Issues of Environment and Development

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Issues of environment and development

It is clear that classic market failure leads to excessive environmental degradation. Now we also understand that the interaction between poverty and environmental degradation can lead to self-reproducing practices, whereby as a result of ignorance or economic necessity the community may inadvertently destroy or deplete the resources on which they depend to survive. The increasing pressure on environmental resources in developing countries can have serious consequences for self-sufficiency, income distribution, future growth potential and a basic quality of life. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Sustainable Development and Environmental Accounting

The term sustainability reflects the need for careful balance between economic growth and environmental preservation. Although many definitions exist, sustainability generally refers to “meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. ”Future growth and overall quality of life are critically dependent on the quality of the environment. The natural resource base of a country and the quality of its air, water, and land represent a common heritage for all generations. For example, the preservation or loss of valuable environmental resources should be factored into estimates of economic growth and human well-being. Alternatively, policymakers may set a goal of no net loss of environmental assets. In other words, if an environmental resource is damaged or depleted in one area, a resource of equal or greater value should be regenerated elsewhere. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Population, Resources, and the Environment

A good deal of the priority over environmental troubles stems from the perception that we may also reach a restriction to the range of human beings whose wishes may be met with the aid of the earth’s finite sources. Rapidly developing populations have brought about land, water, and fuelwood shortages in rural areas and to city health crises stemming from loss of sanitation and clean water. In many of the poorest areas of the globe, it's far clear that growing population density has contributed to severe and accelerating degradation of the very resources that these growing populations depend on for survival. to fulfill expanding needs in developing nations, environmental devastation must be halted and the productivity of present resources stretched further in order to benefit more people. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Poverty and the Environment

The poor are commonly the principle victims of environmental degradation. The poor suffer more from environmental decay because they have to often live on degraded lands that are less expensive because the wealthy avoid them. furthermore, people living in poverty have less political clout to lessen pollution where they live. And residing in less efficient polluted lands offers the poor much less possibility to work their manner out of poverty. Too often, again, high fertility is blamed for issues that are attributable to poverty itself. as an example, China’s population density according to acre of arable land is two times that of India, yet yields also are two times as excessive. although it's miles clear that environmental destruction and excessive fertility go hand in hand, they're each direct outgrowths of a 3rd issue, absolute poverty. For environmental policies to reach developing countries, they must first address the troubles of landlessness, poverty, and lack of access to institutional resources. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Growth versus the Environment?

Evidence indicates that the very poor cause great environmental destruction as a direct end result of their poverty. It follows that growing the financial status of the poorest group could offer an environmental windfall. However, because the earnings and consumption levels of everybody else in the economy also rise, there's probably to be a net increase in environmental destruction. Meeting growing consumption demand while maintaining environmental degradation at a minimal can be no small mission. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Environmental Kuznets curve  

A graph reflecting the idea that pollutants and different environmental degradation first rises and then falls with increases in income per capita. There is evidence that this holds for a few pollutants, which include sulfur dioxide and particulate matter in the air, but not for others, which includes emissions of greenhouse gases. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Rural Development and the Environment

Many areas of the developing world is being unsustainably overexploited by existing populations, meeting new output target to produce enough food for rapidly growing population will require radical changes in the distribution, use, and quantity of resources available to the agricultural sector. Women are the caretakers of the agricultural sector, so the programs must be constructed around their role. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Urban Development and the Environment

Fast population increases, accompanied via heavy rural-urban migration, are leading to remarkable rates of urban population growth. Consequently, few governments are prepared to cope with the hugely extended strain on existing urban water supplies and sanitation centers. Congestion, vehicular and industrial emissions, and poorly ventilated household stoves also inflate the noticeably high environmental costs of urban crowding. lost productivity of sick or diseased workers, infection of existing water resources, and destruction of infrastructure, further to increased gasoline charges incurred by people’s having to boil unsafe water, are just a few of the costs related to poor urban conditions. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

The Global Environment and Economy

As total world population grows and incomes rise, net global environmental degradation is likely to worsen. Without substantial support from developed countries, poor countries may cause decrease in biodiversity, rainforest destruction and population growth. Up to now, the developed world has been responsible for the cumulative environmental destruction. But, with high fertility rates, rising average incomes, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world, this pattern is likely to reverse within the coming years. (Todoro Michael, 2015)

Desertification 

The transformation of a region into dry, barren land with little or no capacity to sustain life without an artificial source of water.

Due to the intensification of land use by a rapidly growing population, the cutting of trees for firewood, and the clearing of marginal land for cultivation, the soil is increasingly more exposed to damaging environmental forces. The loss of flora, which facilitates mitigate the damaging impact of heavy winds, rain, and desiccation by the sun, results in more rapid erosion of valuable topsoil needed for cultivation. (Todoro Michael, 2015)