SOC450
Solutions to Global Issues
Week 4 Assignment
1
Assignment 1: Social Impact of Population Growth
The United Nations has hired you to be a consultant on
global issues. One of the challenges is assessing the impact of population
growth. There is no question that the world population will grow dramatically
in the next decade throughout many countries of the world. The members of the
UN are working to understand the impact that population growth has on society,
specifically in developing countries. Your first project with the UN is to
develop a whitepaper on three issues related to the population growth faced by
one of these countries. Read the Case Study and provide an assessment based on
the questions below.
(For a brief list of
resources for this assignment, please see the end of the course guide.)
II.
Overview
Our obsession with continual economic growth deters us from
studying the role that an expanding population plays in global warming.[1]
About 3 billion years ago, the Earth suffered through a mass
extinction caused by catastrophic volcanic activity in Siberia and wildfires
that covered the entire planet. Since then, four more extinctions have
eradicated up to 80% of all species each time. The world’s climatologists and
scientists overwhelmingly agree that we are now on the verge of a sixth mass
event that, over the next few tens of thousands of years, will wipe out nearly
all living species on Earth — including humankind.
This is not the stuff of science fiction or speculation, but
rather the studied view of the people who are most qualified to make this kind
of assessment. As anthropologist Richard Leaky, author of The Sixth
Extinction,[2] wrote in 1995, “Homo sapiens might not only be the agent of the
sixth extinction, but also risks being one of its victims.”
This brings us to two issues worthy of reflection:
Does the rate at which people are reproducing need to be
controlled to save the environment?
To what extent does human population growth impact global
warming... and what can be done about it?[3]
The answer to the first is quite simply “yes,” but the
solution to the second is more problematic. The damage humans are doing to
their climate is ruining the atmosphere surrounding their planet. At the rate
this damage is increasing, at some point in the future there will be no
atmosphere left to protect life on Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
Compared to other planets in our solar system, Earth has mild temperatures,
thanks largely to the protective gases of its atmosphere.
However, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution
(around 1775), those gases have become stuck in the atmosphere, causing heat
radiating from the sun to reflect back to Earth (rather than exiting to space).
The result is that oceans have become warmer and glaciers are melting,
including parts of Antarctica. If we think of that continent as the stopper in
a bottle, its melting away will release all the water it is holding back. This
will raise sea levels to uncontrollable levels and flood coastal regions for
miles inland.
The two main culprits for this warming trend are carbon
dioxide (CO2) and methane. These gases, called greenhouse gases, are trapped by
the Earth’s atmosphere and, in turn, heat up the entire planet. It is worth
noting that warming oceans are killing off kelp beds throughout the Earth's
oceans and coastlines at a prodigious rate. Not only do hundreds of millions of
people depend on the fish that thrive on this ecosystem, but kelp is a natural
absorbent of CO2. It purifies both the water around the kelp and the air we
breathe.
Population growth that consumes natural resources is
partially to blame for the release of greenhouse gases, as are deforestation,
soil erosion, and farming (overturned dirt releases CO2). The real issue,
however, is the burning of fossil fuels (hydrocarbons) such as coal oil and
natural gas, which have been produced by the organic remains of prehistoric
organisms. The release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) such as refrigerants (used
to cool the air in air conditioners and refrigerators), propellants in aerosol
sprays, and solvents also contribute heavily to the depletion of the ozone
layer in the Earth’s stratosphere. The stratosphere is responsible for
filtering out much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, preventing humans from
burning to death.
Continuing to release these gases and CFCs into the
atmosphere at these rates will have catastrophic effects on the Earth’s
ecosystems and its level of biodiversity. Temperatures will warm by about two
degrees Fahrenheit, changing weather patterns for the worse across the globe.
