Anthropocene and its problems
1.Define 'the Anthropocene' and discuss whether you think it is a useful or problematic concept.
2.Explain what is meant by 'intrinsic' and 'instrumental' environmental values, providing an example of each.
3.How is the idea of ownership linked to the commodification of resources? Discuss with reference to a specific example of a resource impacted by ownership claims.
4.Explain what is meant by 'planetary urbanism' and discuss how planetary urbanism is linked to the circulation of resources and wastes. In your answer, provide a specific example of a place that has been drawn into the process of planetary urbanism.
5.Cities are never separate from or outside of nature, but are always multispecies socio-natural spaces. What does this statement mean? In your answer refer to two non-humans found in cities.
6. Judith Carney (2001) discusses the idea of the Columbian exchange. What is the Columbian exchange and how does it relate to Carney's argument? In your answer, make reference to the crop she focuses on and the role of African slaves.
7.The Game Protection Act (1866) was the first legislation aimed at protecting biota in New South Wales. List the three assumptions behind the 'game laws' In the 1991 century and bnefly outline the key components of two of these.
8.Describe the approaches of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot in advocating the protection of nature.
9.The year 1788 has been referred to as an -imagined border (Head 2011) and as -Year Zero" (Rose 1997). Using examples from the lectures, discuss how the year 1788 has been relevant to the conceptualisation of 'nativeness' in Australia.
10.Define 'metabolic rift' with reference to John Bellamy Foster's interpretation of Karl Marx. Give an example of metabolic rift occurring at the planetary scale.
11.Explain what an urban 'food desert' is and, with reference to lecture materials, discuss who might be considered the most vulnerable to the impacts of food deserts.
12.Describe four contexts of water crisis that are discussed in class beyond the typical 'availability and accessibility' narratives.
13.Sahotra Sarkar (1999) noted that 'wilderness' and 'biodiversity' have distinct tasks. Briefly explain these.
14.What is an 'alternative economy'? Give three examples.
15.Define 'hydro-social' cycle? With reference to Karen Bakker (2010) describe what are elements and actors constituting the hydro-social cycle?
16.Throughout the lectures, we have observed how both places and environmental outcomes are produced through socio-ecological flows and entanglements, and that these sometimes manifest in uneven ways. How do processes of circulation work to link cities with more distant places? Answer this question in relation to at least two of the following ideas: shadow places, slow violence, metabolic rift, eco-cultural networks, migration/displacement and environmental justice.
17.Environmental justice requires that individuals have equitable access to environmental 'goods' and are not unfairly burdened with environmental 'bads'. Discuss both of these dimensions of environmental justice using at least two examples of injustices and critically reflect on how these injustices are impacting humans and non-humans. In your discussion you might consider the ideas of shadow places, multi-species justice, migration/displacement and vulnerability.
18.A number of alternative ways of thinking about resource use, economies and legal framings of peoples' relationships with non-human nature have been suggested. Critically reflect on two of the following: Val Plumwood's conception of 'ecological animalism'; alternative economies; the idea of de-growth; El Buen Vivir; Pachamama — the Planet's rights. Consider how they seek to reshape ways of thinking/doing and the challenges of adopting these approaches.
1.Anthropocene refers to the proposed period starting from the commencement of the significant impact of the human on the geology and ecosystems of the earth without being limited to the anthropogenic climatic change (Lynas 2011). It has become the environmental buzzword after the Nobel laureate and the atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, popularized it in the year 2000. The word picked up its velocity in the elites science circles.
The term Anthropocene was popularized by climate scientists for illustration of the difference between the world that existed and the world inherited. From the perspective, the concept might lead to the unexplained moment when humans have played a fundamental role in altering the earth (Szerszynski 2012). This is the reason behind the early adopters in conveying the urgency of the present situation to the public. Anthropocene has not only made an entry into mainstream dictonary but became a rallying cry for people signifying urgency of the action on the climate change. In other words, Anthropocene was a useful concept in the sense that it explained the gravity of the present situation leading to the revelation that human undeniably intervened into the earth’s systems thereby destabilizing it. However, there have been inherent problems that revealed that humanity is experiencing a predicament that put forward the need for using better technologies for controlling the nature.
