Global Environmental Issues—
the Endangered Earth
Ross School Senior Project
Jingbo Yu
1
Global environmental issues
Introduction:
A beautiful, healthy Earth is the most important condition for human beings to live in.
Even the thousands years’ process of cultural development did not sacrifice the green coat of our
Earth, but the two-hundred-year modernize is pushing our world towards the edge of the cliff.
When human beings are destroying the biosphere of the Earth, they are also destroying
themselves. Earth, the only planet that has life (as far so we know), is being put on death row by
human beings. Should we not prevent this from happening?
In order to protect and heal the Earth, we have to take a look at the current situation.
Currently, the Earth is suffering from all kinds of environmental problems. For example, global
warming is one of the major environmental issues in this world. Why is global warming
happening? Some people believe that carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) is the major reason why temperatures
are rising, because the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does not absorb the sunrays but does

absorb the heat released by the Earth. It was the same effect as a greenhouse, and that is why
carbon dioxide is also called greenhouse gas. However, there are a lot of problems inside this
environmental event. For instance, why would we worry about whether this world is becoming
warmer or not? We have air conditioners, why would we care? Also, where is that huge amount
of carbon dioxide from? Furthermore, if global warming keeps getting worse, what is going to
happen? These problems may not grab your attention at all, but try to think about the following:
what happened to those small islands off the coast of Florida? Where did they go? Why did more
than 225 thousand people have to die in the Indonesian tsunami? Why is the cost of gas
increasing so quickly? These are the problems that are truly affecting our real lives. If this
situation keeps getting worse, and we still do not do anything about it, perhaps our houses will be
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flooded, because tsunamis happen often. We may have to walk to work or school because we
cannot afford the cost of gas; and we may even have to suffer from ancient bacteria and viruses
that are frozen in the polar ice sheets and icebergs because the ice sheets and icebergs are
melting. These are not just hypotheses or boring guesses; if we do not start protecting our
endangered Earth, these could happen, very soon.
Another serious issue to which we have to pay attention is the relationship between the
exponentially growing population and the total amount of non-renewable resources and
energy. As we all know, the population of the world is growing at an unbelievable speed: “2.3
people per second,” (Diudiu724, 2008) 2.3 people per second equates to almost 70 million
people a year. What does this number really imply?
Let’s look at these numbers in a different way: China with the largest population in the
world has a population of 1.4 billion. If the population in China keeps growing, in less than
twenty years, there will be another “China” in this world. You may ask, what is the problem with
having more people in the world? The consequence is not as simple as every single Chinese
getting an extra twin brother or sister. The real problem is that the area of land on this Earth will
not expand along with the population growth. In fact, land is even decreasing due to the effects
of rising sea levels. Land is being filled with more and more people, and we also have to irrigate
a huge area of land in order to grow enough food for these billions of people.
Each year, the irrigated area of land is increasing. However, the irrigated area per
thousand people remains almost the same and was even slightly reduced over the last fifty years,
which you will see in the result sections. Not only will areas of land be filled with people, but
also there will not be enough food and recourses for everybody. It is true that our technology is
being developed faster and faster, which may help us get more out of the same area of land more
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quickly. However, we need resources to support our modern technology (tractors, cars, trains,
etc.). For instance, fuel is one of the most important resources. It is the product of ancient fossils,
which takes an extremely unpredictable long period to be made. Therefore, fuel is considered to
be a non-renewable resource, which means that it is almost impossible to be reproduced.
Furthermore, the Earth contains a limited amount of fuel, and when it is used up, it is gone.
We also need to pay attention to renewable resources. For example, trees, one of the most
common resources in this modern world, are being used and being planted. Trees are very useful;
not only used for making furniture or building someone’s house. Trees can prevent sand storms
from happening, absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, and help prevent some species from
disappearing. Furthermore, the number of trees in the world is being reduced, not only due to
human beings’ need for socializing and modernizing, but also from to the effects of soil
pollution.
One of the biggest reasons why soil is being polluted is because of municipal solid
wastes. Where does the unrecyclable garbage go? Where did all the cigarette butts go? There are
“6000 billion cigarettes” sold to people every year. (Haha856511, 2010) The answer to this
question is that we have buried them somewhere far from our cities. What’s more, unrecyclable
trash will damage the quality of the soil, making it unable to sustain plant growth. Not only will
unrecyclable trash damage the soil, but also toxic garbage, like batteries, will also pollute. In
some developing countries, used batteries cannot be disposed. People may throw them away
after the batteries are dead. It is terrifying that “a single battery can make a square meter of soil
lose its ability to grow plants forever.” (Sanxiangdian, 2008) These kinds of municipal solid
wastes will contribute to killing lots of plants.
Global environmental issues
By reading the following paragraphs and the statistical graphs, you will have a clear
understanding of the current issues with the planet’s ecosystem. We have to save ourselves with
our own power. The Earth is endangered, and if we remain passive, things are only going to get
worse and worse.
