Project File

Social Studies
Social Issues

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Ms. Christy John Parth Sharma
S.S.t Teacher Grade - X

Certificate

Session : 2022-2023
This is to certify that the Project Work entitled
“Social Issues” is a bonafide record of
Independent project work done by Parth
Sharma under my supervision and submitted
to Delhi Public School, Kollam.

Signature of Supervisor

Session : 2022-2023
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to

our Principal “Ms. ABAK CHATTERJEE” and my
Social Science teacher “Ms. CHRISTY JOHN” who
gave me the golden opportunity to make this wonderful
project.

I am thankful to everyone who supported me for the

completion of the project and gave me this aspiring
guidance, friendly advice and valuable feedback during
the project. I am sincerely thankful to all my friends,
co-partners, family who shared their truthful and
illuminating views on number of issues related to the
project by devoting their time.

Parth Sharma
X

Contents
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  Introduction

 Examples of Socail Issues

 Social Issue - Climate Change

 Ways to tackle Climate Change

 Conclusion
Introduction

A social issue is a problem that affects

many people within a society. It is a group
of common problems in present-day
society and ones that many people strive to

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 solve. It is often the consequence of
factors extending beyond an individual's
control. Social issues are the source of
conflicting opinions on the grounds of
what is perceived as morally correct or
incorrect personal life or interpersonal
social life decisions. Social issues are
distinguished from economic issues;
however, some issues (such as
immigration) have both social and
economic aspects. Some issues do not fall
into either category, such as warfare.
Four factors have been outlined that
characterize a social issue or problem.
These include:
i. The public must recognize the
situation as a problem.
ii. The situation is against the general
values accepted by the society.
iii. A large segment of the population
recognizes the problem as a valid
concern.
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 iv. The problem can be rectified or
alleviated through the joint action of
citizens and/or community resources.

Examples of Social Issues

Here, I am going to discuss about the top 5

grave Socail Issues faced by our modern
society :-
1. Poverty : In fall 2022, the World Bank
has updated the International Poverty
Line from $1.90 to $2.15. This means
anyone living on less than $2.15 is in
“extreme poverty.” Why the change?
Increases in the costs of food, clothing,
and shelter between 2011-2017 make the
real value of $2.15 in 2017 prices equal
to $1.90 in 2011 prices. As for the World
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 Bank’s goal to reduce extreme poverty to
3% or less by 2030, the pandemic has
made it even harder. Extreme poverty
isn’t the only poverty we have to
contend with. 62% of the global
population lives on less than $10/day.
While there’s been progress over the
years, the end of poverty is still far off.

2. Food Insecurity : According to the 2022

Global Report on Food Crises, which is
produced by the Global Network against
Food Crises, the number of people in
crisis or worse is the highest it’s been in
the six years since the report has existed.
Close to 193 million people were
experiencing acute food insecurity in
2021, which is an increase of almost 40
million since 2020. This represents a
staggering 80% increase since 2016.
Causes include “economic shocks,” like
an increase in global food prices.
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 Domestic food price inflation in low-
income countries also rose a lot.
“Weather-related disasters” are also a
big driver. For 15.7 million people in 15
countries, it was the primary driver of
acute food insecurity.

3. Covid – 19 : The WHO declared

COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2022.
It will continue to be a major issue for
the world. The WEF’s Global Risks
Report 2022 discusses COVID’s effects
at length, including major economic
recovery disparities and social erosion.
According to a January 2022 article from
NPR, there are also issues with
vaccinations as many countries continue
to have trouble getting doses.
Distribution, vaccine hesitancy,
healthcare systems, and other problems
also factor into low vaccination rates.
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 While we may never know the exact
impact, the WHO estimates that between
1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021,
there were around 14.9 million excess
deaths linked to COVID-19.

4. Healthcare : The healthcare industry has

experienced major shifts due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. According to the
World Economic Forum, there’s been
new investments and innovations,
especially from the technology and
telehealth sectors. In 2021, $44 billion
was spent on health innovation. The
world will be seeing the effects of these
innovations for years to come, though
equality will no doubt be a major issue.
In places like the United States, the
pandemic also reaffirmed how broken
healthcare systems can be. In an MIT
News blog, Andrea Campbell, a
professor of political science, says the
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 pandemic revealed a “dire need” for
investments in public-health
infrastructure, as well as a need to
expand healthcare access and insurance
coverage.

5. Cyber Security : The WEF’s Global

Risks Report 2022 (page 9) listed cyber
security vulnerabilities as a concern. The
reason is rapid digitalization, which was
triggered in part by COVID-19. Many
“advanced economies” are now at a
higher risk for cyber attacks. GRPS
respondents identified cyber security
failure as a critical short-term risk. In
2020, malware and ransom ware attacks
went up by 358% and 435%. There are a
few reasons for this, including better
(and easier) attack methods and poor
governance. Cyber attacks have a swath
of serious consequences and erode
public trust. As countries become more
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 dependent on digitalization, their cyber
security needs to keep up.

