Environmental Science 3(3+0)

Regional Environmental Trends

Regional Concerns: Relative Importance Given to Environmental Issues by Regions



• The above figure reflects trends for the same issues, without depicting the rate of changes in these trends. In many instances, although trends are increasing, the rate of increase over the years has slowed down or was less than the rate of increase in economic growth previously experienced by countries with comparable economic growth. This suggests that several countries are making the transition to a more sustainable environment at a lower level of economic development than industrial countries typically did over the last 50 years.


• As nations develop, different sets of environmental concerns assume priority. Initially, prominence is given to issues associated with poverty alleviation and food security and development- namely, natural resource management to control land degradation, provide an adequate water supply, and protect forests from overexploitation and coastal zones from irreversible degradation. Attention to issues associated with increasing industrialization then follows. Such problems include uncontrolled urbanization and infrastructure development, energy and transport expansion, the increased use of chemicals, and waste production. More affluent societies focus on individual and global health and well-being, the intensity of resource use, heavy reliance on chemicals, and the impact of climate change and ozone destruction, as well as remaining vigilant on the long-term protection needs of natural resources. The following Figure illustrates the observed progression on environmental priority issues.


Looking to the Future

• The first GEO Report concludes with a brief exploration, based on model analyses, of what we might expect in the future for a selected number of environmental issues. The results highlight the integrated nature of the environment and underscore the need for more systematic analysis of linkages between environment, social, economic, institutional, and cultural sectors and among different environmental issues, such as biodiversity, climate, land, and water.


• Preliminary results from the model analyses confirm trends revealed by the regional chapters. They indicate that, despite both declining global birth rates since 1965 and recent policy initiatives towards more efficient and cleaner resource use in some regions, the large increases in world population, expanding economies in industrializing countries, and wasteful consumption patterns particularly in developed countries of the world will continue to increase global resource and energy consumption, generate burgeoning wastes, and spawn environmental contamination and degradation. Pressures on remaining biodiversity and natural ecosystems will increase accordingly.
  


• If no fundamental changes occur in the amount and type of energy used, global carbon dioxide emissions will increase, and the declining trends in acidifying sulphur and nitrogen concentrations may be reversed. In light of the apparent effects of human activity on climate, contingency plans to adapt to projected climate change will be required in the near future. These include the development of drought-resistant crops, increases in water use efficiency, the avoidance of ecosystem fragmentation, and an improvement of the adaptive capabilities in all regions.


• With only moderate application of improved agricultural management and technology in developing regions, the demands of growing populations and the increasing burden of poverty may well lead to substantial expansion of agricultural activities into marginal lands at the expense of remaining wilderness and associated biodiversity. Although the models project adequate availability of water and food on a global basis, regional deficiencies could be aggravated in the near future. The combination of increased pressure on land by expanding urbanization and losses of productive land through degradation and unsustainable management practices may lead to shortages in arable land and water, impeding development in several regions. Global food trade can supplement these regional shortfalls, but will create dependencies and require importing countries to engage in other production activities to finance essential food imports.


• In such a scenario, sharp regional differences will remain and poverty will be aggravated in several regions. If global economic gains are not accompanied more explicitly by investment in education, social development, and environmental protection, a move towards a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable future for all sectors of society will not be realized, and a new spate of urban and pollution-related health impacts may surface.