Demographic and environmental changes:
Group 1: Nate Barton, Chehab Kaakarli, Nathan Starnes, Tyler Cunningham
Topic: Demographic and environmental changes: Analyze the major factors that have led to the environmental transformations of the 20th century, analyze the economic, political, and cultural benefits and drawbacks of globalization since 1945.
Topic: Demographic and environmental changes: Analyze the major factors that have led to the environmental transformations of the 20th century, analyze the economic, political, and cultural benefits and drawbacks of globalization since 1945.
The Basic Gist:
During the 20th century- particularly in the years after 1945 (when), globalization became more profound than ever before. The intermingling of cultures led to not only a greater awareness of global issues, but also to changes in the climate and the allocation of resources, as well as alterations of the land itself through the rise in hydroelectric dams and nuclear disasters (what). The effects of these changes are perhaps most profoundly seen in areas such as Rwanda and Darfur, where such issues caused a great deal of civil unrest, as well as Chernobyl, which is the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history (who/where). The rise of industrialization in Western cultures was the catalyst for much of this change, the effects of which can be seen anywhere from the Janjaweed of Sudan to the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (who/why). In the case of the War in Darfur, for example, the conflict began because of extended drought and desertification. This led to increased tension between the existing farmers and herders. Eventually, the situation brought on a whole host of complications, but it is a valid argument to state that it was improper allocation of resources (due mostly to globalization and climate change) that sparked the war as a whole. Also, nuclear disasters such as Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Chernobyl were all a direct impact of globalization, and eventually affected the environment tremendously.