The world population is estimated at 7.6 billion in 2018 and will continue to increase. Asia represent 60% of the total. What are the greatest future challenges facing humanity?
The challenges outlined in your question, Professor Amir are the greatest challenges that ever face humanity. On top of the list, there is the poblem of limited resources and how to supply food for billions of people around the globe. Actually, most of the problems are interlinked with one another. Weather changes affect water suplly and the production of crops, for example. There is also a growing fear of wars that may errupt in the future because of disputes ove shared water and oil resources. The world must work together to find solutions to overcome these problems so that all nations live in peace, security and prosperity.
The world population has increased more rapidly over a period of less than 200 years.. It is expected that a population of about 9 billion will be reached in 2050.
Yes, scarcity fresh water, depletion of fossil fuels, environmental pollution, terrorism, war etc. are some of the biggest problems faced by the world today.
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yes these are critical issues which are increasing day by day in the world. sustainable development is impossible without them i world without the balance of these important things.
Limitation of resources for survivability of human beings is the most challenging problem.
The problems mentioned by the other respondents are no doubt challenging but not the first and foremast. The first and the foremast challenge is to find out the way to make available resources for supporting the human beings for survivability.
for your answer. Since population growth of some countries in Europe is declining, do you think they will have no problems with climate change, energy or water?
Thanks to Mahesh Kumar for recommending my answer.
In fact, the resources for survival is the key need. Without this no human population can survive. Accordingly, limitation of resources for survivability of human beings is the most challenging problem.
However, I like to add that climate can not be a problem for population increase. Climate can be a problem even if population decreases. If human beings do not interfere on climate then climate can never be a problem. It is human-beings whether small in number or large in number who are responsible for unnatural change in climate due to the disturbances created by them on climate.
Thanks to Amir W. Al-Khafaji for recommending my answer.
I like to add again that In fact, the resources for survival is the key need. Without this no human population can survive. Accordingly, limitation of resources for survivability of human beings is the most challenging problem.
In my view availability of food, fresh and clean drinking water, housing, energy, climate change, industrial development and building infrastructure are likely to be major need of the people.
The needs namely availability of food, fresh and clean drinking water, housing, energy, climate change, industrial development and building infrastructure etc. are the basic for the human beings to survive. The resources of these needs are the determining factors of the existence of human beings.
Thus how to make these resources sufficiently available is the main challenge.
I agree with your proposition above. These are the real problems facing our world. However, another one we must be on the look out is conflict in all its diverse form... It takes away peace that gives us conducive soil for undertaking developmental projects.
for me the greatest challenge is: how humanity can come together to solve the above mentioned challenges? there is so much hate based on language, color, religion and even in some cases sexual orientation. in my opinion we have to get rid of these in order to truly think about our planet as a species.
True! Poverty, war, and climate change are no doubt some challenges. But, the mail challenge is to make the resources for human-beings to survive sufficiently available over time.
These are all true problems which we are facing from today to the future. But if someone asks my nightmare, "being in a world in the lack of freshwater" will be my answer.
Yes, Decrease in drinking water quantity and quality are the big challenges. Air pollution is also a big problem, that need proper attention. Climate change is a combination of somany problems and can't be handled is a separate problem.
War and Terrorism are political problem. Political scientists are linking this with the economic race among developed countries.
Yes dear Dr. Amir ,, I think that lack of fresh water, climate change, drought, terrorism, wars and air pollutions are the greatest serious challenges facing the world nowaday.
I concur with Yehya Salihh that water climate change air and water pollution drought and terrorism and war are the greatest obstacles.
In different administrations of different political persuasion The Department of Defense analysis have pointed to interconnectedness of the phenomenon and then stress the importance of climate change and adapting to it.
As the models of global change churn out their projection the biggie is that more variability will be seen in the climate and its events.
The struggle of water is related to desertification and climate change. The issue is to get at the root of these problems and not get sidetracked. Greenhouse gases are very much related to increased desertification around out globe.
Since there is massive evidence that greenhouse gases are fueling the current warming and that geopolitical competition for scarce fossil fuel resources are the funders and root of issues in Middle East the most probable spot of our next world war. We need to be proactive at addressing the root issues and not be blinded by the branch or correlated issues.
