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LL ad Global Issues 1. Global Thinking in the 24st Century Starting time At the end of the 20th century, the world is changing in important ways. Until recently, nations acted independently. Each country did its business and tried to solve its problems alone, But now, the economy is worldwide and communications tech- nologies have connected People all over the globe. Many problems are global, too, and can no longer be solved by individual nations. Environmental destruction is one of these problems. As the world’s population has grown and technology has developed, the environment has suffered. Some nations have begun to try to stop the pollution and the environmental destruction. But the environment is global—the atmosphere, the oceans, and many forms of life are all connected. Thus, the solutions require global thinking. The problem of ocean pollution is a good example. All the oceans of the world are connected. Pollution does not stay where it begins. It spreads out from every river and every harbor and affects bodies of water everywhere. For centuries, people have used the oceans as a dumping place. Many cities take tons of garbage out to sea and dump it there. The quantity of garbage that ends up in the water is incredible. Five million plastic containers are thrown into the world’s oceans every day! Aside from plastics, many other dangerous substances are dumped in oceans. These include human waste and chemicals used in agriculture. And every year, oil tankers accidentally spill millions of gallons of oil into the sea. Some people believe that the oceans are so large that chemicals and waste will dis- appear. However, many things, such as chemicals and plastics, stay in the water and create problems. They eventually float to shore and are eaten by tiny sea creatures. Then the larger animals that eat the tiny creatures are poisoned and die. Harbors and coasts around the world have become unsafe for humans or animals. The world’s fish populations are rapidly shrinking. Another global pollution problem concerns the atmosphere. Until recently, chlor- fluorocarbons (CFCs) were used around the world in manufacturing refrigerators. Scientists discovered that these CFCs were destroying the ozone layer in the atmos- phere. The ozone layer helps protect the earth from the sun’s rays. Without this layer, most forms of life on earth—including humans—probably would not be able to live. CFCs will soon be completely banned in the United States and in most developed countries. But many other countries still use CFCs in manufacturing. Among these countries are some of the most populous on earth, such as India and China. These countries need to change their refrigerator factories to non-CFC processes. But they may not be able to make this change alone. They will need help from the industrial- ized countries. This is what global thinking means—working together for solutions. Finishing time__- Reading time 253 
