Household Treatment and Recycling

Held in Rio-de-Janeiro in 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development showed the concern of the international community about global changes in habitat and the must of finding adequate responses to them. Accordingly, the forefront of the world science research has moved to the global environmental change researches. This is evidenced by the international programs on the climate, Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions (IGBP), the human dimensions of global environmental changes and natural disasters (Recycling guide, 2012). The study attempts to view Earth's natural and social systems, in particular the problem of the household waste recycling.

Type of service
Type of assignment
Writer level
Urgency
Number of pages
First order only
00.00
15 off

The growth of the instability of the Earth system (as a result of natural and man-made landscapes and the dynamics of cycles) leads to the increased frequency and adverse anthropological and economic processes at various levels. At the global level, it is the change of atmosphere, which differently affects the climate in different regions. At the regional level, it is a violation of the water balance, air and water pollution, deforestation and desertification, alteration of the natural land-zoning, the dynamics of the sea coasts, and many other changes (Recycling guide, 2012).

There are two types of global changes. The planetary type is characterized by the continuous media, such as the atmosphere and oceans. The changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere are caused by the volcanic activity, pollution, industrial emissions, anthropogenic transformation of vegetation, transmitted by the air and lead to the global climate changes. The natural tendency to cooling the climate is combined with the human tendency to its warming, making the planet's climate increasingly unstable. If the warming is stronger than cooling, then the process of ice melting in the polar regions of the Earth's will be faster. The following fact, results in the increased the level of the oceans. This rise converts sea coasts of all continents, and today, in the 50-mile coastal zone is concentrated two fifths of the urban population of the world. The planetary type includes changes in the world economy and culture: the development of the global information networks, financial markets, and scientific ties (Small, 1971).

Another type of global changes is called the cumulative one. This type includes the changes in the local structures and processes that acquire global distribution over time. These are the man-made environmental changes: landscapes, water resources, biodiversity, etc. The cumulative changes are under the influence of agriculture with a little noticeable impact on the heat balance of the earth's surface and carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere (Small, 1971).

The spheres where the anthropological influence can be observed:

  1. The changes in the socio-economic informational system: industrialization, the distribution of commodity production, the growth and spread of the cities, states, and other social systems, the distribution and transformation of agricultural and rural areas, the growth and spread of human tribes and different types of the foraging economy.
  2. The changes in the natural resource based on mining and mineral loss: the changes in water irrigation, drainage, pollution; in farming soil, anthropogenic erosion; in biota: extinction and introduction of species, deforestation and desertification, etc.
  3. The changes in the observed landscape: the distribution and transformation of reserves, urban landscapes, rural landscapes, natural landscapes, and pastoral farming assigning.
  4. The changes of biosphere cycles: the communications regulation "nature-society", changing of biogeochemical cycles, the heat balance and circulation, the hydrological cycle from local to global, and biological cycles (life, ecosystems, migration, etc.)

Such trends are sharply influenced and lead to deteriorating of the environmental situation, as there is an obvious direct link between population growths and increasing human influence on nature, especially as the way of the natural resources use. The development and intensive use of the resources provide the basis economic growth. The consequences of this growth are the depletion of natural resources and significant environmental pollution, particularly with chemical fertilizers. The analysis of the data shows that all hazards and their forecasts are closely related.

Thus, the capital of China is in brewing crisis with recycling, due to the rapid growth in the number of wastes. In Beijing, 18 thousand tons of household and industrial wastes are produced daily. If this figure increases to increment each year by 8%, by 2015, the number of annually produced wastes will be 12 million tons of registered here 13 landfills, two of which have already been closed, due to their overflow. Others will be able to process and dispose of municipal wastes only for four years. In other words, if no action is taken to reduce wastes and fitted with new polygons, in 4 years, there will be no a place to store wastes. However, , 5-6 years are required for the construction of a new landfill. In addition, every landill must meet strict environmental requirements. The landfill must be located at least 500 meters from residential areas and has the need to protect groundwater, consider climatic features of the area and direction. However, the territory of the capital of China is very small. The wastes problem is acute in Japan, as well. Every year the country produced 50.5 million tons of solid wastes. The Japanese are trying to solve this problem in different ways. Currently, the vast majority of household wastes (75%) are burned, and only about 12% is sent for recycling. The local governments provide about 2.57 million tons of solid waste per year. The consumer organizations provide another 2.14 million tons of household wastes that are used to produce ecosystem, which is used for making connection blocks or cubes used to strengthen the sea coast. Today, the demand for such products reaches 6 million tons per year (Schiessler, Thorpe, Jones, & Philips, 2007).

