Why it is so urgent to change our production methods
- 5 years ago
The environment is perhaps the biggest loser of two centuries of industrialisation and mass resource exploitation. Even though the dirtiest phases of industrialisation have passed, the production and consumption of resources has exploded in line with population growth and economic development.
More and more countries are developing and consuming at an unprecedented pace, particularly in East and South East Asia. But the economic methods adopted as countries develop continue to follow a liberal, capitalist method of production, which is tied with and dependant on consumption habits and the flow of capital. Products are produced for their respective markets in the most cost-effective manner possible. This usually means that in order to decrease individual unit costs, production facilites must invest and expand so as to be pre-disposed of a maximum quantity of resources.
Resources are depleted at faster rates and pollution is accelerated as fossil fuels are still the primary source of power in all stages of the process. Agriculture is also under pressure to enhance efficiency as the world's population grows rapidly. Current methods strain land to such a degree, that soil degradation and deforestation are destroying ecosystems and rendering thousands of species extinct. Ocean ecosystems are also threatened by waste buildup and the higher temperatures caused by global warming. The latter being largely attributed to the production methods which take place on land. Unsustainable production increasingly creates a cycle of degradation which reproduces and expands across ecosystems.
More and more countries are developing and consuming at an unprecedented pace, particularly in East and South East Asia. But the economic methods adopted as countries develop continue to follow a liberal, capitalist method of production, which is tied with and dependant on consumption habits and the flow of capital. Products are produced for their respective markets in the most cost-effective manner possible. This usually means that in order to decrease individual unit costs, production facilites must invest and expand so as to be pre-disposed of a maximum quantity of resources.
Resources are depleted at faster rates and pollution is accelerated as fossil fuels are still the primary source of power in all stages of the process. Agriculture is also under pressure to enhance efficiency as the world's population grows rapidly. Current methods strain land to such a degree, that soil degradation and deforestation are destroying ecosystems and rendering thousands of species extinct. Ocean ecosystems are also threatened by waste buildup and the higher temperatures caused by global warming. The latter being largely attributed to the production methods which take place on land. Unsustainable production increasingly creates a cycle of degradation which reproduces and expands across ecosystems.