2.Intrinsic environmental value refers to the value that a particular entity have in itself or as the end. There exist two different perspectives depending on the grounding for the intrinsic value. These are subjective intrinsic value and objective intrinsic value (Katz and Light 2013). The valuers through judgment and evaluative attitudes have created the subjective intrinsic value. It however does not exist prior to this or independent from this so it is conditional. People values wide range of things intrinsically for example religious and cultural artifacts, rituals and ceremonies, performances, accomplishments, historical sites and performances and they do it for varied reasons like what the entity represents, its embodiment, rarity, beauty and history. Since it is reason oriented so the subjective intrinsic value is open for evaluation and is not arbitrary. The objective intrinsic value in contrast to this does not require human conferring and has features and properties in the virtue of what seems valuable and is independent of anyone’s judgments and attitudes. For example, this is typically the thought with respect to attaching value to the persons. People possess values in virtues of what they are and not because of the value attached by the others. This value is however not conditional. For instance, if the ecosystems and species have subjective intrinsic value then the human valuers discover such value.
Intrinsic and instrumental values
Instrumental environmental value refers to a value derived from the value of something else and is always conditional (Benson 2013). However, the instrumental environmental value fluctuates based on the changes of the desirability of end for which implies a means and whether there is availability of alternative and efficient means. For example, a fishing line possess an instrumental value provided a person expresses the urge of catching fish whose value might diminish provided the person gains access towards a more efficient fishing net.
3.The survival of the nature has been taken for granted and the appropriation represents the result of the legal act that had historically faced violent conquests since the appropriation implies a loss for the society as well as the other communities. In the primitive societies, land was not considered a ‘good’ since it represented a territory and a shared asset that put forward the materials and food necessary for the survival represented the burial grounds for the ancestors. The commodification meant assertion of the human control over the nature and cessation of it being the eco systemic entity (Castree 2003). For example, commodification of resources leads to the beginning of destruction since land becomes a privatized production means subjected to the mercantile logic of the profit maximization. The earth was formed five million years ago and life appeared close to 500 million later. Human species however represents the latest product of evolution on the planet. In others words, humans did not produce the earth but the earth rather produced them so they have no right to commodify it. Therefore, its consideration as good required valuation and use that remained compatible with the complex network.
4.Planetary urbanism referred to the situations that implies that even the spaces that lay beyond traditional cores of the city has become the integral parts of worldwide urban fabric(Mitchell 2014). The planetary urbanization refers to the crucial social transformations of the modern time driven by various economic, social and environmental processes. However, the impacts of the urbanization on environment have been profound, manifested and multifaceted at the regional, local and the global scale. It is linked to the circulation of waste and resources through adoption of its current trends that includes the newer scales of urbanization, fictionalization of the hinterlands, reterritorialization of the urban processes and the end of the wilderness (Cook and Swyngedouw 2012). Examples of the places drawn into planetary urbanism include bigger cities like London, New York or Sanghai implying how the spatial relations are not contained within urban limits. The production chains to the migration fluxes of these cities makes it is easier for accessing how their extension represents planetary urbanism.
Ownership and Commodification
5.Cities always fascinated the human beings. Inhabitants or visitors needed people for building them and turning them into dynamic, vibrant, multifaceted, pulsating showplaces delivering manifold experiences and lives (Houston et al. 2017). A city is never separate from or outside the nature but represent multispecies for socio natural spaces since they quintessentially represent human constructions. They have invariably been anthropocentric. The reasons typically represent improving the quality of the life for the people or even just the real estate value. However, the bottom line for promotion of the urban nature has been increasingly profound. It is concerned about the human survival that implies that without the existence of a healthy natural environment neither can the species survive and this is where cities break or make natural environment. If cities fail in embracing, the nature in demonstratively positive and sustaining manner there will be little hope for environment. The reasons for ensuring a valuation to nature of the cities needs movement beyond the selfie-view that put forward greenery within frame of the urban portraiture and its beyond that puts forward reasonable proposition that integrates the fact that the nature within the cities is good for resilience, sustainability, livability and human life. Thus, the nature has needs of their own that might or might not be beneficial for the human strands within web of life. However, some of the non humans found in the cities includes vehicles and robots.
