UNIT 6: Social Issues and The Environment

Until two decades ago the world looked at economic status alone as a measure of human development. Thus countries that were economically well developed and where people were relatively richer were called advanced nations while the rest where poverty was widespread and were economically backward were called developing countries. Most countries of North America and Europe which had become industrialized at an earlier stage have become economically more advanced. They not only exploited their own natural resources rapidly but also used the natural resources of developing countries to grow even larger economies. Thus the way development progressed, the rich countries got richer while the poor nations got poorer. However, even the developed world has begun to realise that their lives were being seriously affected by the environmental consequences of development based on economic growth alone. This form of development did not add to the quality of life as the environmental conditions had begun to deteriorate.