Manageable Solutions to Global Warming - Essay Example

Global Warming Introduction Global warming refers to the observable century-scale increase in the average earth’s climatic temperature system. This has become an issue of major concern in the world today. The current trend in global warming has changed the world’s climatic pattern that all living things have been relying upon (Archer, 2011, pg. 34). The effects of this increase in the earth’s climatic temperature have been felt all over the world and are likely not to stop due to continued human activities that release gasses which trap heat in the atmosphere; for example, when it comes to burning down fuels. Global warming is an issue that has to be looked into urgently in order to curb these effects before they even get worse than they are now. And in dealing with these issues, so many things have to be put into consideration. Will the measures taken be able to sustain this problem over the years to come and will the generations to come be able to put up with these measures? In this essay we will take a look at the global warming extensively its causes, and look at the possible long term and manageable solutions to the problem. Relationship between Natural resources and the Society Without a doubt, it is evident that there exist symbiotic relationship and dependency between society (human beings) and natural resources. This relationship is what we refer to as “social metabolism” (Ghosh & Goswami, 2014, pg. 67). In any given society, natural recourses are what keep the economy moving. They are the backbone of any economy in society. Human beings depend on forests in so many ways. Forests are the sole source of wood used in construction of houses, commercial buildings; office and house hold furniture and so on. Literally in any building or place one walks into, rarely will one miss a “wood” aspect around them. Forests too are a good source of charcoal and firewood used at homes. Rural societies and some urbanites depend on forest for medicinal purposes since it is in these forests that you will find herbs and wild vegetation that contain medicinal value for curing various human and animal diseases. Forests are a good water catchment area and source of some rivers. Rivers, lakes and other water bodies provide human beings with water. “Water is life” no living thing in the world can survive without water. Water from rivers is used in irrigation and in other domestic uses by human beings. Water bodies are a source of habitat for creatures that benefit society in one way or the other (Ghosh & Goswami, 2014, pg. 68). Fish is a good source of healthy food for humans. Other than being used for home purpose, most societies living around fresh water bodies have built their economy through the sale of fish, both locally and to other societies far and wide. Natural resources provide a livelihood for so many in the society and are a good source of recreation too. However, over the past years we have witnessed the depletion and degradation of these resources. This is a factor that has caused more harm than good to the society. This depletion has been brought about by these same humans’ activities. Cutting down of trees for economic use and for creating settlement areas has become so rampant. Industrial Activities and environmental pollution through poor disposal of waste has been at an increase. This in turn has brought about global warming which has drastically affected climate patterns affecting human activities such as farming, fishing and so on (Ghosh & Goswami, 2014, pg. 69). Due to filling up of water bodies as an effect of melting ice caps, people living around water bodies have ended up being displaced. Industrial activities, though helping in the economic growth and development of these societies have also contributed a lot in the degradation of the environment through: air pollution, noise pollution and water pollution all of which impact negatively on the society (Ghosh & Goswani, 2014, pg. 69). Most industries do not have a proper way of disposing their industrial waste so most of it ends up being directed to rivers, polluting water and destroying aquatic life thus affecting the lively hood of fishermen. Green house farming is a leading emitter of green house gasses which pollute and contaminate the air we breathe thus affecting human beings health wise. Global Warming With climate change being one of its major effects, global warming has been an issue of major concern in the world today. This effect has affected everyone unselectively with the current climate patterns being so unpredictable and occurring to the extremes. Global warming has accounted for the melting if ice caps, floods, drought, erosion of the ozone layer thus the development of various skin problems due to exposure of the skin to ultra violet rays just to mention a few (Archer, 2011, pg. 59). Melting of ice cups poses a great future risk since it leads to a rise in water bodies. The more these happens, the more persons living around water bodies are being displaced from their habitat and the lesser land for human settlement becomes due to over flooded lakes, oceans and rivers. Shortage of fresh water is among the biggest concerns that come with climatic changes caused by global warming. Water covers 72% of the earth, 97% of this water is however salty water which is not suitable for human consumption. Less than 1% of the worlds freshwater is accessible to the population. Ice caps that are a major source of fresh water in the world hold up to 70% of this fresh water. The Himalayan ice caps being among the largest ice caps supplies water for at least 1.3 billion people (Archer, 2011, pg. 60). Himalayan ice caps release water throughout