Environment and Economic Geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Environment and Economic Geography - Essay Example In the twenty first-century most of the national and international issues are governed by environmental challenges which require thorough understanding of the economics of environment. This century will be an era of many losses, remarkable changes and cosmologic differences, but it is conceivable that societies will successfully make the transition from goals of economic growth, as already experienced in the twentieth century, to the goals of maintaining and increasing suitable well being. The influence of the environment on economic geography was found neglected and remained untouched until Paul Krugman re-established the field by publishing his short monograph " Geography and Trade" in 1991. He showed how mathematical tools known from modern models of international trade theory can be used to explain the distribution of economic activity in geographical space. Aspects of environment on which we depend (most often soil, water and atmosphere) become damaged, polluted (poisoned) and depleted. Modern intensive agriculture changes the composition and ecology of soil and water systems, as well as affecting nitrogen and carbon cycle in the environment. The changing environmental phenomenon creates new vistas for developmental and constructive mechanisms on one side and restricts the human economic activity on another. Thereby the environmental carrying capacity is being influenced. The changes in the environmental parameters may be either beneficial or detrimental to the present and future ecological world and economic scenario, which can very well be categorized in two distinct forms. The planet earth which is unique for presence of life in our solar system is directly and indirectly getting influenced by the supremacy of the most evolutionary-creature called "Man" i.e. Homo sapiens and the equlibria that had existed since inception, are now getting imbalanced due to exploitative activities of human beings. Unrestricted use of fossil fuels, injudicious application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, rampant deforestation, rapid industrialization, ever growing global population and radioactive warfare have many reasons for changing the wave length of this living earth from green to red in the visual spectrum. a) Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Global worming: The concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing at geometric progression primarily because of the dependency on the non-renewable form of bio-fuels as more than 80 percent of the global energy demand is met from this source and secondarily due to the exhalation of the animal kingdom. The effect of which is remarkable from the increase in the mean global temperature, which we designated as global worming. The increase in carbon dioxide concentration in one hand will definitely help in better photosynthesis resulting in increased assimilation but in other hand, increased concentration leads to acid rains, which restrict crop growth and severely affect the final yield. Instances of total extinction of established forests have also been observed due to acid rain. The emission of sulphur dioxide has also increased alarmingly in industrialized nations and particularly in North America and Europe. The result of which