Economic growth v environmental protection

Should our first priority be worldwide economic growth or reducing the rate of global warming?

This is increasingly seen as a major dilemma facing the world today. Population growth and economic expansion may lead to greater emissions of gases which are harmful to the future of our planet.

Is worldwide economic growth a good thing? In general, it undoubtedly is. It’s a perfectly natural and reasonable ambition for people living in remote rural impoverishment to want to better themselves by moving to towns and cities where they can get better-paid jobs and so raise their living standards. People naturally want to improve life chances for themselves and their families. Globalisation is often demonised these days but if it means more children growing up with better access to schools and health care then surely it is a good thing. Economics, after all, is not a zero-sum equation.

On the other hand, many scientists warn that continued population growth and economic expansion worldwide will mean more greenhouse gases which will lead to global warming and a real threat to the future of our planet. China and India, both countries with over 1 billion people, have seen massive economic growth in recent years and this usually means ever-greater greenhouse gas emissions: China’s massive coal industry is an excellent example. Scientists may disagree about the rates of global warming and about how far it is man-made, but the existence of the danger seems inescapable.

There thus seems to be an intractable dilemma facing our contemporary world: human betterment versus global disaster. The desire for economic growth and higher living standards is both natural and hard to deny. There are those, however, who say that if population growth and economic expansion continue unabated, the whole world is doomed.

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Farms & farm workers in the USA 1910-2000

US farms & farm workers 1910-2000

This line graph shows the number of farms and farm workers in the USA during the period 1910-2000.

Throughout the period, as we’d expect, the number of workers was always greater than the number of farms, but there was a significant closing of the gap as the century progressed. In 1910 there were over 6M farms but more than double this number of farm workers. The number of farms slightly increased over the next 20 years, whereas the number of workers fell slightly. Over the next 40 years, to 1970, the number of farms declined gradually by about a half but the number of workers plummeted dramatically from over 12M to just over 4M. After 1970, the numbers of both farms and farm workers declined steadily.

Over the whole period, the number of farms fell from over 6M to just over 2M. The decline in the number of workers was more rapid, from over 13M to just 3M.

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Population growth 1750 to 2150

World population growth

The line graph shows population growth in richer and poorer countries between 1750 and 2150. It is based on the United Nations World Population Prospects, the 1998 Revision, and estimates by the Population Reference Bureau.

In 1750 the total world population was less than one billion and the population of less developed countries was three or four times greater than that of more developed countries. By 2000 the total figure was 6.1 billion, but only about 1 billion were in the more developed countries. The estimate is that by 2150 the total world population will be well over 10 billion but the total for the more developed countries will remain at about one billion and may even fall slightly.

It is estimated that the total world population will increase dramatically over the next 150 years but that this growth will be entirely in the less developed countries .

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Mobile phones & driving

Should using mobile phones while driving be banned?

There is a lot of research which suggests that using mobile phones while driving is the cause of s growing number of traffic accidents.

There are of course two sides to any argument. Having a mobile phone with you in the car is, in fact, a very sensible precaution. For example, women driving alone at night are at risk and knowing they can use their mobiles to summon help in an emergency is an important security factor. Similarly, if you are driving in a remote area, for example in the desert here in the UAE, it’s essential to have a mobile to get help if you break down. In reality, your life could depend on it.

Having said all this, there is no reason why you should use your phone while actually driving. It is always possible to find a safe place to stop before answering or using your phone. There is very little doubt that using a phone while driving, even a hands-free device, is a major distraction. It is very difficult to do two things safely and simultaneously if one of them is driving. Driving today requires maximum concentration. It has become a major problem worldwide, so much so that dozens of countries have outlawed the use of handheld phones while driving. In the UK, indeed, it is estimated that 90% of public responses have been in favour of such a ban.

Having your mobile with you in your car is a sensible, perhaps even necessary, precaution. However, you should always find a safe place to park before using it. There is overwhelming evidence that phoning and driving at the same time is a major cause of accidents worldwide.

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