6.According to Carney (2001), the decade following the launch of the unparallel exchange of the crops is referred as Columbian exchange. The Columbian exchange drew attention on critical role of the Europeans in revolutionizing the transoceanic systems of food through introduction of the American Indian and the Asian seeds to the African subcontinent. Africans domesticated not only the nine crucial serials but also half a dozen of the root crops, oil producing plants, vegetables, nuts, fruits, forage crops and bottle gourd. The Columbian Exchange also focused on the European voyages that led to the establishment of enslavement of the African captives.
Slavery was identified with cultivation of rice that has been the key plantation crop during the initial three decades of settlement in America (Carney 2009).Rice accompanied the African slaves in traversing the Middle Passage throughout New World including Brazil, Caribbean and Southern United States. In the middle of eighteenth century, the black slaves led to the creation of the most profitable economies of the world through rice plantations. Through historical and agricultural evidence, it was established that the significance of the rice in the West African Society even before the arrival of the Europeans and the beginning of the slave trade.
The concept of Planetary Urbanism
7.New South Wales Game Protection Act of the year 1866 represented one of the first statute made within the colony for the protection of fauna (Boucher 2015). It provided protection towards particular imported game for five years and closed seasons for the upcoming five years. Some native games like the wild ducks received closer seasonal protection for the ten years. The year 1948 represented a milestone in the Fauna Protection Act and for the first time appointed a Chief Guardian of Fauna for administering the faunal protection. This type of conservation remains closely associated with the development and it sometimes portrayed antiethical behavior in conserving the indigenous fauna and the flora.
The three assumptions behind the game laws:
- Until 1900, the phase will represent ineffective and sporadic protection.
- Between 1900 to 1920, the beginning of the greater concern for environment and the continuous effective protection of the limited areas
- Between 1920 and 1948, a comprehensive and effective protection under pressure rising from the growing conservation movement.
The key components include (Jarman and Brock 2004):
- Conservation of the biological diversity in all forms
- Prevention of extinction and promotion of the recovery of the endangered population, species and the ecological communities
- Elimination or the management of the process of threatening
- Ensuring proper assessment of the influence of the actions impacting the threatened community
- Encouraging conservation of population, threatened species and the ecological communities
8.Muir (1981) believed in conservation of the nature for its transcendental qualities and its spirituality. He believed that the peace of nature will flow into an individual in similar manner as sunshine flows into the trees. Traditionally it was believed that nature remained associated with the feminine aspect while industrialism remained associated with masculine. It was the men who were believed to be the providers of the families and therefore had an occupation with steady income source. Muir defined the particular categorization by going into feminized wilderness and away from conventional masculine duties. His appreciation of the wilderness was attained through complete envelopment of it. Besides, his devotion towards the nature helped in redefining how the people perceived the meaning. Further, he also possessed the belief that nature represented spirituality and ensured healing effects in association with Christianity.
On the other hand, Pinchot followed an approach for reforming the management and encourages the development of the forest in United States thereby advocating conservation of nation’s reserve through planned renewal and use (Miller 2013). He therefore called it the art of production from forest irrespective of its yield for service of the man.
9.According to Head (2011), the year 1788 remains referred as the imagined border since he identified the concept of the biotic nativeness being challenged by both natural and the social sciences. There were also etching out of further boundaries between some of the humans and theothers and the European colonization. There was argument put forward against the problematic nature when nativeness is used as the axiom of the environmental management. This also helps in foreclosing number of future options the moment there is the need for the increase in the capacity for dealing with unpredictability and contingency. However, Rose (1997) referred the year 1788 as ‘Year Zero’ since the mediating role performed in Sanctuary pointed towards the wider ambivalence regarding the participation of the Indigenous people in the contemporary society of Australia. Besides, the indigenous human population ontologically and symbolically assimilated towards the realm of the pre colonial wilderness skilled and perfectly adapted for surviving in the Australian nature and the top of food chain. The discourse embraced a colonial perspective of nobel savage and therefore failed to disappear in the industrial and agricultural modernism.
