What is globalisation and how does it affect us?

Globalisation is the process of the worlds systems becoming increasingly interlinked. Advancements in technology has resulted in improved transport and communication systems which has increased flows of people, capital and goods between countries globally. This has resulted in a 'shrinking world', a concept which suggests that the world is becoming smaller due to the increased speed of global connections. For example, today more and more people can communicate easily with others on the other side of the world due to the development of the internet and mobile phones.

As for how globalisation affects us, it probably affects us in more ways than you may think. If it wasn't for globalisation and the increasing number of connections between places many of the consumer goods that we own, such as an iPhone, would be much less accessible and certainly much more expensive. It also affects us positively both economically and culturally. Today, nearly all jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors of employment are linked to the process of globalisation with many businesses having international links. Also, globalisation has increased international migration which has resulted in multicultural societies.

However, globalisation is also affecting us in a negative way. Increased transportation and the global shift of polluting manufacturing industries has resulted in environmental degradation. Pollution is affecting people's health and having a negative impact on biodiversity levels globally. Also, increased transport connections has resulted in carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. These emissions are contributing to climate change which will have an increasing impact on our daily lives in the future due to the increased frequency and intensity of hydrological and meteorological events such as droughts, flooding and tropical storms.