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Global environmental issues
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Method:
In order to draw attention to the environmental issues, I have made a series of
graphs that forecast and project the future of a few of the most serious world
environmental issues: average temperature, average carbon dioxide emissions, passenger
vehicles, economic losses from weather-related disasters, sea level changes since 1900,
grain production, electrical energy generated, timber production, world population,
municipal solid waste, and irrigated areas. I collected 14 different data sets for specific
environmental issues. All the data have at least two sources, and they are from different
websites and books, such as the World Watch Institute, the United Nations (UN), and the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). After the data was collected, I made statistical
models for each issue (depending on years). Some of the data appears to not have a linear
relationship between the years. Since it is nearly impossible to make projection with a nonlinear graph, the graphs have to be made into a linear form. In order to make those kinds of
graphs linear, they need the logarithm transformations. I calculated the logarithms for all
the data, even the years. Then I graphed two different types of graphs for each issue, which
are the logarithms of data depended on years, and logarithms of data depended on
logarithms of years. The graph of logarithms of data depended on logarithms of years used
when the graph of the logarithms of data depended on years still does not appear to be
linear and the correlation coefficient was increased. If the graph does not appear to be
linear after both of the logarithms graphs are graphed, then it cannot be used to make any
forecasts or projections. After creating and studying three kinds of graphs for every data
set, I graphed and looked at the residuals for each of the three graphs for every data set. At
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Global environmental issues
this point, we need to look at the residual plots to make sure the data is normal and
random; if the residual plot seemed to have a random pattern, then it could be said that
transformation is linear and can be used for statistical projections. Unfortunately, most of
my graphs have a common problem where the residual plots seem to be nonlinear with a
clear differential change in the 1980s. Here is one example:
Residuals (Temperature)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.11940
1960
1980
2000
2020
Residuals (Temperature)
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
In order to fix this problem, I reduced the scope of the input data to the range of
1980 to 2006:
Residuals (Temperature)
0.4
0.2
0
1975
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Residuals (Temperature)
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Then the residual plot is random, and it can be used to make projections.
When most of the data and graphs were ready to be used to make projections, I
conducted the linear regression T test for data sets and the logarithm form data set. The
linear regression T test is a way to get the data ( SE yˆ ) for the forecasting equation:
y  yˆ  t * * SE yˆ (This formula will give an upper boundary and a lower boundary for each
projection. In order to make forecasts, Icalculated the midpoint of the interval so that I

would have one number to use as projection), which is also the equation of the projection
interval for a single observation. The t* changes in different situations according to the
confidence interval that the tester picks, for instance, if I have a group of numbers in one
data set, and I want to use them to make a projection, and I want to be 95% percent sure
that the projection will fall in a certain interval which is the confidence interval. Also, the
value of t* varies when the number of the numbers in the data set changes. For example,
when there are 27 numbers in the data set, I will go to the T-score table to find 25 (272=25, explanation followed) and 95%, which intersect at the number of 2.060 (Yates,
Moore, & Starnes, 2003). The reason why we need to find the number 25 while we have 27
numbers in the data set is that 2 is the number of degrees of freedom that should be
subtracted by the number of numbers. The degrees of freedom is always used in statistics,
“for a set of data points in a given situation (e.g. with mean or other parameter specified, or
not), degrees of freedom is the minimal number of values which should be specified to
determine all the data points.” (Statistics.com, 2004) After the statistical process is
completed, projections can be made.
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Global environmental issues
Result Section 1: Global Warming’s causes and effects:
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.1:
World average Temperature (°F)
59.2
59
58.8
58.6
58.4
58.2
58
57.8
57.6
57.4
57.2
1970
y = 0.0329x - 7.8651
R² = 0.8655
Temperature (°F)
Linear (Temperature (°F))
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
According to the projection graph (NO.1), the world average temperature is
increasing every year, and it is going to keep rising. Recently, the temperature has broken
many world records: “Not only is 2006 the warmest on record for the contiguous United
States, as well as tied for 5th warmest year on record globally, but other studies indicate a
continued (at least century-long) warming trend, and a projected continued increase in
global average surface temperature going forward.”(World Resources Institute, 2006)
The Earth is becoming warmer, and it is more serious than most people think it
might be. According to the projection graph (NO.1), the temperature will increase two
degrees Fahrenheit in two decades. You may ask: The temperature will only increase one
degree Fahrenheit in two decades, what will that do? According to the World Resources
Institute, “a warming of 3 degrees C, the scientists wrote, could result in the extinction of
roughly 60 percent of all species.”(World Resources Institute, 2006) Not only are animals
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Global environmental issues
and plants in danger, but also human beings’ lives are being threatened. As we all know,
water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (1 atm.). If one degree Fahrenheit is added to 32
degrees, will water still freeze? The answer is no. The same thing happens in both Southern
Pole and Northern Pole. However, the temperature is too low for all the ice sheets to melt,
but the increasing temperature is affecting the ice sheets in another way. The ice sheets
have been frozen for thousands of years, and they are very thick. Nevertheless, as the
temperature increases, the thickness of the ice sheets decreases, which means that the ice
is melting at both the Southern Pole and the Northern Pole. This huge volume of water will
mostly and quickly go into the oceans. Consequently, the sea level will rise and cause more
problems.
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.2:
The Sea level changes since 1900(cm)
30
y = 0.2161x - 414.59
R² = 0.9339
25
20
15
The Sea level changes since
1900(cm)
10
Linear (The Sea level
changes since 1900(cm))
5
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
Due to the effect of the melting ice sheets at both the Southern Pole and the
Northern Pole, the sea level of the five main oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and
Arctic) will rise. Since 1900, the sea level has risen 20 centimeters. According to the
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Global environmental issues
projection graph (NO.2), the sea level will rise about 5 centimeters in the next twenty years,
which is 0.05 meter on average. The ratio of the height of rising sea levels and the amount
of world people displaced is 0.3 meter to 2 million. For example, in Bangladesh, 320
thousand people will lose their homes in the next two decades. This is happening not only
in Bangladesh, but also in other parts of the world. As a result, more people will suffer and
die, and the economic losses from weather-related disasters will rapidly increase.
