Globalization and the Pollution
Globalisation is an universal phenomenon which was introduced with the aim of integrating societies,economies and cultures through a common link of trading policies,technology and communication.With the advent of globalisation though the standard of economy has improved,it also brought many new issues into concern. Brain drain,pollution and spread of diseases are the major problems the world is facing today.For a large extend the factor behind this is globalisation.Each day we could hear new forms of pollution and hundreds of people are becomming victims of this.
As a result of globalisation large number of industries were setup all over the world.For setting up of industries newer areas had to be discovered,so people started destroying large forest lands. Rapid destruction of forests caused serious threat to both plants and animals .Many species of plants and animals have become extinct and many are endangered.Reports reveal that a major portion of forest area is being decreased every year.This can create far reaching consequence on the environment.Due to decline in the number of trees,the temperature of earth is going high.This phenomenon is termed as Global Warming.Many environmentalist have come forward raising this issue,but still nobody could find a way to tackle this problem.Temperature rise causes the polar ice to melt and increase of sea level.This is a major threat to the entire living world.
The next problem to be taken into account is the industrial waste.Each industry produces a huge amount of harmful waste material every day.And many of them have no proper means of waste disposal.They either dump the wastes into the sea or river or in some land mostly banks of rivers.As a result the land and water is being polluted.Many of the water resources have been contaminated and become unfit for drinking.Even the fishes are dying off in mass amount .Due to these reasons the problem of drinking water scarcity has turned out to be fierce.Also the outlet gases from industries are highly dangerous which includes poisonous chemicals like sulphur oxides,nitrogen oxides,carbon monoxide,toxic metals like lead,cadmium etc..This adds to air pollution.Air pollution has far reaching effects on human health.Mostly it affects the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system.Inhalation of polluted air negatively affects the functioning of lungs and other organs of our body.It can lead to minor breathing problems to severe respiratory disorder as the degree of exposure to pollutants increases.
Sulphur oxides reacts with atmospheric water producing sulphuric acid and thus forming acid rain which causes heavy destruction to historical monuments.Such incidents have already been reported in the case of Taj Mahal.Another harmful chemical which appeared on the screen in recent times is chlorofluro carbons (CFCs).CFCs are considered ideal for many industrial,commercial and household applications like coolants for commercial and home refrigeration units,aerosol propellants,electronic cleaning solvents and blowing agents.CFCs were found to be the major reason for the depletion of ozone layer.Depletion of ozone layer can inturn be very destructive for the living beings as it protects our earth from the harmful radiations from the sun which can lead to serious skin diseases. Over a few decades,the agricultural production has increased tremendously with the use of hybrid varieties of plants and highly effective fertilizers and pesticides/insecticides.Such chemicals are hazardous to human well being.Strong evidences of neurological defects have already been reported .
If this pace of globalisation continues,we will have to witness dramatic environmental changes.So we will have to adopt certain eco-friendly techniques to bring down the side effects of globalisation.Of course,some programmes have been introduced like Vanamahotsava and Montreal Protocol.Vanamahotsava aims for planting more number of trees and creating awareness about the importance of trees and forests in the proper environmental balance.Also, strong laws have been imposed against deforestaion.The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by bringing down the use of CFCs and replacing it by some less harmful chemicals.Its the duty of each and every citizen to save our mother earth.So combined effort must be taken in this regard.
Shilna Krishnan
