Global Problems of Today
People have lived on our planet Earth for centuries and global problems have always existed. In ancient times the biggest global problem was wars. People have been fighting with each other since the beginning of the civilisation mostly to get new territories and more land. Later, fighting the distance was another global problem, too, before the discovery of the plane. Today, there are more global problems which can be divided into two categories: ecological problems and social, eco¬nomic and political issues.
The first category includes issues relating to ecological destruction, pollution and global warming as the result. The climate is changing and many people agree that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Many people think that a rise in temperature of about three or four degrees is not very much, but the effects are worse than it seems at first sight. Global warming has already killed off some types of animals and plants. There have been more and more heat waves in the summer, with many people dying in big cities. Rising sea levels are threatening whole nations on low-lying islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The second category of global problems deals with social, economic and political issues. They include global terrorism, poverty, human rights, health issues, racism and many others.
We are faced with the problem of global terrorism and more and more countries are suffering from it. It is difficult to catch terrorists and prevent their acts. The most terrible terrorist attack took place on September 11, 2001 in the USA. The World Trade Centre, the pride of all Americans and one of the symbols of New York City, was destroyed completely and thousands of people died. The world was shocked and most countries decided to fight against terrorism. However, new terrorist attacks have been committed. Many innocent people still get killed and nobody can stop terrorists.
Poverty is another global problem. It may seem surprising, but most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day now. The worst situation is in Africa where people (mostly children) die every day of hunger because they have nothing to eat. The poor also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and diseases affect the poorest in society.
Another global problem is racism, when people of different races and different skin colour are humiliated and even killed. There are many organisations that fight social global problems, but this battle has lasted for a long time and it will take much time for the solution of all of them.
We live in the 21st century and humanity has made a great progress in technology, so I think that it is strange that we still have global problems, especially the ones that deal with social, economic and political issues. I am sure that they can be solved completely without any conflicts or wars.
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