the year and especially during the hot dry seasons. The rate at which these caps are melting leaves a lot in question about the future supply of water to the world’s populations. With 1/3 of the current worlds population living in "water-stressed" nations, there is need to conserve these ice caps and that will only be achieved if the issue of global warming is dealt with. Indonesia has been among the countries hit by global warming intensely. It has frequently experienced cyclones as an effect of global warming. This phenomenon is not likely to stop any time soon. Since 2002, the frequency of cyclones has been increasing 28 times more than each year (Archer, 2011, pg.62) cumulonimbus clouds formation caused by global warming has been seen as the main trigger of cyclones which have been responsible of 36% percent of disasters that happen in Indonesia yearly. Other disasters such as floods, landslides forest fires, have a persistent trend in Indonesia over the past decade. Around 60.9 million persons face the risk of floods in Indonesia with 124 million being vulnerable to landslides. Earthquakes are likely to affect 157 million lives and tsunamis 5 million people. Indonesia faces the risk of volcanic eruptions as many volcanoes have been seen having increased activities. These effects are not likely to decrease due to the continuous human activities that trigger global warming even more (Forbes, 2014). Annual rainfall in the country has gone down by 2% to 3% in the world’s fourth popular nation and climatic patterns have changed. This translates to a negative effect in the agricultural sector as crop production automatically goes down due to this shortage of rain and changing weather patterns that make it difficult for farmers to knowing when to plant their crops (Archer, 2011, pg. 67). Recent research shows that 300,000 tones of crop have been lost every year over the past decade. This leaves Indonesia at a very vulnerable position with its high population at a risk of suffering serious famine. This can however be averted if various measures are taken and implemented. Industries should find a way of getting rid of their waste products, instead of burning them and releasing these harmful gases to the air, recycling plants should be established in every industry (Archer, 2011, pg. 67). Homes too should adapt the habit of reusing plastic bags, especially shopping bags so as to avoid too much unnecessary disposal of these plastics that hardly decompose and emit harmful gases when exposed to the sun over a long time. Decomposable plastic bags should also be used as to substitute plastic shopping bags since they cause no harm to the environment and actually add value to soil when they decompose. To deal with the deforestation menace, trees should be planted where they have been cut down and for every tree cut down hence, two should be planted so as to ensure our these natural resources are well managed and preserved. Environmental cleaning should be done both on land and in water bodies so as to improve the state of these resources. Sustainable Development Sustainable development can be defined as development that fulfills the present generations’ needs without affecting the ability of the future generations to fulfill their own needs at that time. Sustainable development has two key concepts: the concept of limitation and the concept of need (Hackett, 2011, pg. 45). The concept of needs looks into the basic needs of the poor which must be given priority while the concept of limitations looks at technology and social organization and the ability of the environment to meet both current and future needs (Ghosh & Goswami, 2014, pg. 49) Basically, when looking at sustainable development, we need to view the world as a system that connects time and space too. This way, one will be able to understand that cutting down trees and emitting pollutant gasses, burning fossils in North America tampers with the air quality in Asia as much as it does that of North America. Polluting the waters in the coast of Argentina equally affects the waters and aquatic life in the coast of Australia. That some of the decisions made by our forefathers and parents still affect our quality life and societal activities today. And the decisions we make today will affect our children when they grow up and become adults. Sustainable development is all about understanding that life’s quality is a system (Hackett, 2011, pg. 105). One person would wish to be physically fit and healthy, but what if their financial state does not allow them to access education? And what if you have financial stability and the environment around you is so polluted? This is what sustainable development is all about “System thinking”. This helps us understand the world we live in and ourselves better. It helps us accept the problems we face and know how to address them. There are many theories that define and discuss sustainable development; ranging from carrying capacity theory, conservation theory, equality theory, economy theory and on. Each theory however captures its own code word. For instance, the environmental conservation theory depends on sustainable ecological measure. The economic growth theory examines the development of an economy over a given period of time as the quality and quantity of various given inputs in its production process change and so on. Theories that Explain Environmental Degradation Several theories have been put in place to explain the cause of environmental degradation. Some of them are: 1. Rural push and urban pull Many people have been moving from rural areas and finding settlement in urban areas. This has led to overpopulation in urban centers which translates to increased industrial human activities and deforestation so as to create space for settlement of these populations (Kutz, 2012, pg. 85). Most rural areas are equally being industrialized still contributing to industrial activities and the clearance of natural vegetation to create space for these industries. It becomes difficult to manage these high population activities such as waste disposal. Most of these wastes end up in rivers or getting burnt causing harm to the environment. 