In December 2017, the World Bank stated, “Climate change is an acute threat to
global development and efforts to end poverty. Without urgent action, climate
impacts could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by
2030."[4]
II. Case
Assessment
The world’s population is expanding at such a rate that some
natural resources are being stripped from the environment. This case study
deals with how global institutions are working to prevent the loss of these
resources. It also deals with, in effect, the consequences of not having access
to these resources.
As the first section of your whitepaper for the UN, research
the impact of population growth on society. Write a minimum of four pages
assessing the impact, citing at least five credible sources in your research.
As you compose the whitepaper, review the United Nations list of developing
countries (available on the United Nations website). Select one country from
the UN developing countries list to use as an example throughout your
assessment. Please include:
A cover page with your name, title of course, date, and the
name of your instructor
A one-half page introduction
A middle section that is numbered and divided into three
one-page sections. Each of these sections should answer one of the following
questions:
What are greenhouse gases? How do they contribute to global
warming?
What kinds of economic, security, political, and other
challenges do these emissions pose to the people of the developing world, and
who are the biggest offenders?
Is there any way to control the growth of population on a
global level?
A one-half page conclusion
Cite at least five credible sources, excluding Wikipedia,
dictionaries and encyclopedias for your assessment.
For a brief list of resources for this assignment, please
see the end of the course guide.
This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards
(SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please
take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You will be
prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Evaluate the impacts of population growth and its negative
impacts on global societies while considering multiple perspectives.
[1] George Gitlitz, ‘The Climate Problem – But Don’t Mention
Population,’ Berkeleyside, June 19, 2018.
[2] Discover Magazine, July/August 2018, p. 55
[3] Larry LeDoux, ‘Does Population Growth Impact Climate
Change,’ Scientific American, September 2018.
[4] Bill McKibben, ‘A Very Grim Forecast,’ Review Article of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global Warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC
Special Report, in The New York Review of Books, Vol. LXV, No. 18, November 22,
2018, p. 4.
SOC450
Solutions to Global Issues
Week 7
Assignment 2
Assignment 2: Poverty and Food Security
The members of the United Nations appreciated the content
you provided on population growth. Now they are asking you to expand the
whitepaper to include global food security as it relates to population growth
and poverty. Read the Case Study and provide an assessment based on the
questions below.
(For a brief list of resources for this assignment, please
see the end of the course guide.)
Overview
We can view global food security as the effort to build food
systems that can feed everyone, everywhere, and every day by improving food
quality and promoting nutritional agriculture.[1] That said, there are certain
practices that can advance this project:
Identifying the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition
Investing in country-specific recovery plans
Strengthening strategic coordination with institutions like
the UN and the World Bank
Developed countries making sustained financial commitments
to the success of the project
We must bear in mind that more than three billion people,
nearly one-half of the global population, subsist on as little as $2.50 a day
and that nearly 1.5 billion are living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a
day. According to the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and other
relief agencies, about 20,000 people (mostly children) starve to death in the
world every day, for a total of about seven million people a year.
In addition, about 750 million (twice the population of the
United States) do not have access to clean drinking water, meaning that some
one million people die every year from diarrhea caused by water-borne diseases.
The population of Earth is expected to grow from 7 billion
in 2010 to 8 billion in 2025, 9 billion in 2040, and 11 billion by the end of
the 21st century.[2] If the demand for food is predicted to grow by 50% by 2030
and 70% by 2050, the real problem is not necessarily growing that much food.
Rather, it is making that amount available to people.
Moreover, foodborne illnesses are prevalent, with nearly 600
million reported cases of foodborne diseases each year. These affect mainly
children, but also negatively impact the livelihood of farmers, vendors, trade
associations and, ultimately, the Gross Domestic Product (national income) of a
country. These issues can impose tremendous human, economic, social, and fiscal
costs on countries Addressing them allows governments to devote more resources
to making desperately needed improvements in infrastructure that raise the
quality of life for everyone.
It is not enough to have adequate supplies of food
available. Policies that focus exclusively on food production can exacerbate
the problem, particularly if, to satisfy the need for quantity, the quality of
the food is left wanting.
