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Human Impact on the Environment of India and the Middle East

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Human Impact on the Environment of India and the Middle East

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An expanding human population and the desire of all people to live a more prosperous life have placed tremendous demands on the environment of India and the Middle East. In this section we will explore different ways that humans have impacted their environment and how the environment has impacted the way people live and thrive – or barely get by.

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What do you think of when you hear the word “slum?”

Do you know anything about slums in the United States?

Do you know anything about slums in other parts of the world?

Make a quick list of descriptive words for a slum.

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Throughout global history, people have moved from place to place, traded goods and services, and as a result, traded ideas. There are four areas to think about when considering the movement of people, goods, and ideas around the world – including the Middle East: migration, trade, cultural diffusion, and interdependence.

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One of the largest migrations in the Middle East took place over 2000 years ago when the Jews were forced out of Palestine by the Romans. More recently, India has experienced a sharp increase in rural to urban migration, with people in search of employment. The hope for a better life is motivating the rural poor to seek a better outcome in the sprawling cities, but this increased urbanization is creating problems of its own.

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Trade involves imports (goods brought into a country) and exports (goods sent out of a country). The United States has bilateral free trade agreements with five countries in the Middle East. Bilateral literally means "two sides" – a bilateral trade agreement is one that has two sides – it is a trade agreement between any two countries, usually in order to reduce tariffs or trade quotas.

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Cultural diffusion is the spread of ideas from one culture to another. The spread of Buddhism from India to parts of Asia along the Asian trade routes is an excellent example of cultural diffusion.

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Interdependence is simply the fact that very few countries can be completely self-sufficient. Countries depend on imports from other countries to provide basic needs for their citizens. For example, some European countries import cars from the United States, tea from India and oil from the Middle East. Many Middle Eastern countries must import almost all of their agricultural needs due to a lack of cultivable land while exporting large amounts of oil.

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"The gap between rich and poor has become more marked, even in the most economically developed nations. This is a problem which the conscience of humanity cannot ignore, since the conditions in which a great number of people are living are an insult to their innate dignity and as a result are a threat to the authentic and harmonious progress of the world community."

Pope John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Peace, 1993

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The distribution of wealth throughout the world is sharply disparate. Average wealth amounted to $144,000 per person in the U.S. in the year 2000, and $181,000 in Japan. India’s average wealth per person was much, much lower at $1,100! Average wealth is measured by calculating a person’s assets. Assets are defined as anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company. Although India continues to make economic progress, the sheer size of its population prevents many people from attaining any substantial economic security or acquiring assets such as a home or a car. According to a study completed in 2005 by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University, at the turn of the century, the top 2% of the world's population owned more than half of all global personal wealth. Within that, the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000.

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Irrigation systems bring water from nearby sources, often rivers, to areas where crops are grown. Early civilizations, such as those in Egypt, used irrigation systems to grow more food, enabling them to expand and grow. In modern times, more advanced irrigation systems have been developed to grow crops in areas once thought barren. In the Middle East, freshwater problems have arisen from increasing demand for water generated by rapid population growth, urbanization, industrialization, and the irrigation required for increased agriculture needed to feed the growing population.

The Middle East and North African countries (referred to as MENA) are home to 300 million people. Although they constitute about 5% of the world’s population, they have only 1% of the annual renewable water resources on the globe. The Nile River, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Jordan River valley (and its tributaries), and groundwater resources in the West Bank and Israel are the sources most disputed in the region.

Riparian countries are those with water sources. Riparian means relating to or located on the banks of a river or stream. Although the United States has attempted to negotiate talks between riparian countries and those in need of water, there has been little progress, because historic rivals have no interest in being subservient to countries with whom they share longstanding animosities.

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something with two sides

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rapid and massive growth of and migration to large cities

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supplying dry land with water:

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something that can be re-grown or reproduced:

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markedly different:

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a statement that contradicts itself:

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any carbon based fuel derived from the decomposed remains

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anything of material value to a person or business:

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relating to or located on the banks of a river or stream: