Abstract. Many individuals and organizational leaders are well aware that their activities affect the natural environment. This awareness grows out of growing evidence of the effects of environmental use and some thirty years of environmental activism. Our paper aims to look at the worldwide interconnections in the natural environment that result from the use of global commons and other resources. A special emphasis will be given to examine the combined effects of population growth and industrialization as pressures on the natural environment. Together population growth and economic development hasten natural resources consumption, putting pressure on the global commons, spreading disease, threatening species, and extending the impact of global natural disasters. Their interrelated nature will be enlightened thoroughly toward “boom” and “doom” perspectives.

Keywords: pressure on natural systems; environmental issues; population growth; industrialization; Kuznets curve.