Multi-Species Urban Spaces
10.The metabolic rift refers to the development of the earlier work of Karl Marx’s in Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts on the relationship between nature and human and the species being. In other words it refers to the mature analysis of alienation of the nature thereby presenting more scientific and solid ways of depicting dynamic and complex interchange between nature and human beings. For example the theory of metabolic rift puts forward the evidence of the ecological perspective of Marx (Foster 2000). Therefore, the theory enabled Marx in developing a critique to the environmental degradation that leads to the anticipation of the ecological thought including the questions of sustainability.
For example, in the policy cycles of city planning, recently there has been a shift towards the urban sustainability. The ‘new eco tourism integrated infrastructure with the environment thereby bundling the ecology, architecture and the technology for internalizing food, energy, waste, food and the flows of the other materials (Foster 1999). The newer efforts in the considering metabolic rift focuses towards resource constraints, climate change and the threat towards the environmental crises.
12.Urban food desert refers to the poor urban areas or parts of a nation that face the challenge of limited or lack of access to the healthy and affordable food. Food deserts in the urban areas tend to occur in the low income regions where there is a lack of grocery stores with a supply of affordable and quality food (Cameron, Gibson and Hill 2014). There can be fast food stores, restaurants, and convenience stores but absence of a grocery store, farmers market or healthy food providers creates a situation in the impoverished areas where people do not get nutritious food. Thus, it creates a food desert in the urban areas. According to the USDA, when the people in the low income regions in the urban areas cannot access fresh and healthy food due to lack of transport or lack of supermarkets and grocery within a mile, then those regions fall under the category of urban food desert (Gallagher 2011).
Thus, the most vulnerable subject of the urban food desert is considered to be the people with low income and no car, as well as who are less educated and thus, have not much knowledge about the importance of consuming healthy food (Wood and Thomas 2017).
12.There are many contexts of global water crisis and among those some of the major contexts are Water, sanitation and health (WASH) crisis, Water infrastructure deterioration and destruction, Unsustainable development, and Ecosystem degradation.
Columbian Exchange and its impact on the environment
Water, sanitation and health (WASH) crisis is attributed to the scarcity of safe and affordable water resources. For example, in Bangladesh, 45 million people drink water containing arsenic concentrations more than WHO standards (Guppy and Anderson 2017). Although efforts have been made to provide improved and safe drinking water to more and more people, in many poor or rural regions, people still do not get improved water. 1.8 billion people still use drinking water contaminated by faeces (Guppy and Anderson 2017). This crisis not only affects the low income countries, but also affects some of the low income regions in the developed countries. Polluted water also causes various sanitation and hygiene problems. The practice of open defecation is a major contributor in this crisis.
The deterioration and destruction of water infrastructure due to lack of awareness and capital resources, is a major reason for global water crisis. The treatment plants need to be maintained and improved equipment should be installed for better water treatment. Before the SDGs implemented by the United Nations in 2015, the global focus on water treatment, water efficiency and recycling was far less. Poorly treated water used in agriculture and drinking purpose has a significantly negative impact on the health of people. Most of the projects are underfunded that aggravating the crisis (Guppy and Anderson 2017).
These above mentioned factors also contribute in unsustainable development. As per the SDG 6, the water goal states that as it is fundamental to life and livelihoods, the success of many other goals, such as, human health, food production, water security, industrial progress, education, poverty alleviation and universal progress depends on the water goal (Gandy 2004). Various types of pollution and contamination affect the sources of usable water and that affects sustainability significantly.
