How Economic Development In The 1950-2000 Affected

The Environment Essay, Research Paper

The economic development from 1950-2000 affected the environment by the

increase in population, industrialization started, and the shortage of nonrenewable

energy sources. Pollution, industrialization, and nonrenewable energy sources had

important affects on the environment.

The most important issue that was worried about was the increase in

population. United Nation estimates suggested that the global population would

double to more than 10 billion by the middle of the 21st century. The areas where the

population would most likely increase are Africa, Asia, and Latin America. When

these country becomes too populated, it would put a big strain on their water, land,

energy, and other natural resources needed for survival. . The increase in population

means that more forest and rain forest will be destroyed to make more room for the

people to live. Destroying rain forests are bad because for example, the Amazon rain

forest alone produces 40% of the world’s oxygen. Another important issue was

industrialization

There are now a lot of industries around the world but even though there are so

many, it is a big burden to the environment. The air, ocean, and the art become

polluted by industrial waste product. The thin gaseous layer in the upper atmosphere

protects the earth from the dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun. If the ozone layer is

destroyed, 200,000 people in the United States alone may die from diseases related to

ultraviolet radiation. The burning of gasoline and coal produces carbon dioxide that,

over time, has settled in a layer in the earth’s upper atmosphere. This creates a

situation know as greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a situation in which an

excess of carbon dioxide in the earth’s upper atmosphere lets the sun’s rays through

but traps heat close to the earth’s surface. The scarcity of energy resources is also a big

problem.

Nonrenewable energy resources might run out. This might occur because of the

increase and demand in oil which is the basic necessity we all use. We use oil for

multiple proposes. Since industries use oil and coal a lot it will eventually pollute

everything and will cause acid rain which pollutes the stream where the fishes live and

once there are no fishes, it disrupts the balance of the food chain. Which means that

whoever eats the fishes will have nothing to eat and then pretty soon they will be come

extinct and this goes on and on.

These were some examples of how economic development can led to disasters for the

environment. There might be a smudge of a change that this will not happen, but, it is

pretty guaranteed that those things would happen. Especially is global warming is

already taking place.