Name: Tiandrea Clarke

Class: 4 Green

Teacher: Miss Foster

Topic: “We should not sacrifice the natural environment for economic development”, write an
argumentative essay to support are oppose the statement.

The former Member of Parliament and previous Kenyan environment activist, Wangari Maathai
states that, “The environment and the economy are really both two sides of the same coin, and if
we cannot sustain the environment then how are we to sustain our selves”. The natural
environment should not be jeopardized in order to satisfy needs alone but instead the preserving
act of the environment should be one that is enforced, so that the depletion of destruction of the
ecosystem caused by numerous amount of economic growth activities will be no more. Whether
or not the natural environment aids in providing our essential needs, humanity has remember that
life support system depends heavily on the well-being of the environment. Therefore if it is
endangered how will our essential needs be met?

Though the natural environment has helped over the years in developing the economy whether in
technology or science, considerably our world is being altered and the natural environment that
we see around us is being endangered as the days go by. As reported by (Booth 1991, p. 552) it
is said that “The long run economic growth relies on the creation of new enterprises which
requires new forms of economic activities that will create more and new types of problems in the
environment”. Without a doubt, the development of the economy will bring about severe issues
in the environment such as: The pollution of air, the pollution of water, acid rains and even
ozone depletion.

One of the environment issues is water pollution which in the same way is caused by the
development of the economy and is considered to be very serious in many countries all around
the world. For instance countries like Ethiopia and Uganda face these problems being that the
water there is not safe enough for drinking purposes and according to the National Centre for
Environmental Health it is stated that, “The Rivers located in Ethiopia and Uganda are likely
polluted due to the numerous discharges from tanneries, wineries, breweries and slaughter
houses and most times these pollutants are released instantly whether before or after partial
treatment”. For the reasons above it comes to a realization that many of the problems these
countries face are sometimes as a result of poor maintenance of the environment and definitely if
the water is polluted regularly it becomes rather difficult for the creatures to survive in the
ecosystem.

As we know, with economic development, the instalment of industrialized factories is necessary

to satisfy every person’s needs. In other words majority of these factories will deplete off these
different wastes which comprises of many poisonous and harmful substances whether it is waste
gases or other dangerous compounds. Therefore we can see that the increased development of
various industries results to why there is a substantial deal of effect on the pollution of water. In
addition with the frequent economic development many used supply systems filled with water in
developing countries which then results in water pollution.

With frequent economic growth, the rise in activity by humans is one of the major reasons for air
pollution whether it be global warming or acid rain. Obviously when there is a change of climate
in the atmosphere results in the act of human caused gas discharges. In order to build and
develop economy needs would have to be satisfied for the population, which therefore means
that person would burn more fossil fuels to get the required energy. What many of us do not
realize is that when these process are being carried out lots of harmful gases like nitrogen and
carbon dioxide or green house gases are being discharged into the air we breathe in. As reported
by Tejvan Pettinger it is stated that “effects of increased carbon dioxide emissions are less
immediately obvious and therefore there is less incentive for policymakers to tackle. Scientist’s
state that the buildup of Carbon dioxide emissions have resulted to global warming and more
vaporous weather. All this suggests economic growth is increasing continuing environmental
costs not only for the present but also for future generations to come”.

Briefly, our natural environment had been altering over time due to the increase of economic
development. Though economic development will be evolving as time goes by and it may be
uneasy to control environmental issues. Every economic activity are due to the desire of
economic and population growth. Come to think of it, if the economic development continues,
the natural environment will worsen .Therefore humanity should still try their best to enforce
policies in order to preserve the environment and sustain themselves and in order to do so it is
must that economic development is controlled.