Reasons for Food Insecurity
Certainly, poverty and the systemic internal conditions
creating it inside a country are the unmistakable driving factors behind
keeping adequate food resources from reaching people. It is only one factor of
several, however. Others include the following:
Inadequate Food Distribution: The reality is that there is
more than enough food in the world to feed its people. The primary cause of
famines is not poor weather conditions as much as it is getting the needed
amount of food to the people who need it most. Quite often causes result from
political instability and poor infrastructure, often involving a country’s port
facilities, transportation availability and quality of road networks.
Paradoxically, although the population is going to increase in the coming
decades, the amount of food potentially available will increase along with it.
This is due mostly to advances in bio agricultural engineering and increased
seed immunity to molds.
Writing in the late 18th century, Thomas Malthus warned that
global population would exceed the capacity of Earth to grow food, in that
while population would grow exponentially, food production would grow only
arithmetically. Although this theory has been proven invalid, the unfortunate
result of its propagation has been for some governments to rationalize
political choices that avoid helping the poverty-ridden and starving.
Political-Agricultural Practices: The widespread use of
microbiological, chemical, and other forms of pesticides in food continues to
be a serious issue throughout the global food chain. Widespread use of
fertilizers also causes illness in millions of people every year, not only from
the food itself, but from run-off into streams and rivers, contaminating entire
water supplies. The human, social, and economic costs of such practices impede
improvements being made not only in the raising of crops, but in their
distribution. Added to this, the rising demand in developed countries for
biofuels, currently refined mostly from corn and soy beans, reduces the amount
of arable land devoted to producing food.
The failure of many farmers in the developing world to
rotate their crops harms the replenishing of nutrients necessary to continue
growing crops. In addition, the repeated use of agricultural land without
allowing it to lie fallow in order to replenish needed soil nutrients thereby
increasing fertility and maximizing crop yield results in reduced agricultural
output and insufficient crop yields.
Economic Issues: The fact is, government policies that focus
on growing cash crops, for example, are designed solely to export them to earn
foreign exchange. This may be fine for the government in its efforts to earn
money, but the result is that farmers end up growing for foreign markets and
not domestic ones. This leads to shortages of necessary staples. Consequently,
the poorest of the population are frozen out of the local markets because they
cannot afford the food that remains to be sold.[3]
Civil Strife: Civil war can interrupt the flow of food from
gathering depots, such as ports, to distribution centers where it can be handed
out to people. During the 1990s, Somalia was particularly hard hit by their
civil war, as clans fought for control of the main port at Mogadishu. This
affected the flow of food to the rest of the population. In this case, as with
many civil wars, whoever controls the supply of food controls the country. In
failed and failing states like Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti,
South Sudan, Yemen, and Libya, food very often is another weapon used by one
segment of the population against another.
II. Case Assessment
The issue is not the lack of food in the world, but the
access to food. Simply put, food is not getting to where it needs to be in
time. In developing countries, the food shortage is due to governmental control
over food. These governments maintain their control and preference for certain
groups by limiting access of nutritious food to certain other groups. The
result is the weaponizing of food.
In this second part of your whitepaper, research the impact
of poverty on global food security and the technology available potentially to
remedy this situation. Write a minimum of four pages assessing the impact,
citing at least five credible sources in your research. Refer specifically to
the role these issues have had in the developing country of your choice. In
this assessment, please include:
A cover page with your name, title of the course, date, and
the name of your instructor
A one-half page introduction
A middle section that is numbered and divided into three
one-page sections. Each of these sections should answer one of the following
questions:
What is food insecurity and what role does population growth
play in it?
What factors specifically interrupt the flow of food from
the source to the people in the developing country you selected?
What forms of technology can be used to reduce hunger and
improve food security? Explain how these technical solutions can do that.
A one-half page conclusion
Cite at least five credible sources excluding Wikipedia,
dictionaries, and encyclopedias for your assessment.
