Factors in Environmental Improvement: Developing and Industrial Nations Available to Purchase

When considering Worldwide environmental questions, it is convenient to compare the extremes of Developing Nations and Industrial Societies. Developing Nations are assumed to have a Gross National Product (GNP) of 4,000 dollars per capita per year or less with Industrial Nations having 10-12,000 dollars per capita per year or more. Using the history of the development of the U.S.A. as an Industrial Nation by reviewing its statistics over the period of about 1890 to the present, it can be seen that it mirrored the “environmental ” problems now observed in Developing Societies. It is accordingly suggested that it is not reasonable to expect environmental improvement as defined by the standards/criteria of the U.S.A. and other Industrial Nations to be possible for Developing Nations until their GNP reaches a similar level. Further, the Industrial Nations appear to be using a narrow definition of environmental improvement which wastes funds, harms their net environment and limits the possibility of aid for Developing Nations. It can also be argued that the World has become a single society in which Industrial and Developing areas cannot continue to separately exist, and that the net World environment will continue to degrade until Industrial Societies accurately define their environmental needs, maximize their use of funds and aid Developing Societies to increase GNP per person so that funds for World environmental improvement are available.