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.3:
Economic losses from weather-related
disasters(Billion 2006 dollars)
250
y = 3.3129x - 6540.2
R² = 0.6241
200
Economic losses from weatherrelated disasters(Billion 2006
dollars)
150
100
Linear (Economic losses from
weather-related
disasters(Billion 2006 dollars))
50
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
On December 26, 2004, “the tsunami in Indonesia took place and caused more
casualties than any other in recorded history. Indonesia suffered the biggest loss with
almost 130,700 deaths, 37,000 missing and over 500,000 people displaced.” (Geology.com,
2005) According to the projection graph (No.3), in the year 2030, the economic losses from
weather-related disasters will be 180 billion dollars. What does this really imply? For
example “if you have a PH.D, then you already have a leg up on everyone else. Just gather
together 278 of your doctorate friends and add up all the money all of you make during the
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Global environmental issues
40 or so years of your career and presto! One billion dollars.” (Wall States, 2008) However,
if you are a normal person, then the economic losses from weather-related disasters in
2030 will equal the annual income of yours and your 4,654,080 friends, if you have that
many friends. (Wall States, 2008)
We know that weather-related disasters take place more and more often because of
global warming, and pollution. But, how do these actually happen, and what physically
causes these changes on the molecular level?
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.4:
Carbon Dioxide (Parts per mill. By
vol.)
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1960
y = 1.6366x - 2903.1
R² = 0.998
Carbon Dioxide (Parts
per mill. By vol.)
Linear (Carbon
Dioxide (Parts per
mill. By vol.))
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph (No.4), by the year 2030, carbon dioxide will be
420 parts per million or 420 molecules out of a million molecules in the air. However,
according to the previous calculation, the carbon dioxide molecule is about 4.2% out of the
1% of other gases. The major portion of air is the nitrogen (
), which is about 78%. And
oxygen is the second major portion of air, which is about 21%. Therefore, less than 1%
molecules in the air are carbon dioxide. This means that in one million air molecules, there
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Global environmental issues
are only ten thousand molecules apart from oxygen and nitrogen. Comparing this to the
carbon dioxide molecular concentration of 3.8% in the year 2005, it only increased 0.4%
out of 1% of the air. However, it is seriously affecting our Earth. And burning fuel and
gasoline by automobiles is one of the biggest reasons why the emissions of carbon dioxide
are increasing.
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.5:
World Passenger Vehicle (Million)
70
y = 0.6728x - 1304.4
R² = 0.9765
60
50
World Passenger
Vehicle (Million)
40
30
Linear (World
Passenger Vehicle
(Million))
20
10
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph (No.5), there will be sixty million passenger
vehicles in this world by the year 2030. The number of passenger vehicles in most
countries is increasing rapidly. For instance, “China’s rise represents the most dramatic
change in the world auto industry. During the past decade production there more than
quintupled, driven by joint ventures with multinationals and the rapid growth of
indigenous carmakers.” (The Worldwatch Institute, 2007) Not only China, but also the
whole world, is producing more passenger vehicles.
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Comparing the year 2030 to the year 1980, the numbers of passenger vehicles will
be doubled. Although technology may help reduce the use of gas, it is not enough because
our roads are getting more and more crowded, which means that more passenger vehicles
will keep releasing carbon dioxide.
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Global environmental issues
Result Section 2: Related social issues:
Along with economic development, the conflict between increasing world
population and decreasing resources is expanding. Energy, resources, population, and
waste have become the major problems that require resolution as soon as possible. When
the population grows at great speed, the lack of energy and resources, and the growing
amount of wastes become more and more serious and dangerous. How long will the rest of
our resources sustain our society? Nobody knows the answer, but we all know that the end
of the world will come soon if we do not do anything. In order to improve world economies
and get them on the track of continuous development, we should all contribute to protect
our natural resources, stop wasting energy, and even start a one-child policy like the
Chinese. Otherwise, life will disappear when the last resource is used. As a very famous
commercial said: If we do not start protecting water, the last drop of water will be your
tear. (Weilai, 2009)
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.6:
World population(Billion)
10
y = 0.08x - 153.93
R² = 0.9998
8
6
World population(Billion)
4
Linear (World
population(Billion))
2
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
We have a big planet, but we don’t have that much land. There are “148,940,000
square kilometers” of land (Coutsoukis, 2000) on Earth (despite that the sea level is rising
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Global environmental issues
for now). It may seem like this is a huge amount of land. However, according to the
projection graph (No.6), the population will be at 8.5 billion by the year 2030. That means
there will only be 0.1752 square kilometers of land available for each person, which
equates to 76% of today’s condition. Therefore, on average, not everyone has enough land.
However, the population is still growing.
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.7:
World population annual addition
(Million)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1960
y = -0.2856x + 649.16
R² = 0.5974
World population
annual addition
(Million)
Linear (World
population annual
addition (Million))
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph (No.7), the annual addition of population will be 70
million by the year 2030, and it tends to go downward. There are a couple of reasons why this is
happening and 70 million is a combination of the results of policies such as the one-child policy
of China.
