Threats to the Global Environment
Humanity encounters environmental threats as it attempts to transition towards sustainability. In a bid to preserve the environment, human activities in crucial development sectors pose significant threats to the global environment. Moreover, environmental hazards that people find less threatening are different in most parts of the world and occur at different times. Lack of educational opportunities causes poverty and affects the living standards of people. On the other hand, cultural taboos pose significant threats to the environment when people stick to their traditions and refuse to accept change. It is vital to address these threats as they have adverse effects on the environment and sustainability. This paper analyses how cultural taboos and lack of educational opportunities threatens the global environment and the reasons why they are less critical threats.
Lack of Educational Opportunities
Education creates awareness on issues impacting our environment as well as actions that people need to take in improving and sustaining it. Lack of educational opportunities has adverse effects on the population as it significantly impedes social and economic development of a country. Lack of education opportunities is the root cause of poverty. Besides, poverty causes a lack of social amenities such as housing, poor working conditions, poor sanitation, which affects the standards of living of people. Lack of education results in unemployment and inequality when a person applies for a job, companies will screen the educational level. Without education, one will not find a suitable job. Lack of knowledge can push people to engage in illegal activities like drug abuse and theft to make a living, and this threatens the global environment. As people will lack knowledge on how to conserve the environment. A population that lacks proper education leads to backwardness, which affects the economic growth of a country. In turn, the lack of education causes financial dependence to carry out daily activities. Lack of knowledge causes ignorance and makes people destroy the ecosystem by practicing dangerous human activities that pollute the environment.
In comparison with the other four threats, lack of educational opportunities is less critical as it poses fewer risks to the global environment. Today, many people have access to educational opportunities and information. Most countries have enhanced the education sectors by establishing better educational infrastructure. In developing countries, governments have made primary education free, and this has reduced backwardness as most children are going to school. Governments offer financial support to needy students by providing scholarships and bursaries. Additionally, governments have provided learning material to schools and bridged the teacher gap in some areas so that students get an equal education.
Technology has facilitated learning, and information is available on the internet all the time. In the digital era, people can learn through online platforms like youtube channels, video conferencing, and this improves literacy. Schools have adopted digital learning programs, which makes learning convenient and easy. Lack of educational opportunities is a less threat because the United Nations has implemented sustainable development goals towards access to universal education across the globe. Statistically, enrollment of pupils in primary school has reached 90% in developing countries. On the other hand, the United Nations has raised awareness and sensitized people on the importance of getting an education and advocated for education among girls and women. Otherworld forums provide the necessary education on climate change, and the essential action people can take while conserving the environment.
Cultural Taboos
The perception of humans on the environment is, in most cases, driven by unique cultural practices. Cultural taboos are unwritten social rules that regulate behavior. With the changing global environment, cultural taboos can cause degradation, and this threatens the global environment. Some critics view cultural taboos as irrational and a hindrance to development. Consequently, by dismissing or ignoring taboos that help conserve the ecological environment, the ecological system is threatened. Some cultural taboos prohibit people from getting medication in hospitals. This can lead to poor health of the population, which will, in turn, affect productivity and results in death.
Cultural taboos instigated against some groups like women can cause inequality and discrimination in society. Additionally, some cultural taboos cause backwardness and hinder development. When people stick to their traditions and refuse to embrace technological change, they are likely to lag behind when others are developing. Importantly, cultural taboos pose a significant threat to some species of plants and animals when a tradition dictates that they have to be used as food. Cultural taboos affect lifestyles as some cultures bar, people, from performing certain activities. For example, some roles can only be performed by men, and this causes bias in society.
Cultural taboos are a less critical threat to the global environment as it plays a vital role in biodiversity conservation. Moreover, taboos act as a mechanism for protecting threatened species and habitats in society. For instance, food taboos regulate the exploitation of individual species to a high or less extent. Some communities prohibit certain food sources for women and children. This helps to reduce strains on a particular target. A study in South America shows that specific cultural taboos imposed on game animals within different communities curbed poaching and conserved animal species. On the other hand, food taboos on certain plants helped in protecting some species and conserving the environment.
Globalization has made cultural taboos a less critical threat to the environment. Increased interaction and mobility across the globe has seen people adopt western culture and abandon cultural taboos. Today, many communities do not practice cultural taboos as they find them less useful. As a result, young people born in the digital era do not practice tradition.
Education has created knowledge and awareness, making cultural taboo less critical to the environment. Education leads to civilization, and this makes people change their way of thinking. Life thereby putting an end to practicing cultural taboos. Most cultural taboos were practiced in the olden days and have since been dropped by the younger generation who do not find value in such traditions. Consequently, in a dynamic world, people have questioned the effectiveness of cultural taboos, which makes it a less critical threat to the environment.
Conclusion
The topics on global threats to the environment have dominated world forums and United Nations discussions on climate change. Lack of educational opportunities significantly affects developing countries as it leads to poverty.
Cultural taboos hinder development in communities where people stick to their cultural traditions and norms. Even though the two threats are less critical, they have negative impacts on the environment. As a result, action needs to be taken to address the threats to promote a sustainable environment.