Environmental Problems
This week's chapter on environmental issues talks about some of the most difficult challenges we face today, and environmental sociology helps us understand how human behavior affects and is affected by the natural world. Concepts like demography , the study of population trends, and migration , the movement of people across regions, show how population patterns relate to resource use, pollution, and sustainability. These problems also highlight specific social inequalities: environmental inequality and environmental racism reveal that low-income communities and communities of color are often the most exposed to pollution, toxic waste, and climate-related hazards. Different sociological perspectives help explain these issues in individual ways. Functionalism sees society as a system where all parts work together and views severe environmental problems as dysfunctions that disrupt social stability. Conflict theory focuses on how power and the pursuit of profit drive environ...