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.8:
World Irrigated area (Million
hectares)
400
y = 3.3142x - 6362.3
R² = 0.9939
350
300
World Irrigated area
(Million hectares)
250
200
Linear (World
Irrigated area
(Million hectares))
150
100
50
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph, there will be 365 million hectares of irrigated land by
the year 2030, which means that the world irrigated area will increase 100 million hectares in
twenty years. 365 million hectares of land almost equals the total area of India. Every year, we
would have to find more fertile and flat land for growing crops, but the area of the Earth does not
remain constant, and the total area of land is decreasing as a consequence of rising sea levels. It
is easier to look into this issue by looking at the following graph:
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.9:
World Irrigated area per
thousand people (Hectares)
46.5
y = -0.04x + 125.12
R² = 0.822
World Irrigated area
per thousand people
(Hectares)
46
45.5
45
Linear (World
Irrigated area per
thousand people
(Hectares))
44.5
44
43.5
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the previous projection, we notice that “India” would be used to grow crops
in order to feed more and more people by the year 2030. However, for the irrigated area, even
though we use the “whole India” to grow crops, the “world irrigated area per thousand people”
will not go up, but will go down (0.5 Hectare) by the year 2030. According to the projection
graph (No.9), for every thousand people, there will be 44 hectares of irrigated land, which means
that each person will have only 440 square meters of land to grow food that can feed themselves
for year. And it is true that there are lots of people starving now, even though world grain
production is growing.
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.10:
World Grain Production (Million
tons)
3000
y = 20.305x - 38710
R² = 0.9586
2500
World Grain
Production (Million
tons)
2000
1500
Linear (World Grain
Production (Million
tons))
1000
500
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
Human beings get their starch mostly from eating grain. We grow many kinds of
crops that have starch, such as wheat, barley, and corn. Furthermore, we have to feed
thousands of tons of grain to livestock—whether it is for domestication or the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS)— or to feed ourselves: 6.8 billion human beings. According to
the projection graph (No.10), world grain production will reach 2.5 billion tons by the year
2030. This sounds like there will be a huge amount of grain, but what will everybody
actually get on average? Will we even have food to eat in twenty years?
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.11:
Amount of Grain per person
(Kilograms)
400
y = -1.0239x + 2361
R² = 0.6381
350
300
Amount of Grain per
person (Kilograms)
250
200
Linear (Amount of
Grain per person
(Kilograms))
150
100
50
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph “Amount of Grain per person”, the amount of
grain that each person has, on average, will be reduced 20 kilograms in two decades, which
means that each person will have about 282 kilograms of grain to eat by the year 2030.
With 365 days per year, we will have 773 grams (282kilograms*1000 grams/365days)
grain to eat everyday in the year 2030 on average.
Food is only one fundamental resource for a society and human needs. We also need
shelter.
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.12:
The amount of log production
(Million cubic meters)
y = 13.575x - 23806
R² = 0.7996
4000
3500
The amount of log
production (Million
cubic meters)
3000
2500
2000
Linear (The amount
of log production
(Million cubic
meters))
1500
1000
500
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
Lumber is the most widely and frequently used construction material. For instance,
houses, furniture, pencils, and even paper are all made of wood. Wood really is a
fundamental resource for our lives. Also, the amount of timber production has increased a
lot. According to the projection graph (No.12), there will be 3751 million cubic meters of
timber production in the world by the year 2030. In terms of developing a society, it is a
good sign that we have more and more production. However, in terms of the environment,
it is a frightening and lethal sign.
If food and wood are two basic needs for a society, we also need energy to get a
society working.
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.13:
Electrical energy generated (giga
watts)
y = 7.7364x - 15115
R² = 0.9083
700
600
500
Electrical energy
generated (giga
watts)
400
300
Linear (Electrical
energy generated
(giga watts))
200
100
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
Starting with the first light bulb that was invented by Thomas Edison, electricity
became one of the most important forms of energy in people’s daily lives. Electrical energy
is in not only lights, but also vehicles, factories, and even our social lives. In the 21st
century, there are many methods for generating electricity: coal, water, oil, natural gas,
peat, biomass, nuclear power, wind, and sunshine. It sounds as if we can generate
electricity very easily, and it is true if we look at the projection graph. By the year 2030, the
capability of generating electrical energy will be 600 million kilowatts, which means that
600 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy can be generated each hour.
Besides food, timber production, and electrical energy issues, there is another
issue—waste. People continue wasting food, paper, and electricity.
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Global environmental issues
Historical and Statistical Projection Graph No.14:
Total municipal solid waste
(Million tons)
y = 4.0313x - 7830.6
R² = 0.9966
400
350
300
Total municipal solid
waste (Million tons)
250
200
Linear (Total
municipal solid waste
(Million tons))
150
100
50
0
1960
1980
2000
2020
2040
According to the projection graph (No.14), people have never stopped creating
waste, and the amount of total solid waste is increasing every year. It will reach 350 million
tons by the year 2030. This means that we are using about 350 million cubic meters of
space to bury, hide, or store these municipal solid wastes. In twenty years, the total
municipal solid waste will increase 100 million cubic meters, which equals the total space
of five hundred thousand classrooms.
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Discussion Section 1: Global Warming’s causes and effects:
Most of the issues that I have looked at are related to global warming. Some of them
are the direct causes of global warming, such as world average carbon dioxide emissions,
and some of them are the effects of global warming, such as the rise in world average
temperature. Rising temperature is more dangerous than how it sounds. It is the reason
why the ice sheets are melting and sea levels are rising.
