Write a short essay on the use of economic principles to analyse agricultural and environmental problems. Choose a problem and then follow these sections: task. a)Describe the problem, and its causes,...

Global Warming 1

Global Warming
Global Warming 2


Global Warming
Popular outlook of the problem:
Global warming is the biggest and the most serious problem faced by the recent century.
Its adverse effects have been noticed all over the world. More than 1, 60,000 people die every
year due to changing climatic conditions. The most evident consequences of global warming as
identified in the recent times are hotter and drier summers, reduced snowfall, increased flooding,
disappearing glaciers, reducing soil moisture, eroding coastal areas, increase in global average
temperature, extreme weather events like increase in the range of average temperature, increased
tropical cyclonic activity etc.
The economic sector most likely to be affected by global warming is agriculture because
of the serious disruptions in weather conditions. Frequent and prolonged droughts as well as
intense wild fire seasons are expected. In other areas excessive rainfall will lead to flooding.
There have been massive crop failures in recent times.
Millions of species have been threatened by the alarming rise in sea levels. Bleaching of
the coral reefs due to acidification of the oceans is the best example to show that the ocean
ecosystem has been endangered. Climate change, in fact, acts a threat multiplier.
Causes:
The top 10 causes of Global Warming can be identified as-Ca
on dioxide emissions
from fossil fuels burning power plants, burning gasoline for transportation; Methane emissions
from animals and agriculture (from crops such as rice paddies, and from Arctic sea beads;
Deforestation, especially tropical forests for wood, pulp, and farmland; Increase in the use of
chemical fertilizers on farmlands etc.
Global Warming 3


In a more organized discussion, causes can be further subdivided into manmade
(anthropogenic) causes and natural causes. It is the former which is more dominant cause of
global warming and it needs to be studied. Also the causes mentioned above are basically
manmade causes which can be controlled to some extent.
Economic interpretation to the problem of global warming:
In general, studying the economic aspect of a problem would imply studying the
economic activities which are the root cause of the problem and also the consequences of the
same on the economy as a whole. So under this head there is a discussion on the economic
activities which result in ca
on and methane emission. Rising Population can be seen as one of
the most basic cause of emission of green house gases. More population means more aggregate
demand which will induce the producers to produce more. More production means more demand
of resources and more employment of labor. More burning of fuels in running machinery and
transportation will result in more CO2 emission. More labor hours will result in more demand for
food and will lead to more agricultural activity which will result in more emission of methane.
Also more demand for labor...