Although water is a renewable product, yet the high level of degradation affects the water and sustainability. It contributes in environment degradation. Reduction in the freshwater sources contributes in degradation of freshwater ecosystems (Gandy 2004). Hubbard (2017) highlighted that 45% of the peatlands near the Nordic and Baltic States have been drained and hence, those emit 80 megatons of carbon dioxide annually, adding significantly in the total carbon emissions from those countries, which is around 25%. Thus, water crisis is also caused by disappearing freshwater sinks, peatlands, wetlands etc. which affects the ecosystem as well as adds in environment degradation.
13.According to the conservation biologist Sahotra Sarkar (1999), biodiversity refers to the concept of diversity at all levels of biological organization, from species to the populations, ecosystems and communities. On the other hand, wilderness refers to a place in the nature, where the human being is a visitor and does not stay permanently. Human beings are also considered as part of the wilderness sometimes, especially those indigenous people, who live in the wilderness. Another facet of the wilderness concept put forward that a more wilder a place the more natural it seems. Less density of human inhabitants leads to more wilderness. On the other hand, biological diversity exists in all types of habitats. Conservation of biodiversity is more feasible as it includes humans as well as animals and plants and human invasion is taken into account, while conservation of wilderness refers to restrict human invasion into the nature to maintain the natural habitat of the animals and plants and prevent their extinction (Langton 1996).
Game Laws and the assumptions behind them
14.Alternative economy refers to an economic structure, which is separate from the traditional economy and also operates independently (Coe, Kelly and Yeung 2007). This economy has its own currency and independent means of conducting own commerce to create a high level self sufficiency. It also follows sustainable practices and creates employment opportunity and all types of living conditions for a better living. Community economies, Islamic banking and Sweden’s social welfare system, which has the characteristics of socialist capitalism are three examples of alternative economy.
- Community economy refers to the system where people abandon the big stores and conduct business through small and medium sized independent stores. They often have their own local production and distribution system, which creates employment opportunities (Miller 2013).
- In the Islamic banking system, the rules are different than in the traditional banking system. It defies the interests, profit or loss sharing, and advocates no inflation, no exploitation, no poverty, and no unemployment principles, which is also known as Islamic revivalism. It aims to encourage the practice of Islamic law in all its activities to promote a spiritual life (Pollard and Samers 2007).
- In Sweden, the socialist capitalist system provides tertiary education and healthcare to the citizens and has 8thhighest per capita income in the world (Scase 2016). This alternative economy is successful in achieving highest level of quality of life, education, health, equality, competitiveness, prosperity and development.
15.Hydro-social cycle refers to the socio-natural procedures which the society and water use to make and remake each other (Budds, Linton and McDonnell 2014). It reflects the social nature and power of water. As stated by Bakker (2010), hydro-social cycle represents the process of producing water and the process of making known to the society. Thus, this represents the water-society relations and political dimensions of the water process.
The main elements of hydro-social cycle are the amount of consumable water available to the nations and the societies and its power to determine the political relationships. The major actors of hydro-social cycle are the governments and various social organizations involved in producing safe water for the society and making people aware of the power of water for better living and political and social relationships based on it (Swyngedouw, Kaika and Castro 2002).
17.The simple meaning of environmental justice is a law regulated movement that promises to provide a healthy environment to all irrespective of their nationality, gender, age, income, race. It is the equal distribution of environmental responsibility to all recognizing the disproportionate number of environmental burdens in some particular communities. According to The United States Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is the fair and logical distribution of environmental responsibilities and meaningful involvement of all in the community (Swyngedouw and Heynen 2003). This involvement discards the income, skin color or national origin because it is designed so that none do suffer for the environment. It began in the late 1980s as a movement after recognizing that near some minority or low income community, the most polluting industries, waste disposals and power plants are located. The most significant intention of the movement was to embrace all and involve all in the community regardless of what their backgrounds are.
There are many issues which are related with the environmental justice or environmental justice. Many aspects of the community lives are involved in it. The environmental burdens include environmental pollutant, disadvantages and hazards that are related with the health risks of a particular community or the dwellers of that regions. Taken for an instance, there are communities in few places which lack supermarkets or other good sources of healthy foods. When this is all about the supply of good foods, there are unequal and inadequate transportation. Another significant environmental justice issue is the air and water pollution. Having located near some highly industrial plants, some communities or places suffer from air and water pollution and do not get access to fresh sources. The environmental justice allows people to have a fair ‘say’ in all the environmental decisions that benefits the environment. When everyone in the community gets the opportunity to participate in the decision, that is called the ‘procedural environmental justice’, people get the chance to defend their and others rights. When people get the chance to have as say, it becomes difficult to impose and overload them with unjust environmental burdens.
