Humans and Society
Humans do not live alone; instead, they are a part of communities where they rely on one another either directly or indirectly. In order to understand the social issues that individuals in communities face, sociology looks at society from three different perspectives: its structure, development, and functioning. Human activities affect the environment in both beneficial and harmful ways. Researchers from all over the world have been working hard to try and determine how to quantify how much of an influence humans have on the environment. Ehrlich, & Holdren (1971) argued that the IPAT theory was the best approach for assessing how people's influence on the environment. The theory implied that the human impact is as a result of three factors which are the population, affluence and the technology. Population in the community determines the impact on the environment by viewing them as consumers. High population increases human consumption whereas lower population reduces the impact. The affluence factor determines the amount of money have to aid in obtaining the economic goods to consume. What technology refers to the pollutants which area caused by the production of the industrial product to satisfy the human needs of the society.
Current Trends in Data
The environmental impact between developed countries and developing countries is significantly different. According to Casey, Gregory, and Oded (2017), the less developed countries have small negative impacts on the environment. The countries have low technological advancements hence have small numbers of the machine which can emit gases and channel wastes which can lead to environmental pollution. The poverty levels are high in the countries thus reducing the consumption standards of the people. However, the developed countries are characterized by scores of machines, tremendous resources by the people and increased consumption habits. These activities have significant impacts on the society both positively or negatively.
According to Simas, Moana, et al. (2017), consumption and production have a direct correlation with the impact on the society. They are facilitated by the income levels of the people. The products people consume may have environmental pollution. Machinery used to produce the products may emit products affecting the environment. Therefore, money causes high impacts on the environment.
Globally, the emission by the industries contributes to environmental pollution. Governments, societies, and organization have been in the forefront in fighting the harmful gases emissions by firms to try and provide a cleaner society free from different pollutants (Cheng, Zhonghua, Lianshui, and Jun 2017, pp. 191-205).
Critical Thinking
Human impact on the environment has been increasing over the years. Human activities have been responsible for the negative and positive effects on the environment. People play a critical role in the protection of the society. The IPAT theory assumes that climate impact of the people is determined by their affluence and the technology they use in supporting their consumption. The wealth means some money people have, and in my view, it is the greatest impact on the society. The products we acquire and use require special technological processes which may affect the society negatively or positively. The products, therefore, have a certain degree of impact on the communities. The high population can cause high impact to the community, but small population like the USA cover 5% of the world and uses 25% of its resources which is greater than even large populated areas. Availability of money to the people will make them spend more thus having a high impact on the society. The high spending will trigger new technological projects which then increase their influence on the environment.
Social Responsibility
Humans have an obligation to protect the environment by striking a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. The environment provides a habitat for animals, people, plants and another microorganism. Survival for the parties mentioned above fully depends on the environment. People spend products which may affect the environment negatively by causing pollution. Other products can influence the environment like contributing to manure on their decay. Production of the items needed by the people is done by the machines which are. As a result rampant technological changes. Technology can have negative or positive impacts on the society. Mostly, machines produce wastes which cause pollution to the environment. Emission of gases like C02 by machines causes air pollution; they lead to the formation of acid rains. Channeling chemicals cause water pollution which may end up affecting people after consumption.
Human beings have the mandate to protect the environment from factors causing adverse impacts. Resources availability to the people for buying products to consume contributes to the technological activities that may have adverse effects on the society. All people have the responsibility to protect the community from negative impacts which may make it not inhabitable.
Work cited
Casey, Gregory, and Oded Galor. “Is faster economic growth compatible with reductions in carbon emissions? The role of diminished population growth.” Environmental Research Letters 12.1 (2017): 014003.
Cheng, Zhonghua, Lianshui Li, and Jun Liu. “The emissions reduction effect and technical progress effect of environmental regulation policy tools.” Journal of Cleaner Production 149 (2017): 191-205.
Ehrlich, P. R., & Holdren, J. P. (1971). Impact of population growth.
Simas, Moana, et al. “Correlation between production and consumption-based environmental indicators: The link to affluence and the effect on ranking environmental performance of countries.” Ecological Indicators 76 (2017): 317-323.
