UNIT 9

• Globalization


  The phenomenon by which trade and technology have created a politically, economically, and socially interconnected world
• Globalization has progressed at a much faster pace in the 20th and 21st centuries thanks to various technologies
• New communication technologies after 1900

  • Radio
  • Television
  • Telephone/Cellular technology
  • Internet
• Effects of new communication technologies

  • Solved the problem of geographical distance
  • Facilitated interconnectedness and global communication
• New communication technologies were not evenly distributed, with wealthy industrialized countries having them first
• New transportation technologies


  • Automobiles
  • Air travel
  • Shipping containers
• Effects of new transportation technologies

  • Fundamentally changed urban landscapes
  • Eliminated geographical distance
  • Enabled relocation of manufacturing to developing countries
• New energy technologies


  • Widespread use of petroleum
  • Rise of nuclear power
• Effects of new energy technologies

  • Petroleum replaced coal as main power source, increasing production but also pollution
  • Nuclear power championed as cleaner alternative, but disasters led to cooling of public opinion
• New medical technologies

  • Antibiotics
  • Vaccines
  • Birth control pill
• Effects of new medical technologies

  • Antibiotics and vaccines saved lives, especially of soldiers
  • Birth control pill led to declining fertility rates in some countries, while populations grew quickly in developing world
• New agricultural technologies


  • Commercial farming
  • Green Revolution
• Effects of new agricultural technologies

  • Commercial farming increased food production but required expensive technologies
  • Green Revolution increased crop yields but also caused environmental concerns
• The world's wealth is not exactly evenly distributed, there are rich countries and there are poor countries and everything in between
• Geographical distribution of certain diseases

  Corresponds to levels of wealth and development
• Populations of wealthy nations with well-developed Health Care Systems have far greater access to medical interventions that address disease
• Less developed Nations have less access to medical interventions
• Diseases for which cures are available still persist among impoverished populations
• Malaria


  A disease spread by infected mosquitoes, typically occurs in large numbers throughout warmer tropical regions, causes flu-like symptoms and can result in death
• Effective medical interventions for malaria have been developed, as well as practical measures like mosquito Nets, but hundreds of thousands of deaths per year still occur in impoverished regions, most notably subsaharan Africa
• Tuberculosis


  An airborne disease that severely affects the lungs and can be fatal, a cure was developed at the end of the 19th century
• Access to the TB cure is disproportionately favoring wealthy countries, which is why TB remains a disease associated with poverty
• 1918 influenza pandemic


  Also known as the Spanish Flu, the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century, occurred right after World War I, claimed around 50 million lives over 2 years, disproportionately affected people of working age
• Medical scientists were unable to develop any significant interventions to stop the spread of the 1918 influenza virus
• HIV/AIDS


  HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, which severely depresses the immune system, early on was associated with gay men and drug addicts which made funding for research difficult, but by the 1990s new medical interventions were developed to treat the disease, making it more of a chronic illness, but it remains a deadly disease among impoverished communities, especially in subsaharan Africa
• COVID-19


  A new pandemic that emerged in 2020, transmitted through the air due to global interconnectedness, required closure of schools and businesses and affected global economics, but a vaccine was developed rapidly and distributed globally
• Alzheimer's disease


  A form of dementia that disproportionately affects the aging population, causes memory loss and undermines basic bodily functions
• Heart disease


  Has become a massive problem affecting the health of millions, especially in developed nations, as people live longer and have more time to develop unhealthy habits
• Medical technology has afforded many people in more developed countries an extra decade or two to live, leading to the growing prevalence of diseases associated with old age
• Globalization has had significant consequences on the environment
• When talking about the environment, we're referring to the physical world and the way humans interact with that physical world
• Deforestation


  • Large-scale clearing of trees in a geographical area
  • Caused by urbanization and the need for more farmland
• Urbanization and the growth of cities


  Leads to urban sprawl and the clearing of forests
• Commercial farming and the need for more farmland

  Leads to deforestation
• Deforestation has led to the endangerment and extinction of many animal species
• Deforestation creates conditions for increased pollution, as land without trees is susceptible to erosion and pesticide runoff
• Desertification


  • Transformation of once fertile land into infertile, desert-like land
  • Caused by poor management of land converted to farmland
• Globalization has led to a significant decline in air quality in many places due to the global spread of industry dependent on fossil fuels
• Air pollution incidents


  • The Great Smog in London in 1952
  • 35,000 deaths per year from air pollution in Mexico City in 2002
• Globalization has led to increased competition over the world's limited supply of fresh water