Beyond and doubt our life has significantly changed in previous decades

Beyond and doubt our life has significantly changed in previous decades. Many would claim it’s changed to the better, others would disagree. But the fact stays the same: the development of human civilization apart from numerous merits has also had a number of adverse effects. So it couldn’t but led to considering a new concept that the world should stick to in order to provide our posterities with an opportunity to satisfy their needs as well as we do.

Some 40 years ago people realized that the ozone layer – our one and only protector from pernicious UV rays – was being depleted. As they looked into this problem it was more and more evident that the human activity had very much to do with it. Then another problem of the greenhouse effect appeared. This matter has been very serious as some catastrophic consequences as floods and climate change are expected.

At the same time the problem of social and economical inequality was getting an alarming one. The abyss betwen the rich and the poor in the world was tremendous. It was also complemented by social and political dominance of one above others. So in order to avoid greater tension and provide future generations with hope of breathing fresh air and  drinking pure water in a peaceful world a concept of sustainable development was introduced.

The very word sustainable emerged is a sense of replacing the used by the appropriate amount of its equivalent. Development here is used to highlight that poverty and suffering is a large international problem, and our overall target is to eliminate it and make the life equitable for every human being.

So this very notion bases on two both environmental and economic sustainability. .  Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible based on ideal-seeking behavior. Thus, environmental sustainability demands that society designs activities to meet human needs while indefinitely preserving the life support systems of the planet. This, for example, entails using water sustainably, only utilizing renewable energy, and sustainable material supplies (e.g. harvesting wood from forests at a rate that maintains the biomass and biodiversity). As for the first there’s a massive range of problems and something has to be done about them. In the pursuit of industrial accomplishments and economic growth, the humanity didn’t pay much attention to the damage caused to nature. It was very unreasonable, and our descendants are about to pay for such a massive mistake. However no one is aware of the consequences for sure. So in order to alleviate them some radical measures should be taken, but obviously it involves extensive economic losses. Actually it’s high time to act, as otherwise the adverse effects will soon become critical. However, some countries with the USA as the most prominent example are still considering if the problem of the global climate change actually exists. Well, let’s try to compile an image of the threat we have faced.

It all started with the development of the factories on the worldwide scale. As the industry developed, the amount of toxic elements and different kind of pollutants released into the atmosphere grew. Among those were the so-called greenhouse gases (CO_2, water steam, CH₄), which caused the greenhouse effect.  So the heat from the earth radiated into the atmosphere and came back down after reflecting the greenhouse gases. Their quantity has been steadily increasing. So over the last century the average world temperature has risen by 0.8, which might seem insignificant. But even such a tiny temperature change can make glaciers melt, which would turn our life upside down. Even now the abnormal heatwaves which come across at Europe every summer trouble its residents, and the scientists consider this matter as the result of the global warming. As for the future, the researches claim that we can expect 2.9 degrees temperature rise in the best and 6.4 degrees in the worst set-up over the 21th century. The consequences are really difficult to imagine, anyway they will be horrifying.

One of the most evident global warming costs will be the sea level rise. Vast territories will be submerged, which will result in huge economic losses as plenty of farmlands and space life will be flood, fresh water shortage as it will be salinized by the oceanic one

Furthermore, the chimney releases affect the atmosphere, in particular, its ozone layer. There’s no doubt about the harmful effect that the sun radiation exerts on the Earth. The phenomenon known as the ozone depletion has been observed since the 80’s. Thus, pernicious UV rays reach the planet in excessive amounts. As a result, people become vulnerable to cancerous diseases. On the whole, everything alive gets endangered in a remote prospect. The primary cause of the ozone depletion is the release of chlorine-containing gases. Finding a solution to this problem is a challenging issue. Even though, the necessary measures are taken, but no one is sure if it’s not late yet.

In fact, a lot of discomfort is provided by the air quality for reasons mentioned above. This state of affairs is only getting worse due to deforestation. Vast territories of forest are cut down, as man needs timber for various kinds of goods or just a fuel.  Moreover, in many areas in the world there’s a severe fresh water shortage. It happens partially as the result of sewage dumped into aquatic settings

All the above mentioned problems derive as a result of a revenue pursuit. I’d say all the problems we’ve faced are the consequence of our passion for being more and more reach. Consuming natural resources has been the easiest way to develop rapidly. Howevery it may also cost us very much in the future. So until it’s to late it time we started to act. The answer to the question is dealt with in the economic part of the sustainable development program. Basically it’s all about economic growth but within the boundaries of actions that don’t harm the environment. In the extent the long term objective is the following: to turn to the policies that meet our needs but at the same time replenish the resourses at least at the lvl of their consumption.

This is gonna be difficult, be have no other option but to attain this aim.