MODULE IN GE 104 (THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD)

Credits: 3 units

Pre-Requisite:

Lesson Title: Global Population and Mobility Part 2

Lectures:

GLOBAL MOBILITY

 Global migration - is the flow of movement of people from one place to another around
the world. The main purpose of migration is to find work or employment.

 Factors Influencing Migration and Population Movements

• Changes in the ecological environment have the potential to worsen food and water
insecurity in various parts of the globe. Limited access to food and water resources may
push people to migrate to countries where these resources are more readily available.

 Factors Influencing Migration and Population Movements

• Socio-political, economic and ecological factors are the main forces driving migration.

• Rising communal violence world-wide, often result of ethnic or religious intolerance, has
led to increased levels of migration.

• Economic disparity between developing and developed economies encourages the

movement of skilled labor from the former to latter. Temporary migration visas allow for
an increase in the rate of circular migration.

TWO TYPES OF MIGRATION

1. Internal migration – refers to a change of residence within national boundaries, such as

between states, provinces, cities, or municipalities. An internal migrant is someone who moves
to a different administrative territory.

2. International migration – refers to change of residence over national boundaries. An

international migrant is someone who moves to a different country. International migrants are
further classified as legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees. Legal immigrants are
those who moved with the legal permission of the receiver nation, illegal immigrants are those
who moved without legal permission, and refugees are those crossed an international boundary
to escape persecution.

THREE CATEGORIES OF GLOBAL MIGRATION

1. Voluntary economic migration – a migration rooted for the pursuit of economic

stability.

2. Forced displacement – could be traced to the factors of state tyranny.

3. Refugee crisis – a migration caused by fear of violence such as civil war.

EFFECTS OF GLOBAL MIGRATION

 With the country reliant on labor export, OFWs are seen to be major economic drivers of
the country. They affect the economic sustainability through their remittances.

 Migration is also the reason why a country’s foreign policy focuses on labor export.

 Brain drain, wherein a country loses its best workers.

Environmental Crisis

The World’s Leading Environmental Problems

 Pollution of Air, Water and Land

 Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes

 Land Degradation

 Loss of Biodiversity

 Ozone Depletion

 Climate Change

 Loss of natural and cultural resources

 Pandemics and other threats to public health

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

 Many of these problems are caused by natural changes. Volcanic eruptions release
toxins in the atmosphere and lower the world’s temperature.

 Human exacerbate other natural environmental problems (Man-made pollution).

 Environmental Pollution - It means adding impurities to the environment.

- It is an undesirable change in chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of air,

water and soil, which causes the health problem to all the living beings.

POLLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA

 Air Pollution - the emission of any impurity into the air, such as smoke (including
tobacco smoke), dust, cinders, solid particles, gases, mists, fumes, odours and radioactive
substances.

Sources of Air Pollution

It can be classified as:

- Air pollution by natural and manmade sources.

- Air pollution by human activities.

 Water pollution - may be defined as the contamination of streams, lakes, seas,

underground water or oceans by substances, which are harmful for living beings.
Industrialization and population explosion are two important factors for water pollution.

 Land pollution - is the degradation of earth's land surfaces often caused by human
activities and its misuse. Haphazard disposal of urban and industrial wastes, exploitation
of minerals, and improper use of soil by inadequate agricultural practices are a few of the
contributing factors. Also, increasing urbanization, industrialization, and other demands
on the environment and its resources is of great consequence to many countries.

 Perhaps no issue forces people to think about their role as citizens of the world than
environmental degradation. Every person, regardless of his/her race, nation, or
creed, belongs to the same world. In the fight against climate change, one cannot
afford to simply care about his/her own backyard. The carbon dioxide emitted in
one country may have severe effects on the climate of another. There is no choice
but to find global solutions to these global problems.