Global Context
E-waste is a sort of byproduct from consumerism and oil use therefore being a global issue that affects countries overseas. Ghana imports some 237,000 tons of computers, cell phones, televisions and other electronics annually, mostly from Europe, making Agbogbloshie, a former wetland, one of the largest e-waste dumps in Africa. Oil is consumed by every country varying from as little as 0.007 to 18.49 thousand barrels per day. Oil is seen in everyday life due to the innovations that were invented for general consumption such as the cell phones, televisions, toys, video games, etc. Most of the items are constantly replaced yearly with the latest models. In return the old models, cell phones, televisions, toys, computers are being thrown out to the dump. Known as e-waste, cell phones make up most of the e-waste collected in 2009 with 141 million units in the US alone. Not only does this waste oil, but it also harms the environment. Electronic waste could be a separate Fire Project due to the substantial evidence that needs to be known. Roughly 40 million tons of electronic waste is produced each year and only 13 percent is recycled. Most developed countries’ waste is sent to developing countries to practice informal recycling which lead to informal regulation of “recycling” instead they tend to burn e-waste releasing toxic materials in the products. The combustion of such products create fine particulate matter, which is linked to cardiovascular disease, and even the release of lead into the environment. If not recycled then the e-waste is sent to landfills. Landfills release dangerous gases,such as carbon dioxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, that are not only harmful to humans but the environment as well. Carbon dioxide and methane both contribute to climate change, although methane is more effective in trapping heat from the sun creating the greenhouse effect.
As we continue to depend on oil from consumer products to gasoline use in vehicles, we continue to release more emissions ,that contribute to climate change, in our everyday life. Climate change ,or global warming, changes the ecosystem, agriculture and our water supply. An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with nonliving components in their environment such as the air, water and soil. With global warming some species will be forced to migrate to a place with higher latitude or a higher elevation where temperatures are suitable for their survival. Species would be wiped due to a shift in the seasonal life-cycle events. The untimely sort of events could lead to a species extinction due to the incorrect timing of their migration with the availability of their food. This causes a domino effect since the mistiming may cause the population of certain organisms to decrease causing a change in the food web. Less prey, predators higher in the food web may decrease in population due the insufficient amount of food available. Not only will this be seen in one area of the world, states such as Illinois would have the same climate , if it was positioned in northern Texas. With climate change we must worry in changing the global mean temperature by 2 degrees celsius, if so then it would cause the massive catastrophic damage to human civilization since food shortages and water shortages will be a huge issue that countries may even value it as it now values oil and potentially go to war for it.
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Causes International. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from https://www.causesinternational.com/ewaste/e-waste-facts
McAllister, L. (2013, April 1). The Human and Environmental Effects of E-Waste. Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2013/e-waste.aspx
Public Health, Safety, and the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/lmop/faq/public.html
Ecosystems Impacts & Adaptation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/ecosystems.html
U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.eia.gov/countries/
Causes International. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from https://www.causesinternational.com/ewaste/e-waste-facts
Causes International. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from https://www.causesinternational.com/ewaste/e-waste-facts
McAllister, L. (2013, April 1). The Human and Environmental Effects of E-Waste. Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2013/e-waste.aspx
Public Health, Safety, and the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/lmop/faq/public.html
Ecosystems Impacts & Adaptation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/ecosystems.html