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Global Issues And Their Importance

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By: Sharon White

Global issues are of great importance for they may literally decide the future of the human race. The very concept of issues that are global in scale is recent. Global issues have and hold the potential for extensive impacts on people and the planet. Global issues are beyond the ability of any one nation to resolve and are persistent, or long-acting. Their onset may take years, decades, or even generations to be felt, and may take similar amounts of time to be resolved.

I am going to outline a few global issues briefly before finally concentrating on one particular issue, starting with conflict. There are around thirty high-intensity wars raging around the world today. These conflicts cause millions of casualties, as well as social and economic disruptions that threaten food supplies, health, local environments and political strength in many regions. Most conflicts start over things such as access to farmland, water, fishing grounds, timber resources, or control of valuable products such as diamonds or coffee. Combatant groups can be entities from opposition, communal or the government and are often members of a particular class, ethnic group, or religion struggling for right to use to natural resources, social services, or political power.

After food and water, energy is our most basic need. Modern cultures are founded almost solely around the production and consumption of energy. Many people believed that our main concern was the fact that supplies will eventually run out, when in fact the greater concern about energy is that our current energy models are unsustainable because of environmental and economic issues. Our current energy models rely mainly on hydrocarbon fuels like oil, natural gas, and coal which provide nearly 80 percent of the world’s energy. However, this can cause smog and acid rain, and may be linked to global warming. We also use long-established biomass fuels such as solid wood that provides almost 10 percent of the world’s energy but unfortunately contributes to deforestation and air pollution. The final energy model we use is a nuclear generation which provides just over 6 percent of the world’s energy, but produces toxic waste which needs long-term safe disposal.

Human impact on the environment is becoming both more visually obvious and more extensive. Almost 40 percent of the earth's land surface is being used as cropland or pasture land and half the planet's tropical forests have been destroyed or ruined. The planet's protective ozone layer has been badly damaged, while huge numbers of carbon emissions causes smog and acid rain, and also contributes to global warming and climate change. All of these environmental impacts result from the needs and desires of our growing population and the models of production and consumption we use to try to meet those needs and desires. Much of the damage to the environment is a result of over-consumption of resources and production of wastes by wealthy nations and individuals.

Nothing is as basic to human survival as food and water. But billions of people lack access to adequate nutrition and clean water. Around 800 million people are chronically hungry and over two billion lack adequate nutrition and more than 80 countries now face water shortages.

There is enough food available to feed everyone on the planet, today. But economic policies, poverty, discrimination, and poor governance keep many people from receiving enough food. Through destroying natural habitats for farmland, over-fishing, pollution from pesticides and fertilizers, soil erosion, and desertification, we are also doing damage to the Earth in producing much of our food.

Health is completely essential for social and economic development. Population growth, globalization, and unsuitable development have made health more fragile than ever for many people in the world. Inadequate development has resulted in poverty and insufficient health services in much of the world, while over-consumption by developed nations has created severe environmental health impacts. Health is very much linked to other global issues. For example, poverty is a major contributor to ill health. Poor people, especially women and children, often cannot afford sufficient nutrition, clean water, or access to medical attention. Ill health, therefore, traps people in or condemns them to poverty.

I am going to finally concentrate on the gap between the rich and poor as a global issue and hopefully comprise an idea for action that a primary school could take on.

As time goes by, the gap between the worlds rich and poor is becoming larger and larger, both within countries and among them. The vast majority of the world’s population is receiving an ever-decreasing share of its wealth, while the share claimed by a few rich nations and individuals is steadily growing.

The results of this widening rich-poor gap are diverse. They include environmental destruction as richer nations can afford to over-consume resources, while poorer nations are forced to over-exploit the environment just to survive. People may be forced to migrate and move in search of adequate resources. They also include conflict wealthier nation’s fight to keep what they have, while those suffering a lack of resources fight to attain them. Global inequality has many causes and is diverse and complex. Such as, the unequal distribution of natural resources, and lack of access to education, healthcare, especially for women and girls.

