Causes Of Environmental Threats

The state actors decide most of the environmental change issues. Thus, depending on what decisions are being made can measure the level of threats we might face in terms of environmental changes. I will discuss the possible threats and who are the responsible actors for them through different schools of thoughts in international relations. Significant studies have been done to explain the environmental threats; however a relatively huge gap remains in the research work on individuals’ responsibility for these threats. Many believe and blame government for not taking environmental issues into account; however I argue that individuals are more responsible for the risks the world might face from environmental changes. Mainly, environmental change and foreign policy; and environmental change and human security (Harris, 2009) will be discussed to justify my

As I have mentioned above, climate change is caused by many variables including high CO2 concentration in the atmosphere from both natural and human activities. First, large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere creates a threat to the human security, increasing health issues (Dabelko, 2009). According to Dabelko, “Since the Industrial Revolution and the consolidation of the modern trading nation-state, there have been thousand fold increases in the production of goods and the use of energy, and hundred fold increases in international trade in goods and services. Over the same period, the global population has increased from one billion to over six billion people, and most people now live longer, consume more, and are better educated than in previous generations” (Dabelko, 2009). Even though, an increase in the production of goods and services can be economically beneficial for the nation, we cannot eliminate the disadvantages they can bring to a high number of populations. Due to all the ‘chemical and radioactive substances’, water has become more contaminated, and the air we breathe is becoming more polluted (ATSDR, 2008). Environmental changes that I have mentioned above would not be a huge problem, if it contained only a certain region or small population. However, air pollution, deforestation, ozone hole, water contamination, and greenhouse gases not only affect one nation in the world, but they are global concerns. Since it affects the whole population, it is more than significant to take human security issues into