Economic Growth and Environmental Damage (Essay Sample)

Economic Growth and Environmental Damage
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Economic Growth and Environmental Damage
Continuous industrialization and economic growth is remarkably one of the potential threats to the survival of the earth’s natural environment. Because of economic growth, natural habitats of various plants and animals get invaded every new day. These are replaced with buildings, nuclear energy plants, industrial constructions, and roads. Notably, this process presents a situation that threatens ecological balance. This is because the part of the environment being destroyed has a role to play in the society. Yet, increased human population has subsequently led to increased demand for the products that come as a result of these processes. Because of this, there is a challenge as to how a balance can be stricken between economic growth and environmental damage.
One of the most damaging economic processes is the mining natural ores and petroleum raw materials. While mining, large amounts of soil get displaced and resultant effects of dereliction problem arise. In the same process, poisonous gases get released that present potential threats to life. Such include Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen. The overall effect of such contaminations on aquatic lives and the balance of gases in the atmosphere may also remain detrimental to life. It can be envisaged that increased release of carbon into the atmosphere will probably lead increased global warming. Even so, demand for energy remains high and energy mining cannot be easily stopped. Again, all other minerals play very important roles in economic balance and support various processes in industrialization (Alier & Muradian, 2001).
Environmental pollution is yet another threat to environmental balance. Owing to the rate of industrialization and economic growth, pollution seems to take place everywhere. Vehicles burning petroleum energy release large volumes of impure gases into the atmosphere. On equal grounds, industrial waste discharge that is both liquid and gaseous remains problematic to dispose. For a long time, there was a common belief that nuclear material had no destructive waste material. Despite the fact that nuclear material can provide high value energy, the indestructibility of its waste is becoming a major concern. This is because the waste remains invisible and causes mutations in plants and animals. As well, the possibility of destructive use of nuclear in war contaminates the environment while it instantly destroys lives (Li, 2006).
Views as to whether economic growth can take place without environmental damage receive mixed reactions from various scholars. In an attempt to remediate the effects of economic growth on the environment, improved and less environmentally harmful processes have been developed. Some of these include the use of electricity in powering engines that previously depended on petroleum energy. Again development of green industry technologies and cleaner energy strategies get employed to reduce environmental damage (Cole, 2007). To an extent, these procedures require sacrifice of resources and employment of enhanced technology. Economic growth without much environmental damage would possibly be achieved if these strategies are successfully implemented.
Various economic activities continuously remain responsible for environmental damage in numerous ways. Mining and industrialization pollute the environment and cause threats to the lives of plants and animals on land and in water bodies. Increased deforestation and fragmentation of land to settle human population as well as construct industries also destroys various natural habitats.
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