The tragedy of the commons is a theory in which some individuals act according to their own self-interest and against the common good (Friedl, 2016). These people try to get the most out of a resource without worrying about depleting it and, as a result, other people end up suffering from such activity. A good example of the tragedy of the commons is the inappropriate usage of air in our atmosphere that ends up to global warming. No country or individual group can claim ownership of this crucial resource. However, through industrialization, developed countries have released poisonous gas to the atmosphere leading to global warming. The whole world is feeling the pressure and hardship of global warming. Many organizations are trying to work on sustaining the environment because they have been made aware of the dangers of global warming (Friedl, 2016)
The world is full of people who take advantage of the common resources and exploit them to their own individual benefits. Another common resource like groundwater which is owned by nobody is up for grabs. Too much pumping of this ground water by a certain individual may lead to its depletion. The long term effect is that all the dependants to this common resource face the consequence.
Cars emit gases that are harmful to the environment. There are many people who own cars and use them on a daily basis. People drive their cars every day as they go to work and to attend to their commitments. These cars on public roads and cause a traffic jam. The presence of many cars on the roads creates traffic congestion that can only be alleviated if there were fewer cars. People driving these cars are interested in using their cars to and what they plan to do once they get to their destinations. Traffic congestion is a daily occurrence, and every day plenty of harmful gases are released into the environment. The gases emitted by cars include nitrogen oxides; hydrocarbons; and carbon monoxide. These gases escalate to global warming.
The contamination of surface water unknowingly by certain individuals to their own benefit causes a problem. Surface water may contain some salts. These salts may be intentionally removed by individuals for their own benefit. If someone filters this water and uses it for irrigation, for example, he or she reduces that salt in the water, and others may not benefit out of it. This creates a tragedy of the common.
In normal reality, the individuals rights seem to end where the rights of the common starts. This calls for an appropriate balance between the two rights for the purposes of sustainability and avoidance of the tragedy of the commons. Environmental scholars argue that the common are perceived and seen as more common. Therefore, societies have to come up with acceptable ways of regulating the use of the common resources.
References
Friedl, S., (2016). Tragedy of the Commons. Study. Retrieved from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/tragedy-of-the-commons-theory-definition-examples.html
