensive public sensitization and mobilizing campaign will make the residents of the country have a more positive approach towards the need to work on sustainable measures and plans. Cultivation of a preventive culture is another significant measure of ensuring that there is a sustainable development aimed at mitigating disaster related loses. If the public is made to be more cautious in prevention rather than solution, there will be an increased sense of responsibility which will then translate to disaster management. Notably, it is important for a suitable political environment to be in place in order to make the process faster and more practical. Whenever there is less political will, there is less participation of the public and the state which will result in more future disasters as evident from the failure of the Copenhagen summit on climate change. Impact of the Changes towards Sustainability There have been major actions that are vital in the mitigation of environmental destruction and creation of sustainable development. These actions are; creation of public policy, proper urban planning and construction, participation of the entire community, and cultivation of a preventive culture among the residents of a given country. As explained by Alphen (2006) the public policy has dealt with decisions that govern businesses, government, and the entire society on land usage in terms of development. States have enacted such policies with an aim of reducing ecological disasters by reducing their chances of occurrence. It has thus become imperative for states to enforce these vital prevention policies since their implementation alone is not adequate in ensuring a sustainable development. Proper urban planning has also been a key factor in reducing the number lives lost in the event of ecological disasters and increasing a sustainable environmen. It is obvious that proper planning of urban development have mitigated the number of deaths and destruction that occur as a result of natural disasters (Munasinghe, 2008). This is one of the major sustainable developments that continues to mitigate any possible future disasters. Pollution Control The increased concerns of environmental degradation and global warming brought about by industrialization has seen many policies being adopted to eliminate the amount of pollution that is taking place at an alarming rate. The major categories of pollution are: Air pollution: Air pollution is mostly contributed from automobiles. Pollution control measures are bringing changes to industries such as the Automobile industry whereby the industry is restructuring itself to be able to use the modern form of production in the struggle to come up with vehicles that are environmental friendly. France and California are good examples of states that have adopted key measures to ensure that the vehicle manufacturers stick to the laid down regulations of producing environmental friendly vehicles. Persistent increases in oil prices has also been a major factor that has seen manufactures devising new energy such as biofuel which can be used to drive the engines instead of oil. Water Pollution: Water pollution may be referred as the contamination of water sources which include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans (to mention a few). Water pollution is mainly caused by pollutants which find their way into water sources either directly or indirectly especially from homes, hotels, farms, oil spills and industries without being treated to remove harmful components or chemicals. Contaminated water hinders the survival of plants and organisms in water. This occurs due to reduction in the amounts of oxygen and reduced sunlight that reach plants and organisms. Organisms die because their breathing systems are affected and they also lack food sources. This may eventually lead to the loss of different types of species found in water, reducing the population of organisms and plants and causing disruption of the natural ecosystem. Current sustainability strategies for water pollution The first current sustainability strategy addressing the problem of water pollution is sewage treatment. Wastes from sewage are treated before being released to water sources. This help to remove more than 90 percent of the pollutants which reduce the pollution of water. Sewage treatment is also accompanied by repairing of municipal and city sewer pipes. This help to reduce the untreated sewage waste from overflowing into water bodies. The other current sustainability strategy is control of urban runoff to reduce the speed and the amount of pollutants. This is achieved through creation of trenches and dams which helps to reduce the amount of pollutants that reach into water sources and water bodies. Additionally, replacing chemical fertilizers by use of organic fertilizers which reduce the accumulation of nitrates in water thus reducing the amount of water pollution is also another current sustainability strategy. This has been a major step forward towards ensuring that organic fertilizers which are less harmful are used by farmers. The other sustainability strategy is industrial treatment of wastewater. This is carried out through recycling of wastes before being released into water sources to ensure no pollutants are introduced into water bodies. Furthermore, creation of laws and punishments for those polluting water sources is also another sustainability strategy and this is done through banning of industries by withdrawing their licenses and imposing heavy fines on those who pollute water. Benefits of Pollution mitigation plans There are many benefits and challenges of these mitigation plan aimed at controlling pollution. The mitigation plan seeks to address both the short term and long term effects of pollution. Thus, it is comprehensive and covers the major areas required to reduce pollution. The second benefit is that it is easy to implement because it requires the cooperation of different stakeholders. Third, it is aimed at reducing massive loss of fish species, sea birds, sea mammals and the destruction of water ecosystems in coastal regions Issues in Waste Control There are pertinent issues in waste mitigation issues; they include increased cost of monitoring industries and other pollutants sources. The other challenge is that authorities appointed to oversee environmental issues in many states act like puppets and thus they may fail to achieve the intended objectives of the plan. Additionally, adoption of modern technology may be expensive and takes time to implement in controlling waste (Yvonne: link provided). Surname 1 Read More