Muir and Pinchot's approaches to protecting nature
In order to emphasize the topic, few fundamental questions must be answered first. First of all, who are the recipients of environmental justice and who are the recipients of environmental injustice (Wolman 1965). The concern if who has the right to gain environmental justice has many speculations. The scope of the ‘community of justice’ determine whether the environmental justice concept is anthropocentric (all humans), integrational (current and the future generations). non-anthropocentric (other sentient beings too along with humans), international (all nation states) or only domestic (one nation –state). Secondly it has been found that the distribution is not fair at all. There are some ethnic minorities or low –income groups that are more exposed to the environmental hazards. According to a latest survey, it is evident that almost 66% of the carcinogen emission in England comes from 10% of the deprived local wards. The low-income groups and pollution has an integral correlation(Plumwood 2008). The environmental burdens include flooding, climate change, extreme storms, desertification and many others which are most of times severely faced by the economically poor people in the world. They face the environmental ‘bads’ more rather than environmental ‘goods’.
An example of environmental injustice is the ‘shadow places ‘of the world. In his academic paper “shadow places and the politics of dwelling “, Val Plumwood, the famous environmental philosopher explored few places which are in reality degraded and continuously plundered due to the environmental resources they possess. These shadowy places are forgotten and plundered for timber or mining in contrast to the places which are in the northern parts and sunnier, cherished and well –maintained as preferred places for dwelling. Having been associated with the nature for more than 30 years, the philosopher considered the Plumwood Mountain to be a shadow a shadow place. It is a place that could have been a beautiful dwelling place according to Val’s strong ecological study. However, the place has been unequally burdened with environmental injustice (Plumwood 2008).
The serious problem behind the place discourse is that, the concept of dwelling in ‘home place ‘/the place of belonging has led to the dematerialization which has permeated the global economy. It creates a separation and order line between the elevated, demanded and conscious dwelling places and the places which are abandoned and considered unsuitable for dwelling. This conscious separation has caused environmental degradation, deprivation, injustice and disregard to those places. These shadow places which are disregarded in the rush to value the elevated places, provide most of the ecological support and therefore, must be honoured.
Year 1788 and its relevance to nativeness in Australia
In this respect, the recently introduced idea of ‘the ecological footprint’ must be dragged. The shadow places have found to be holding the most serious number of impacts for supporting the life on earth. The time has come to understand the importance of both the places (shadow places and the preferred places), and consider both to be critically accounted. The shadow places have been found to be affected by the commodities human beings consume. The consumers do not even know about these long forgotten places which are being severely affected by the human activities. The pollution and the dangerous waste that human race exhibit are absorbed by these places, their fertility gets exhausted and their indigenous or the non-human population gets destroyed. It has been suggested that these places also deserve priority and honor. their burden must be reduced.
I believe that we must owe to these places especially the coral reefs which are being wrecked for providing supply to the clownfish. Those places which are being ruined in order to produce fossil fuels must be revered by us. We should collaboratively accept all the shadow places as our places because they are the foundations on which we are sustaining. First of all, we must start recognizing these abandoned or denied places. According to my views, the injunction must be destroyed that keeps the ‘other human /species places’. The environmental projects should include these shadow places too for re-modification or re-formulation.
Another example of environmental injustice is the injustice done to the non –human animals(Plumwood 2003). It is thought that justice is only applicable for humans. According to the conventional view justice and advocacy is only allocated to the human beings. However, few recent incidents have raised the need to justify the injustices done to the animals. For example, the environment and the non-human animals are inflicted by the grave harms. The necessity to create regulations for the well-being of the non-humans has come up(Pelling 2001). Hence, the human rights experts, the environmental studies and the animal ethics collaborated in the conceptualization of the justice. They contribute to the analysis of the amount of injustice, establish institutions concerning the animals, humans and the environment. The causes behind the injustice done to the animals can ate related to the climate change, resource depletion and most importantly, industrial farming. The animal species are heading towards extinction due to lack of food, sufficient fresh water to drink, suitable places to live and breed and fresh air to breathe.
