ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

 discuss the origins and manifestations of global
environment crises;
 relate everyday encounters with pollution, global
warming, desertification, ozone depletion, and many
others with a larger picture of environmental degradation;
and
 examine the policies and programs of governments
around the world that address the environmental crisis.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
You may not usually notice but the moment you step
outside of your home, you are already exposed to the
deteriorating state of the environment. It can be observed
through the uncollected and unsegregated wastes, unpleasant
odor of decaying plants and animals, highly intoxicating smoke
the vehicle causes, and many more, all of which are indicative
of some environmental problems. Most especially in urban
areas, where it’s heavily crowded and overpopulated,
environmental problems tend to be more visible there. From
above the land to the different bodies of water, there are but
ecological crisis that can be seen. As a result, people suffer and
experience declining quality of life.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Taylor (2009) has defined environmental crisis as rapid and
largely unexpected changes in environmental quality that are
difficult if not impossible to reverse. Extinctions and significant
degradations of an ecosystem are among its examples.
Sustainable development, according to UNESCO (2019)
and as describe by 1987 Bruntland Commission Report, is the
“development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.” 
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
The Conserve Energy Future website lists the following
environmental challenges that the world faces today.
1. The depredation caused by industrial and transportation
toxins and plastic in the ground; the defiling of the sea,
rivers, and water beds by oil spills and acid rain; the
dumping of urban waste
2. Changes in global weather patterns and the surge in the
ocean and land temperatures leading to a rise in sea
levels, plus the flooding of many lowland areas across the
world
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
3. Overpopulation and concentration of people in one
certain place
4. The exhaustion of the world’s non-renewable resources
from oil reserves to minerals to potable water
5. A waste disposal catastrophe due to excessive amount of
waste unloaded by communities in landfills as well as on
the ocean; and the dumping of nuclear waste
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
6. The destruction of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity
(destruction of coral reefs and massive deforestation) that
have led to the extinction of particular species and the
decline in the number of others
7. The reduction of oxygen and the increase in carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, resulting in the rise in ocean
acidity by as much as 150 percent in the last 250 years
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
8. The depletion of the ozone layer protecting the planet the
sun’s deadly ultraviolet rays due to chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) in the atmosphere
9. Deadly acid rain as a result of fuel fossil combustion, toxic
chemicals from erupting volcanoes, and the massive
rotting vegetables filling up the garbage dumps or left on
the streets
10. Water pollution arising from industrial and community
waste residues seeping into underground water tablets,
rivers and seas
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
11. Urban sprawls that continue to expand as a city turns into
a megalopolis, destroying farmlands, increasing traffic
gridlock, and making smog cloud a permanent urban
fixture
12. Pandemics and other threats to public health arising from
wastes mixing with drinking water, polluted environments
that become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and
disease-carrying rodents, and pollution
13. A radical alteration of food systems because of genetic
modifications in food production
THE WORLD’S LEADING
PROBLEM
Furthermore, according to the same website, Conserve
Energy Future (n.d.) agricultural pollution where practice of
using commercialized fertilizer and sprays are abused, light
pollution and noise pollution where excessive amount of
unpleasant noise is released, adds up to the list of the world’s
leading environmental problem at the recent.
The aforementioned environmental problems could either
be naturally-occurring or as a result of man-made activities.
Regardless of what caused the environmental problems to
happen, it’s our utmost duty to completely address or at least
find ways to minimize the effects of the different ecological
problems.
CONCLUSION

As someone who have learned about the different

environmental problems and its effects to the living condition of
the people, you might’ve realized how dire the situation our world
is facing now. Environmental degradation is a very important
thing to discuss as it concerns not one but all people in this planet.
Regardless of his/her origin, race, beliefs and creed, every person
lives under the same sky and settles in one big common home, the
Earth. Now, as this home tends to be at a rather serious state
because of the different environmental problems that arise, its
inhabitants must find ways to at least minimize, if not completely
address, the problem. That said, for the Earth to be a wonderful
and safe home to live, one must do part in protecting and
conserving the planet.
REFERENCES

Taylor, M. S. (2009, Nov). Environmental crises; past, present

and future. Calgary, CA: Canadian Journal of Economics.

UNESCO. (2019). Sustainable development. Retrieved from

https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-
development/what-is-esd/sd

Rinkesh. (n. d.). What are environmental concerns?. Retrieved

from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/top-25-
environmental-concerns.php