Environmental Issues

Executive Summary
Governments all over the world are today worried by the scarcity of natural resources, especially land and fossil fuels. The consumption of these resources has increased tremendously over the years, encouraged by the adoption of suburban lifestyles and rapid population increase. Suburbia is one of the major factors contributing to the scarcity of resources because it is basically an energy-intensive culture. In a suburban culture, people live far away from their places of work and have to travel daily. It means that more resources are used to travel and build office complexes in cities and family homes in suburban environments. The problem of resource scarcity can be addressed through teleworking, whereby people work remotely without necessarily having to travel to their places of work. This will reduce reliance on fossil fuels and minimize the demand for prime land to build offices.
Introduction
The scarcity of natural resources is one of the most serious socio-environmental and economic problems in the world today. Indeed, since the 18th century industrial revolution, the exhaustion of the world’s natural resources has been accelerating at a very alarming rate. This trend is encouraged by the explosive population increase witnessed over the years, increasing demand for industrial raw materials, and the insatiable consumerism culture of the 21st century. Consequently, more and more non-renewable sources like natural gas, oil reserves, and minerals, are depleted daily throughout the world. If this trend remains unchecked, continued and uncontrolled exploitation will eventually lead to the complete exhaustion of these resources, most of which are vital for the world’s economic stability. A major factor of this problem is the suburbia lifestyle, also known as urban sprawl. Suburbia is an energy-intensive lifestyle whose survival depends on the over consumption of resources. Within the suburbia system, people live further away from major cities and towns, industrial centers and their places of work. For the suburbia culture to function, more land is needed to accommodate single families, fuel personal cars to drive daily to work, and electricity to run homes. At the same time, suburbia systems depend on a vibrant infrastructure like highways for people to commute daily to and from work, as well as for the supply of social amenities and transportation of consumer goods. Similarly, the suburbia lifestyle uses more resources to serve less people, such as sewage, water and electricity infrastructure for single families, as compared to urban dwellings where compact residences share such facilities. In this light, the suburban living style presents a major environmental problem, especially with regards to its sustainability in the face of depleting natural resources. This essay examines the environmental challenges posed by urban sprawl (suburban lifestyle) and the viability of teleworking as a solution to these chal...