Transcript Global Inequalities Power Point

Global Inequalities
North- South Gap
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Technological advances has lead to a
growing gap b/w the haves (rich) and the
have- nots (poor)
Northern countries have a majority of the
wealth, highest standard of living, and the
greatest industrial development, but less
of the population
Southern countries have a large
population, less wealth, low standards of
living and less industrial development
Classifying Countries
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Many systems have existed to classify
countries in terms of their political, social
or economic structures.
i.e.; first world, second world, and third
world
Earlier Systems
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First World- industrialized and democratic
nations of the Western world
Second World- communist countries
(China, USSR)
Third World- less affluent, less
industrialized (low economic development,
widespread poverty, high population
growth, low standard of living)
Many of these communist government
dissolved in the early 90’s making this
system not valid
Today’s System
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More Developed Countries- rich
industrialized nations
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Less Developed Countries- little
industrial development, little wealth
high pop. Growth
 Least Developed Countries- very low
per capita GDP, low literacy rates,
little manufacturing industries
Thresholds
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Our world is constantly changing and
the effects of these changes might
not be know for years
A threshold is a critical level or points
of stability in any system
Natural Threshold
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Refer to critical levels necessary to
maintain equilibrium in the natural
environment – for example, the number of
fish in our oceans.
If these thresholds are crossed, change
will occur at a very rapid rate eventually
jeopardizing Earth’s ability to provide a
livable enviro for us and other species
Economic Thresholds
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Refer to levels of economic development and
growth eg. Alberta’s booming oil economy
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Economic thresholds are human generated and
depend on both the resource base of the natural
world and industrial development by humans.
Early Warning Systems
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Early warning systems would allow us to detect when
we are approaching key natural thresholds so we
could take immediate steps to avoid crossing a
threshold.
Since we don’t know where and when such early
warning might occur, we would need worldwide
cooperation.
Any remedial action would have to involve all
countries
This action would likely come at the expense of
possible economic growth for some countries, not all
would be willing to participate
Eg. the U.S. refusal to honour the Kyoto
Accord