A good example of the interconnected is that global warming at present rates will eliminate glaciers and snows which are the major sources of rivers of the Southeast Asia rice bowl. Issues with water and snow pack are already leading to great adjustment of California agriculture policy which provides over 40% of our nations fruits and vegetables.
I believe the prudent case is to wean ourselves off foreign fossil fuel and to transition to a self sustained non fossil fuel economy.
Fossil fuel is a non renewable and shrinking resource so proactively looking for curbing emissions and to address alternative energy systems will extend the proven need and utility for this scarce resource. the fossil fuels for critical needs.
When we calculate the massive expenditure to control fossil fuel resources on a global scale the cheap fossil fuel economy is anything but cheap. Look at the cost of Iraq intervention as a good example. Externalities are far greater than the marginal benefits of the cheap imported fossil fuels.
As for the use renewable resources they do not have such issues as with fossil fuels as they can grown and increased year by year and are not non renewable in their nature like fossil fuel.
By Improving our depleted land resource provides the way to both reduce emissions and counteract them through proven economical means of carbon and nitrogen sequestration.
Not competing over limited shrinking resources is a way to address the core issues at their roots greenhouse gases and there unprecedented rise in context of human civilization.
I am convinced that continuing with business as usual and no alterations will lead to debacle.
Yes, Dr. Arvind Singh,, Loss of biodiversity is also considered as a serious challenge faced by the world nowaday. It must be added to the greatest challenges and problems.
Dear Yehya A. Salih your comments were very insightful very stimulating to envision the issues we are confronting presently. I believe all this issues are resolvable and are rooted in our ability to grow into a full consciousness. In our lives many times the issues are unconscious thinking and actions. Best Wishes, Paul
All those factors can be contained, but the dismantling of the family and the loss of the generation due to social networking problems represents a huge challenge that facing world
Just another idea there is no real issue with sufficiency in energy.
Yet, there is a limited supply of planet.
The solar reception of our planetary surface has much more energy than we actually use.
Our use of the actual energy is pathetically inefficient.
In our agricultural and food system we have treated out fields like life was not necessary our food system being rooted in fertilizers which originated from prime material for explosives and the pesticides which are from the agents of genocides with a theory of converted war materials into beneficial use.
In a spiritual sense how our intent is matters and we have had a system of food and energy which does not value life.
At the same time it said the system is promoting life. DuPont a big explosive and chemical history brought us the idea of better living through chemistry. I
However, these are not exhaustive. There are more challenges. Insufficiency of qualitative food items, downsizing of space for residential accommodation, increase in health problems etc. are some challenges the human beings are facing.
Usual on normal climate change is a natural practice and accordingly it is not regarded as a challenge. However, the current change in temperature in the global context is observed to be deviated significantly from the normal level of change and consequently the current change in the climate can be treated as significant and hence a challenge.
The reason climate change is included because the issues of feeding our growing population can be related to issues of climate.
The models of how climate will be reflected in global warming predict more variability in extremes of climate leading to less ability to feed the growing populations.
Drought is the biggest concern as it major determinant of starvation for subsistence economies.
Confucius said we as a civilization ultimately depend on one foot of top soil and the presence of rain.
In terms of feeding our teeming populations which depend on rice many are dependent on the Himalayan snow pack which fuels the great rivers of India and Southeast Asia.
Just as California has crisis related to decreasing snow packs the loss of Himalayan snow pack and glaciers could put the world rice cultures into crisis. Defense Department experts have suggested the Arab Spring and Syrian crisis partly driven by severe drought conditions in the region.
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Global warming is an effect on global climate because it has a broad geographical and time effect this is beyond local weather conditions.
Human induced global warming has already confirmed that man can influence climate with climate being weather patterns over broad time and geographical context have changed already.
Previously the amount of vulcanism which would be a natural governor in geological context might be more predominant.
With man's intervention at this point in time vulcanism has neglible effect on the current amount of greenhouse gas.
Altogether this shows the world has changed and so must we.
This is the heart of adaptation is to understand the need for change as conditions change.