However, the area that we human beings can stand on is actually not that big: “the
surface area of the planet is 510,066,000 sq km, the land area on the planet is 148,647,000
sq km, which is 29.1%, the ocean area is 335,258,000 sq km, and total water area is
361,419,000 sq km 70.9%.” (Worldatlas) Because of rising sea levels, more and more
islands are disappearing and becoming endangered. One of many sad stories is that, “as for
the future, a United Nations panel projected that 17% of Bangladesh would disappear by
2050, displacing 20 million people, if water levels rise by 3.3 feet, as some expect.”
(Magnier, 2010) Consider some bigger islands: Iceland, Australia and even Asia. For now,
these are too big to sink. However, sea levels have risen over the past century, and many
small islands around continents have already disappeared. Can you even imagine how
many people will lose their homes if the sea level keeps rising? Even worse, more and more
natural disasters will occur.
Many weather-related disasters, such as tornadoes and tsunamis, can cause
hundreds of thousands of people to die, millions of people to lose their homes, and billions
of dollars of economic losses. It took years to build our houses, decades to build our
Global environmental issues
24
societies, and centuries to build our culture. We cannot just let all these disappear and be
destroyed in a few seconds; we have to prevent it from happening.
In order to prevent rising sea levels and related natural disasters, such as tsunamis,
and global warming, we have to lower the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which
is the real reason why these are happening. When the concentration of carbon dioxide
changes even minimally, we can feel the change in the temperature, we can notice the
disappearing island and the rising sea level, and we can see that more and more weatherrelated disasters are ruining our hometowns. We may have noticed that these are all
happening, and none of us want to see this continuing.
During the past few decades, the emission of carbon dioxide has seriously increased.
The major reason why more and more weather-related disasters occur is because of global
warming: “global warming is caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases. Seventy-two
percent of the totally emitted greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide ( CO2 ), 18% Methane and
9% Nitrous oxide ( NOx ). Carbon dioxide emissions therefore are the most important cause
of global warming.”(Juerg, 2007) The reason why carbon 
dioxide causes global warming is

that the oceans,
factories, automobiles, and even animals release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. These can all increase the concentration of carbon dioxide, and “this is likely
due to the fact that the oceans and Earth surface contain much more carbon dioxide than
the atmosphere, and they release carbon dioxide at warm temperatures and absorb it at
cool temperatures.”(Vardiman, 2008)
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Since we have already known how effective carbon dioxide is, what we need to do
now is to help the environment by changing our behavior, for instance, reducing the
frequency of driving private vehicles.
In modern society, cars have become the most important transportation. Adults
drive to work, students take school buses, and people take flights around the world. All of
these modern automobiles need the same resource, gasoline: “Carbon dioxide is inevitably
created by burning fuels like e.g. oil, natural gas, diesel, organic-diesel, petrol, organicpetrol, and ethanol.”(Juerg, 2007) Fuel is a finite, “rare,” and expensive resource. After gas
is burned, it yields carbon dioxide.
On September 22nd, 1998, in France, the first day of “In Town, without my car” took
place. People started noticing that automobiles are not the only reason for the increase of
carbon dioxide emissions, but they found that, as a regular citizen, the most convenient
way for them to help keep the carbon dioxide emissions down was to reduce the frequency
of using their personal automobiles. The following a fact that shows how serious driving
personal automobiles is: “In 2003, the average household produced 12.4 tons of carbon
dioxide from its household operations and approximately 11.7 tons from its automotive
uses.”(Hinkle charitable foundation, 2004)
We can all start doing something to help lower our carbon dioxide emissions: even
walking to work or school just one day a year will be helpful. Lower frequency of using
personal automobiles equals less carbon dioxide emissions; less carbon dioxide emissions
will slow down the rate of temperature increase; if the temperature does not increase so
quickly, the sea levels will not rise as rapidly. If the sea levels are controlled, economic
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losses from natural disasters will lessen. When economic losses are minimized, our lives
improve. This can happen, but it is up to us. We only have one Mother Earth, so we need to
contribute, and try to combat Global warming.
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Discussion Section 2: Related social issues:
So far, nobody can disprove that human beings are the most intelligent species in
this world. We have dominated this world for thousands of years. Due to our talent—being
able to use tools and to learn—our society and technology have never stopped developing.
We human beings have no natural enemies so that the number of human beings, the
population of the world, is increasing extremely quickly, especially in China and India,
where 38% of the population lives.
People are the core of a society, why wouldn’t it be a good thing to have more
people? More people mean that more work can be done in a shorter amount of time so that
the rate of developing our society can be accelerated. However, everything has a negative
side, and having larger populations has lots of negatives. People are not machines, and they
need food and water in order to work. Therefore, larger populations equate to more food
production. People are not wild animals; they need housing. Therefore, larger populations
mean increased usage of land to build houses and other structures. People need to
socialize, they need to use technology to satisfy and entertain themselves. Therefore, a
larger population demands more energy. Furthermore, not all human beings have the sense
to help the environment, so people waste food, energy and so on.
A larger population can also cause a social issue that is called aging of population,
which means the number of old people (over 65 years old) is getting larger. Normally, an
individual has two parents and four grandparents. The ratio of children, parents, and
grandparents is 1 to 2 to 4. It is true that many families have more than one child, but “the
percentage of American women having only one child has more than doubled in 20 years,
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to almost one quarter.”(Abel, 2000), which means that the percentage of women having
only one child is increasing. Also, there are many families without children. If we integrate
all these situations, the ratio will be close to 1 to 2 to 4, which means that there will be
more old people than children. This problem is called the “aging of population.” This is
happening in many countries, and it is one of the biggest reasons why the annual addition
of population is decreasing. However, how does “aging of population” become a real issue?
