Transcript Globalization and Environmental Issues

Globalization and
Environmental Issues
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
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The Ukrainian city of Chernobyl was
the site of the worst nuclear disaster in
the post-1945 world.
Incompetent operators and the
inherently unsafe design caused a
reactor to explode on April 26, 1986.
Over 100,000 people were evacuated.
30 people died immediately and
hundreds died later from exposure to
radioactive materials.
Global Warming
Kyoto Protocol
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Signed on March 15, 1999, the Kyoto
Protocol is an agreement under the
U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Countries that ratify commit to reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases.
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a rise
in temperature of 1.4° C (2.5° F ) to 5.8
°C between 1990 and 2100.
If successfully and completely
implemented, the Protocol will reduce
that increase between 0.02 °C and 0.28
°C by 2050.
Kyoto Protocol
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The U.S. is a signatory to the protocol, but has neither ratified nor withdrawn.
The Senate stated that the U.S. should not sign any protocol that did not include
binding targets and timetables for both developing and industrialized nations.
President George W. Bush indicated that he does not intend to submit the treaty for
ratification because of the strain he believed it would put on the economy.
He emphasized the uncertainties which he asserts are present in the climate change
issue.
Hubbert Peak Theory
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The Hubbert Peak Theory states that oil reserves are not replenishable and oil
production must inevitably peak and decline.
Controversy surrounds the theory.
M. King Hubbert noticed that the discoveries in the U.S. peaked in the 1930s, and
concluded that production would peak in the 1970s.
The US peaked in 1971.
OPEC was able to manipulate oil prices, leading to the oil crisis in 1973.
Most other countries have also peaked.
Globalization
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“Globalization” is a series of economic,
social, technological and political
changes that increase interdependence
and interaction between people in
disparate locations.
Globalization Debates:
 whether it occurs from 'above'
(through government and state
actions) or 'below' (through civil
society actions)
 supporters see it as economic
savior for the world's poor
 opponents consider it oppressive
to the developing world,
destroying local culture and
contributing to global warming.
NATO Expansion
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NATO began as an alliance against the Eastern Bloc
NATO was expanded since the collapse of Communism in Europe.
The first post-Cold War expansion of came with the reunification of Germany in 1990.
In 1994, NATO took its first military action, shooting down 4 Bosnian Serb aircraft
violating a UN no-fly zone.
NATO air strikes helped end war in Bosnia, resulting in the Dayton Agreement.
NATO Expansion
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Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums
for regional cooperation between
NATO and its neighbors were set up
In 1999, 3 former communist
countries, Hungary, the Czech
Republic, and Poland, joined NATO.
In 1999, NATO saw its first broadscale military engagement in the
Kosovo War.
An 11-week bombing campaign forced
Yugoslavian leader Slobodan Milošević
to accept UN resolution 1244.
NATO helped establish the KFOR, a
NATO-led force under a U.N.
mandate that operated the military
mission in Kosovo.
NAFTA
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The North American Free Trade
Agreement, (NAFTA) is a trade
agreement among Canada, the U.S.,
and Mexico.
It went into effect on January 1, 1994.
NAFTA called for immediately
eliminating duties on half of all U.S.
goods shipped to Mexico and Canada,
and gradually phasing out other tariffs.
Provisions regarding worker and
environmental protection were added
later.
Unlike the European Union, NAFTA
does not create a set of supranational
governmental bodies, nor does it create
a body of law which is superior to
national law.
NAFTA
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There was opposition on both sides of the border.
The U.S. House passed NAFTA by 234-200 (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats
voting in favor)
U.S. Senate passed it by 61-38.
One of the effects of NAFTA has been the significant increase in bilingual and
trilingual labeling on products.
GATT
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General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) was created by the
Bretton Woods Conference.
The GATT was part of a plan for
economic recovery after WWII.
It included a reduction in tariffs
and other international trade
barriers.
In 1948 it was signed by 23
countries.
In 1994, GATT was updated
("GATT 1994") .
One of the most significant
changes was the creation of the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
WTO
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GATT members and the European Communities founded the WTO in 1995.
The WTO is an international, multilateral organization, which sets the rules for the
global trading system and resolves disputes between member states.
The agreement is based on the "''unconditional most favored nation principle”:
conditions applied to the most favored trading nation (i.e. the one with the least
restrictions) apply to all trading nations.
As of 2005, there are 149 members.
WTO
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The WTO has been a major target for protests by the anti-globalization movement.
One of the largest and most successful protests occurred during the 1999 Seattle WTO
conference.
The negotiations were overshadowed by large street protests outside the venues.
Because of the disruptions in the Seattle rounds, negotiations were not begun until the
next meeting which was held at Doha, Qatar, a locale easier to control and police.
Citations
Slide 2: http://english.pravda.ru/img/idb/chernobyl21.jpg
Slide 3: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/commonwealth/chornobyl_radiation96.jpg
Slide 4: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/nuclear_disasters/images/map_europe.gif
Slide 5: http://fig.cox.miami.edu/~cmallery/150ss97/GH_earth.jpg
Slide 6: http://phoenix.liu.edu/~uroy/externalities/emmisions101802.gif
Slide 7: http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/KyotoProtocol/images/olle.jpg
Slide 8: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/gene/peakoil/nonopecfsu.gif
Slide 9: http://students.umf.maine.edu/~pondcm/globalization.gif
Slide 10: http://www.tatsachen-ueberdeutschland.de/fileadmin/festplatte/deutsch/bilder/05_aussenpolitik/05_02_Nato.jpg
Slide 11: http://www.barraclou.com/memorial/coldwar/nato_expansion.jpg
Slide 12: http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/TEI/NAFTA.jpg
Slide 13: http://cati.csufresno.edu/cab/rese/96/960301/img/fig5.gif
Slide 14: http://www.un.org/UN50/Photos/un50-014.gif
Slide 15: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/wto/images/wto_hq2.jpg
Slide 16: http://content.lib.washington.edu/wtoweb/images/wto-protest.jpg
Slide 17: http://www.deh.gov.au/heritage/programs/rnhp/images/coastal-pollution.jpg