Environmental Science Economics and Policy

Environmental Policy and Economics

Pg. 573

Over six billion people live on Earth.

They are supported by unprecedented levels of human resource use, productivity, and cientific knowledge. On average, people live longer and have more education than they did 50 years ago. They are also less likely to live in acute poverty. But Earth still faces many prob-lems. Our goal must be to live in a sustainable way worldwide.

Sustainability is the condition in which human society can go on indefinitely and future generations can have a standard of living as high as our own.

To live in a sustainable way, we need to look for new ways to solve problems. For example, fresh water and energy are becoming scarce and expensive in many parts of the world. We need to develop sustainable solutions. Suppose that we developed cheap, renewable, non-polluting sources of energy. We could then make all the fresh water we needed by desalinating sea water, solving both problems. By approaching problems with sustainability in mind, each new solution builds a better world.

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We live in a time of globalization. Environmental and economic conditions are linked across political borders around the world.

People cross these borders in search of economic opportunities and a better quality of life. Increasingly, governments, organizations,, and businesses around the world must work together.

Despite having different opinions, world leaders meet to identify common goals and to address worldwide problems.

Reading Check: What does it mean to live in a sustainable way?

Multiple Choice

What means "human society can go on as indefinitely and future generations can have a standard of living as high as our own"?

• Sustainability

• Resilience

• Conservation

• Adaptability

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Sustainable development  

Many meetings in agreement among international governments, have dealt with environmental concerns along with economic and political concerns. The earth summit of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was a sign of new levels of international environmental awareness and cooperation. Representatives from around the world drew up several agreement. One of these was agenda, 21, a general plan to address a range of environmental problems while allowing continued economic development.  

Multiple Choice

Where was the Earth Summit held in 1992?

• Rio de Janeiro

• Tokyo

• London

• New York

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International organizations in agreements related to climate in the atmosphere are also listed here. One treaty, the Montreal protocol, successfully reduce the amount of ozone, destroying chemicals in the atmosphere. However, not all agreements or successful. Any country may choose not to sign, enforce, or provide funding to implement an agreement.

For example, the Kyoto protocol attempts to avoid or slow down, global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions around the world. Most of the developed countries have promised to reduce their emissions by about 5% by 2012 however, an argument against the Kyoto protocol is that it would be costly to implement, even though it does not guarantee a stable climate. Another argument is that the treaty allows developing countries to continue to increase their use of fossil fuels, while it requires reductions in use of fossil fuels by the developed countries.

Multiple Choice

The Kyoto Protocol plans to ________ global warming.

• Slow Down

• Speed Up

• Stop

• Reverse

Multiple Choice

The Montreal protocol successfully reduces the amount of ______.

• Carbon dioxide

• Ozone

• Nitrogen

• Methane