2. Economic modernization perspective A modernized economy means increased industrialization and infrastructure expansion. For this to happen, space has got to be created and this means clearance of natural vegetation such as forests, diversion of rivers which causes more harm than good. 3. Neo-Multhuism According to this theory, population growth is among the major cause of rural urban migration (Kutz, 2012, pg. 90). Population growth leads to over cultivation, increased farming thus, more use of fertilizer, deforestation and soil erosion. The Ignorance theory and Environmental management Ignorance does not have to be necessarily a negative aspect of human life. It is in fact a necessary component when it comes to social relations, organizations and cultures. Ignorance is a fundamental and pervasive influence in human emotions, actions, cognition, social relations and culture. Ignorance is socially constructed however; one should be open minded about the source of their basic metaphors for ignorance. In defining theory of ignorance, terms such as negative knowledge, closed knowledge and uncertain knowledge have to be introduced (Lloyd & Mitchinson, 2008, pg. 119) .These refer to the limits of our know how, mistakes we make in our attempt to acquire knowledge, things that interfere with knowing and that which people don’t want to know. There are two major types of ignorance, conscious ignorance and meta-ignorance. Knowing that you don’t know (conscious ignorance) and not knowing that you don’t know (meta-ignorance). Ignorance theory is a device that can be used to help someone determine if something is morally right. This can be done by a person considering an action as if they did not know what direct effect they would get from it, but rather how it would affect other people (Proctor & Schiebinger, 2008, pg. 46). For instance, when one decides to cut down a tree for charcoal, he should not so much look at the benefits he would get from it but rather look at what effect it will have on others and the environment at large. This theory can well be applied in environmental management and intervention to help control global warming (Lloyd & Mitchinson, 2008, pg. 47). The theory would help people think more of the consequences their actions and relationships with the environment would have on others and not how they would benefit from their actions. This would help people in society put themselves at the level of every other person in society and acknowledge that if the lowest person in society suffers because of your actions, you equally suffer with him irrespective of your social class. Conclusion Industrialists will look at the long term effect of cutting down trees on our environment to build a factory and not how much the factory will benefit them. They will be able to recognize that global warming as a result of their emission of harmful gasses and burning of waste thus releasing these heat trapping gases to the atmosphere will equally affect them irrespective of their social class in society as much as it will that lowly placed person in society (Proctor & Schiebinger, 2008, pg. 140). The application of ignorance theory in environmental management will help people look at the long term permanent and adverse effect (global warming) of environmental degradation on the globe at large and not the temporally benefits they get to enjoy only for a while by themselves. Society should look into the issue of environmental management and restoration with much seriousness and adapt measures that will make the environment a better place for the current generation and the generations to come (Hackett, 2011, p. 87). These include, restoring our forest by planting trees where they have been cut down, planting trees where they previously never existed, adaptation of better waste disposal, cleaning of rivers and land and adaptation of the three R’s that is recycle, reuse and reduce when it comes to none decomposable waste products. Above all know that our actions on our environment affect us as much as they affect the society at large should they good or bad. This way we will be able to deal with the issue of global warming effectively References Archer, D. (2011). Global warming: understanding the forecast. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. FORBES, V. L. (2014). Indonesias delimited maritime boundaries. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=776042. Ghosh, N., & Goswami, A. (2014). Sustainability science for social, economic, and environmental development. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=706812. Hackett, S. C. (2011). Environmental and natural resources economics: theory, policy, and the sustainable society. Armonk, NY, M.E. Sharpe. Kutz, M. (2012). Handbook of environmental degradation of materials. Amsterdam, Elsevier. Lloyd, J., & Mitchinson, J. (2008). The book of general ignorance: a quite interesting book. London, Faber. Proctor, R., & Schiebinger, L. L. (2008). Agnotology: the making and unmaking of ignorance. Stanford, Calif, Stanford University Press Rogers, P. P., Jalal, K. F., & Boyd, J. A. (2012). An Introduction to Sustainable Development. Hoboken, Taylor and Francis. http://grail.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=429931. Read More