Environmental Degradation – Reaction Paper

Introduction

In recent decades, the environment has undergone a high degree of change which indicates that the global environment is threatened. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in the year 2005 had indicated that about two-thirds of the services that are offered by nature has declined all around the globe. The acts of mankind have had an adverse impact on the environment and the repercussions would be faced by the coming generations.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has been ineffective to save the environment so there is a possibility for the emergence of the “world environmental organization” that can upgrade the quality of the global environment. In order to deal with the environmental challenges, there is a need for urgent attention at the global level so that the issues can be contained and controlled (Biermann, 2001).

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Key Theme

The key theme that has been presented here relates to environmental degradation. Various regions are experiencing uneven climate patterns in recent years. As per Conca (2015), the problem of acid rain has been rapidly spreading in industrial regions. Similarly, the seasonal thinning issue has been observed in the Antarctic ozone layer (Conca, 2015). In the past few years, the toxic wastes that are produced by human activities have been on a rise all around the world which has had a negative impact on other species as well such as aquatic animals, birds and plants. All these issues have come into existence because the quality of the environment has been highly compromised. The rising global climate change not only threatens mankind but also threatens all the species of plants and animals that exist today. Efforts are being taken to address these environmental issues but the task that is at the hand of the global environmental institutes is surely a daunting task (DeSombre, 2010).

Identification of Strengths and Weakness

The major strengths that have been identified include the initiative to bring about a positive change in the global environmental setting. Even though the task seems to be humongous in nature, taking the first step to address the environmental degradation issue is a major strength. The focus on the serious matter can make countries and involved actors conscious about their actions and their consequences on the environment (Conca, 2015). These international institutions have the power to motivate the states to commit to protecting the environment. The environmental initiatives at the world level can upgrade the sustainability of the global environment which can address various issues relating to the environment and survival of different species. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a key body that has come into existence to upgrade the quality of the environment. It is primarily responsible to coordinate the overall responses to the environmental issues with the UN. It has succeeded to a certain extent to negotiate and overseeing different environmental agreements.

These are a number of weaknesses in the current environmental institutions that hardly bring about a positive change in the global environmental setting. The international environmental institutions vary in their approach and effectiveness while addressing environment-related problems (DeSombre, 2010). This difference naturally creates a gap in the environmental management process. According to Biermann (2001), the decision-making process, interaction among the environmental bodies and overall effect varies to a large extent. All these discrepancies in their approach do not help global environmental health. Even though the UNEP has come into existence to strengthen the environment and protect it from further degradation, it has hardly made a much positive impact on the health of the environment (Biermann, 2001). The major reasons for the ineffectiveness include the high degree of environmental damage that has occurred at the global scale in recent years and the poor work model of UNEP.

Major questions that need to be answered

In the current time, the major question that needs to be answered relates to the kind of environmental body that needs to be created to upgrade the quality and sustainability of the global environment. This question needs to be addressed on an urgent basis because nature has been acting in a very unpredictable manner in the last couple of decades. The uneven climatic patterns, the extinction of some of the species, floods, earthquakes and tsunami are some of the few repercussions that have been observed in the last few years (DeSombre, 2010). If the environmental degradation is not controlled by adopting then relevant measures, then such occurrences could become more frequent in nature and they would lead to the destruction of life and property. Thus this question must be answered urgently at the global level so that the quality of the environment can be retained and all species can exist in it.