Metabolic Rift and its occurrence at the planetary scale
In order to reduce the impacts of environmental injustice on the non-human animals, multi-species justice must be established. According to my opinion, the multi-species justices can be created by the imagining of the representation modes and other practices of politics which must come together to accommodate the claims of justice of all the ecological beings. The multi-species justice project will demand collaboration from the scholars who would think about the sophistication that is demanded by the situation(Oliver-Smith 2009). The practices and the policies should also need support from the higher authorities for the enforcement. The initiative will highly prioritize the theory, practices, policies, team work, reputation and the integrative work of various associate organizations and the NGOs. The project will be solely dedicated to the multi-species justice and at the same time will define a new field. The aspiration of these projects will be bringing insights, practical ideas to a world where the multi –species and the species and beset by the injustices of the graves.
These environmental injustices are affecting the earth in many ways. The human health is the topmost area which get the most affected by such injustices. The toxic air pollutions can harm the exposed areas of the human body and can initiate severe respiratory problems such as asthma, pneumonia and air pollution(Nixon 2011). Ultimately, the environment that is getting maligned by the human race is taking high toll on the human lives in return. The biodiversity is being lost in the environment. Bio-diversity is highly essential in order to maintain the equilibrium in the ecosystem in terms of nutrients restoration, combating the pollution, water resource protection and many other(McCarthy and Prudham 2004). The major causes of the loss of biodiversity are global warming, deforestation, pollution, resource depletion, overpopulation and others.
The ozone layer that is the root shield to protect the earth from the deadly ultraviolet rays is also equally depleting. The excessive amount of deforestation is leading the amount of harmful chlorofluorocarbons; hydro chlorofluorocarbons rise in the atmosphere. The ozone layer is depleting which will leave the harmful radiations reflect back on the earth(Langford-Smith and Rutherford 1966). The tourism industry used to be one of the leading industries of the world that is being affected and facing setback due to the deterioration of the environment. So many people’s livelihoods are connected with the tourism industry. The loss of bio –diversity, landfills, water and air pollution are signaling to be threat for the tourism industry. The economic development of countries is also highly related with the environmental degradation(Jarman and Brock 2004). The restoration and reformation of the environmental degradation causes a huge amount which is can be perceived as economic pressure for a country. People must contribute to the concerns of environment and try to reduce the environmental injustices that will surely affect the living creatures of this beautiful earth. People must be aware of the consequences of the torture that is being conducted on the mother earth(Heynen et al. 2007). The future of the next generation is dark if the initiative is not taken right at this high time.
Concept of Urban Food Deserts and their impact on vulnerable populations
Apart from the humans, the non-human creatures are also highly exploited by the human activities. They are the one who are being deprived the most of their rights to live on this earth. The human race is the most responsible for causing them the injustice(Heynen, Kaika and Swyngedouw 2006). The human beings are polluting the habitats, killing the animals ruthlessly, snatching their homes away and plundering useful resources that are mandatory for their living. The overpopulation that is redoubling itself day by day is leading the human race to occupy the living places of the non-human animals. There are some species which are almost near to extinction (Cook and Swyngedouw 2012). There was a time when the number of plants and animals were four times of the current number of flora and fauna present on earth.
On a concluding note, it can be said that each aspect of the environment, human and non-human lives are integrally correlated. Each one effect the other either positively or negatively. The rule of environmental justice is to encompass all in the world but it has been found that there are few particular groups on earth (either human or on-human) which are the victims of the torturous environmental injustice. It must be reduced in order to create a sustainable earth which needs huge collaboration and support from the member of society and the government.
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Beyond Availability and Accessibility Narratives: Contexts of Water Crisis
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