Environmental issues are a topic that we often hear and talk about, there are many things that can trigger environmental issues. However, who can really be blamed? Actually, wrong or right is a relative thing, but speaking with facts, it is no longer inevitable.
Developing countries and developed countries have their own environmental problems, differences in living standards and progress of a country make them have different needs. For example, in developing countries, the environmental problem they face is the problem of controlling natural resources. This is in line with the drastic increase in population growth which results in a drastic increase in living needs as well. This increase has reduced resource products to a minus, there are many stomachs that must be fed and also many people who need land as a place to live.
Then, what about the environmental problems that occur in developed countries? Much more, when talking about environmental damage, what will we remember? Air pollution? Water pollution? Soil pollution? How much pollution is present due to modern industrial life?. Today, humans are increasingly greedy in exploiting our natural resources. The more advanced the development of a country, the higher the standard of living and needs. There are many things that must be fulfilled, so the one that is most affected by the progress of a civilization is nature.
Humans have been using natural resources for a long time to support life. But the more developed our civilization, the more natural resources we need. For example, starting from the deforestation of the forest due to the increasing need for wood. Then environmental problems related to pollution caused by factories and vehicles. This advanced civilization brings new ideas that seem efficient for us, but are very destructive for nature. After all, who can live without nature? But do we have to continue to use nature without any control at all?
Developed countries have civilizations that are far more advanced than developing countries. Many industrial factories are mushrooming due to high modern needs. Environmental pollution is increasingly widespread and inevitable. The factories that were established aim to meet the needs of human life in developed countries, but in line with the amount of natural resources used, a lot of residue is released. Pollution that occurs not only in the air, but also soil and water. The waste generated by the factory does not have good control and treatment, especially for factory residues. The residue is then just thrown into the open without further treatment. This has an impact on the contamination of the natural environment.
Not only does the factory give a lot of pollution, but it also takes up land in nature that is used for the construction of the factory itself. It is often noted that developed countries tend to have less forests compared to developing countries. This happened because the forests were then cleared and used as land, whether for factories or other industries. Presence of mines is also one of the impacts of the progress of a civilization because it requires greater energy for electricity. The use of electricity is a major need for modern society, including developed and developing countries with a higher level of demand compared to developing countries. Land that was supposed to be beautiful and well-maintained then began to be encroached on because it turned out that it had natural oil or coal resources in that place.
Another problem that spreads apart from pollution is garbage. A familiar topic that we often talk about, all countries, whether they are developing or not, are unavoidable when dealing with waste, because we will still leave residue from the natural resources that we use. The high level of production causes waste to spread to various places. Developed countries produce a lot of waste, ranging from fashion waste, industrial garbage and food waste. For example, in one developed country, Americans generate more waste than any other nation in the world with 4.5 pounds (2.0 kg) of municipal solid waste (MSW) per person per day, fifty five percent of which is contributed as residential garbage.
We already live side by side with nature and use it as a support for human life. But over time and civilization, human needs are increasing, parallel to population growth and standard of living. This has resulted in massive human exploitation of natural resources, to the point of being destructive. As a result, pollution and damage to nature began to spread and became a social problem for humans today. Developed countries with higher levels of technology and civilization play a major role in this environmental issue. The higher the energy required, the more natural resources needed and the resulting residue or pollution.
By: Luna Kuncoro
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