History has shown that individuals and nations do not have to stay in poverty for an indefinite period, however. With a knowledge and understanding of the interdependence of our world, it is possible to eradicate the original causes of poverty. By increasing economic opportunities, access improves to nutrition, education, and healthcare. This creates a higher income, more independence (especially for women) and the opportunity to obtain environmentally safe technology and products. When social health improves so does the stability of it, better economic production and less opportunities for conflict. Population tends to even out, governments tend to be more democratic, and environmental protection becomes both more desired and attainable.

Most people have an image in their minds of what they perceive to be a poor person but rarely think beyond that image to all the other ways being poor affects a person’s life, or how that poverty affects the larger world.

Wealth and poverty are closely associated to population. When population increases, there are more people who must share the resources. When there aren’t enough resources to support the people, poverty follows. The shortage of resources and poverty may then cause discrimination, migration, environmental destruction, and conflict.

High levels of education and income often work together. Educated and wealthier families tend to be smaller, and usually have fewer children so they can focus their resources on those children, generating better health, educational, and economic outcomes.

Poverty can often make families use their children as a way of earning money. The children may raise food, haul water, gather fuel, work in sweatshops, or be sold into slavery or prostitution to help support their families.

The decline of the condition of the environment is a major cause of poverty. Overexploitation and deprivation of the resources can force people into poverty, just as people living in poverty are often forced to destroy and degrade their environment.

Another major connection is between poverty and health. Poverty is the main reason that children are not vaccinated, clean water and sanitation are not available to them, life saving drugs and treatments are difficult to get to for poor people, and mothers die in childbirth.

There are some obvious reasons for the severe gap between rich and poor developing regions, for example the world’s raw resources, from which most wealth comes from, have never been properly shared out. Raw materials and goods made from them are redistributed through trade (or are taken by force).

There are many things that can be done to help the problem of poverty - I am going to focus of what children can do to in and out of school to help. I think that the easier way of doing this is to first raise awareness of the issue which is the first step to making real and lasting changes - this can easily be done by children in their own communities.

For example, primary school children could get together in their class and write a letter to a newspaper editor, in the hope that many people would read it and hopefully respond to it and share their opinions with others. They could also share what they’ve learnt about poverty by getting creative. Art can have a positive effect on its audience which makes it a powerful tool for raising awareness about important issues.

Raising money can also help solve an issue such as this immensely. Money is usually given to programs in developing countries that need funding for helping children get an education. With the help of parents or teachers, children can easily help donate money by holding an activity to raise money such as a walk-a-thon. Or even selling sweets and cakes that they have made themselves with their families or at school.

With the right kind of support from adults in the school, big events can be held, like a talent contest for example, in aid of raising money for the fight against poverty.

Another idea that could be used as an ongoing project is for Teachers coordinate their lesson plans to focus on a particular area in a country that needs help where there is a project being carried out, like Gambia for example. Students could learn about Zambia's culture in history and geography. In music they could learn traditional African songs and rhythms. Parents and could become involved by helping gather school supplies to make education kits to send to students in Zambia. The kits could include pencils, a note pad, a rubber, and a sharpener, basic school supplies that many Zambian students don't have. Students could then enclose a personal letter and a photograph of themselves, that could spark a global friendship with a peer in Zambia.

This would teach help children see that their group effort could help address the global issues of poverty and inequity in our world.

All of these ideas would be ideal to be used in a school environment for children because firstly, the activities are fun and the children will enjoy what they are doing and feel involved, and secondly, they will feel empowered in the knowledge that their efforts will really make a difference in the lives of children just like them around the world.

There is no doubt that the gap between the rich and poor is growing larger and larger. But it is not the gap that is the problem it is more the behaviors and problems it creates within the minds of both the rich and poor that matter. Poverty on a national and international scale is closely linked to many of the challenges humans face so if there is change in one (that could be positive or negative) impacts all the others. Because of this, efforts to reduce poverty reduce the amounts of recourses we use up, steady population growth, protect the environment and support human rights are together strengthened. There are many opportunities and choices that we could take to close the gap between rich and poor and get rid of poverty worldwide. The choice is ours and the results could be extraordinary.

The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com. Sharon White has many years of a vast experience in Essay Writing and custom essays writing consulting. Get free samples of essays and courseworks and buy essays .

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