Ecological Degradation due to Globalization

Globalization has led to many technological advancements; connecting people from all around the world and propelling us to new monetary heights. With rapid economic growth and successful industrialization, it’s easy to overlook the harmful ecological effects of globalization. From deforestation to global warming and climate change, globalization has an undeniable footprint in our environment’s degradation. Rapid globalization has increased global demand leading to inflated production and accelerated consumption of natural resources. As our global economy continues to swell, we fail to remember that the source of our fortune is the environment to which we defile.

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In recent years, global environmental issues like climate change and transboundary pollution has gained a lot of attention and has inspired a lot of concern. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization, in 2005, reported that every year around 18 million acres of the world’s forests are lost due to deforestation. Forest trees play an essential role in stable ecosystems and the global atmospheric make-up. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. When they are cleared, whether it be by being cut down or burned, they release carbon dioxide into the air. According to The Union of Concerned Scientist, deforestation contributes to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, which is about 10% of all global warming emissions (Union of Concerned Scientist, 2013). Global warming has a significant effect on our environment and impacts all other facets of our ecological industries.  Issues like these forces people to recognize the intricate connection we all have due to the planet we share; yet, humans continue to ignore this interdependence and proceeds with the attack on the Earth’s ecosystems to maintain a profligate way of living.

Annotated Bibliography:

I agree with:

Chanda, N. (2007). The Double Edge of Globalization. In N. Chanda, Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Nayan Chanda is the founder and former editor-in-chief of YaleGlobal Online, an online magazine that publishes articles about globalization. Chanda reported as the Indochina Correspondent for the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review until 1980. In 1980, he was appointed Diplomatic Correspondent. In 2005 he won the Shorenstein Prize which honors which honors a journalist not only for a distinguished body of work but also for the way it has helped an American audience understand the complexities of Asia. He is the author of several books and articles that cover the economic and political subjects that span from Asia, through India, and in the United States.

In 2007 Chanda released a book, “Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization”.  In this book Chanda covers the origin and growth of globalization; from medieval merchants, missionaries and adventurers to current day multi-billion-dollar industries. He delicately introduces each new instrument that has helped propel globalization to where it is now. He implies that the development and adoption of the internet, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organizations indicate that people all over the world have always been tied together.

Inspired by his own book, Chanda wrote an article/excerpt on the environmental effects of globalization and published it to YaleGlobal Online. In this article, Chanda dives into the ecological complexities that go along with rapid economic growth. He explains that multinational companies wreak havoc on the global environment by moving operations to countries where environmental regulations are weak or nonexistent (Chanda, 2007). Chanda covers the negative effects of deforestation; forest trees play an essential role in stable ecosystems and the global atmospheric make-up. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. When they are cleared, whether it be by being cut down or burned, they release carbon dioxide into the air. According to The Union of Concerned Scientist, deforestation contributes to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, which is about 10% of all global warming emissions. Major environmental issues like global warming stretch, and affect every ecology niche and ecosystem. Chanda elaborates on these adverse effects, and covers topics that are directly related to the way I feel about ecological degradation due to globalization.

I disagree with:

Frankel, J. A. (2003, November). The Environment and Globaization. The Environment and Economic Globalization. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States: Columbia University Press: New York. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w10090

Jeffrey A. Frankel is an international macroeconomist. He is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Frankel also works as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, an organization which can officially declare recessions. He served at the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1983-84 and 1996-99. Frankel is well-respected by his peers and is ranked among the 50 most-cited economists. Frankel has co-authored several books and has written for The Guardian.

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In a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Frankel shares his views on the environment and globalization. He argues that fears that globalization necessarily hurts the environment are misplaced. “A survey reveals little statistical evidence, on average across countries, that openness to international trade undermines national attempts at environmental regulation through a race to the bottom’ effect. If anything, favorable gains from trade’ effects dominate on average, for measures of air pollution” (Frankel, 2003). Frankel explains that through globalization, countries can learn how to better manage their environments. Throughout the lengthy paper, Frankel focuses on three main points to solidify his stance;  consumer power, multilateralism, and cross-country statistical evidence. He attempts to balance the importance of economic income while also considering environmental quality. Although Frankel’s stance opposes mine, his proposals and statistical evidence creates a more important question. What is the appropriate ratio to healthily balances economic globalization with ecological maintenance?

Steger, M. B. (2013). The ecological dimension of globalization. In M. B. Steger, Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (pp. 87-102). Gosport: Oxford University Press.

Manfred B. Steger is Professor of Political Science at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa and Professor of Global Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). He is also the Research Leader of the Globalization and Culture Program at RMIT’s Global Cities Research Institute. Steger has authored or edited over twenty books on globalization and the history of political ideas. In his book “Globalization: A Very Short Introduction”, he gives a glimpse at the multifaceted processes that make up the global, regional, and local aspects of social and economic life. Steger unbiasedly presents information about positive and negative features of globalization and allow the reader to take an educated stance. However, in chapter six, Steger presents the negative effects of globalization on the environment. He provides statistical evidence and the observable consequences of ecological globalization.