According to this natural phenomenon and the ratio of generations, the weight of balance
of generations is shifting to the old people. This means that more and more people will stay
at home instead of going to school and working. On the other hand, the burden of taking
care of families will shift onto fewer people’s backs. Furthermore, due to developing
modern medical technology, the average life expectancy of people has increased. The result
of there being more and more old people makes the annual addition of population go down,
and the “aging of population” become worse.
China, the country with the largest population in the world, has the biggest
responsibility for controlling population. Because China’s population is so large (more than
1.4 billion people), China launched the One-child Policy in 1979 in order to control
population growth. On the contrary, 22.7% of Japan’s population is over 65 years old, and
the total population of Japan is only 128 million compares to China’s population. Therefore,
Japan does not need the One-child Policy to limit their population. Instead, they may need
to encourage people to have more than one baby per family because they need more youth
to stabilize society. In short, controlling the “aging of population” or limiting population
growth is completely dependent on different countries’ current situations.
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World population is growing at an incredible speed. More people need more food to
eat. Therefore, we need more land to grow crops. Also, we have to make sure that land can
be irrigated if there is not enough rain; otherwise, nothing is going to grow except cacti.
Agriculture, a very important part of human culture, began in the Stone Age and has
been developing along with society for thousands of years. After our ancestors found that
wild wheat and fruit do not last for very long, they started planting wheat and other crops.
In order to grow crops, there are three basic requirements after you have the seeds that
you want to plant: Fertile land, sunshine, and an irrigation system.
However, on average, everyone can have 440 square meters of irrigated land where
they can grow crops. If we use corn to represent all the other kinds of food in this world,
each square meter of irrigated land produces 1.88 pounds of corn every year on average,
which means 440 square meters can produce approximately 829 pounds of corn. A regular
person eats three meals 365 days per year. Here is the math: daily corn: 829/365=2.2712
pounds, and each ear of corn is 0.55 pound on average, then use 2.2712 to divide 0.55,
which will round off to four ears of corn per day. (www.xjbzny.gov.cn, 2010) In short, in
2030, everyone will only be permitted to eat four ears of corn every day on average. For
children, it might be enough, but for adults, four ears of corn are not enough food to
produce energy for daily work: “the number of calories the body consumes in a day is
different for every person, but 2,000 calories is a rough average of what people eat in a
day.”(Discovery Communications Inc, 2010) On average, each ear of corn contains 300
calories, which means that people will only get 60% of the calories needed per day from
crops by the year 2030.
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It may seem terrifying that we can only get four ears of corn daily by the year 2030,
but it is actually happening, and it will be worse. What’s worse is that this is just an average
estimation, and not all people can get this much food. Therefore, there will be a large
number of people who will starve.
For us, it seems that there is always food in our stores and restaurants. However, if
we categorize our food, we will find that we are limited in the type of foods that we can eat:
grain, vegetables, fruits, seafood, and meat. The chemical substance into which our food
turns and becomes energy is called starch. All foods contain: 1: Starch; the part of food from
which people gain energy; 2: Fat; Fat will not be transformed into energy unless people do
not eat enough starch and need more energy. If people eat too much starch, and do not
need that much energy, the overwhelming part will be transformed into fat and stored
underneath the skin; 3: Protein; which can be obtained from meat, seafood, and eggs.
Proteins are used to build body parts or cells. However, in some extreme situations, such as
if you were buried under your house after an earthquake and you had nothing to eat, you
still would need energy to maintain your body temperature and keep other systems
working, so your body would transform protein into energy even if there were no fat in
your body anymore. In the 21st century, human beings get their energy from starch.
Therefore, people have to have enough grain (starch) to keep their bodies working.
However, the world grain production is another serious social issue today.
Modern technology is developing at an amazing speed, not only in I.T. and industrial
areas, but also in agricultural areas. For instance, “super hybrid rice” (a new way of
growing grain that was invented by Chinese scientist, Longping Yuan) has been able to
Global environmental issues
31
make rice production rates grow really fast. Before “super hybrid rice” was invented, the
rice production rate was around 5.5 tons per hectare; however, with this new technology,
“The pilot cultivation of super hybrid rice in south China has proved successful with an
average per-hectare yield hitting 10.5 tons.”(AsiaInfo Services, 2001) Not only is rice
production increasing, but irrigation around the world is also increasing every year. If we
put these facts together, we may conclude that world grain production is really growing
sufficiently. But why do we need this much grain? Is this huge amount of grain able to feed
every single person? The answer can be found in simple math: A piece of whole wheat
bread is about 25 grams, the weight of the bread used to make a regular hamburger is
about 50 grams, and a bowl of rice is about 300 grams. Assume that a regular adult eats
two pieces of whole wheat bread for breakfast, a hamburger for lunch, and a bowl of rice
with vegetables and meat for dinner. That would mean that the average adult only needs
400 grams of grain everyday, but each of us will have 773 grams of grain per day on
average by the year 2030. Does this mean that we have too much food and everybody in
this world will have enough to eat? The answer is no. All that these statistics show is the
fact that ideally we are able to feed everyone. However, this world is not ideal at all. It is a
fact that, “Almost a billion people go hungry each day after food price rises pushed 40
million more people around the world into the ranks of the undernourished.”
(Guardian.co.uk, 2010) This is a huge number of people who have not enough food to eat.
