Carys Keeble and Dominic Offei
The key principle about the concept of
globalization is that no nation is an island. Implied in this statement is that
Autarchy (total self-sufficiency) is unattainable and as such, there is the
need for interdependency and interactions among people around the world. This
amongst other things has gone a long way to bridge the gap between people and
now the world has come to be a GLOBAL VILLAGE, communication has been easier
and is faster than ever before.
The ICS programme has managed to bring
together a girl from a small town in the north of England and a boy from the
Eastern region of Ghana, two worlds so far apart and yet two people who have so
much in common. The differences between England and Ghana are vast and yet
globalisation has its effects on both countries. As young people we cannot sit
back and ignore the problems that both our cultures are contributing to, our
generation has the power to make real differences and we all need to work
together to keep our planet sustainable.
The problems we are experiencing as
the world come together are now more evident than ever in Ghana as elsewhere as
we have both experienced. Have you thought about why farmers are
not getting the rainfall to plant their crops and even if it comes, it comes
irregularly and generally not at the correct time? Ghanaian seasons have been
changing and fluctuating so much that a lot of people are now experiencing
severe droughts and harsh weather conditions not only in Ghana but all around
the globe.
The growth rate of the world’s population
has reached an alarming point that is now putting pressure on resources in all
countries and this may threaten the quality of life as we know it. It took 100,000
years of human existence for the world population to finally reach 1 billion.
Now, only a little more than 200 years later, there are over 7 billion people and
each additional billion people have been added in shorter and shorter periods
of time. In 2011 alone, the world added 135 million people, a number larger
than the population of Egypt and Ghana put together. Should this trend
continue, the world’s population will have exceeded 25 billion by 2050. This is
a very worrying thought. The question that we have to concern ourselves with
is; where will these people live and how are they going to survive? The
population of London, where Carys attends university, has now surpassed 8.6
million. This city in England alone has more than a third of the whole
population of Ghana. Overpopulation in London is a huge problem, with a housing
crisis and landscapes constantly being destroyed to make space for the expansion
of industry. When the United Kingdom is thought of as an affluent country, it
is still difficult to cope with the huge population growth and as this
continues to grow the struggles will only worsen.
Earth’s expanding population also presents serious
environmental dangers to us no matter where we live, whether in Europe, America
or Africa. Burning oil and other fossil fuels for warmth, transport and general
living, annually creates more than 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other
gas emissions. Most scientists believe that it is these emissions which are resulting
in global warming and climate change.
The atmosphere continually warming poses
a great danger to our health and survival. What is more disheartening is that
the situation worsens each passing day, which obviously puts lives of humanity
under serious threat. Warmer temperatures may be welcomed to some, but the
overall ramifications are worrisome. Among other things, many scientists claim
that global warming is melting the polar ice caps, thereby raising sea levels
and threatening to flood coastal areas of the world. Some Pacific island
countries could even disappear under the rising seas. In addition, many
scientists believe that global warming is increasing the number and severity of
damaging weather events such as heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, and other
forms of destructive weather.
When the UKVs arrived in Tamale during the middle
of the month of June; the main period for the rainy season in Ghana, and for
the cultivation of crops, I realised the place was dry and it was not until July
that the rain started to fall and even then it was sparingly. My host father
was concerned about when the farmers will be able to plant their crops. This
has affected the farming season and crop production in areas that depend
heavily on rainfall for agriculture and shows the obvious impact that global
warming and climatic change has on other people’s lives.
Do you have any idea why everybody on the planet
was concerned and worried when the Ebola struck certain parts of Africa? Globalization
may not directly cause diseases, but we are increasingly in need of global responses
to counter health threats that ignore national borders. One example relates to
the environment. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chemicals we have spewed
into the air have significantly depleted Earth’s ozone layer, which helps
shield us from the sun’s deadly ultraviolet rays. Due to higher exposure to ultraviolet
rays, this increases the risk of developing melanoma, a form of skin cancer and the cause of sunburns and in extreme
cases deaths.
A
case in history which shows how globalization and ignorance can result in the
spread of diseases is shown by the Black Death which took close to half of
Europe’s population around the 1300’s. Furthermore the “Spanish flu” spread
around the world in months, killing more than 50 million people worldwide
during 1918–1919. What is more disheartening is that diseases still travel
today, but they do so in part by high-speed airliners rather than by sedate
sailing ships and by foot. The spread of HIV/AIDS, has always been a serious
concern and the Ebola epidemic that killed over 12,000 people within few weeks
of its outbreak still remain fresh in our memories. These examples show that
issues that affect one culture, one city, one country can so easily spread and
that we all come from one nation and only together can we help to make our
environment a safe and better place.
As
young citizens of the world we have a duty to not be ignorant to these issues.
The ICS programme is working towards educating different cultures, that we are
all from the same planet and we all have a responsibility to work together.
Carys is English and Dominic is Ghanaian, but this does not mean we are solely
concerned with our individual nations. The world is bigger than our own towns
and our own countries, and as world becomes increasingly globalised we too must
realise our role is wider and embrace the opportunities we have to work
together for a more sustainable, more commutative future.
