Environmental Problems: Overview and Types

• An environmental problem can be defined as the alteration of the natural state or damage caused by humans to their interconnected environment.
• These problems are connected to all aspects that positively or negatively affect humans.
• Historically, these problems were seen as isolated events with no human-caused causes or consequences.
• Modifying the environment itself is not an environmental problem, but rather the generation of large imbalances in natural systems due to these modifications.
• The most important consequences of environmental problems are the depletion of renewable and non-renewable natural resources, unequal ecological distribution of energy consumption among countries, and the reduction of the planetary environmental system's capacity to assimilate waste produced by society.

Types of problems

• Global, regional (North-South perspective), and local (national) environmental problems

Global problems

• Affect the entire planet.
• Environmental damage expanded to new territories or affected larger areas due to industrialization and globalization.
• These problems require concerted international solutions since their causes and effects cannot be addressed by a single country or region acting in isolation, affecting present and future generations in all regions of the planet.
• Economic globalization has accelerated environmental problems due to increased production and consumption, leading to greater exploitation of natural resources and massive environmental contamination.

Regional problems

• Environmental problems are not localized in a single country or city but extend to different regions of the planet, allowing for study of environmental impacts from both the northern and southern hemispheres.
• This perspective reveals inequalities in the development of countries and regions, with the North being more developed (North America, Europe, and a large part of Asia) in all aspects (social, economic, and technological).
• The countries that generate the biggest environmental problems are not only affecting the developed regions of the world, but also impacting the less developed countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

Local problems

• Environmental problems occur within a nation's borders.
• Management and solutions should be provided by national or local authorities.
• Local development involves local administrations conducting diagnoses and studies of the territory, programming, financing, and managing projects, as well as monitoring and evaluating actions and objectives.

Global environmental problems

• Climate change, ozone layer depletion, and biodiversity loss

Climate Change

• Climate change is primarily caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and certain industrial processes
• The IPCC indicates that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and many observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in recent decades to millennia
• Climate change results in global average temperature increase, melting glaciers and polar ice, rising sea levels, intensified extreme weather events, altered weather patterns, and changes in seasonal cycles
• Climate change impacts terrestrial and marine ecosystems, causes biodiversity loss, threatens food security, affects human health, damages infrastructure, forces migrations, and exacerbates social inequalities
• Greenhouse gases distribute uniformly in the atmosphere regardless of their origin, affecting the entire world to some differing degrees

Ozone Layer Depletion

• Ozone layer depletion is caused by the emission of ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, halons, and methyl bromide
• As these chemical substances reach the stratosphere, they release chlorine and bromine atoms that destroy ozone molecules
• This phenomenon became visible with the discovery of the ozone "hole" over Antarctica in 1985
• Decreased ozone layer protection allows higher levels of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation to reach the Earth's surface, which causes skin cancer, eye cataracts, immune system suppression, reduced plant growth, harm to marine phytoplankton, and degradation of materials like plastics and paints
• Atmospheric circulation distributes ozone-depleting substances throughout the stratosphere, and reduced protection against UV-B radiation affects all terrestrial organisms.
• The Montreal Protocol has achieved a 98% reduction in global consumption of controlled substances

Biodiversity Loss

• Biodiversity loss is a global environmental problem characterized by the accelerated reduction in the number of species, decreased genetic diversity, and degradation of ecosystems at a planetary level
• The main direct causes of biodiversity loss are changes in land use (deforestation, urbanization), overexploitation of species, climate change, pollution, and invasive species introduction
• Biodiversity loss disrupts essential ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, climate regulation, and water purification
• Biodiversity loss also leads to the loss of potentially valuable genetic resources for medicine and agriculture, imbalances in food chains, and reduced resilience of ecosystems to disturbances
• This problem affects all biomes and ecosystems on the planet, from coral reefs to boreal forests
• Diminished biodiversity reduces the biosphere's capacity to adapt to global environmental changes

Regional Environmental Problems (North-South Perspective)

• Electronic waste management, biopiracy and appropriation of traditional knowledge, and ecological debt and climate justice

Electronic Waste Management

• Represents a regional environmental problem from a North-South perspective
• Industrialized countries generate approximately 23 kg of electronic waste per capita annually, while countries in the global South produce only 1.7 kg per capita
• A significant portion of electronic waste is exported from developed countries to developing nations due to less stringent environmental regulations and lower management costs

Biopiracy and Appropriation of Traditional Knowledge

• Biopiracy is a regional problem characterized by the appropriation of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, mainly from indigenous and peasant communities in the global South, by companies or institutions in the global North
• This appropriation typically occurs through intellectual property mechanisms such as patents
• Megadiverse countries in the global South (such as Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, and Mexico) are home to approximately 70% of the world's biodiversity, including species with medicinal, nutritional, or industrial properties known by local communities for generations
• Despite international instruments like the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, significant gaps remain in its implementation

Ecological Debt and Climate Justice

• Ecological debt is a concept that captures historical asymmetries in the use of natural resources and environmental degradation between the North and the South
• The industrialized countries are responsible for the disproportionate appropriation of the planet's carrying capacity, manifested in resource extraction and occupation of pollution sinks, especially the atmosphere
• Countries in the global North, representing approximately 20% of the world's population, have generated around 70% of historical greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution; countries in the global South face greater climate change impacts with fewer resources for adaptation
• The concept of ecological debt has gained relevance in international climate negotiations, where countries in the global South demand that mitigation, financing, and technological transfer commitments reflect historical responsibilities
• Climate justice seeks to address structural inequities with climate change not only being a technical or environmental problem but also fundamentally an issue of social justice, human rights, and power dynamics between the North and the South
• The burden of the climate crisis and the benefits of mitigation and adaptation policies are distributed unequally across regions, social classes, genders, and generations