Population and Society
Question 1
The society perceives nature to be a community’s natural surroundings, including land, air, and water, which comprises natural resources such as herbs for medicinal and dietary use and wood for fuel, among others. The society believes that the accessibility, availability and the quality of the natural resources found in nature influence the livelihood, the well-being and general health of members of the society (Chan, Balvanera, Benessaiah, Chapman, Díaz, Gómez-Baggethun & Luck, 2016). Therefore, society views nature as a local setting with natural resources that are fundamental to human survival. Before the arrival of Europeans in North America, the natives practiced fluctuating seasonal subsistence, changing their diets and food gathering practices to match the changing seasons. North America climate supported long agricultural seasons because of the abundant rainfall. The natives developed complex agricultural systems primarily based on three crops: squash, corn, and beans. They conducted trade among themselves and with distant communities to obtain goods that they could not produce.
Europeans have a capitalist culture that values individual wealth and achievement. To conform with their Christian beliefs, the Europeans believed that they had the responsibility of subduing and dominating the planet. This way, they thought that any land that had not been cultivated or settled was useless (Rushforth & Mapp, 2016). The colonists failed to understand that Native Americans used idle lands as hunting and fishing grounds. The Europeans believed that they had the right to purchase the vacant lands and transform the land and its resources into valuable communities for sale in the world market. Human beings utilize environmental resources according to the way they view nature. Utilization of the ecological resources may have both negative and positive political and social implications on the environment. Some of the social impacts include emission of air pollutants, water use and conservation, energy use and conservation, and discharge of waste materials to the environment. Some of the political implications on nature include preservation of forested areas, wildlife conservation and management, and disaster management.
Question 2
Carbon dioxide causes air pollution in its role in the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide causes air pollution by trapping radiation at ground level; hence it creates a ground-level ozone layer. The ground-level ozone layer prevents the earth from cooling leading to the warming ocean waters (Anderson, Hawkins & Jones, 2016). Carbon dioxide contributes to climate change. Over the past 100 years, the earth’s temperature has highly increased. Researchers believe that carbon dioxide is responsible for the increase in earth’s temperatures. Studies indicate that the high temperature has increased ocean levels leading to loss of coastal wetlands and shorelines. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also causes acid rain. Carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere combines with moisture in the air. This results in rains with high acid content.
There are many ways through which carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere. Some significant ways of removing carbon dioxide from the environment include encouraging people to plant trees and conserve the available forests. Trees help in the elimination of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide can also be removed from the atmosphere through direct air capture. Direct air capture is the process of removing carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air, then being stored in long-lived products or underground. This process addresses the issue of carbon dioxide in the environment, but it does not solve the problem of emissions. The problem of emissions can solve by governments of different countries throughout the world. The governments should implement laws and regulations preventing the emission of carbon dioxide into the environment by industries and other machines.