Ecological Problems Global environmental problems are diverse and dramatic, because they encompass practically all constituents of the natural human environment: organic and inorganic nature, natural resources, and climate. On the whole, global environmental problems are caused by the growing levels of harm that humans inflict on the planet. They include economic activity, irrational and wasteful nature management, overpopulation, urbanization, wars and armed conflicts.
Pollution and resource depletion have a long history that started with man populating the Earth and actively exploring it. These factors intensified during the periods of emerging industrial production, growth of cities and population growth, and were stimulated by industrial revolutions. Anthropogenic pressure on the Earth’s environment reached its peak in the 20th century resulting in a number of irreversible consequences manifesting themselves in the 21st century. Meanwhile, environmental conditions continue to deteriorate.
The UN alone has spent several trillion US dollars on environmental programmes during twenty years of sustainable development strategy implementation. Despite some local improvement, the world’s environmental situation has considerably worsened, with new risks and threats emerging. This is easy to explain by the fact that only developed countries have passed and observe strict environmental legislation; they also fund adequately their environmental programmes.
Moreover, they help the poorest countries, which often causes dismay and indignation amongst their elites who feel that justice is violated. No doubt, developed countries accept their responsibility in the context of international sustainable development efforts. They take into account the emphasis of their societies on the global environment, and on the technologies and financial resources they possess. Nevertheless, as we have seen before, the resources spent in Third World countries change practically nothing in their economic structure.