Global Shock Waves
Not only are natural resources being depleted rapidly on a worldwide basis, but environmental degradation in one region of the world can easily affect inhabitants in other regions, in what Ehrlich terms global shock waves.
Climate change is, among other things, melting glaciers around the planet, which has serious consequences for the availability of water for agricultural operations. This is the case in the Himalayan water tower, or the ice and the snow of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.
“As the ice and snow melts more – and it will certainly melt more –the flow of rivers in South Asia is going to be restricted during the growing season,” Ehrlich said. “Same as in California. You may get just as much precipitation during the year as you always had, but if water isn’t stored up there as snow, then the water will run off during the winter when it can’t be used for farming. Then in the farming season, you will be short of water.” Water shortages could become the source of armed conflict between nations suffering from droughts and limited water supplies.
“Recent research shows that a nuclear war between two small countries could easily bring down civilization through both its ecological and economic impacts,” Ehrlich said. “So people think that they are isolated from these impacts, but we are really not isolated.”
Contagious diseases such as the bird flu, which may become more prevalent as warmer environmental conditions foster their development and spread, are another example of the dangers of a globally connected society in an age of environmental degradation. Meanwhile, societies around the world are not prepared to deal with the spread of contagious disease on a global level.
“Our global connectedness means that the way farmers combine ducks and chickens and pigs overseas could easily affect the lives of people in the US,” Ehrlich said. “We have problems that are truly global, but we have no governing system that allows us to operate globally.”
Fixing the Problem – What is it Going to Take?
Ehrlich and colleagues suggest potential fixes for the sustainability paradox, but as always these fixes are not simple and require cooperation and effective communications on a large scale. Ehrlich argues for equality of women as important players in environmental protection in developing nations
“I think women are absolutely essential to sustainability in a series of dimensions,” Ehrlich said. “The most obvious one, and the one that is widely recognized in the scientific community, is that if you give women full rights, same as men, equal pay, equal opportunities, then you can expect that their birth rate will drop rather dramatically.”
Ehrlich and colleagues point to the paramount importance of social justice, education and communication in fostering environmental awareness. Global warming mitigation and environmental protection are perhaps more intimately connected with the human condition than they are with our planet’s physical one.
“We have the potential to educate the entire public about what is actually going on in the world, but we aren’t doing it,” Ehrlich said. “For example, we should start teaching about the environment in kindergarten. Instead of saying “See Scott Run,” we should say “See the Plant Grow in the Sun,” to start making the connection to photosynthesis. The average faculty member at a major university couldn’t give you a coherent story about how we know that there is a huge human factor in the climate impact story, because we don’t train people that way.”
Global Shock Waves
Not only are natural resources being depleted rapidly on a worldwide basis, but environmental degradation in one region of the world can easily affect inhabitants in other regions, in what Ehrlich terms global shock waves.
Climate change is, among other things, melting glaciers around the planet, which has serious consequences for the availability of water for agricultural operations. This is the case in the Himalayan water tower, or the ice and the snow of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.
“As the ice and snow melts more – and it will certainly melt more –the flow of rivers in South Asia is going to be restricted during the growing season,” Ehrlich said. “Same as in California. You may get just as much precipitation during the year as you always had, but if water isn’t stored up there as snow, then the water will run off during the winter when it can’t be used for farming. Then in the farming season, you will be short of water.” Water shortages could become the source of armed conflict between nations suffering from droughts and limited water supplies.
“Recent research shows that a nuclear war between two small countries could easily bring down civilization through both its ecological and economic impacts,” Ehrlich said. “So people think that they are isolated from these impacts, but we are really not isolated.”
Contagious diseases such as the bird flu, which may become more prevalent as warmer environmental conditions foster their development and spread, are another example of the dangers of a globally connected society in an age of environmental degradation. Meanwhile, societies around the world are not prepared to deal with the spread of contagious disease on a global level.
“Our global connectedness means that the way farmers combine ducks and chickens and pigs overseas could easily affect the lives of people in the US,” Ehrlich said. “We have problems that are truly global, but we have no governing system that allows us to operate globally.”
Fixing the Problem – What is it Going to Take?
Ehrlich and colleagues suggest potential fixes for the sustainability paradox, but as always these fixes are not simple and require cooperation and effective communications on a large scale. Ehrlich argues for equality of women as important players in environmental protection in developing nations
“I think women are absolutely essential to sustainability in a series of dimensions,” Ehrlich said. “The most obvious one, and the one that is widely recognized in the scientific community, is that if you give women full rights, same as men, equal pay, equal opportunities, then you can expect that their birth rate will drop rather dramatically.”
Ehrlich and colleagues point to the paramount importance of social justice, education and communication in fostering environmental awareness. Global warming mitigation and environmental protection are perhaps more intimately connected with the human condition than they are with our planet’s physical one.
“We have the potential to educate the entire public about what is actually going on in the world, but we aren’t doing it,” Ehrlich said. “For example, we should start teaching about the environment in kindergarten. Instead of saying “See Scott Run,” we should say “See the Plant Grow in the Sun,” to start making the connection to photosynthesis. The average faculty member at a major university couldn’t give you a coherent story about how we know that there is a huge human factor in the climate impact story, because we don’t train people that way.”
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