Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aidan L. Swiatlowski
South Lyon High School Reading and Writing for the College Bound
March 2018
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS ENVIRONMENT 2
Abstract
The main focus of this paper is to discuss the problems and solutions related to the environment
because of globalization. Ever since I took the class Environmental Studies, I have had a great
interest in the topic and feel that it is important to inform people of the environmental issues and
things that can be done to reduce the damage on the earth. This should be a great concern on a
global level because it affects everyone on the planet. If we don’t take action now, sooner or later
it will catch up with us. Though many may not know how serious the environment is being
affected, this paper will touch on the main problems that arise because of globalization, such as
the rise of carbon levels and the depletion of our resources. Globalization can also be a solution
to a lot of these issues. While a complete solution may be unrealistic, options like investing in
renewable energy and creating regulations to preserve the environment can certainly assist in
concerns that face humanity, while also attempting to pinpoint solutions to the dilemmas that
One of the greatest challenges facing the world today has to do with our environment.
Globalization is the act of extending to all parts of the world (Dictionary.com, 2018). Because of
the rapid rate at which we are globalizing, we are destroying our earth. This is a result of things
such as rising carbon levels and deforestation. These are huge problems that are looming over
our species. If we want a sustainable future, we must take action now. While globalization has
caused these negative effects, it can also play a major role in the solution. The spread of ideas
worldwide can lead to new laws and regulations as well as a greater reliance on renewable
energy. Overall, globalization has caused many issues with our environment, but it can also be a
Problems
As the world has become more industrialized, there has been drastic changes in the
climate. Humans have caused a lot of fluctuation in what would seem to be Earth’s natural
progression. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the amount of emissions that our species has
pumped into the atmosphere has risen tremendously. Before machines, the carbon dioxide levels
in the air were slowly rising. Without human interaction, this slow increase would have most
likely been sustained. We have accelerated this process exponentially. As more countries have
access to cars and other forms of machinery, it is inevitable that our CO₂ levels have increased.
The main problem here is that this doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime in the near future.
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Our reliance on fossil fuels just keeps increasing, and as a result, the atmosphere’s carbon levels
will follow suit. Because of this, issues, such as climate change and ozone depletion, continue to
The purpose of the layer of ozone around our earth is to act as a protective shield and to
fuels or the cutting down and burning of forests (“Why does CO2,” n.d.). These are all related to
globalization and the things that have been introduced to the world. The constant burning of
fossil fuels to generate energy does a tremendous amount of damage. Many people don’t realize
the effect globalization really has because it’s human nature to see the positivity that it has
brought into their lives. Especially with climate change, otherwise known as global warming,
definitely being a controversial concept, it has in turn lead to the lack of concern about the real
events happening around the globe. There is already evidence of the polar ice caps melting due
to the warming climate. In his article, Daniel Glick (n.d.) said that the “recent rate of global sea
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS ENVIRONMENT 5
level. . .is rising more rapidly—about one-tenth of an inch a year” (para. 8). Now one-tenth of an
inch doesn’t seem to be a lot but the problem is that this won’t be slowing down anytime soon. If
anything, it will just increase at a faster rate, and soon coastal places around the world will be
underwater. While it is true that our current generation won’t be affected at a great scale, we
Deforestation
As the civilized world expands, so does its need for land and resources. This has resulted
in humanity actively acquiring undeveloped areas. Humans feel the best way to use these areas is
to clear them of all things natural. This allows them to use the space they have to either gain
resources or foster the land for things such as farming or development. This is happening on a
global scale, causing destruction to millions of acres of forest. In the Amazon alone, “the rate of
deforestation. . .has increased by 29 percent over last year” (Camila Domonoske, 2016, para. 1).
With the eradication of our environment, we destroy the habitats for countless amounts of the
wildlife including the rare species that live in particular regions like the Amazon. According to
the article “How many species are we losing?” (2017), experts estimate that we are causing
species to go extinct at a rate that is between 1,000 and 10,000 times greater than the natural
extinction rate. While there are some other factors that can influence this number, the
development of buildings and the use natural resources are the biggest reasons we are losing so
many species.
Deforestation greatly affects carbon levels as well. As previously mentioned, our world
struggles with the high emissions that we put into the atmosphere. Deforestation is an important
contributor to this struggle, due to the large scale that it happens on. While this is a big enough
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS ENVIRONMENT 6
problem in of itself, it also destroys the the soil, making farming difficult. This furthers the issue
by making it harder to grow vegetation. Overall, globalization has increased the rates of
deforestation, which has caused tremendous problems, and, if we continue clearing forests at the
rate of which we do, we will not be able to sustain our way of life for much longer.
Solutions
There have been many attempts to solve the growing problems of the environment.
Numerous bills have been proposed, treaties have been fought over, and agreements have been
made. In the U.S., we have an organization known as the Environmental Protection Agency,
which is designed to regulate all environmental topics. The EPA does its best to protect the
natural world, but if there was a way to strengthen this group, our nation would have an increase
in positive results. The start of this agency was indirectly related to Rachel Carson’s novel Silent
Spring, which brought a tremendous amount of attention to the environment. In Jack Lewis’
article he stated, “this exhaustively researched, carefully reasoned, and beautifully written attack
on the indiscriminate use of pesticides. . . attracted immediate attention and wound up causing a
revolution in public opinion” (2016, para. 2). It’s novels and things of that sort that obviously get
society to consider the events happening around the world. With our world being as connected as
it is through globalization, there have been many attempts to lessen the effects of climate change;
one of these attempts was the Kyoto Protocol. It was a global agreement that all of the countries
involved would actively set out to lower carbon emissions. According to the UNFCCC (2014),
“the Kyoto Protocol is seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction”
(para. 12). This first step is crucial to the change because there has to be a start to everything and
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS ENVIRONMENT 7
the protocol was a great start. President George Bush famously didn’t sign the the treaty, so the
agreements that the other countries made have no effect on the U.S. Because of this, the United
need in our world to create a better environment. One country cannot fix
connected, thanks to globalization, these ideas are able to be spread to other nations in hopes of
Renewable Resources
One of the best ways to reduce the amount of carbon that we put into the atmosphere is
through renewable energy. What renewable means in this context is that the resource keeps
replenishing itself naturally. According to Bethany Wieman (n.d.), “renewable resources are an
important aspect of sustainability” (para. 1). Energy sources such as solar, wind, and
hydroelectric will theoretically always be available while creating a safer environment compared
to fossil fuels creating a more sustainable environment. These alternative energy sources are a
GLOBALIZATION AFFECTS ENVIRONMENT 8
much better way to power our world than their non-renewable counterparts. They produce very
little, if any, harmful emissions so, replacing them over carbon-intensive energy sources would
significantly decrease the global warming emissions (“Benefits of,” 2017). Because of this,
renewable sources should to be the future for providing energy. Our world has made many
technological advancements in many different fields. This has made using sustainable energy
more efficient. Yet, they can be complex and need skilled laborers to maintain this efficiency,
adding more sustainable energy sources will help the global economy by creating thousands of
jobs.
Globalization will continue to grow and there isn’t much we can do about that. However,
the world can use it to benefit our environment instead of causing more damage. It may seem
challenging for society to come together to use the power of globalization to help the world and,
with the path we are headed down, it doesn’t seem likely. With laws and regulations and the
spread of renewable energy, it is very possible for nations worldwide to come together to create a
better place for everyone. Although globalization has brought harm to the environment, it is still
References
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https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/CO2-and-global-w
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