The Economy and the Environment

Very Briefly, what does the Environment give Humans?

-The Resources they need to live and produce their livelihoods

-The Physical Environment and the Biosphere, which allows the hosting of all forms of life

-Essentials like Air, Water and Food

-Raw Materials that are used in production for other goods, from oils to timber to coal.

How can the Economy be visualised with the physical environment?

What have the effects of soaring production done for natural resources and the environment?

-Humans have, for most of history, seen natural resources as being unlimited essentially and freely available, apart from the cost of obtaining them

-The soaring production has meant use of natural resources has shot up, and the degradation of the environment has occurred. Water, air, soil, and the weather have been altered by humans rapidly

Why is Climate Change such a striking effect?

-Use of Fossil Fuels (coal, oil & gas) has massively affected the environment

-Before 1800, the level of carbon dioxide had been unchanged for centuries.

-After, the massive emissions have led to increases in the Northern Hemisphere’s average temperature.

-It is true that Natural Events can cause fluctuations, but since 1900, temperatures have risen as a direct response to increasingly high levels of Greenhouse Gas Concentrations, which come from the use of fossil fuels.

What, briefly speaking, are the consequences of Climate Change?

-Melting of polar ice caps

-Rising sea levels threatening coastal areas

-Changes in climate & rain patterns that will massively affect the food-growing areas

Why can the Permanent Technological Revolution be both the cause and the saviour for today’s environmental problem?

-The revolution brought about the dependence on fossil fuels - the continued cycle of innovating and expanding the scope of the market & economy led to the use of fossil fuels massively increasing

-But the revolution massively boosts productivity and efficiency, and it may lead to greater reliance on renewable sources. Further technological advances may shift us way from fossil fuels.