According to the statistics, only 50% of grain production is needed to feed people, and we
have a lot of grain left over. Why can we not feed everyone in the world? There are two
major reasons: population and poverty. In some rich areas, like Dubai and Denmark, people
Global environmental issues
32
have enough food to eat, no matter how many family members they have. On the contrary,
in some poor countries, such as those in Africa, parents are not even able to feed
themselves, but they are still having more and more children. Larger populations lead to
more poor people, and then more people die from hunger. We are able to feed everyone in
this world, so we should help them.
Not only are population and food serious social issues, but so is the lack of other
resources, such as trees. Trees, which are not only used to make many products, can also
produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. Trees also help to maintain the variation of
species, and decrease the rate of natural disasters, such as sandstorms. Trees can not only
provide fresh air, be made into construction materials, paper, and so on, but also keep
disasters from happening, and even control global warming.
Nevertheless, due to our greed for money, the amount of forests in the world is
declining year after year, day after day. During the 1980s, the forest areas decreased at a
rate of 10 million hectares per year. Between1960 and 1990, our Earth lost 450 million
hectares of forests. (Fu, 2010) Every year, the area of disappearing forests equals twice the
area of Paris.
Although trees are important in our lives, we cannot just be selfish and cut down all
the trees. We are not the only ones who need trees to survive; there are other species that
need trees more than we do. For example, birds need trees to build their nests, otherwise,
predators will eat them. Therefore, in order to keep the variation of species, and stop the
effects of global warming, we must plant trees and save paper. The contribution will be
huge if each of us takes part in it.
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We are living in a modern society, and we need not only need food and other
recourses, but also electricity. We will be able to generate 600 million kilowatt-hours
electrical energy per hour by the year 2030. How much electrical energy is this exactly?
600 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy can power 3 billion PlayStations for an
hour; power 666 million coffee makers for an hour; and power 133 billion laptops for an
hour. It seems that we have too much electrical energy to use. However, if we look at
things in a different way, the consequence will be completely different. By the year 2030,
China will need 5.6 trillion kilowatt-hours to keep everything working. Here is the math:
5.6 trillion kilowatt-hours divided by 600 million kilowatt-hours per hour equals 9333.33
hours, 9333.33 hours divided by 24 hours per day equals 388.88 days. What’s worse, this is
only in China, and China is not the only country, that needs huge amounts of electrical
power.(Michael Bluejay, Inc, 2010)
According to the above calculations, it appears that the amount of available
electricity will be much less than how much we need in twenty years. What’s worse, there
are many countries that have no electricity at all. Even in some developed countries, some
small villages are still using kerosene lamps at night: “1.6 billion people — a quarter of
humanity — live without electricity”.(Shah, 2010) If you are the kind of person who uses
energy for entertainment daily, or even just check and send e-mails every night, then try to
imagine living with no electricity at all.
What’s more, not only do we not have enough energy, but also most electricity is
generated by burning coal, and it will yield a huge amount of carbon dioxide as a result. If
we want to light a bulb for an entire year, then the carbon dioxide produced by burning
Global environmental issues
34
coal in order to generate electricity will be 1852 pounds. (HowStuffWorks, Inc.,
2010)There are billions of light bulbs lit every single second in this world, which means
that there are trillions of pounds of carbon dioxide being produced every year just because
of light bulbs. In conclusion, we not only need to generate more electricity to help this
society, but we also need to find and invent better methods for generating electricity, not
only for the environment, the entire human species, but also for the whole world and every
other species.
While only very few people are have a place to live, food to eat, and electricity, there
are lots of people who are wasting food, energy, and other resources. People are wasting
350 tons of municipal solid wastes every year. If you have ever seen a 15-storey building,
then try to imagine that building in a pyramid form, and it is built of all kinds of garbage.
This is how much municipal solid waste there will be by the year 2030. We had better stop
or at least reduce the amount we waste; otherwise, we will have to spend more money on
recycling, and we may need to waste more land to bury all the garbage.
Most cities have their own trash recycling system. Lots of trash cannot be recycled,
such as fruit and vegetables and some special plastics. What’s more, recycling trash costs
money, and not all countries can afford this. In some developing countries, instead of
recycling trash, people just dig a huge pit and bury it. However, we cannot keep on digging
pits and burying trash. People are wasting food, paper, and electricity. We can feed our pets
leftover food instead of buying dog food and throwing away our leftovers; write on both
sides of the paper, and keep used paper for scratch paper; turn the lights off if you are the
last one to step out of a room. We can create less waste by simply doing these easy things in
Global environmental issues
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our daily lives. The destruction of the environment has a great impact on our lives. The
environment was formed in an ecologically balanced way. However, when this balance is
affected by our actions, and this disturbance becomes too much for the ecological
environmental system to resume its balanced condition, more and more environmental
problems will occur. Usually, these environmental problems also cause many social
problems, and social problems lead to the deterioration of society. Even worse, if we do not
do our best to help, the entire human race may be wiped off the Earth.
