by Shirley Griffin, Global Lab teacher
in Ashburnham, MA
Ask your students to brainstorm about which kinds of environmental
problems are local, which are regional, and which are global.
Smog is usually a local/regional problem. Of course the categories
are not very neat. But the importance of figuring this out is
that the solutions will be quite different. Who is responsible
for the local area impacted, the regional area, the globe? What
kind of laws can protect land from these impactors? Of course,
behind all of these variables may be the single force of population
growth. Your students might think of these examples and many others:
Slash-and-burn-agriculture and soil erosion
Human traffic and soil compaction
Fertilizer run-off from farm and eutrophication of lakes and ponds
Landfills/dumps, septic and toxic waste and water contamination
Traffic, airport and noise, pollution
Urban sprawl and fragmentation of habitats
(reduction in open spaces/woods)
(Across counties, countries)
Regional airports, interstate highways and animal population impacts
Air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, ozone that travel down an
air corridor. This leads to loss of plant and human health, loss of species diversity.
Radiation accidents and subsequent health problems, loss of agriculture
Acid deposition and health of plants, people
River contamination
Ozone depletion Leads to plant and animal health effects and UV increase.
Greenhouse gases increase Will result in hlooding, migrations, drought, rising sea levels, biome migration.
Over population Results in, among other things, illness, loss of quality of life
Over-fishing Can result in starvation, malnutrition.