Global Warming - Causes and Possible Solutions - Essay Example

GLOBAL WARMING: CAUSES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Word count: 1534 number Outline Introductionto global warming: What is global warming and its effect on life and environment. How can the problem be handled effectively. Major causative factors: This includes the rising urbanization rates throughout the world and a global increase in population growth. Both these problems have caused a net increase in food and energy consumption and a disruption of the natural environment. Possible solutions to the problem: This includes changes and solutions that can be brought about by individuals and with the help of modern technology. In addition, global policies that would help these changes to occur should be adopted. Introduction The earth has witnessed regular changes in climatic conditions throughout its history and most of the changes have been due to the changing orbital pattern of the earth and changes in the amount of solar energy received by the earth. However the present increase in global warming occurring within the earth is also a result of increased population growth, urbanization and other human activities. All these have caused a net increase in the amount of greenhouse gases which is believed to the major causative factor for the increased warming in the earth (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, n.d). While these changes have necessitated the implementation of suitable policy changes, the global economic crisis and other special interests have nearly halted the progress towards framing such a policy. Devising such a plan, would involve the combined efforts of both governmental and non-governmental organizations for their inputs about possible calamities and in specifying the resources required in the wake of such a crisis. Causative factors Urbanization and population growth: A principle contributing factor for the rise in greenhouse gases is man-made activities through urbanization and the rapid rise in population growth. Urbanization has had a profound effect on the environment worldwide as it has caused changes to the land, water and atmosphere. The number of people living in urban areas has tripled over the years and studies estimate that more than half the world’s population will reside in urban areas in the next few years (Torrey, 2004). One of the major contributing factors for the rise in urbanization is the population growth which has shown an exponential increase over the past 50 years (Little Flower, 2006; World Population Growth, 2004). This increase as well as migration of the world population will have an effect on the natural environmental resources owing to the increased consumption of food, energy, water and land. It has increased the air, water and noise pollution levels and other phenomena such as global warming which is adversely affecting the health of the population (Torrey, 2004; Ichimura, 2003). Urban dwellers closely interact with their surrounding environment as they require water, land and energy for their living. However, with the increasing urbanization these resources are slowly depleted and as a result both the environment as well as the quality of life of the urban people is compromised. Increased food and energy consumption: As a result of a better economic status the need for more agricultural produce has greatly increased in the urban areas and in the case of meat eaters the consumption of meat products has drastically increased. However, while more land is being used for urban settlements, the lands available for agricultural produce are becoming scarcer with increasing food prices as well as disrupting the ecosystem (Torrey, 2004; Ichimura, 2003). In addition to food, urban people also consume more consumer durables such as television, washing machine and refrigerator. Thus the energy consumed for electricity, cooking and transportation is higher in urban areas compared to the rural units. This energy is extracted from natural resources and with the increasing need for energy commercial forms of energy are being used for these purposes which has in turn increased the cost of energy. Disruption of the natural environment: The large energy consumption by the urban population has resulted in several environmental problems such as creation of heat islands which has increased the average temperature in the cities. These islands have also become storehouses for atmospheric pollutants due to which there are increased cloudiness, fog and precipitation levels in the cities. All these have changed the weather patterns globally with a reduction in annual rainfall and higher occurrence of thunderstorms and precipitation (Torrey, 2004). With the urbanization of the coastal regions, natural ecosystems such as mangroves, swamps and reefs which serve as the habitat for several species are affected and ultimately destroyed. Thus in addition to the alteration of the ecosystem and affecting the biological diversity of species, urbanization and pollution has also brought about changes in the geological cycles such as hydrogen and carbon cycles (Ichimura, 2003). Solutions to the problem People and Technology based solutions: Various environment-friendly technological advancements are being introduced in order to minimize damage to the global environment and to create a more sustainable environment. Effective measures are being undertaken to combat population growth which is a major contributor to increasing environmental damages. People are educated on the need to curtail their family size by adopting various family planning techniques and through which they can contribute significantly towards sustaining the environment. Other major steps taken include the ‘Green public procurement’ introduced by the European Union that promotes public procurement of goods that are environment friendly. These include technologies that are used in the manufacture of eco-friendly products such as wood products from legally harvested forests, use of low-carbon technologies in manufacturing of household and other equipment that would greatly help to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, techniques that would help reduce water wastage, techniques for generating renewable energy in the form of hydrogen fuel cells and photovoltaic’s, abatement techniques and other waste management techniques and recycling methods to effectively curtail air and water pollution, and lesser use of hazardous