Population, Urbanization and the Environment

Question One

Openness and accountability in the state saves taxpayers’ money and strengthens people’s trusts in the state and public participation in decision-making. As a result, the government has to be democratic to ensure accountability and openness. The reasons are that the democratic form of government establishes checks and balances from both government arms and public. For example, it fosters accountability, because both elected and appointed public officials have an obligation to explain decisions and actions to citizens. Secondly, through the arms of the state, the pubic holds public offices accountable through political, legal, and administrative mechanism. Secondly, a democratic state upholds human rights more as compared to the other forms of governments, such as monarchy, authoritarian government, and dictatorship. Unlike in a democratic state, in order to safeguard the interest of rich individuals, most of the other forms of government develop rules that hinder their responsibility. As a result, the rich prospers as the poor languish in poverty (McConnell & Abel, 2008).

Question Two

The environment is both a social and political issue. The reason is that environmental issues such as climate change affect different sectors of society, which means that the integration is general in both national and global policies. The interaction of such issues leads to a political process with multiple and overlapping consideration both at social and political fronts. As a result, it is a complex issue, since the society addresses it in various scales with diverse stakeholders involved. For example, within the mining and jewelry industry, such as diamond industry, there are several social, environmental and political factors. Such factors include both social and political conflict, child labor, and degradation of the environment (McConnell & Abel, 2008).

Question Three

The most significant issue is food crises. The reasons are that it affects a significant percentage of both upper and lower social class. Food crisis occurs when an access to appropriate quantities and quality of food and nutrition is inadequate or unreliable. For example, a significant number of American upper and middle class suffer from obesity. Ogden et al. (2014) state, that more than one-third of adults and at least a quarter of youths in the U.S are obese. Among minority groups, the rate is higher among middle age adults of 40-50 years than young adults between 20 and 35 years (Ogden, Carol, Kit & Flegal, 2004). On the other hand, child undernourishment is a prevalent challenge for human development in most African countries. As a result of inadequate policies on food security, social and political violence, a significant portion of the African population lacks access to adequate food and water (McConnell & Abel, 2008).

Question Four

A culture of sustainability is an interdisciplinary approach. It raises the value of culture and behavior in local, regional and international development. Culture refers to the way people acknowledge natural resources including human beings. The most significant way to enhance ecological sustainability is by recognizing the relationship between people and ecosystem, heritage, and investing in tourism and conservation efforts. On a day-to-day basis, ecological conservation efforts involve using public means when convenient, switching light during the day and when not in use, and contributing to recycling (McConnell, & Abel, 2008).

Question Five

Three things to benefit the society are: building information on environmental issues, develop a plan, and review efforts. Familiarizing with environmental issues builds information on an individual impact. As a result, it will be a good start to improving decisions on environmental conservation. Secondly, planning will aid to attain maximum success since a person understands capability and resources available to the efforts. During this phase, it is beneficial to encourage persons around to engage in such efforts. The study period occurs after a stipulated time and may be after a week or a month (EPA, 2009).

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