Environment and Development
Evaluate population growth, development, climate change, resource use, and sustainability across regions.
A lesson of World History, in Contemporary Global Issues, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation, explain the global response to climate change, analyze the tension between development and sustainability, and evaluate different perspectives on environmental justice.
The Big Picture: Humans and the Environment
Human civilizations have always altered their environments — irrigation, deforestation, agriculture. But industrialization massively accelerated the scale and speed of environmental change.
The Anthropocene: some geologists propose a new geological epoch — the Anthropocene ("human age") — defined by human activity as the dominant force shaping Earth's geology, climate, and ecosystems.
The Green Revolution and Food Production
Green Revolution (1940s–1970s):
- Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug developed high-yield wheat and rice varieties
- Combined with fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation — crop yields doubled and tripled
- Prevented mass famine in South Asia and Latin America; saved an estimated 1 billion lives
- Nobel Peace Prize to Borlaug (1970)
Costs:
- Dependence on petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides
- Soil degradation; water overuse
- Displacement of traditional farming; loss of crop diversity
- Benefit primarily to larger farms; small farmers often excluded
Second generation challenge: feeding 10 billion people (projected peak population) sustainably — without the environmental costs.
Climate Change
The greenhouse effect: certain gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor) trap heat in Earth's atmosphere. This is natural and essential — without it, Earth's average temperature would be -18°C instead of +15°C.
Anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change: burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) releases CO₂ that has been stored underground for millions of years. Since industrialization (c. 1750), atmospheric CO₂ has increased from ~280 ppm to over 420 ppm (2023).
Evidence:
- Rising global average temperature: ~1.2°C above pre-industrial average by 2023
- Melting ice caps and glaciers; rising sea levels
- More frequent and intense extreme weather events
- Ocean acidification (CO₂ absorbed by ocean forms carbonic acid)
- Species range shifts; coral bleaching
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): scientific consensus body; states that warming is "unequivocal" and human-caused with >95% confidence.