Climate Change a Call to Action
Introduction
Climate change is a world health emergency that threatens to reverse decades of development and health gains. The effects have negatively influenced the human race; through the increase in global health inequities, economic deterioration, and environmental pollution (World Health Organization 1). This call to action, thus, addresses the impacts of climate change on the environment which human being depend on for survival. In the recent past, the world has been facing unprecedented fires, heat emission, and storms, which piles up into disastrous calamities. Therefore, all stakeholders must re-evaluate and reaffirm their pledges to climate action.
A persuasive argument that supports the Causes of Climate Change
The most viable way to escape the catastrophe of climate change is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Most people globally rely on energy produced from the combustion of fossil fuel, which is the primary source of greenhouse gases (Kotcher 1079). Additionally, the global demand for energy is predicted to rise in the future as the population increase. Unfortunately, research has shown that greenhouse gases have contributed to premature deaths of millions of women, men, and children (Kotcher 1079). As a result, sustainability goals of any civilization in these days and age should involve the elimination of fossil fuels and replace them with a clean form of energy. Even though most countries globally have not reached a point of implementing the use of clean energy, all new consumers of power should be introduced to clean sources of energy that will neither affect their health nor pollute the environment. Therefore, there is an imminent need for the reduction of greenhouse gases while at the same time meeting the energy needs of the population.
Climate change is an urgent threat, and the options to mitigate it should be promptly considered. The urgency of intervening to mitigate climate change is evident from many authorities on the subject. For example, the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued the Special Report on 1.5 Degrees of Warming (“Global Warming of 1.5oc” 6). This report highlighted several estimates that stressed the need for climate actions. Global emission levels were predicted to peak by 2030. The report, however, issued hope that the global emissions would reduce to net-zero in 2050 if the world achieves the safety standards set by the Paris Agreement (“Global Warming of 1.5oc” 14). The Paris Agreement is essential to attain a climate finance balance between mitigation and adaption as well as underscoring the need to increase the support of adaptation from parties that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Ergo, the Paris Agreement might be the only way out for this catastrophe, which ails the health, economic, and environmental sectors. Thus, the threats posed by climate change are imminent, and the world should respond accordingly.
Major Causes of Climate Change
The disruption of the earth’s energy cycle is the chief source of climatic change and the resulting problems. There is a need to comprehend several facts before conceptualizing the causative effect that disruption of the energy cycle has on issues such as global warming. The primary source of energy on earth is the sun. Some of the light energy from the sun is reflected into space by bright surfaces like clouds, ice, and water (Yefeng 14367). The earth’s atmosphere and surface absorb the rest of the energy. Moreover, the ground re-emits much of the absorbed energy in the form of heat, a process that occurs through infrared and long-wave radiation. When there is a disturbance in this cycle, the loss of energy balance affects the earth’s climate. For example, the creation of a barrier that prevents emitted and reflected energy from leaving the earth’s atmosphere leads to the accumulation of heat on the earth’s surface. Additionally, greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and water vapor escape forming a barrier that interferes with the energy cycle (Yefeng 13467). The greenhouse effect is an essential part of the energy cycle as long as the right concentration of greenhouses is present. Moreover, humans are responsible for offsetting the balance through the use of traditional sources of energy, changing the land surface through farming and clearing forests, and emitting pollutants that affect the particulate concentration of the earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, these acts of disrupting the earth’s energy cycle are the leading cause of climatic change.
Possible Solution to Climate Change
One possible solution to climate change is sharing technological innovation that involves the use of sustainable energy. The electric car by Tesla, for example, uses a battery pack that is cleaner to most internal combustion engines (Kolodny 1). Such technologies should be availed to other countries. Technology transfer is possible, yet the bureaucracy, greed, and political differences hinder such developments from benefiting humans to reach mutual sustainable energy goals. Furthermore, most countries cannot conduct research and development; and could benefit a lot from nations with large budgetary allocations for climate change mitigation research. Therefore, sharing the sustainable energy solution will ensure that the world achieves environmental preservation objectives.
The uniformity of the regulatory environment is essential in curbing climate change. Humans advanced technologies without upgrading the regulatory environments proportionately. Therefore, a car with substandard engines and excessive emissions is manufactured in one country where its use is prohibited but sold in another country where the regulations are not as strict (United Nations Environmental Program 1). Cars are a mere example of the failed uniformity in the regulatory environment of the world. International organizations should strive to pressure all countries to adopt regulations that achieve common sustainability goals.
Conclusion
Generally, climate change is a real, imminent, and catastrophic human error that threatens the global economic and environmental systems. Human activities such as the use of fossil fuels release greenhouse gases, which trap heat from the sun in the lower atmosphere, thereby overheating the planet. The major areas that need intervention include energy production, the transport industry, and regulatory environments. People should be encouraged to use clean sources of energy to minimize the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The creation of uniform regulations will also ensure unity among nations in fighting climate change and seal regulatory loopholes exploited by huge corporations to avoid sustainability practices in their operations.
Works Cited
Global warming of 1.5oc. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2018. www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_SPM_version_report_LR.pdf. Accessed 18 Feb. 2020.
Kolodny, L. “Tesla has a secret lab trying to build its own battery cells to reduce dependence on Panasonic.” 26 June 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/tesla-secret-lab-building-battery-cells-to-reduce-panasonic-dependency.html.
Kotcher, John, et al. “Fossil Fuels Are Harming Our Brains: Identifying Key Messages About the Health Effects of Air Pollution from Fossil Fuels.” BMC Public Health, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1079–1079, doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7373-1.
United Nations Environmental Program. “Exporting Pollution: Dumping Dirty Fuels and Vehicles in Africa.” UN Environment, 22 June 2017, www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/exporting-pollution-dumping-dirty-fuels-and-vehicles-africa. Accessed 18 Feb. 2020.
World Health Organization. “How Air Pollution is Destroying Our Health.” WHO | World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/airpollution/news-and-events/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-our-health. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
Yefeng Pan, et al. “Earth’s Changing Global Atmospheric Energy Cycle in Response to Climate Change.” Nature Communications, vol. 8, Nature Publishing Group, 2017, p. 14367, doi:10.1038/ncomms14367.