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Which is the most serious effect of globalization?

Definition of globalization- Globalization is a process of interaction and integration


among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, and the trend
towards countries joining together economically, through education, society and
politics. Although globalization may seem to be a good thing, this process however
has adverse effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on
economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in
societies around the world. Some of the adverse effects include the widening of
income gap between the rich and the poor, the loss of local culture, and
environmental degradation.

Adverse effects- Environmental degradation being the most important.

Loss of local cultures-Globalization tends to promote cultural exchange


across the different cultures across the globe. This means there is a
tendency for cultures of all the countries to change in the direction of a
common world culture. This is not necessarily a negative development.
But most certainly, not all the features of a global culture will be better
than the features of a existing culture of a country. For example, in India
the general cultural movement away from joint families, and weakening
of bonds of family relationships does have some disadvantages.Bad
aspects of foreign cultures are affecting the local cultures through TV and the
Internet.

Widening of income gap between the rich and the poor- The benefits of
globalization is not universal. The rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming
poorer.Developed nations have outsourced manufacturing and white collar jobs.
That means less jobs for their people. This has happened because manufacturing
work is outsourced to developing nations like China where the cost of
manufacturing goods and wages are lower. Programmers, editors, scientists and
accountants have lost their jobs due to outsourcing to cheaper locations like India.

Globalization has not only resulted in the rapid development in many countries but
also contributed to the spread of poverty in many other countries. Developing
countries are experiencing rapid income growth as they own most of the
manufacturing activities. On the other hand, developing countries often face trade
restrictions put up by other developed countries, they are not capable of producing
better quality goods that fetch higher prices that the developed countries do. Not
only that, even in developing countries there is also a widening income gap due to
globalization. The rich continue to prosper because of better opportunities, whikle
the poor and lowly-skilled workers face economic uncertainties such as
retrenchment and this widening income gap may lead to social problems such as
increasing tension between the rich and the poor.
Environmental degradation-Three major environmental concerns related to trade
are the domestic environmental effects caused by the use of imported
products, the foreign environmental effects caused by the production of
exported goods, and the environmental effects caused by transport
movements needed for international trade. As more global corporations take
over most of the aspects of farming, local resources and labors of small
farmers are decreasingly vanishing. This caused the people to buy and eat food
that are grown overseas instead of the local areas. Thus causing and
encouraging the amount of international transportation. The transport division
is a significant contributor to local air pollution, noise annoyance, intrusion to
landscapes, congestion and high fatality rates. Transport also damages the
global environment. It is contributing to two main global environmental
problems, which are the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone
layer.e main negative impact of globalisation on the environment is
the impact of export-orientated destruction. The overuse of natural
resources due to increased demand and also the removal of
ecosystems due to population growth have had a large negative
impact on the environment. Extensive deforestation has occurred
world-wide with the logging industry being fuelled by the need for
disposable products. 11 million acres a year are cut for commercial
and property industries. Deforestation whether it is for an increase
in demand or for expansion is causing a loss of biological diversity
on the planet. In Australia 90% of native forest wood are exported,
destroying Australia’s natural heritage. About one half of the forests
that covered the Earth are gone. Each year, another 16 million
hectares disappear. Deforestation is expanding and accelerating
into the remaining areas of undisturbed forest. In Indonesia,
powerful families allied with the government rulers control large and
highly valuable timber concessions. These forests are being rapidly
logged, at enormous profit. Over-fishing occurs when fishing
activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level and this
leads to resource depletion. Over-fishing has also occurred around
the globe with 9 of the world’s 17 major fishing grounds in decline
and 4 of them have been fished out commercially. A study by the
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN in 2005 found that
global stocks of most fish are stretched to their limits. Nearly a
quarter of commercial species have already been over-exploited,
with a total 70% of species now being fished close to, at, or beyond
their capacity. Globalisation has also had a negative impact on the
environment through global warming and climate
change.Globalisation has also had a negative impact on the
environment through global warming which is due to greenhouse
gas emissions which are caused by a growth of industrialisation in
the developing world and by a heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
Carbon release into the atmosphere which has caused global
warming has resulted in increases of sea levels as ice sheets and
glaciers melt which has an extensive impact on biodiversity and
weather systems. Average global temperatures have risen
approximately 0.6°C since the late 19th century due to humanity’s
emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Due to
globalisation, transportation and the gases produced has become a
large contributor to global warming. About 95% of the world’s traded
goods are moved by maritime transport, which in turn causes about
5% of the globe’s sulfur oxides and 14% of the world’s nitrogen
oxide emissions. According to the Office of National Statistics
‘Greenhouse gas emissions from transport have risen by 47% since
1990’. The Department of Climate Change in 2008 discovered that
Australian greenhouse gas emissions from cars account for 54% of
Australia’s total transport emissions.

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