Social Barriers in Climate Change Policies - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages In recent years there have been efforts to try and address the issue of climate change. Countries are being advised to adopt anti-climate change policies. In this context, they are actually required to address the key issues in the society that have prevented the adoption of the strategies. The study would discuss how social and cultural processes have impacted while addressing this issue of climate change. How values affect the decisions and actions with regard to climate change, what role culture plays in the strategies for adapting to climate change, and in the process overcoming the barriers to change. The study would also highlight the irreversible losses of cultural and natural heritage as a result of climate change, and finally, what cultural practitioners contribute to the search for creative solutions to the negative impacts of climate change.
Climate change is caused by a variety of factors which include oceanic processes like oceanic circulation, variations in solar radiation that is received by Earth, volcanic eruptions, plate tectonics, and lastly, human-induced alterations of the natural world; the latter effects are currently resulting in global warming, while climate change is often used to describe the human-specific impacts (Rothwell, 2006:56).
The factors that shape climate are referred to as climate forcings. They include processes like variations in solar radiation, continental drift, mountain building and, variations in earth orbit, and changes in the concentrations of greenhouse gases. There are arrays of climate change feedbacks that can either diminish or amplify the initial forcing.
The human factors that cause climate change include: an increase in the carbon (iv) oxide concentrations as a result of emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by the aerosols and then cement manufacture. The other factors include the following: animal agriculture, deforestation, ozone depletion, and lastly, land use. They are also of concern in the roles that they play, both separately or in conjunction with the other factors, in affecting the climate, microclimate, and measurement of climatic variables. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More