3 Global Problems That Affect the Whole Planet
There are a number of global problems that affect the entire planet. These include environmental, social and economic issues.
For example, global warming is causing ecosystems to deteriorate which will cause disease in humans and animals. This could cause a new pandemic.
Similarly, overuse of antibiotics has created bacteria that can’t be killed by existing drugs. This also creates a problem with vaccination rates.
1. Poverty
Poverty affects everyone, but it can be more than just a lack of money. It can include an inability to access healthy food, safe water or medical services. It can also impact a person’s social status and power to make choices, as well as the ability to participate in a society and contribute to its economic development.
Many countries have made great progress in eliminating extreme poverty over the last two decades, with Tanzania and other high-performing countries almost halving extreme poverty in just one decade! However, global poverty remains an urgent issue, with around 9.2% of the world’s population living on less than $1.90 per day.
People are often pushed back into poverty during periods of crisis and instability. Conflicts, climate change, and natural disasters rob people of their livelihoods and increase the risk of hunger, disease and malnutrition. Poor health can prevent people from working or caring for family members, which further compounds the problem.
2. Climate Change
A warming planet is already causing droughts, floods, and heatwaves. It’s causing sea levels to rise, and displacing people around the world. It’s affecting wildlife and their habitats, too.
Climate change is caused by human activities, notably the burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – which release greenhouse gases that trap the Sun’s heat in the atmosphere. This is known as the greenhouse effect.
Scientists say that the planet has already warmed by more than 1.1 degrees Celsius since the start of the industrial revolution and could reach a worst-case scenario of 4 degrees Celsius by 2100. This would have serious health impacts, including more extreme weather events, food and water shortages, and an increase in vector-borne diseases. It would also threaten biodiversity, devastate ecosystems, and cause species to adapt or die out faster than they should.
3. Education
While global literacy rates have been steadily climbing for two centuries, millions of children remain out of school today. Education is a key to economic development and geopolitical stability. In addition, education empowers citizens and helps them become productive and innovative workers, which is particularly important in a competitive world.
Education can also help to dismantle gender stereotypes – for example, by teaching girls that they have equal rights to boys in the classroom. This can help to break the cycle of poverty for women as well.
Many of the world’s problems — such as climate change, inequality, and war — are complex and interconnected. Some are rooted in the long history of human rights violations, while others have sudden and dramatic effects with short decision-making time horizons. All of them require deep understanding to tackle. Education is no exception. But it can be one of the most powerful tools we have to solve them.
4. Human Rights
Human rights are inherent to the dignity of every person and fundamental to his or her self-determination. They are indivisible, which means that denial of one right invariably impedes enjoyment of others. They apply to all people and include civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. They are a central theme in the United Nations charter and in the Declaration of Independence of the United States which declared that individuals have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Whether human rights issues should be considered global is also controversial. For example, many liberals consider global health to be a human rights issue because the burden of fatal communicable diseases (such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis) disproportionately falls on low-income populations worldwide. Critics of egalitarian human rights positions have argued that standard lists of human rights do not include important issues like equal opportunities in education and work. These concerns have been largely echoed by feminists who have protested that human rights documents do not adequately address the degradation of women in societies around the world.