Our present day world is not like the prehistoric world because in prehistoric times man effect was not predominant as it definitely is now
There is reason to go back to neo Malthusian explanation.
Everyone is not going to starve all lands will go to trees.
Much of the areas of solar are on top of buildings no issue with retiring anything.
Off shore wind power has no land retirement and is being done on massive increasing scales. Solar farms in desert areas without irrigation potential are conflicting. Neither is the use of geothermal and micro hydro electric. All of these are becoming more effective economical day after day.
Even among fossil fuels coal is no longer cheap in absolute terms and if externalities are calculated is not even competitive.
If we take Malthus we would have already starved but the reality show more food resources than ever in human history. Should we worry about drowing in food production.
We do need to adapt and continuing past errors will not lead to a resolution of the present and future issues.
Our biggest planetary issue will be clean fresh water and pollution.
All the mentioned problems can be linked with POPULATION. If we want to solve all the problems mentioned in the question, we have to overcome on population increase.
As a counter point I think China has shown quite conclusively that population can be addressed within a generation conclusively. I do not think that global climate change or sustainability of world resources is so clear cut. We certainly can have both a much reduced carbon foot print and also have economic prosperity. In fact if population is the source increased economy results in families reducing their family sizes. How our economy is managed in my view is most important and what are our societal values related to root issues.
I think that one of the greatest challenge will be the access to fresh water. Shortage of fresh water may lead to wars. The increase in pollution (soil, water) will be proportional to the increase in population. Fighting for natural resources may lead at the end to serious unrest in many parts of the world.
Has anybody had any informative research documents about the Armageddon?
Some people write that it will break out in Aleppo, Syria in 2023.
I try to find any research article about that.
Where? When? How? Which countries? etc.
As you may know, there is an on-going war in Aleppo and Syria for almost 10 years.
"Do you think lack of fresh water, energy and oil, climate change, terrorism, wars, or pollutions are the greatest challenges facing the world?". is related to Armageddon in a broader sense., I think.
Yes, I think that in the 21st century humanity's biggest challenge will be solving problems resulting from adverse climate changes, rising average annual temperature at the Earth's surface, i.e. the progressing global warming process related to the growing greenhouse gas emissions. More and more climatology data indicate that the global warming process is accelerating. The result of this process will be more frequent drought, melting glaciers, raising the surface of the oceans and seas, reducing the areas of arable and human fields. In addition, weather anomalies and climatic and natural disasters will appear more and more often in many places around the world. Forest fires will occur more and more often. Lack of clean water and fresh water will appear in many areas. In the next several to several dozen years, all pollinating insects may die, which will be the result of growing environmental pollution and the use of pesticides in arable fields. The result can be a significant decrease in the production of agricultural produce, including fruit, cereals and some vegetables. This can aggravate the problem of feeding the population. Therefore, humanity should reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, develop energy based on renewable energy sources, electromobility, organic farming, sorting garbage, recycling, etc. It is necessary to implement the principles of sustainable ecological development as soon as possible in accordance with the green economy philosophy and ecological financing reforms from green finance sources. Time is short. It is not certain that humanity will completely reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. It is also not certain that if humanity succeeds, the global warming process will cease to deepen. However, implementing the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development is a necessity and the biggest challenge in the 21st century.
I agree with B K Sharma that fresh water, energy, oil, climate change, population growth, economy. terrorism, wars, or pollution are the greatest challenges facing the world.
I like to add that there are more challenges in additions to these.
I already mentioned it in my earlier answer.
Following are some of the great challenges the world is facing today: Insufficiency of qualitative food items, downsizing of space for residential accommodation, increase in health problems etc.
Michael Issigonis has rightly mentioned that war and terrorism are pars of human's nature and that the earth was born with violence (meteor bombardment) and will end with violence (explosion).
I like to add here that human beings was not a cause of the birth of the earth but the anti-natural activities of human beings will certainly be one of the prime causes of the destruction of earth.
He has also has rightly mentioned that climate change is due to humans drifting away from science: some people think they can go on polluting the Earth without consequences. No one can justify that this type of humans' behavior cannot be destructive for the earth as well as for the mankind.