The Major Stakeholders of Global Warming - Essay Example

?[Your full April 29, Global Warming Global warming is the condition in which the temperature of the Earth rises due to the trapping of sun’s light and heat by the greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and water vapors (Houghton). The earth’s atmosphere contains trace gases that prevent a portion of the heat of the sun to escape into the atmosphere, after getting reflected by the Earth. This maintains a certain degree of satisfactory temperature on the Earth. When these gases go up in concentration, they start absorbing heat from the sun, which raises the temperature to an intolerable degree. Due to the increase in temperature, many of the living organisms get affected, and most of them die. The rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases results in the Earth becoming warmer progressively. This concentration mostly occurs by the release of gases, like CO2, in the atmosphere through natural processes, and also by industries and factories that burn fossil fuels. Deforestation is another cause of increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, since trees are the most important absorbers of CO2; and, when they are cut down, CO2 increases which concentrates the atmosphere. It is argued that CO2 will eventually lead to man’s death by warming up the Earth to an unacceptable level. There are many stakeholders of global warming. Human beings are the most important stakeholders, and are also the origin of it. All individuals must understand that human communities are at stake due to abrupt rise in sea level, massive storms and hurricanes, and heat and cold waves. For instance, the year 2007 brought worst floods in the history of many countries like Malaysia, UK, North Korea, and other African countries. Pakistan saw the worst flood in 2010, which took millions of lives and unsheltered thousands of people. Next to human beings, the stakeholders are the animals and plants. Some animals are able to move to places of suitable temperature, but some are not able to cross the mountain barriers and waters. Plants are immobile, so they die. Global governments are also one of the stakeholders, whose vision toward solving the issue of global warming depends upon the views of their citizens. Many of these governments have not been able to take steps toward the solution of global warming, but there are other examples like Kyoto Protocol of 1997 which planned to counter the climate change issue. The Southern Baptist Convention of June 2007, which was considered as the country’s largest Protestant denomination (Miller, 2008, p.128), raised concerns about the fact that global warming will continue to affect the poor of the country, because even if steps are taken to counter global warming by reducing the number of factories that emit CO2, this will result in an increase in the cost of energy that will ultimately affect the poor. Businesses are the only stakeholders that will not make movements against the global arming issue; instead, they will even try to stop the movement against global warming. This is because businesses tend to run such factories and industries that emit CO2 into the atmosphere; and, no businessman would want to end his business. But not all businesses work in this manner. For example, FedEx is such a company that tends to decrease global warming by shifting its entire fleet of delivery trucks to hybrids. The biggest hazard of global warming is that it is giving rise to many climate changes. Earth, today, is much warmer than it was 100 years ago. “Around the world, the Earth's average temperature has risen more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) over the last century, and about twice that in parts of the Arctic” (National Geographic Society, para.2). One way we can observe the Earth getting warmer is by observing the trees. In warmer conditions, the trees get thicker and form thick rings. Other ways include the experimentation with the sediment that rests in the bottom of the oceans and seas. Scientists observe these sediments, which contain particles and fossils and tell a lot of information about the climate the time when they settled down at the bottom. Global warming also increases the sea level (Florida State University). High sea level is dangerous for communities living at coastal line because there would be constant fear of flooding. Rise in temperature will result in the melting of ice on the ice pole. These climate changes are expected to dry out the agricultural lands which will reduce the agricultural productivity. More storms and hurricanes will be expected along with harsh weather changes with heat and cold waves. “Fires are also starting in forests in the Amazon, Siberia, Greece, Indonesia, and a number of other countries around the globe”, (Ecoble.com, para.10). Climate experts are already noticing the change in oceans and the Arctic ice, and have confirmed the fact that climate has got warmer since some decades. The climate expert, Time Barnett, who works at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, stated at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that “New computer models that look at ocean temperatures instead of the atmosphere show the clearest signal yet that global warming is well underway” (qtd. in Reuters, para.2). The results of a U.S. survey, which was based upon the opinions of 3,146 climate experts (CNN World), reveal that the rising global temperatures is a real problem, but it cannot be predicted as to how much responsibility should be laid on the shoulders of humans for being a cause of this issue. To conclude, stakeholders of global warming include human beings, animals, plants, governments, and poor people. Businesses are not expected to take any measures to stop global warming since businessmen would never want to end their businesses that result in CO2 emissions in the air. Due to the rise in the concentration of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere, the Earth’s climate has been getting warmer and harsher, and this can be observed through tree sample, sediments from oceans, and other techniques used by the climate experts. Works Cited CNN World. “Surveyed Scientists Agree Global Warming is Real.” Scientists. CNN, 2009. Web. 29 Apr 2012. . Ecoble.com. Is Global Warming Real? 5 Proofs That Urge Action. Ecoble.com, 2008. Web. 30 Apr 2012. . Florida State University. Sea Level Rise Due To Global Warming Poses Threat to New York City. ScienceDaily, 2009. Web. 30 Apr 2012. . Houghton, John Theodore. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. USA: Cambridge University Press, 2004. National Geographic Society. “Is Global Warming Real?” National Geographic. NGS, 2011. Web. 29 Apr 2012. . Reuters. “Experts: Global Warming is Real.” Wired.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 29 Apr 2012. . Read More