Think Globally: Changing Population, Environment and Food

Ozone Depletion & Global Warming

By Frank T. Scruggs  M.A.Ph.D. The Afro News USA International

When venturing away from one’s own city, town or village a keen sense of the vastness of the African Diaspora becomes apparent. Even more people of African descent populate our planet when serious consideration is given to Keith O. Hilton’s TALO theory which explores the idea of acknowledged and unacknowledged African people. Black people are everywhere on the planet and yet so many of us think in terms of only what we can readily see from a domestic or local point of view. Changes occurring in populations and the environment combined with political considerations has propelled the transformation of world politics and created a number of global policy issues. These issues affect us as Black people as much as civil, human rights, the economy and the politics in general. Present and projected trends continue to shape the world during this century. We as Black people must now compare how each of the developed and undeveloped nations creates policies for addressing these issues which include:

• Birth and Infant Mortality

• Gerontology and Death

• Immigration and Migration

Recent population patterns, geopolitics and pollution have made significant changes to global food security and the planet’s environment. In the Sudan for example drought had brought about a bloody conflict (mainly over fresh water and arable land) between Christian (farmers) and Muslim (herders) in the Darfur region. President al-Bashur has been indicted by the World Criminal Court for allowing the conflict and the atrocities committed during his administration to become crimes against humanity. The changes in global food security and the environment are also important considerations for policymakers since food is life. International cooperation is needed to cope with global warming, pollution, food security and related environmental problems. Despite a widespread global commitment to food security, complete success is still elusive. More food is produced than ever before but distribution remains uneven and accessibility beyond the reach of many of the world’s hungry people. Although problems with the environment such as soil erosion, desertification and deforestation may seem to bind humanity together; policymakers in the many nations do not share the same costs and benefits associated with environmental desecration equally. Unequal distribution of power and political hegemony also ensure that some nations will make sure that their national interests dominate the international community in terms of international policy. The global environment is a system of delicately and tightly integrated components that together impose limits on the planet’s carrying capacity. As black people we live on this planet and decisions made in boardrooms and parliaments affect us where we live. In terms of pollution to our environment for example, Maquiladoras (multinational corporations in the northern border towns) in Mexico pollute the land, water and air in a country that is not their own however everyone is affected. The deforestation of the rainforest in the Amazon River regions and polluted air in China also has equally long-range consequences globally. Unrestrained population growth will at some point exceed the carrying capacity and result in lost economic opportunities, environmental degradation and domestic strife. Population growth and aging will soon place migration as an important political and policy agenda for both developed and undeveloped nations. Opportunities for labor are on the rise for less developed nations as population and the labor pool age in the developed nations. Population growth will continue to strain existing economic problems and create new national security concerns. The international toll of excessive population growth and consumption will lead to dramatic changes in the following areas:

• Global Patterns of Production

• Over fishing and maintaining the ecological balance in the oceans

• Trade

• Capital Flows and

• Migration

Collectively, while these issues may serve transform the global power pyramid, black people must step in to move towards global, self-preservation. Black people in Canada and in the U.S. as a group or political bloc, actually have resource power. Resource power is the means of exercising political influence on government leadership to bring about positive policy changes. While some nations are beginning to discuss policies regarding alternative energy sources and the relationship between resource dependence and national security threats, input from black people in North America is needed. The behavior of key individuals in different national settings does influence the dynamics that govern energy supply and demand, price and production. Global energy consumption is disproportionate most of which is consumed by the world’s wealthy industrialized nations. Meanwhile, pollution of the environment by fossil fuels still continues; cause acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion. While coal, natural gas, hydropower and nuclear power are major alternatives to oil each comes with its own set of economic, environment and political uncertainties. Keep thinking about what things affect you and your family locally and you’ll soon realize how your issues are actually global in nature. As always let us keep the conversation going. Contact me at fscruggs@yahoo.com