Globalization Essay

Over the last century, efforts have been made to bring various countries together. All these efforts have been applied in enabling human beings on the earth’s surface to come together in all aspects of life. These aspects of human life include social, political and economical aspects. Integration effort has been seen to bear fruits. In the current years, the world has been visualized as being a global village, where the interactions of the people in the world, has been of equivalent to the interaction in one village or locality. Almost all parts of the world are interconnected to the rest of the world in different ways.

Barriers, which initially isolated countries, have been removed. In the recent times, higher levels of integration have been achieved. Initially, countries only integrated economically. This is now outdated. Other areas of human life have also been put in the circle of integration. This is commonly referred to as globalization (Ghauri 22).

Globalization is the process by which countries, economies, and regions have been integrated in a global network. Countries’ economies, cultures, and societies have been placed in the global networks of communication, trade, transportation, and immigration. In the past, globalization primarily used focus on the part of the world involving economy. Only factors of the economy were considered as an important part of the globalization. Foreign investment and international flow of capital and trade were held high in the globalization chart. The range of globalization has been broadened to bring in other activities and areas such as sports, media, socio–culture, technology, and politics. Biological factors such as environmental and climatic changes have also been regarded highly. Various factors have played important roles in making globalization a success. Effective communication across the world has been a major contributing factor. Costs of communication have reduced drastically, leading to enhanced communication. This has been facilitated by the growth of information technology since it has enhanced the communication process. Transportation network and immigration links has also been cited to be critical in globalization (Ghauri 22).

As indicated, globalization has various effects. It has played a major role in the current development in the world. One of the main areas that globalization has affected greatly is the environment. The environment encompasses living things and non-living things on the surface of the earth. It also comprises of the non-living things that have been put in their place by activities of human beings. Globalization has affected the environment both positively and negatively. This paper will examine both positive and negative contributions of globalization to economic, social, political, and biotic environment in the world.

Globalization has caused increased consumption of different products. This has led to increased production of goods and services in order to satisfy the global market. This has increased the stress on environment, which impacts the cycles of ecology. Globalization of trade and market has also led to increased transportation of finished goods and raw materials across the world. Fuels used in transportation of these goods have increased the levels of pollution to the environment. Transportation across the world has also resulted in other environmental predicaments such as the intrusion of landscape and noise pollution. Depletion of non-renewable energy sources such as gasoline has also brought environmental concerns. Aircraft transport, which is an important part of global transportation, usually emits gases, which results in depletion of the protective ozone layer. This has caused the greenhouse effect, which has brought about negative climatic changes. Plastic, a major pollutant, is an important part of manufacturing. Plastic is commonly used for preserving and packaging goods for export and since it is a non-biodegradable, it forms a large part of environment toxic pollutants (Labadi 15).

Globalization has led to industrialization. Industrial chemicals and wastes usually find their way into the water bodies and the soil. These harmful industrial products have caused the deaths of underwater organisms. In the year 2010, a container belonging to British Petroleum Company leaked out petroleum product in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Labadi (32), this led to the death of millions of underwater organisms in a stretch of seven miles. In the soil, chemicals and industrial effluents have led to outgrowth of noxious plants and weeds (Labadi 82). These plants and weeds usually cause damage to animals and plants by interfering with their genetic composition. In the end, this will cause plants and animals to have harmful side effects upon consumption. Demand for increased production for a global market has increased demand for factors of production. The demand for land, especially, has been on the rise. This has caused natural environmental encroachment. Forests have been cleared to pave way for agricultural activities and construction of firms and industries. For instance, land in India has been reclaimed from the sea in order to plant rice for the global market (Ehlers 44)…