Urban Physiology: City Ants Possess High Heat Tolerance - Term Paper Example

Another reason for urbanization is that people from rural areas have a belief that that the standard of living in the urban areas is better than in rural areas. In addition, urbanization has occurred due a natural increase of birth and decrease in death rates. Environmental, cultural and political factors are the major factors that affect urbanization (Vimala, 2011). Urbanization leads to increase in waste in the major cities. Over-reliance on motor as a means of transport is another cause of air pollution due to the emission of gasses.

In addition, urbanization leads to air pollution due to the burning coal in order to supply energy. Water pollution is another issue on urbanization. It occurs due to inadequate sewage facilities and disposal of industrial solid waste into waterways. Besides, traffic congestion as well as noise pollution is the primary environmental impacts on large cities. The rapid increase of number of people in the towns is partly because of the attractive opportunities for wealth generation and economic development.

The trend has contributed to the growth in the number of mega cities in the world. The current number of mega cities in the worlds is 19, and there are expectations that the number will rise to 27 in the year 2020. The rapid increase in the number of mega cities causes significant ecological social and economic problems. Urbanization is contributing substantially to the current changes in climate. Twenty (20) largest cities consume 80 percent of the world’s energy and urban areas generate 80 percent of the greenhouse gas production in the world.

The most severe consequence of urbanization in the natural environment is the changes it introduces in the quality of human interaction with nature. Nevertheless, urbanization plays a significant role in mounting global pressures on ecosystems. Urbanization is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions environmental degradation and the