☰ Contents · World history

Global problems

Lessons 27 · 1 lessons · Sh. Ergashev, B. Xodjayev, J. Abdullayev. World History (1991–2017): textbook for Grade 11 of secondary schools and for students of secondary specialised and vocational institutions. 1st edition. “Turon-Iqbol”, Tashkent, 2018
27

Problems of globalization and military, extremist and ecological threats at the turn of the 21st century

Textbook: pp. 124–129
GoalExplain modern global problems – armaments, terrorism, ecology and pandemics – and international cooperation in solving them.
New words
nuclear disarmament, the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons · yadro qurolsizlanishithe Paris Agreement of 2015 on limiting global warming · Parij kelishuvi (2015)the Aral Sea disaster, the drying of the sea since the 1960s · Orol dengizi fojiasia pandemic, an epidemic spread across many countries · pandemiya
Explanation

After the Cold War several nuclear disarmament treaties were signed, but the world still has about 12,000 nuclear warheads. The term of the US–Russia New START treaty, which limited their strategic weapons, ended in February 2026, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty ceased to apply in 2019, and in 2021 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came into force, though nuclear-armed states have not signed it. Terrorism is violence against civilians for political aims; it is not tied to any religion, nation or people. In Uzbekistan the law on combating terrorism has been in force since 2000, and a law on countering extremism was adopted in 2018. In ecology the Montreal Protocol succeeded in protecting the ozone layer, while the Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement aim to reduce greenhouse gases. The Aral Sea has been drying since the 1960s because too much river water was taken for irrigation; in 2018 the UN set up a special trust fund for the Aral Sea region. The WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2020 and ended the international emergency on 5 May 2023; it had a serious impact on health, the economy and education.

Worked examples
The ozone layer: substances containing chlorine and bromine (CFCs) damaged the ozone layer; under the 1987 Montreal Protocol their production was phased out and the layer is slowly recovering.
The greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the atmosphere and help raise average temperatures; the Paris Agreement aims to hold warming well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, and ideally to 1.5 °C.
Class activity

Choose one global problem (armaments, ecology, pandemic or terrorism), write its causes and solutions in two columns, then explain in one sentence how it affects Uzbekistan.

Practice
1
Why is the Aral Sea drying?
2
When did the WHO declare the COVID-19 pandemic and when did it end the international emergency?
3
What does the Montreal Protocol protect?
4
Why can terrorism not be tied to any religion or nation?