What are the ecological consequences of global economic growth?

“There have been five ‘ mass extinctions’ in the history of the earth, when between 65% and 95% of all species were wiped out, due to natural processes of selection and evolution. Some scientists now argue that we are heading for a ‘sixth extinction’, caused by the actions of humans.” (Cock and Hopwood, 1996:17)

In the following I’m going to look at the positive and negative effects of the ecological systems of global economic growth and the effects on economic loss, and briefly discuss the concept of ‘risk’, and the consequences of ‘population growth’.

I would also like to pay attention to the negative and positive effects of economic growth, such as the effects caused by ‘deforestation’, and the demands of economic growth, and whether it really is a “global threat.”

Finally looking at the effects on ecological niche paying particular attention to the wildlife that live on the arctic northern hemispheres, such as the ‘Polar Bear’ and the consequence of our ever so changing environment, such as our changing climate and whether this is due to human interference and what effects it could have on food chains, and the extinction of certain species and predators.

Firstly I would like to discuss the global resource problems and the effects it has on economic growth. There is suggestion that the development process, which in turn then puts ‘development’ in a state of ‘Risk’, endangers the world’s natural resources such as land, biomass, and water supplies. (Redclift.M, 1984:20).

Some fact suggested by Jeffery 1981, (as cited in Redclift.M 1984:21) stated evidence from the study of disaster relief suggests that social factors are a major element in a society’s vulnerability to ‘natural’ disasters.

In evidence to the earlier comment of ‘development’ being a crisis of risk, comments taken from professor Giddens discussions of ‘risk’ in Hong Kong discuss the problems that can occur with economic growth. Giddens suggest that global industrialised development caused by humans may have altered the world’s climate, and damaged some earthly habitats, by increased numbers of storms and recent strange behaviour of weather. Giddens discusses the term ‘risk’ as having two different types of characteristics, namely ‘external risk factors’ that is concerned with nature and tradition. Then there is ‘manufactured risk factors’ which concerns our developing knowledge upon the world and global warming. Giddens suggest that what people generally have been worried about in the past are external risks and what nature does to our environments, and how living organisms are affected. It could be said that what Giddens is trying to make one understand, is “not what nature can do to us, but what we have done to nature.”

Maybe the floods as he mentions of Chinese history were not actually the cause of nature, but actually the cause of global climate change.

One might suggest that the risks of economic growth, and population growth should have limits, and be controlled in a stricter manner. For it is true that the bigger the economy gets, the more waste will be produced. What is also suggested is to think about the capability to the expansion of the economy, for example the type of environments that have to handle wastes, such as rivers, land dumps, the seas, and the ...

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Maybe the floods as he mentions of Chinese history were not actually the cause of nature, but actually the cause of global climate change.

Another definition of economic growth is in terms of, increases in per capita GNP (Gross national product). Population growth is said to be so fast that increases in economic growth are more than offset by increased number of people. This could also suggest that population growth is also a source of pressure on natural environments, for example, the more people there are, the more food, which then in turns means to put more land under agriculture, displacing many natural habitats and forests through ‘deforestation’ and the world’s forest are vital to many ecosystems. They are central to exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. The forest plays a crucial role in water regulation, and balance the temperature of local climates, due to extreme temperatures and increasing rainfall. The forest are said to be home to three-quarters, of the species of life, and scientific estimates suggest that three species an hour become extinct. (Cock and Hopwood 1996:95-96)

More people also equal more demand for water, and water is said to be a very scarce commodity in many countries. Many environmentalists regarded the interaction between population growth, economic growth, natural resource availability, and waste receiving capacity as the reason why growth has to stop. However there are some positive outcomes as our knowledge of technology widens, enabling us to extract more economic activity from a given unit of natural resources.

