Global Issues : An Introduction

by Seitz, John L.; Hite, Kristen A.

• ISBN13: 9780470655641
• ISBN10: 047065564X
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-30
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Extensively revised and updated, the new Fourth Edition of Global Issues: An Introduction offers a unique approach to the most important environmental, economic, social, and political concerns of modern life. Revised and updated to reflect the latest global developments Examines the most important environmental, economic, social, and political concerns of modern life The only book of its kind to use the concept of development to illustrate how different global issues are interrelated Includes a new section on nuclear energy Chapter boxes examine ways that individuals can have a positive impact on the issues examined within the text Key features include a glossary of terms; guides to further reading, media, and Internet resources; and suggestions for discussing and studying the material

Author Biography

John L. Seitz is Professor Emeritus of Government at Wofford College. He earned a BA and MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, and a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin. He has extensive first-hand experience of South Korea, Iran, Brazil, Liberia, and Pakistan and previous editions of his book have been used around the world, including translations into Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. Kristen A. Hite leads the Climate Change Program at the Center for International Environmental Law and leaches at the University of Maryland. She earned a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	p. xi
List of Figures, Maps, and Tables	p. xiii
Foreword	p. xv
Notes	p. xvii
Introduction: The Creation of Global Issues	p. 1
Population	p. 3
The Changing Population of the World	p. 3
Causes of the Population Explosion	p. 10
How Population Growth Affects Development	p. 14
Too rapid	p. 14
Too slow	p. 16
An aging population and low birth rates	p. 16
International conferences on population	p. 18
How Development Affects Population Growth	p. 20
Demographic transition	p. 20
Factors lowering birth rates	p. 22
Governmental Population Policies	p. 25
Controlling growth	p. 25
Promoting growth	p. 30
The Future	p. 32
The growth of the world's population	p. 32
The carrying capacity of the earth	p. 33
Optimum size of the earth's population	p. 35
Population-related problems in our future	p. 36
Conclusions	p. 38
Notes	p. 39
Further Reading	p. 42
Wealth and Poverty	p. 44
The Millennium Development Goals	p. 49
Development Assistance and Foreign Aid	p. 52
The Market Approach	p. 55
The State Approach	p. 58
The Civil Society Approach	p. 61
Geography and Wealth, Geography and Poverty	p. 64
Globalization	p. 66
Positive aspects	p. 67
Negative aspects	p. 68
An evaluation	p. 69
Conclusions	p. 70
Notes	p. 72
Further Reading	p. 74
Food	p. 76
World Food Production	p. 76
How Many Are Hungry?	p. 78
Causes of World Hunger	p. 80
How Food Affects Development	p. 82
How Development Affects Food	p. 84
The production of food	p. 84
The loss of food	p. 87
The type of food	p. 89
The Green Revolution	p. 94
Fertilizers	p. 95
Pesticides	p. 96
Irrigation	p. 96
The future	p. 96
Governmental Food Policies	p. 97
Future Food Supplies	p. 100
Climate	p. 100
Arable land	p. 100
Energy costs	p. 102
Alternative/sustainable/organic agriculture	p. 102
Biotechnology	p. 103
Fishing and aquaculture	p. 105
Future food production	p. 106
Conclusions	p. 107
Notes	p. 108
Further Reading	p. 112
Energy	p. 114
The Energy Crisis	p. 114
Responses by Governments to the Energy Crisis	p. 118
The United States	p. 118
Western Europe	p. 120
Japan	p. 120
China	p. 121
The Effect of the Energy Crisis on the Development Plans of Less Developed Nations	p. 123
The Relationship between Energy Use and Development	p. 124
A shift in types of energy	p. 124
Increased use	p. 125
The decoupling of energy consumption and economic growth	p. 126
Climate Change	p. 129
The evidence	p. 129
Probable effects	p. 132
Uncertainties	p. 135
What is being done at present?	p. 136
What more can be done?	p. 137
The Energy Transition	p. 139
Nonrenewable energy sources	p. 139
Renewable energy sources	p. 140
Conservation/energy efficiency	p. 147
Nuclear Power: A Case Study	p. 149
The potential and the peril	p. 150
The choice	p. 152
Conclusions	p. 155
Notes	p. 156
Further Reading	p. 161
The Environment	p. 163
The Awakening	p. 163
The Air	p. 166
Smog	p. 166
Airborne lead	p. 170
Acid rain	p. 171
Ozone depletion	p. 173
Climate change (global warming)	p. 175
The Water	p. 175
The Land	p. 178
Solid wastes	p. 179
Toxic wastes	p. 181
Governmental and industrial responses to the waste problem	p. 182
Deforestation	p. 183
The Workplace and the Home	p. 186
Cancer	p. 186
Pesticides	p. 187
Chemicals	p. 188
The Use of Minerals	p. 189
Resource efficiency	p. 190
Recycling	p. 191
Substitution	p. 193
Reducing needs	p. 193
Overdevelopment	p. 193
The Extinction of Species	p. 194
The Extinction of Cultures	p. 197
Environmental Politics	p. 200
Conclusions	p. 201
Notes	p. 202
Further Reading	p. 209
Technology	p. 211
Benefits of Technology	p. 211
The Tragedy of the Commons and the Role of Technology - Short-Term Benefits Versus Long-Term Costs	p. 213
Unanticipated Consequences of the Use of Technology	p. 214
DDT	p. 214
Factory farms	p. 214
Inappropriate Uses of Technology	p. 217
Limits to the "Technological Fix"	p. 219
War	p. 221
The Threat of Nuclear Weapons: A Case Study	p. 223
The threat	p. 224
New dangers	p. 226
Conclusions	p. 228
Notes	p. 229
Further Reading	p. 231
Alternative Futures	p. 232
Current Outlook: Business as Usual	p. 234
Collapse and Sustainable Development	p. 235
Choices	p. 238
Improve production	p. 239
Reduce demand	p. 239
Better management and governance	p. 240
Conclusion	p. 241
Notes	p. 243
Further Reading	p. 244
Studying and Teaching Global Issues	p. 247
Relevant Videos	p. 254
Relevant Internet Websites	p. 265
Glossary	p. 272
Index	p. 276
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