Societal Attitudes
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In the United States, high concentrations of people exist in specific regions. These core regions may consist of more than one major city linked by a continuous belt of habitation. For example, Washington DC, New York City, and Boston constitute one such region. One effect of concentrated groups of people is the diffusion of lights. This diffusion of this light obscures our view of stars, both for ordinary stargazers and professional astronomers. Streetlights cause nearby leaves to remain on deciduous trees longer. Light level influences behavior in many insects, mammals, and birds.
In 1900, only 13 cities exceeded 1 million residents. By 2025, at least 400 cities in the world will have a population of over 1 million people. Tokyo and Mexico City each have 25 million people already. The combined populations of all these 400 cities will increase from 1 billion at present to 4 billion by 2025. How can large cities deal with the food, drinking water, and energy needs of their inhabitants and still protect them from pollution?
There are many problems facing cities. Air pollution is a significant concern. For example, 60% of the people of Calcutta have respiratory problems due to air pollution. In developing countries, only 35% of urban residents have sanitation and one-third do not have safe drinking water. Housing is also a problem in large cities. One billion of the world’s people live in slums, shantytowns, squatter’s settlements found on the edge of most Third World cities.
Transportation has always been important for cities. Most cities came into existence and grew because they were located at a port or at the crossroads of major transportation routes. In response to the increasing use of automobiles, extensive freeways systems were built. While freeways made traffic flow more smoothly, they produced urban sprawl and contributed to air and noise pollution. They also often cut through neighborhoods and monopolized a sizable portion of the landscape. In Los Angeles, one-third of the total metropolitan area is devoted to needs of the automobile including freeways, other roads, service stations, and parking lots.
To maintain a high quality of life despite high population density, living places can be designed to preserve open spaces. The conventional subdivision has larger lots but no shared open spaces. In some newer designs, houses are closer together but woodlands are used to maintain privacy and there are large shared open areas. These areas provide a place for recreation, wildlife and watershed protection.
Urbanization does not have to be the end of attempts to conserve biological diversity. A new partnership called “Chicago Wilderness” has established a regional nature reserve system protecting remnant tallgrass prairie and oak savannah communities that contain nearly 200 state threatened or endangered species. Recovery plans for some of these species include population studies, wetlands management, and even controlled burns. Learn more: http://www.faculty.
Public and elected officials are unlikely to pass legislation to repair environmental damage without strong public pressure. The public should stay informed of environmental issues and demand solutions. In 1990, congress passed the National Environmental Education Act to fund educational opportunities and to encourage young people to pursue environmental careers.
Environmentally sound practice does not necessarily cost more. Recycling can produce a monetary gain. Even if the environmental friendly products do cost more, many people are willing to pay additional money for “green” products. Learn more: http://www.epa.gov/osw/
Preventing and correcting environmental problems is not just the responsibility of government agencies but also of informed citizens. Small actions performed by individuals become magnified into major action when performed by many people. Individuals can also act together to increase their chances for bringing about change. Many organizations whose agenda is to further environmental causes exist. However, for such organizations to be most effective and have credibility, they must understand environmental science, study public policy, and have a broad demographic base.
Concern for the environment can sometimes reach a level of zealousness that causes people to join radical groups. Members of such groups may engage in somewhat innocuous actions, such as living in tree houses in a forest marked for logging. But they may also engage in actions that endanger the lives of others, such as hammering spikes into trees to be logged or sabotaging the machinery of industries viewed as environmentally unfriendly. It is debatable whether such efforts are effective or promote an anti-environmentalism backlash.
The connection between poverty and the condition of the environment is clear. There are over 1 billion people in the world living in acute poverty and these people have the least access to food, safe drinking water, and a pollution-free environment. These people are often in no position, politically or economically, to help themselves. In poorer countries the struggle to survive may promote unsustainable activities, such as the excessive cutting of forests for wood and fuel, poor farming and grazing practices, and over-exploitation of fish and wildlife. In rich countries the same unsustainable activities may occur but can be driven by the desire for larger profits and not survival.
In developed countries there is a slow change in the attitude of some people with regard to the environment. There has been a shift from a focus on material possessions to family, friends, and a healthy environment. In developing nations, the poor have long placed much value on non-material things. Improving quality of life often means having things that people in developed countries take for granted such as personal freedom, democracy, a humane society and a generally healthy environment. Unfortunately, as affluence increases in these countries the desire for material things becomes stronger. (2pgs.spe) due 8pm
Concern about the environment is becoming more popular in many countries. Some countries even have political parties (“green parties”) that have an environmental agenda. Canada and several European countries have developed green plans, which are long-term environmental strategies. On the international level, there has been recognition of the global aspects of many environmental problems and the need for global solutions. The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 brought together representatives from 178 countries to try to integrate environmental goals with the economic needs of nations. The conference on global warming in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 brought together representatives of 150 nations. Some environmental scientists are optimistic that use of the world wide web will facilitate global communication and underscore our connectedness on planet Earth.
Learn more: http://news.mongabay.
Societal Attitudes
Introduction
A green party is a political party founded on the principles of the green politics. Across the world there are several green parties existing. A good example of a green party is the European Green Party labeled as EGP and commonly referred as European Greens. It is a political party in Europe that runs a coalition of political parties within the Europe endorsing the green politics.