lesson 5

• Lesson 5 focuses on the Environmental Aspect of Globalization

Environmental Issues

• Waste generation per capita is an environmental issue affecting the entire planet.
• Actions within one country can impact another country's environment.

Air Pollution

• Air pollution includes chemicals or particles which pose health and environmental risks.
• Some air pollution comes from natural sources such as volcanoes, wildfires, and allergens.
• Most air pollution results from human activities such as energy use and agriculture.
• Human-caused air pollution comes in different forms.
• Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.
• The release of greenhouse gasses traps the sun's heat, leading to increased global temperatures.
• Air pollution contributes to climate change, resulting in smog.
• Smog forms with high heat and increased ultraviolet radiation.
• Extreme weather like flooding increases damp conditions, leading to mold growth.
• Smog reduces visibility, harms plants, irritates the eyes, and causes respiratory distress and has serious health effects.
• Mercury and lead are toxic air pollutants with serious health implications like cancer, reproductive issues, and birth defects.
• Limiting toxic pollutants, smog, and greenhouse gases can be achieved by reducing fossil fuel use in transportation, manufacturing, and electricity generation.
• Reducing the use of fossil fuels will slow global warming.

Global Warming

• Pollution is considered a major cause of global warming.
• Industrial production releases dangerous pollutants without proper environmental care.
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were commonly used in aerosols, refrigerators, and air conditioners beginning in the mid-1900s.
• In the 1970s, it was discovered that CFC use resulted in a hole in the ozone layer.
• The hole in the ozone layer allows ultraviolet rays to enter the atmosphere, causing skin cancer and raising the planet's temperature.
• Banning CFCs has decreased their use and is helping the ozone layer recover.
• Gases like methane and carbon dioxide are still being produced, thus trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Water Scarcity

• Increasing population and industrial demands are raising the demand for water.
• Global warming, dam construction, and underground aquifer depletion mean that clean water is becoming scarce.
• Global warming affects the world's weather, which causes the water in lakes to evaporate faster.
• Dams can limit water supply to downstream farms, even in other countries.
• Aquifers cross national borders, so over-extraction in one area can lower the water table in a neighboring country, potentially leading to conflict.
• Saudi Arabia formerly grew large amounts of wheat using water from an underground aquifer, but farms were closed due to natural springs drying up.
• The Arabian aquifer lies under Bahrain, Kuwait, and the southwestern UAE.
• Another aquifer lies under the eastern UAE and Oman mountains.
• Water extracted from these aquifers becomes salty, thus limiting its use.
• Most water in the UAE comes from Gulf desalination, which uses ten times more energy than groundwater production.
• There are worrying effects of desalination on the marine life of the Gulf
• Increased salinity from desalination may harm the habitat of fish consumed in those countries if several countries do the same.
• Gray water resources and sewage treatment is a solution to water scarcity.
• Gray water includes water from kitchen sinks, showers, and car washes, which is cleaned and recycled for farming and irrigation.
• The UAE has built many dams to catch rainwater to refill the eastern aquifer; increasing dam efficiency is another possible solution.
• The water evaporates before it can leak down, so building artificial aquifers may stop the evaporation.

Food Security

• The COVID-19 crisis revealed how dependent GCC countries are on food imports.
• With a growing population and water limitations, the UAE relies on food imports.
• Border closures, supply chain issues, and supply route restrictions due to coronavirus lockdowns could cause major problems.
• Forward-thinking leadership in the UAE put measures in place to prevent food shortages during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Food capacity measures include developing food production technology, increasing food storage, purchasing or renting farmland in other countries, providing nutritional advice, and campaigning to reduce food waste
• The first aim is to improve farming techniques to maintain production without straining the water supply.
• Initially, organic farming started with modern irrigation, but the inability to control the environment and prevent pests led to indoor vertical farming development.
• Crops are grown using hydroponics, a soil-less farming method where plants grow in a water solvent with computer-monitored nutrient supplies.
• Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and herbs are grown successfully with hydroponics.
• Hydroponic farming cannot solve the problem of demand of wheat and rice.
• The government has built food silos for staple foods to solve this.
• Building silos and the solution to rent land in other countries ensures that the food produced is prioritized for the UAE.
• Food waste reduction by 50% in the next two decades is the final method via awareness of nutritional needs and consumption monitoring.
• This will increase food security and positively affect the UAE's carbon footprint.