Volume 9 October 2004
ISSN 1438-7890 |
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African
Journal of Environmental Assessment and Management
Revue africaine de gestion et d’évaluation environnementales |
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THE ENVIRONMENT:
RE-ADDRESSING GLOBAL
TRENDS AND CONTEMPORARY
ISSUES
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Nathaniel-Imeh Adebobola
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| In the early 20th century, the world was an abode to over 1.6
billion estimated human species. During this time, pollution and
environmental degradation were common; some cities lived under a
pall of smoke, soot and ash. The untold environmental problems
created can be described to be local, but on the whole they were
vast. Although some regions were virtually untouched by the
inhabitants, but due to technology development in the mid-century,
large areas were disturbed and the population increased by more than
100 percent now stipulated at 2.5 billion. Industrial growth had
multiplied per capital consumption of natural resources and per
capital pollution in many countries. As the growth continued,
pollution in all aspects of the ecosystem became more widespread.
This was associated with the cumulative impact of toxic industrial
wastes on wealth of the living forms by the teeming population of
man. In this paper, major contemporary issues and global trends in
the world’s Environment with African concern are discussed.
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