Environment and Human Needs of Goods and Energy

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Economic Growth and the Environment
Chemicals Safety
Nuclear Power and the Environment
The Amazon Basin Deforestation
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Humanity is a part of a global ecosystem. However, in recent times, people started to change the environment for their needs with no regard for the consequences of these changes. Nowadays, people require more natural sources. The global economic growth has a significant impact on the environment in such issues as energy and goods production development, chemical and nuclear pollution, and natural tropical ecosystems destroying for agricultural needs.

Economic Growth and the Environment

Economic growth is connected with the amount of production increase, the quality of life improvement, and population growth. More people require more food, energy, and goods as well as new jobs. Economic growth provides new jobs for people, which is beneficial for society. However, the negative impact of economic development on the environment outweighs this benefit. Economic growth inevitably leads to environmental pressure increasing due to a high level of chemical pollution and greenhouse gas emission. China could be regarded as an example of the country, where the development of economics and production intensification caused enormous environmental damage (Aşıcı, 2013).

It is claimed the production intensification might finally lead to the limitations of essential resources (Woo & Song, 2013). Evidently, the production growth should be limited with the purpose to save the environment. However, some ethical issues should be regarded. At first, it is important to estimate ethical borders that should not be crossed by the government. In particular, the government of China prohibited having more than one child in a family with the purpose to limit the population growth, which was a violation of humans’ rights (Woo & Song, 2013). Besides, the limitation of food and goods production might lead to higher prices. This problem could be postulated as another ethical social issue. It could be concluded that instead of limitations of economic development and population growth, the policy of the efficiency increase should be provided. The government should support ecologically friendly and efficient agricultural systems. As another possible solution to the problem, financial and juridical measures for environmental pollution prevention could be named.

Chemicals Safety

Chemicals are an essential part of all the areas of people’s lives. It is considered that all chemicals could damage the environment or humans’ health. Before approving a chemical substance usage, it is important to estimate its properties, such as the level of toxicity, carcinogenicity, ability to cause genetic mutations, accumulation in food and body cells, and persistence. In general, the impact of the substance on humans’ health and the environment should be established with the purpose to evaluate possible risks. Numerous tests should be provided.

For addressing the potential threat to humans’ health and the environment, it is essential to determine the safe concentration of the chemical substance, conditions of its storage, usage, transportation, processing, and disposal. After the estimation, special rules and regulations should be created. Therefore, the international procedure of chemical authorization has been developed. This procedure allows for controlling possible risks. However, potentially dangerous chemicals could be authorized for temporary usage due to their economic profits. In such cases, further investigations should be provided for the substitution of a hazardous agent or a new technology developing (Dikshith, 2013).

It is difficult to estimate the acceptable risk of a chemical substance. Risk evaluation should be conducted with consideration for the economic or social benefits of every substance. These benefits could not be estimated objectively because they depend on current economic and political conditions. A quantitative examination of the toxic effect of a substance might be difficult to perform. Therefore, risk evaluation remains blurred (Dikshith, 2013). In general, acceptable risks depend on the economic benefits of chemicals.

Nuclear Power and the Environment

It could be stated that the increase of global energy production significantly damages the environment, mostly by greenhouse gas emission (Karakosta, Pappas, Marinakis, & Psarras, 2013). It leads to climate change and global warming, which is considered to be one of the largest problems in the 21^st century. All major sources of energy produce greenhouse gas except nuclear power. Under such conditions, nuclear power could become the most promising source of power. However, accidents with nuclear power plants, in particular, the recent accident in Japan, lead people to distrust this energy source (Karakosta et al., 2013).

Although nuclear power typically causes a low level of ecological damage, in cases of accidents, the humans’ health and the environment are exposed to high risk. Besides, problems with radioactive waste transportation and disposal remain, and the amount of such waste continues to increase. However, it is important to underline that nuclear power allows reducing the greenhouse gas emission and indirectly prevents the increase in people’s mortality (Kharecha & Hansen, 2013).

As an alternative, several renewable energy sources could be used: biogas production, solar power, and wind energy. All these energy sources are ecologically safe. However, some of them are limited to commercial usage due to their low efficiency. The application of nuclear power and renewable energy sources could mitigate climate change because they do not lead to CO₂ emission. In conclusion, it could be stated that, despite the potential threat, nuclear energy is more beneficial due to its environmental safety, lower costs, and higher efficiency. However, the question of public acceptance remains essential (Karakosta et al., 2013).

The Amazon Basin Deforestation

Tropical ecosystems, in particular, the Amazon Basin, face significant pressure due to population growth and agriculture development. This pressure might only increase in the future. Local governments destroy natural ecosystems to obtain new agricultural lands. It was predicted that in several decades with such a rate of population growth, food requirements would increase approximately twofold in comparison to the current level. Ecosystem damage and climate change would increase correspondingly (Laurance, Sayer, & Cassman, 2014).

It is known that tropical ecosystems play an important role in the global ecology. The major part of biodiversity is concentrated in the Amazon Basin. Besides, this ecosystem is essential for global carbon and oxygen cycles. Amazon Basin destroying might increase greenhouse gas emissions and intensify the process of global warming. It is known that these processes cause significant damage to the environment. The process of tropical ecosystem deforestation might affect local communities. Tropical forests are a major provider of food, water, and materials for local people. Local governments should address the process of deforestation to keep this unique region safe.

To prevent these dramatic changes, some particular measures could be used. At first, it is important to apply more efficient and ecologically friendly agricultural systems. It is required to choose for the cultivation of high-yield crops, adapted to the local climate conditions. This simple measure might also decrease fertilizer usage. Finally, it is important to develop storage and transporting systems to prevent the waste of food. Reducing the level of food losses is one of the most significant stages of agriculture efficiency increase (Laurance et. al, 2014).

Conclusion

The growth of population and economics leads to enormous sources of usage and environmental damage. Natural lands suffer from the production intensification, chemical pollution increase, energy requirements growth, and agriculture development. As a result, the climate is changing, and natural ecosystems are being destroyed. It is essential to provide rules and regulations for situation improvement. The chemicals’ risks estimation system should be developed. Besides, more efficient production, agriculture, and power systems should be introduced.

References

Aşıcı, A. A. (2013). Economic growth and its impact on environment: A panel data analysis. Ecological Indicators, 24, 324-333.

Dikshith, T. S. S. (2013). Hazardous chemicals: safety management and global regulations. New York, NY: CRC Press.

Karakosta, C., Pappas, C., Marinakis, V., & Psarras, J. (2013). Renewable energy and nuclear power towards sustainable development: Characteristics and prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 22, 187-197.

Kharecha, P. A., & Hansen, J. E. (2013). Prevented mortality and greenhouse gas emissions from historical and projected nuclear power. Environmental science & technology, 47(9), 4889-4895.

Laurance, W. F., Sayer, J., & Cassman, K. G. (2014). Agricultural expansion and its impacts on tropical nature. Trends in ecology & evolution, 29(2), 107-116.

Woo, W. T., & Song, L. (Eds.). (2013). China’s dilemma: economic growth, the environment and climate change. Canberra, Australia: ANU Press.

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