This article throws light upon the five major environmental issues in different countries. The issues are: 1. Population 2. Atmosphere 3. Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Production 4. Freshwater 5. Biodiversity and Land use Change.
Environmental Issue # 1. Population:
(i) Population of humans on this planet is currently 6,080,000,000 (2000 estimate).
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(ii) Future estimates indicate that there will be 9.3 billion people by 2050.
(iii) Stabilization of the Earth’s population should take place by 2050.
(iv) There are vast differences in the quality of life found in More Developed Countries ((MCDs) and Less Developed Countries (LDCs).
(v) Of the current population, only 1.3 billion live in industrialized or developed nations (MCDs).
(vi) 4.6 billion people live in underdeveloped countries (LCDS) and suffer some level of economic poverty.
(vii) The poorest people on this planet have an income less than $1 US per day. Estimates suggest that about 1.3 billion people are this poor.
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(viii) In 1999, per capita Gross Domestic Product was $33,900 in the United States, 23, 300 in Canada, SI,800 in India, and only $720 in Rwanda (US dollars).
(ix) People in LCDS control only 12% of the world’s wealth.
(x) The world’s urban population is growing 4 times faster that its rural population.
(xi) By the year 2025, 5 billion people will be living in cities.
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(xii) The following cities will have population increases greater than 50% from 1995 to 2015: Bombay, India; Lagos, Nigeria; Delhi, India; Karachi, Pakistan; Manila, Philippines; and Jakarta, Indonesia.
(xiii) 30.6 million people are now infected with AIDS. 90% of these people live in LDCs. 11.7 million have now died of this disease (2.3 million in 1997 alone). The AIDS epidemic has been particularly widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.
(xiv) The frequency of disease is expected to increase because of increasing poverty, climate change and the evolutionary development of resistance to antibiotics and insecticides.
(xv) Life expectancy in the countries richest countries is about 75 years while in the poorest countries it averages about 50 years.
Environmental Issue # 2. Atmosphere:
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(i) The activities of humans are drastically changing the Earth’s atmosphere.
(ii) CO2 has increased from 280 to 360 ppms in about 200 years.
(iii) This increase in CO2, a greenhouse gas, may enhance the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect and thus increase global temperatures.
(iv) The last decade was the warmest since records began.
(v) By the year 2050 scientists estimate that CO2 will increase to 600 ppm.
(vi) Climate models suggest that this amount of CO2 in the atmosphere may cause the average global temperature to increase by 1.0-3.5 degrees Celsius
(vii) In the stratosphere, holes in the Ozone Layer have developed over Antarctica and the Arctic allowing for the passage of harmful ultraviolet radiation to the Earth’s surface.
(viii) Several major cities suffer from toxic smog, a by-product of fossil fuel combustion.
(ix) Emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are causing the formation of acid precipitation and deposition.
Environmental Issue # 3. Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Production:
(i) Primarily because of population growth, available cropland per person will shrink by 21% by the year 2010.
(ii) From 1985 to 1992 world population grew by 12.8 % while grain output per person decreased by 8.5 %.
(iii) About 800 million people are chronically undernourished.
(iv) Each year 40 million people die from under nutrition and malnutrition.
(v) In many countries, degradation of water and soil are occurring because of overproduction.
(vi) By the year 2050, adequate food production will require a tripling of today’s agricultural output.
(vii) 70 percent of the major fish species are now fully or over- exploited.
(viii) In 1995, almost 20 % of the world’s fish and shellfish production came from aquaculture.
(ix) The collapse of the North Atlantic cod fishery put 30,000 Canadians out of work.
Environmental Issue # 4. Freshwater:
(i) Global water consumption increased by 600% from 1900 to 1995. Demand will continue to grow because of population growth and industrial expansion, however supplies are limited.
(ii) Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water worldwide.
(iii) Most MDCs waste water.
(iv) LDC’s on average use per capita about 1 -2 % of the water used in Canada.
(v) Many people in LDC’s live in areas influenced by droughts.
(vi) Over 1.5 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.
(vii) Aquifers used as sources of drinking water are becoming contaminated with pesticides, fertilizers, and hazardous chemicals.
(viii) The use of irrigation in agriculture is causing some severe environmental problems. For example, the Aral Sea has lost 60 % of its volume in the last 30 years.
Environmental Issue # 5. Biodiversity and Land use Change:
(i) Human activity influences about 40% of the Earth’s terrestrial productivity.
(ii) The amount of net primary productivity used directly by humans is 3.2%.
(iii) Today forests cover 24% less area than in 1700.
(iv) Most of the loss of forest was due to the conversion of natural habitat to cropland.
(v) In 1992, 150,000 square kilometers of tropical moist forest was lost.
(vi) This loss cost the environment in terms of depleted timber harvests, species habitat, biotic extinction, watershed stability, and climate stability.
(vii) 14% of the 242,000 plant species surveyed by the World Conservation Union in 1997 are threatened with extinction, mainly as a result of Land use change.
(viii) Much of the world’s rangelands are heavily overgrazed.
(ix) Overgrazing has degraded about 680 million hectares since 1950.
The purpose of this course is to examine the various environmental problems that plague the Earth. This course will also present some solutions to these problems.
Depending on where you live in the world, environmental sustainability aspects of food production can have different imperatives. These differences are most obvious when comparing less developed countries and more developed countries, where expectations and priorities are quite different.
For less developed countries, the ability to provide growing populations with the most basic of food needs is the number one priority.
(i) Food needs focus on intrinsic requirements of production, such as access to a plot of fertile land and a good water supply with which to grow the food and the ability to distribute products to consumers.
(ii) The intensity of production required to meet the needs of ever growing populations means that upstream production processes can have adverse impacts on the environment.
(iii) Concerns about environmental sustainability focus on preventing the degradation of arable land, preventing loss of water resources and finding sources of energy.
In contrast, more developed countries are not generally faced with food security issue and many problems are related to over-consumption rather than deficiencies.
(i) Food is available in abundance and consumers needs are focused on maintaining their particular life styles.
(ii) Food is expected to be safe, of high quality, available in abundant variety and prepared and packaged in a convenient form.
(iii) Downstream production processes required to meet quality and convenience expectations place additional burdens on the environment as well as those generated by upstream food production.
(iv) Sustainability issues are concerned with minimising the resource intensity of downstream processing and packaging activities.
Irrespective of these different imperatives, the factors that ultimately govern the environmental sustainability of food production are common, and most nations face challenges in all these areas:
(i) Conservation of soils and nutrient status.
(ii) Wise use of fertilizers.
(iii) Selection and preservation of productive genetic stock.
(iv) Careful use of agents for controlling disease and insect blight.
(v) Efficient use of resources, in particular water and energy.
(vi) Protection of water quality though the careful disposal of wastes.
(vii) Minimization of wastes and productive use of by-products. Sustainability issues cut across the entire food production and supply chain, from agricultural production to processing through to packing, distribution and final consumption.