chemicals and fertilizers for agriculture and instead opting for organic agricultural practices. All these techniques are aimed to increase the quality of life and in addition educational awareness is also created around the world about the various health and environment benefits obtained from using eco-friendly products (Benefits of GPP, 2012; Global Warming: Confronting the Realities of Climate Change, n.d). Global climate policy: People need to understand and accept the fact that climatic conditions are changing. It has been documented that 2005 and 2010 were the warmest years recorded, which, by itself, implies the drastic change in climatic conditions that is in store for the future. The mudslides in China and soaring temperatures during summer in Russia are also the result of changing climatic trends (Homer-Dixon, 2010). This continuing change in climatic conditions and the small disasters occurring within short intervals can lead to cascading catastrophes of huge magnitudes that could leave behind severe damages to both human life and property. And in order to effectively combat such catastrophes, a more detailed response option needs to be framed which is different from the traditional responses as these would be ineffective during such circumstances. Such policies become more important as such climatic changes tend to be unpredictable and also would bring along uncertain effects (Kousky et al, 2009). An example of action taken by the state government in reducing global warming is the Global Warming Solutions Project carried out by the Environmental division in the state of Massachusetts. This project is a combined effort of the state and local governments and other business, industrial and educational institutes which are working together to ensure that the state reaches its greenhouse emission targets (Global Warming Solutions Project, n.d). While such state and national levels initiatives are underway an effort to frame a global climate policy has been sidelined mainly owing to the economic recession and other special interests shown by governments. Adding to this is the very low-probability projected for the occurrence of these events. However, one cannot negate the fact that the when suitable response options are in place could result in better combating these uncertain situations. A recent example of such as collective plan has come from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, which, in its study, has proposed initiatives that could be undertaken in case of climatic catastrophes (Homer-Dixon, 2010). The report has proposed some generalized means which would help to mitigate climatic shocks such as reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, application of geo-engineering strategies, and adaptation of various mechanisms that would help to combat mega-catastrophes in case one ensues. It follows a rational choice approach which involves an analysis of the costs and expected benefits of the various alternatives and then selecting the one with the maximum benefit (Kousky et al, 2009). However, while this report provides a basis for designing a plan, a more detailed outline of the initiatives that need to be undertaken is required in order for the plan to be more effective. With climatic changes associated with a severe degree of uncertainty and a certain degree of ignorance, a more detailed planning to withstand crop failure, floods, and prolonged drought resulting due to global change in climate would enable the government and other organizations to decide about all the emergency measures that need to be undertaken to help people overcome the disaster (Homer-Dixon, 2010). In conclusion, there is considerable evidence for the rising global warming and the changing climatic patterns. The solutions to the problems lies in the combined effort from people and governments in making the required changes and framing suitable policies that would help avert additional global warming. However, there is absolutely no guarantee that the global climatic changes can be completely controlled or averted, however, if all the necessary policies are in place the challenges could be controlled more effectively. References 1. Homer-Dixon, T, (2010). Disaster at the top of the World. The New York Times [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/opinion/23homer-dixon.html [Accessed 2 June 2014] 2. Kousky, C., Rostapshova, O., Toman, M., & R. Zeckhauser, (2009). Responding to Threats of Climate Change Mega-Catastrophes. Resources for the Future [online] Available at: http://www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-09-45.pdf [Accessed 2 June 2014] 3. Climate change: How do we know? n.d. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [online] Available at: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence [Accessed 2 June 2014] 4. Little Flower, Sr., 2006. Environmental Challenges in the 21st Century. Assumption University Journal of Technology 9(4), pp. 248-252. http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2006/apr06/vol9num4_a8.pdf 5. Benefits of GPP, 2012. Environment-European Commission. [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/benefits_en.htm [Accessed 2 June 2014] 6. Ichimura, M, 2003. Urbanization, Urban Environment and Land Use: Challenges and Opportunities. Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development Expert Meeting [online] Available at: http://www.apfed.net/apfed1/pdf/APFED3_EM_doc5.pdf [Accessed 2 June 2014] 7. Peng, Xizhe., Chen, Xiangming., & Cheng, Yuan. , n.d. Urbanization and its Consequences. Demography, Vol II [online] Available at: http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C04/E6-147-18.pdf [Accessed 2 June 2014] 8. Torrey, B. B, 2004. Urbanization: An Environmental Force to be Reckoned With. Population Reference Bureau [online] Available at: http://www.prb.org/articles/2004/UrbanizationanEnvironmentalForcetoBereckonedWith.aspx?p=1 [Accessed 2 June 2014] 9. World Population Growth, 2004. Beyond Economic Growth. Worldbank.org [online] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/beyondco/beg_03.pdf [Accessed 2 June 2014] 10. Global Warming: Confronting the Realities of Climate Change, n.d. Global Warming. Ucsusa.org [online] Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/ [Accessed 2 June 2014] 11. Global Warming Solutions Project, n.d. gwspnetwork.org [online] Available at: http://www.gwspnetwork.org/home.html?returnUrl=%2findex.html [Accessed 2 June 2014] Read More