For a brief list of resources for this assignment, please
see the end of the course guide.
This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards
(SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please
take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You will be
prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Propose a plan to address the issue of global food security
in underdeveloped countries that considers the impact of prior solutions.
[1] For a good overview of food security in general, see
Peter Timmer, Food Security and Scarcity: Why Ending Hunger Is So Hard, Foreign
Affairs, May/June 2015, Reviewed by Richard N. Cooper.
[2]World Population Prospects, United Nations Population
Division, 2017.
[3] Will Martin, Food Security and Poverty: A Precarious
Balance,The World Bank, (Blog, Lets Talk Development), November 5, 2010.
SOC450
Solutions to Global Issues
Week 8
Assignment A
Threats to the Global Environment
Congratulations! The United Nations has hired you as a
consultant on global issues.
Many of the UN members are not satisfied with the progress
of the Millennium Development Goals. They feel that the goals focus on the
wrong issues. There is a disconnect between what issues the UN developed
countries believe are priorities and what many developing countries feel the
prioritized issues should be. For example, the country of Burundi has asked
that one of the goals be focused on food security. Austria, however, is adamant
that the major current global issue is to mediate ceasefires in countries in
the midst of a civil war.
You have been asked to provide an unbiased perspective and
identify the four issues you feel most impact the global environment. You will
present your findings at the next UN General Assembly. Your goal is to provide
a history of each issue, the number of countries affected, and the effects of
this threat to the world population.
Of the eight major threats listed below, choose the four
that you consider the most critical.
Energy sources
Civil war
Globalization
Poor health of entire populations
Lack of educational opportunities
Cultural taboos
Inappropriate uses of technology
Climate change
For your presentation to the United Nations:
Develop a minimum of four slides per issue for a minimum
total of 16 slides.
Provide at least a paragraph on each slide (in the notes
section) to explain the reason this information is relevant to the UN’s
assessment.
To review how to do any of the required assignment
deliverables in PowerPoint, please refer to your Lynda.com account or reach out
to your instructor ahead of time.
For each issue, create a graph or chart to analyze the data
you have collected.
Cite at least five credible sources excluding Wikipedia, dictionaries,
and encyclopedias.
This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).
The format is different compared to other Strayer University courses. Please
take a moment to review ?the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You’ll be
prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Examine the factors that account for why the growth in the
world’s population can negatively affect global society.
SOC450
Solutions to Global Issues
Week 9
Assignment B
Assignment 3b: Threats to the Global Environment
Counterargument
The members of the United Nations are impressed by your
presentation. The information you provided has led to productive debates. There
are now questions about prioritizing the issues at hand. Some of the countries
are challenging your recommendations and questioning your reasons for not
including certain other issues they believe are priorities.
There are four remaining threats in the list of major global
issues. Review the topics and reflect on two that you did not use in Assignment
3a. Defend your reasons for considering these topics to be less important than
the issues you assessed in Assignment 3a.
Energy sources
Civil war
Globalization
Poor health of entire populations
Lack of educational opportunities
Cultural taboos
Inappropriate uses of technology
Climate change
Choose two of these four threats and write one paragraph on
each threat stating why each is less a priority to the health of the global
environment than the four you assessed in Assignment 3a.
Support your argument with at least three scholarly sources
for each threat chosen (a total of at least 6 sources) that can be used to
support your position that these two threats are less a priority than the four
threats which you chose to assess in assignment 3a.
Each counterargument should include:
An opening statement describing the threat; Three (3) points
that offer evidence which supports your position that these threats are less a
priority than the four threats that you assessed in Assignment 3a.
Please cite at least three scholarly sources in your
argument.
For a brief list of resources for this assignment, please
see the end of the course guide.
This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards
(SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please
take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You will be
prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Examine the factors that account for why the growth in the
world’s population can negatively affect global society.