Finland copes with this problem rather successfully

Finns are trying to reduce the amount of wastes, and waste processing companies tend to use as much debris as possible. In this country, there are  prospering technology recycling and waste management. The residents are requested not to throw Finland expired pills and other drugs and to take them back to the pharmacy. Finns take their old glasses  to the shops of optics, from where they are sent to the poor countries. The old cars are stripped to the service where they disassemble the parts for free. The supermarkets are always apparatus for receiving the used plastic bottles and plastic bags. In the future, it will be used to make new plastic products. The authorities have urged their citizens not to give a lot of gifts for Christmas and the New Year. After the holidays, more than half of them are in the trash or inthe pantry as unnecessary (Small, 1971).

Modern technology offers interesting solutions to resource conservation. Recently, there has been a way to use the methane gas that is released during disposal.

Global Environment Changes in Economics

Global environment changes can have a great influence on the world`s economy. Environmental changes affect migration now and in the future, especially due to its impact on a range of economic, social and political driving mechanisms, which in turn, affect migration. However, the range and complexity interactions among the driving mechanisms mean that it will be difficult times for those people for whom environmental changes were the sole cause of migration (the so-called "environmental migrants"). However, there is a potentially serious impact of the future changes in the environment on migration for both: the individuals and the responsible authorities. The powerful economic, political and social driving mechanisms mean that migration is to continue, in spite of the changing environment. People will probably migrate to environmentally sensitive areas. For example, compared with the year of 2000from 114 to 192 million additional people may live in areas of flooding in urban areas in Africa and Asia to 2060, according to various estimates in the future. This will create a lot of challenges for those who are responsible for the policy development. The impact of the environmental changes on migration will increase in the future. Specifically, the changes in the environment can threaten the livelihood, a traditional reaction to it is migration. The environmental changes will also change population exposure to external impacts of natural hazards, and migration, in many cases, is the only response to this. For example, 17 million people were forced to relocate as a result of natural hazards in 2009 and 42 million - in 2010 (this number also includes internally displaced as a result of geophysical phenomena) (Guilfoil, 2008).

The large-scale and global risk of adverse environmental effects on human health include stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change, loss of biodiversity, changes in the hydrological systems and freshwater resources, land degradation, and strain systems that produce food. The estimation of the size and type of the impact on human health requires a new vision. It is supposed to focus on the ecosystem and the recognition that the provision of a long good health, to a large extent, depends on the continued stability and functioning of the biosphere systems that support life. It is necessary to understand the complexity of the systems on which the human depends. The WHO supports communication programs in the field of environment and health, by providing expertise in the field of health care for the UN conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, as well as through counseling in the health sector for the response, which should be taken in relation to the risks health resulting from the large-scale environmental change. The recent UN estimates have showed that currently, about 1.1 billion people do not have access to the safe drinking water, about 2.4 billion people – are using water that does not pass proper sanitation, about 2 million children die each year from diseases brought by the sea water. The water is the key factor for the socio-economic and environmental well-being of Central Asia. More than 80% of the water resources of the region are obtained from melting permanent snow and glaciers in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The irrigated agriculture is concentrated in the populated valleys of the Amudarya and Syrdarya, carrying their water to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and feeding the Aral Sea. The environmental crisis in the Aral Sea region has significantly increased susceptibility to local negative effects of the population related issues in the economy, health care, and social protection (Guilfoil, 2008).

Therefore, the anthropological factors influence both the environmental well-being and the  world economy. 

Related essays