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Reflection:
Since not all people like reading or looking at data tables, I decided to use one of the
most clear and efficient ways to show how serious and dangerous the current situation is,
through graphs. People usually care more about tomorrow than today, so I decided that my
goal to try to demonstrate how dangerous the Earth’s environmental situation is by
forecasting and projecting the patterns and trends in environmental issues for the next few
decades. After collecting thousands of data, graphing tens of graphs, and doing numerous
calculations, I finally made a series of historical and projection graphs, which contain many
environmental issues and related social problems: Graph No.1: World average temperature
of each year: As a direct result of global warming, the world average temperature will keep
increasing every year. By the year 2030, the world average temperature will increase one
degree Fahrenheit. Therefore, sea levels will rise because the ice sheets are melting. Graph
No.2: Sea level changes each year: With the temperature is increasing, the ice sheets on
both Southern Pole and Northern Pole are melting. Sea levels will rise about 5 centimeters
in the next twenty years. In Bangladesh, for example, 320 thousand people will lose their
homes in the next two decades, and there are thousands of cities that are located by the
coast, which means that their inhabitants are also in danger. Rising sea levels also cause
more weather-related disasters, which causes suffering. Graph No.3: Economic losses from
weather-related disasters: Due to the effects of global warming and sea levels rising,
weather-related disasters will occur more often. By the year 2030, the economic losses
from weather-related disasters will be around 180 billion dollars, which means that more
than 5 million people’s annual income will be used to pay for the destructiveness of nature,
Global environmental issues
37
or people’s own foolishness. Graph No.4: The volume of carbon dioxide produced each
year: The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is the main reason why
these environmental issues are occurring. By the year 2030, there will be 420 molecules
out of a million molecules in the air; they will only increase 0.4% molecules out of 1% of
the air molecules. Although it will not change much, it strongly implies how big an effect
carbon dioxide can produce. Graph No.5: The numbers of passenger vehicles in this world
each year: One of the main reasons that carbon dioxide emissions are increasing, is because
more and more vehicles are being produced, and most vehicles release carbon dioxide
while they are running. Compare the year 2030 to the year 1980: the numbers of passenger
vehicles will be doubled, which means that the carbon dioxide concentration in the air will
be increased. Graph No.6: The population of each year: Along with these thorny
environmental issues, many related social issues are also threatening human beings’ future.
We only have one Earth, and the capability of Earth to hold human beings has a limit.
However, the population never stops growing. The population will be 8.5 billion by the year
2030. That means there will be only 0.1752 square kilometers available for each person.
Controlling population is really important for our society and our future. Graph No.7: The
annual addition of population per year: Although the population is growing every year, the
annual addition of population is actually dropping year by year. The annual addition of
population will be 70 million by the year 2030, and this is not a good sign at all. The aging of
population is getting worse, and 70 million is still a huge addition for each year. More old people
need to be taken care of, and more babies are born, but less labor force can be used. Graph No.8:
World irrigated area each year: More people need more food to eat and more food requires
Global environmental issues
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more land to be cultivated. There will be 365 million hectares of irrigated land by the year
2030, which is 15 million hectares more than the area of India. We are not able to produce
enough food for everyone. One pizza is big, but one slice or even less for each person is not
enough. Graph No.9: World irrigated area per thousand people each year for the next two
decades: Although the world total irrigated area is increasing every year, the irrigated area
per thousand people has dropped a little in the past years. By the year 2030, every thousand
people will have to share 44 hectares of irrigated land, which means that each person will only
have 440 square meters to grow enough food to feed their families for year. On average, people
will only be able to get 60% of their daily needed calories out of the crops that they get from this
land. Graph No.10: The amount of grain produced in each year: As a result of increasing
irrigated areas, more and more grain is being produced every year. World grain production
will reach 2.5 billion tons by the year 2030. Even though this is a huge amount of grain, a
lot of people will starve. Graph No.11: The amount of grain per person in each year: The
problem of food and population is already hard enough, but there are some related
problems that are also causing people to starve, such as poverty and natural disasters. Each
person will have about 282 kilograms of grain (773 grams daily) to eat by the year 2030,
which is enough food. However, there are still one billion people who go hungry everyday.
Graph No.12: The amount of timber production in each year: Trees release oxygen, and
balance the ecological environment. Nonetheless, human beings also use trees to build, but
the amount of logs available is limited. There will be 3751 million cubic meters of timber
production in the world by the year 2030, and every year, 2.4 million hectares of trees will
be cut down. Graph No.13: The amount of electrical energy generated in each year: In the
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modern world, electricity is very important. By the year 2030, the capability of generating
electricity will be 600 million kilowatts, which means that 600 million kilowatt-hours of
electrical energy can be generated each hour. This is a huge amount of power for
generating electricity. However, this is not even enough for China. Today, 25% of people in
the world live without electricity. Graph No.14: The amount of municipal solid waste in
each year: Food, logs, and electricity are all important resources for human beings, and we
need to cherish them. Nevertheless, lots of people have bad habits and are wasting these
resources. The amount of total solid waste is increasing every year, and it will reach 350
million tons by the year 2030. This much trash equals the height of a 15-storey-tall
building.
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Conclusion:
All these graphs represent environmental issues and related social issues. Global
warming, lack of food, resources, and energy, and our own waste: these are all getting
worse due to the carelessness and foolishness of human beings. We have the highest level
of intelligence among all species in this world, but we are also the ones who are damaging
the Earth the most. We have a responsibility to protect the environment. We only have one
Earth to live on, and it’s not just our Earth, it is home to billions of different species. As the
most intelligent species in the world, we should be responsible for protecting the Earth.
There are lots of easy things that we can do, and they may just cost us a few seconds or
minutes: walk or ride a bike if you are going a short distance; use both sides of your paper;
use cloth bags instead of plastic bags; turn off the lights whenever you leave a room; use
solar power as much as you can; recycle trash as much as you can; throw cigarette butts
into the trashcan. Of course, there is so much more that people can do on a daily basis. If
every single one of us contributes, these dangerous trends will not have to continue.
41
Global environmental issues
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