Social Problem Statement

 Social Problem Statement

1. Problem Statement

Climate change with specificity to global warming has resulted in uneven distribution of freshwater fish which has consequential effects on the sustainability of fishing economies with particular effect on the livelihood of communities that depend on fishing.

2. Deconstruct the Problem

The fishing industry is designated as one of the most profitable industries in the world due to the demand for aqua-based products. The industry has wide support on the economies of countries that rely on fishing for revenue earnings as well as foreign exchange earnings (Wilson et al., 2018). Concurrently, it supports families and communities who exclusively or indirectly depend on the harvest to sustain livelihoods. However, in the recent past, issues concerning climate change with respect to global warming have shifted the balance. This is attributable to the rising temperatures both in water and air, which considerably alter the oceanographic conditions of the habitat. For example, scientists indicate that extreme weather conditions affect freshwater fish. Due to the specificity of the habitat conditions, most of the fish are either succumbing to the increasing and altering climatic conditions, or are relocating to other inhabited regions away from civilization.  These changes have not only had an economic repercussion, but it has also presented fiduciary challenges to the poor-but-resource based communities. The unfavourable and deteriorating fish population has a social science impact on the communities. The inability to sustain the economy of the region means that it has disrupted the economic structures, including the purchasing power of the consumers (Wilson et al., 2018). The intertwined economic system is destabilized, and entities such as banking and insurance as well as the service industry may no longer have the ‘healthy’ status to provide goods and services to the communities. Worse still, standards of living become unbearable as there is a lack of circulating money to sustain access to basic needs such as healthcare. Therefore, the increasing climatic changes affect freshwater fish populations which in turn disrupt the economic structures and stability of the communities that rely on this industry.

3. Re-evaluate the problem statement

A subsequent evaluation of the problem statement highlights the lack of definition of a narrow social issue. With respect to the expanding on the problem statement, it is evident that there are several issues that are tackled as a result of the climatic changes that are affecting the habitation conditions for freshwater fish. Therefore, a re-evaluation requires a new problem statement as follows:

Climate change with respect to global warming has disrupted the habitation population of freshwater fish which has consequential effects on the inequality with regard to the financial stability of the communities depending on the fishing industry.

From this new problem statement, it is evident that a narrower social issue has been addressed- the issue of financial stability. As noted above, with the decline in the freshwater fish population, communities that are resource-based are no longer able to meet the growing demand for fish with the decreasing supply. As a result, income decreases which in turn affects the ability of the communities to cater for their livelihoods (Lam et al., 2016). The worst consequence about such reliability is that families will find it difficult to access certain basic needs, including medical services which will also be affected as the physicians may require more money to substitute for income. In other words, the economy of the community is disrupted for the worse.

Consequently, this problem statement addresses a larger social issue which is financial inequality for the communities. The vision is this: for the communities that solely or indirectly depend on the fishing industry will no longer have disposable income. As a result, businesses or the part of the community that does not depend on the fishing industry may not have the accessible cash flow to maintain the business (Lam et al., 2016). Therefore, the economic issue is that communities will be unable to sustain their small-economy, which means access to pivotal resources declines gradually if not considered.

I would relate to the problem because small-economies often have specific industries that run them. In my area, for instance, our economy is run on industrial complexes on steel manufacturing. In case the industry collapses and worse shuts down, it means most of the individuals employed would lose their employment status. In turn, it means families no longer have the disposable income they require to meet their basic needs. As a result, businesses, whether small or medium-sized, will be affected. Without circulating currency, there is no business as supply and demand concept shifts. Hence, the loss of one economic player can be a death trap for many.

4. Disciplinary Associations

The problem statement can be explored from various social science disciplines. The reason I indicate this is that climate change has affected the fishing industry. The industry is a core player in any economy and especially economies that depend on earning foreign exchange and income for the government. As such, it is formidable that economic, political, sociological and scientific assessment of such repercussions is addressed by the core social sciences.

The two disciplines I would implement are economics and sociology. The reason is that economic discipline interest is on how communities’ economies are disrupted based on the deterioration of one industry. This comes alongside issues such as sociology on determining how people are coping with the loss of employment, loss of income and inability to cater for basic needs. It remains a conundrum for many who need to understand how economies are intertwined with sociological aspects of a community.

References

Wilson, J. R., Lomonico, S., Bradley, D., Sievanen, L., Dempsey, T., Bell, M., … & Fitzgerald, S. (2018). Adaptive comanagement to achieve climate‐ready fisheries. Conservation Letters, 11(6), e12452.

Lam, V. W., Cheung, W. W., Reygondeau, G., & Sumaila, U. R. (2016). Projected change in global fisheries revenues under climate change. Scientific Reports, 6, 32607.