ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
1. The world is entering another millennium. Amidst the situation of dramatic revolution in technology in almost every sphere of life, humankind is probably preparing it to face the new challenges of the coming millennium. Though many challenges are yet to be identified, their number is not at all encouraging and it is difficult to set priorities.
2. The most challenging is probably the population boom. Because, together with this problem comes many other problems of which none is less important. The problems of food, shelter, health, education, job, recreation and many other, all increasing in dimension. Again, all these problems together are giving rise to another very important challenge to be overcome that is environmental hazard.
3. Though environment encompasses everything that surrounds us including ourselves, it is the humankind, which is mostly responsible for the changes that take place in environment. It is already established that there is a direct relation between human activities and environmental change. It is encouraging that people have started becoming aware of the environmental situation. However, the question that remains unanswered is, “Is it too late, too little?”.1 It is almost certain that our way of living is not sustainable. We are probably heading towards extinction of human and other races unless we adopt a simpler way of life.
4. This paper will address the environment in the context of ecosystem and environmental resources for human development. The logic behind the economic growth will be discussed while addressing economic development. Later, it will discuss the relationship between two elements of the topic: the environment and the economic development. The effort will be directed in promoting a general awareness to the environmental threat inherent in any human activity with special emphasis on economic development activities. Some measures that may be
Introduction
1. The world is entering another millennium. Amidst the situation of dramatic revolution in technology in almost every sphere of life, humankind is probably preparing it to face the new challenges of the coming millennium. Though many challenges are yet to be identified, their number is not at all encouraging and it is difficult to set priorities.
2. The most challenging is probably the population boom. Because, together with this problem comes many other problems of which none is less important. The problems of food, shelter, health, education, job, recreation and many other, all increasing in dimension. Again, all these problems together are giving rise to another very important challenge to be overcome that is environmental hazard.
3. Though environment encompasses everything that surrounds us including ourselves, it is the humankind, which is mostly responsible for the changes that take place in environment. It is already established that there is a direct relation between human activities and environmental change. It is encouraging that people have started becoming aware of the environmental situation. However, the question that remains unanswered is, “Is it too late, too little?”.1 It is almost certain that our way of living is not sustainable. We are probably heading towards extinction of human and other races unless we adopt a simpler way of life.
4. This paper will address the environment in the context of ecosystem and environmental resources for human development. The logic behind the economic growth will be discussed while addressing economic development. Later, it will discuss the relationship between two elements of the topic: the environment and the economic development. The effort will be directed in promoting a general awareness to the environmental threat inherent in any human activity with special emphasis on economic development activities. Some measures that may be
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