KEB3263 ENVIROMENTAL ECONOMICS

MOHD SALLEH BIN TAIB

Major causes of environmental problem

KLB1390054
HAZIQ BIN IHSAN @HASNI

Introduction

Economics have shown us the human development has shown

advancement, from trading commodities now we can even trade services such
as call centres. Technology has contribute a lot in human development. But with
all the development incurring the environment seem like having to take all the
negative side effect of the development. So KEB3263 environmental economics
will try to analyze what the major causes of environmental problem happening in
the world. So to fully understand the problem we need understand the basic
principle of environmental problem which is pollution, to truly tackle this problem
at its root. Among the environmental problem that can occur is pollution which
means contamination of harmful toxic waste into the environment from factory,
vehicle and people own fault. A statement from the world wildlife Federation on
pollution:
If we look at any ecosystem and there could be multiple forms of contamination
streams full of toxic chemicals from industrial processes, rivers overloaded with
nutrients from farms, trash blowing away from landfills, city skies covered in
smog. Even landscapes that appear pristine can experience the effects of
pollution sources located hundreds or thousands of miles away. Pollution may
muddy landscapes, poison soils and waterways, or kill plants and animals.
Humans are also regularly harmed by pollution. Long-term exposure to air
pollution, for example, can lead to chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer and
other diseases. Toxic chemicals that accumulate in top predators can make some
species unsafe to eat. More than one billion people lack access to clean water
and 2.4 billion dont have adequate sanitation, putting them at risk of
contracting deadly diseases. And according to live science website article on
pollution facts and type of pollution; there five type of pollution which is:
1. Land pollution is because of household garbage and industrial waste. For
household most of the garbage would be from food. And according to the
Natural Resources Defence Council, up to 40% of food produce in the
United States is trashed each year.
2. Water pollution occurs because of the chemical and dangerous foreign
substance being dump into the river lakes and other water reservoir.
Among the substance and chemical are sewage, pesticides, fertilizer from
agricultural runoff or metal like lead and mercury
3. Air pollution is when things that arent normally there are added to the air.
A common type of air pollution happens when people release particles into
the air from burning fuels. This pollution looks like soot, containing millions
of tiny particles, floating in the air.
4. Noise pollution is unable to be seen or smell but it still affects the
environment. Noise pollution happens when the sound coming from
planes, industry or other sources reaches harmful levels. Research has
shown direct links between noise and health, including stress-related
illnesses, high blood pressure, and speech interference and hearing loss.
5. Light pollution is not well known because the side effect has not shown
critical or direct effect on environment but the effect could prove to be
fatal for some species like bird singing at unnatural hours because of

artificial light, Scientists have determined that long artificial days can
affect migration schedules, as they allow for longer feeding times.
So if we look at the facts above, it is important for us to understand the major
causes of environmental problem among them are population growth, wasteful
and sustainable costs of resource use, poverty, exclusion of environmental costs
of resource use from the market prices of goods and services, and attempt to
manage nature with insufficient knowledge.
Population growth
Population increase can have huge impact on the economy. An increase in
the number of people to a countrys population means that the wealth must be
distributed among more people, causing GNP per capita to decrease at least in
the short term.
Rapid population growth rates can make it difficult for countries to raise
standards of living and protect the environment because the more people there
are, the greater the need for food, health care, education, houses, land, jobs, and
energy was quoted by the world bank webpage.
As quoted from nova webpage In 2015 the world population is more than 7.3
billion people. Thats more than seven billion three hundred million bodies that
need to be fed, clothed, kept warm and ideally, nurtured and educated. More
than 7.3 billion individuals who, while busy consuming resources, are also
producing vast quantities of waste, and our numbers continue to grow. The
United Nations estimates that the world population will reach 9.2 billion by 2050.
The impact of increase number of population has two major forms

consumption of resources such as land, food, water, air, fossil fuels and
mineral will increase

waste products as a result of consumption such as air and water

pollutants, toxic materials and greenhouse gases

As quoted from the live science website most of the garbage of household are
food and what food waste can omit to the air is very dangerous. So an increase
in number of people would increase the amount of garbage and without proper
waste management the waste can be over flowing and would end up getting
wash away into the river and would cause water pollution. Not just it causes
pollution to land but also air and water pollution.
Waste management is important expect if the number of population increases
because more waste is going to be dump. What is meant by waste management
is separating the waste from things that can be recyclable and thing that cannot
be recycled.
The expanding of population must also meet the housing capacity in order to
avoid people crowding a certain place which can increase wastage capacity,
Opening a housing area can also have a negative impact. Firstly in order for you

to open a new land you must firstly clear a part of the forest. Cutting trees will
affect the wildlife as they lose they habitat and end up extinct because of our
reckless action in planning a housing area. By cutting down the trees we also
allow ourselves to be in danger because without the tree we are expose to
danger like flooding and even landslide. Not only tree provide oxygen for us to
breath but they also can prevent landslide from happening because their root
grips a wide range of land thus providing grip to the land so landslide doesnt
happen.
The aftermath of landslide problem can expand to flooding. How can it expand to
become flooding is when the land beside the river fell into the river because of
landslide the depth of the river decreases thus causing the water to overflow and
causing floods.

Wasteful and sustainable costs of resource use

Poverty
Exclusion of environmental costs of resource use from the market prices of goods
and services
Attempt to manage nature with insufficient knowledge

Reference

Population growth rate text: population growth, the economy, and the
environment
http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/social/pgr/index03.htm

Population and environment: a global challenge

http://www.nova.org.au/earth-environment/population-environment

world wildlife federation: pollution overview

http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution

live science: Pollution facts and types of pollution

http://www.livescience.com/22728-pollution-facts.html