Technology and the Environment
Climate change does not respect border; it does not respect who you are—rich and poor, small and big. Therefore this is what we call global
challenges which require global solidarity.
—Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, 2007–2016
Learning Objectives
- C: Explain the causes and effects of environmental changes in the period from 1900 to the present.
During the 20th and 21st centuries, human agricultural, industrial, and other
commercial activity contributed to many environmental changes that led to increased competition for increasingly scarce resources. These problems include:
• Deforestation—the loss of Earth’s trees as a result of cutting down trees so the land could be used for agriculture
• Desertification—the removal of the natural vegetation cover through expansion and intensive use of agricultural lands in arid and semi-arid lands
• A decline in air quality as a result of increased pollutants in the air
• Increased consumption of the world’s supply of fresh water
Scientists observed that, along with these changes, Earth was getting warmer. Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean politician and diplomat, and many other world leaders concluded that climate change was a global problem and debated the best ways to approach it through global action.
Sections
Causes of Environmental Changes
Effects of Environmental Changes
Debates About Global Warming
A New Age?
Think As a Historian: THINK AS A HISTORIAN: ENvIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN DIffERENT CONTEXTS
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Reflect
REFLECT ON THE TOPIC ESSENTIAL QUESTION
1. In one to three paragraphs, explain the causes and effects of environmental changes from 1900 to the present.
AP Exam Practice
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