Therefore, we can try to learn how to control the amount of waste entering the environment by using technology to recycle materials and take waste gases out before they leave the economic systems. (Turner et al, 1994:45)

Cock and Hopwood suggest that some ‘expert’ supporters of population control argue that “the only way to protect the environment and improve living standards is to stop population growth and even reduce the world’s population.” (1996:67)

However one of the main issues with economic growth, which has very recently been under ‘scrutinization’ as one, might put it, is the recent warnings of a ‘global threat’ from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, ( The IMF involves the monitoring of economic and financial developments, and the provision of policy advice, aimed especially at crisis-prevention. http://www.imf.org/external/work.htm)

Due the current increase in crude oil prices in the international market. Until now, the IMF had expressed little concern that oil prices would affect the global economy, partly because the rise was due to strong global demand. But suspicions from the IMF warn that that rapid growth in energy demand in Asia's emerging economies, in particular China, could overstep the capacity of growth in oil supply. This could then lead to inflation. (Oduniyi, M. 11.04.05)

Moving on to some problems associated to ‘ecological niche’ (the role that an organism, animal or plant species plays, within its environment which affects its survival as a species) due to economic growth, it is said that humans have inhabited a specific ecological niche, which has encouraged us to develop techniques to survive. However animals can only react to their surroundings and live within the strict boundaries. Animals did not have the knowledge, technology and the ability to use tools, whereas humans needed to know when was the best time to plant crops, which then forced humans to study the seasons, weather and soil types. (Cock and Hopwood.1996: 13).

Thus if animals are survive in their environments it’s important that their ecological niche is not affected. For example, polar bears, they live throughout the ice-covered waters of the circumpolar artic. Given the rapid pace of ecological change in the artic, the long generation time, and the highly specialised nature of polar bears, it is unlikely that polar bears will survive as a species if the sea ice disappears completely as has been predicted by some. This is said to be a consequence of climate change modes, and that these preferred sea ice habitats would be substantially altered. (Derocher et el. Vol44: 163-176).

The arctic is now experiencing the burning of fossil fuels and sever climate change on earth, the primary cause of ‘global warming’. (Peterson K. 19.12, 2004).

Wildlife dependent on the northern ice will be affected. The word Arctic means “land of the great Bear.” Yet the northern warm endangers the predator at the top of the artic food chain as the bear’s main source of food, ringed seals which live on the ice of Hudson Bay, are becoming less accessible because of a shorter ice season. The polar bears need to feed on the ringed seals in order to maintain enough body fat to survive the northern winters. (Stirling. L, et al, 15.11.1995.)

The problems that seem to associate to the arctic by the burning of fossil fuels is by in large due to the unprecedented fact all life needs energy. And in the last hundred years an increase of energy use by the huge expansion drove by the use of fossil fuels, coal, oil, and gas. The burning of these fuels promote to the problems associated with many pollutants which are harmful to the environment, contributing to acid rain, global warming and gases that damage health and kill many life-forms and causing a disturbance to many food chains, as previously mentioned. (Cock and Hopwood 1996:53)

This is due to the ‘rise of capitalism’. This in turn is said driven by one principle only: to make money, in which as some say, “money makes the world go round.” An expression taken for capitalism as Cock and Hopwood refers to is “like a junkie hooked on oil, heedlessly destroying the future for a short–term profit kick.”

It is clear that there seems to be some detrimental effects on our environment and all living organisms, moreover our environment enables us to live on, and through selection only certain species will survive. E.g. the black peppered moth, which have the ability to adapt to its surroundings through natural selection. However as we are entering into a more modern world our knowledge of our environment expands, enabling us to enabling us to extract more and more economic activity from a given unit of natural resource. We can try to control the amount of waste entering the environment by recycling materials and taking waste gases out before they leave the economic system. We can also use technology to understand how to change polluting for less polluting ones. If natural resources were to become scarce then this in turn would then actively force people to be more careful in their use of conservation and to switch to other resources by substitution. And although population is a problem in some countries, some countries have realized the benefits of having smaller families. (Turner et al, 1994:48)

However, as Cock and Hopwood have initially pointed out is, what is empirical, is the fact that humans have had the ability to increasingly transform the planet and are actively achieving that. Humans also, though, have the ability to foresee the consequences of much of their action and to decide to avoid what could be destructive or threatening, and what is essential about our relationship of human society to the rest of the environment. (1996:18)

1750 words.