Final post

Sustainability is using resources to meet current needs, without ruining the integrity of the resources for future use. Before I took APES, I understood this should be a goal. However, I did not comprehend the amount of factors that affected sustainability. I knew poverty was a problem, but I did not know what extent it was. I also did not know how much the developed world could and does affect global poverty.
Water is a limited resource in the world. Developing countries have a constant need of clean water, because they can not afford to treat polluted water. This is why people in developing countries bath, drink, cook, and play in unsanitary water. This water is then filled with parasites, e. coli, and bacterias. Making people in these areas have lower life expectancy. People in these regions also overexert resource use. Africa, Asia, and South America used to have plentiful resources, but now they are dwindling.
Deforestation in these areas is happening at a rapid rate. Leading to a lessening of biodiversity and ozone depleation. These issues could be easily resolved though.
The education in developing countries compared to developed countries is pretty much nonexistent. Schools are located in one room school houses, where they are only taught basic subjects. Also, girls are rarely in these school. Developed countries could change this. By educating people especially women, we could change the way citizens are viewed. If women become empowered, aids can be slowed and infant mortality can be raised. Population increase is also slowed when women become educated. Education is important to environmental science because until people understand their impact they will not stop degrading resources.

The most unbelievable fact about poverty is the amount of people who a living in it. The majority of the human population is in poverty. Most of these people are in developing countries. Even though the people in poverty do not know how to use resources efficiently they still use less resources than people in developed countries. Affluenza is occuring in developed countries to an extreme level. If we took the unneeded resources we are consuming to help developing countries, we could end poverty.

Because I took APES, I will be able to understand my impact on the environment. I will also be able to hopefully find new solutions for are growing population and limited resources.