But in this project, My main focus will be to

cover a major social issue which is :-

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change as a Social

Issue
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What is Climate Change ?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in
temperatures and weather patterns. These
shifts may be natural, such as through
variations in the solar cycle. But since the
1800s, human activities have been the main
driver of climate change, primarily due to
burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas

emissions that act like a blanket wrapped
around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and
raising temperatures.

Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that

are causing climate change include carbon
dioxide and methane. These come from using
gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a
building, for example. Clearing land and
forests can also release carbon dioxide.
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Landfills for garbage are a major source of
methane emissions. Energy, industry,
transport, buildings, agriculture and land use
are among the main emitters.

When did Climate Change

become a Social Issue ?

June 23, 1988 marked the date on which

climate change became a national and a social
issue.

In landmark testimony before the U.S. Senate

Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Dr.
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James Hansen, the then director of NASA’s
Institute for Space Studies, stated that “Global
warming has reached a level such that we can
ascribe with a high degree of confidence a
cause-and-effect relationship between the
greenhouse effect and observed warming…In
my opinion, the greenhouse effect has been
detected, and it is changing our climate now.”

Hansen’s testimony made clear the threats

posed by climate change and attributed the
phenomenon to human exploitation of carbon
energy sources. Its impact was dramatic,
capturing headlines in The New York Times
and other major newspapers.

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Climate Change is Speeding
Up
And still emissions continue to rise. As a
result, the Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer
than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade
(2011-2020) was the warmest on record.

Many people think climate change mainly

means warmer temperatures. But temperature
rise is only the beginning of the story. Because

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the Earth is a system, where everything is
connected, changes in one area can influence
changes in all others.

The consequences of climate change now

include, among others, intense droughts, water
scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels,
flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic
storms and declining biodiversity.

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Climate Change affecting our
Health
Climate change is already impacting health in
a myriad of ways, including by leading to
death and illness from increasingly frequent
extreme weather events, such as heatwaves,

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storms and floods, the disruption of food
systems, increases in zoonoses and food-,
water- and vector-borne diseases, and mental
health issues. Furthermore, climate change is
undermining many of the social determinants
for good health, such as livelihoods, equality
and access to health care and social support
structures. These climate-sensitive health risks
are disproportionately felt by the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged, including
women, children, ethnic minorities, poor
communities, migrants or displaced persons,
older populations, and those with underlying
health conditions.

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Start with these 5 actions :-
Everyone can help limit climate change. From
the way we travel, to the electricity we use, the
food we eat, and the things we buy, we can
make a difference.
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Greenhouse gas emissions per person vary
greatly among countries. In the United States
of America, emissions in 2020 (the latest
available data) were 14.6 tons of CO2
equivalent per person – more than double the
global average of 6.3 tons, and six times the
2.4 tons per person in India.
To preserve a liveable climate, the average
emissions per person per year will need to
drop to around 2 to 2.5 tons of CO2e by 2030.
Start with these five actions to help tackle the
climate crisis.
Save Energy at Home
Much of our electricity and heat
are powered by coal, oil and gas.
Use less energy by lowering
your heating and cooling, switching to LED
light bulbs and energy-efficient electric
appliances, washing your laundry with cold
water, or hanging things to dry instead of
using a dryer. Improving your home’s energy
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efficiency, through better insulation for
instance, or replacing your oil or gas furnace
with an electric heat pump can reduce your
carbon footprint by up to 900 kilograms of
CO2e per year.

Eat more Vegetables

Eating more vegetables, fruits,
whole grains, legumes, nuts, and
seeds, and less meat and dairy,
can significantly lower your environmental
impact. Producing plant-based foods generally
results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and
requires less energy, land, and water.
Switching from a mixed to a vegetarian diet
can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 500

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kilograms of CO2e per year (or up to 900
kilograms for a vegan diet).

Throw away less food

When you throw food away,
you're also wasting the
resources and energy that were
used to grow, produce, package, and transport
it. And when food rots in a landfill, it produces
methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. So use
what you buy and compost any leftovers.
Cutting your food waste can reduce your
carbon footprint by up to 300 kilograms of
CO2e per year.

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 The 4 R’s
REDUCE, REUSE,
REPAIR AND
RECYCLE. Electronics,
clothes, and other items we buy cause carbon
emissions at each point in production, from
the extraction of raw materials to
manufacturing and transporting goods to
market. To protect our climate, buy fewer
things, shop second-hand, repair what you can,
and recycle. Every kilogram of textiles
produced generates about 17 kilograms of
CO2e. Buying fewer new clothes – and other
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consumer goods – can reduce your carbon
footprint and also cut down on waste.

Speak Up !
Speak up and get others to join
in taking action. It's one of the
quickest and most effective ways
to make a difference. Talk to your neighbours,
colleagues, friends, and family. Let business
owners know you support bold changes.
Appeal to local and world leaders to act now.
Climate action is a task for all of us. And it
concerns all of us. No one can do it all alone –
but we can do it together.

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 Conclusion
The conclusion of any topic depends on the
quality of arguments and suitable points given in
its body, whether it is a research paper or a
project.
And according to me, I have provided a good
quality of arguments and suitable points to rest
my case that Social Issues are a burden on our
modern society.
At last, I would like to say that Social Issues can
never be fully exterminated, so the best approach
is to solve most of them as quickly as possible.

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