The impact of industrialisation on the environment

Xiang Kho
Hwa Chong Institution
Singapore

First world countries are countries that have undergone the most drastic changes over the spread of several decades. In these countries, the majority of the citizens do not suffer from poverty. Before industrialisation began, the country was undeveloped and the land had not undergone drastic changes.

The environment is defined as the air, water and land in which, or on, people, plants and animals live. In terms of the global environment, I will examine the environment of different countries and how industrialisation has impacted upon it. I will also state a few ways such problems could be solved.

1. Causes

Whether people industrialise intentionally or unintentionally, they are in the quest of earning money. While doing so, they pose threats to the environment. With an adequate amount of money, we could stop our planet from being threatened. Everybody could have equal access to resources and we could help stop endangering biodiversity.

However, what is the use of money and everybody not acting? You could donate all your fortune but it is useless if nobody wants to take any action. Therefore, instead of donating money, you could take practical steps to save the environment, and save yourself. Cooperation is, therefore, important if we are to deal globally with protecting our Earth.

In conclusion, people earning money, and the lack of cooperation between people, are part of the reasons for environmental degradation.

2. Research

In this research, I will not assume that newer technologies in the future will protect the Earth. I will use different countries as examples to show how people affect the global environment.

2.1 Industrialisation

Why industrialise? Why must people industrialise? Industrialisation is one of the key factors that has significantly harmed the global environment. The next subsections focus on the environmental impacts of industrialisation in the following groups of countries:

• developing nations, including most parts of China, India, and the Philippines.
• fully industrialised nations or cities include Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Japan, USA and some parts of Europe
• undeveloped nations include some countries in Africa.

We can conclude that fully industrialised nations must have undergone industrialisation before. We can also say that industrialised nations and developing nations were once undeveloped.

2.1.1 China

China is a developing country, which is undergoing extraordinary economic growth. We also know that China has many underground mines, which supply energy to the population of China. Its recent rapid development has caused a large increase in energy consumption. To convert coal into energy, burning is required. While burning, carbon dioxide and dust particles are emitted and are left in the atmosphere. These dust particles will often shroud the whole of a city and only disappear after a downpour.

China is also referred to as the worst polluted nation on Earth. According to the World Bank in 2004, 16 of 20 cities in China are listed in the most polluted cities. These dust particles integrate into the atmosphere and cause acid rain, which has even destroyed some of the internal historic infrastructure in China.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also mentioned that more than 70 percent of rivers and lakes are polluted. Due to the fact that these fresh water bodies cater to millions of people, water should not be polluted. Furthermore, scarcity of water is common in the north of China.

An explosion at the Petrochemical plant, in Jilin City, China, in November 2005, caused the neighbouring country, Russia, to be affected by water pollution. High amounts of benzene are discharged into the Songhua River. Owing to pollution, the water supply was cut off for five days in Harbin City, while 500,000 residents in Russia were also affected.

2.1.2 The Philippines

On the island of Rapu Rapu, Albay, the Philippines, lead, arsenic and mercury have been found in water samples. Villagers there have stated that the sea smelt of rotting fish and also found their shores littered with dead sea creatures. The cause of the pollution, which endangered marine life, is the mine plant in the region. The owners are accused of dumping toxic waste into the waters of Albay Gulf, as well as contaminating several creeks and rivers on Rapu Rapu Island. However, Lafayette, an official fact-finding commission, which is trying to weed through piles of allegations and counter allegations, hoped the operations of the mine would resume.

2.1.3 India

According to the WHO, New Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Surveys have also indicated that respiratory diseases due to air pollution in New Delhi are 12 times more than the national average.

In India, most major industries would have additional resources to invest in water treatment facilities for effluent. However, that is not the case for small-scale industries. The majority of the industries in India are small-scale and they could not afford such investments into pollution control equipment. Therefore, they emit poisonous effluent into the rivers.

Furthermore, according to the Asian Geographic (Issue 3/2006), titled 'The Devil Water is Coming!', arsenic was discovered in the tube wells that transport water to the locals. The cause of the water contaminated with arsenic is believed to be from the sediments deposited across the Gangetic Plain during the annual monsoons from the Himalayan region. Because of this, villagers in West Bengal are suffering from severe skin damage. This arsenic poisoning is not being addressed because locals are too poor to spend money on the required equipment.

2.1.4 Singapore

Singapore is a commercialised nation. From 1960 to the present, Singapore had cut down a large number of trees. During the industrialisation period, water and air pollution was particularly bad. However, now, having the status of one of the most developed countries in the world, Singapore has the technologies to enable it to track water and air pollution. Furthermore, restrictions and heavy fines are imposed for industries that do not stick to the restrictions made by the National Environmental Agency.

Singapore has a lot of technology and could invest in new products to keep the nation a vibrant city.

2.1.5 Parts of Africa

Unindustrialised nations like Botswana, the Congo and Zambia are usually the countries that do not cause pollution. Instead, the loss of biodiversity and habitat is a major problem and do pose a threat to wildlife. For example, poaching caused the savannah animals to significantly decrease. There are many organisations in Africa that save the lives of these animals.

The loss of biodiversity is directly related to other threats to the environment. Deforestation and logging cause animals to flee from their habitat. Animals will have to adapt to the extreme changes or die. Large areas of forests are cleared away. This will mean a lower oxygen supply for the Earth.

2.2 The environment

The above five examples depict three developing countries, one industrialised country and a few countries that are unindustrialised. In China, the air pollution creates acid rain and the water pollution caused the water supply to be cut. In the Philippines, water pollution poses a threat to endangered species. In India, untreated water from industries causes villagers to suffer. In Singapore, modern facilities help protect people from environmental problems. In Africa, instead of industrialisation, conservationists are facing another threat to the environment.

3. Extending a helping hand

It would be impossible to alter the global environmental situation overnight. Since altering the global environment is demanding, everyone must extend a helping hand to stop the global threat. The rich and the poor must all extend a helping hand. You should too.

Everyone should start small. We should practise recycling, reusing and reducing our garbage so as to avoid land pollution. We should use public transport instead of private transport so as to minimise air pollution. We should learn the correct manner of disposing of waste so as to avoid water pollution. If everyone plays a part, pollution and the loss of natural habitats would be kept to the minimum.

4. Conclusion

From the above examples, we could see that developing countries are more likely to cause harm to the environment and society. Non-developing countries cause harm towards some aspects of the environment but in a different way. That is, animals are poached or die gradually because of the loss of their natural habitat. Developed countries pose the least threat towards the global environment on Earth because they have the money to invest in new technologies that protect the Earth.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_countries http://www.ehponline.org/members/1999/107p251-256wu/wu-full.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_in_China http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu35ie/uu35ie02.htm#i.%20environmental%20pollution:%20basic%20precepts http://www.wpro.who.int/china/sites/ehe/overview.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5241844.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4475096.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1901649.stm http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/category_sub.asp?cid=38 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa

Asian Geographic No. 36 (Issue 3/2006).

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