The Problem of Global Climate Change - Essay Example

Global climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing civilization today. Our planet appears to be warming. This is not unusual because Earth’s climate changes all the time. But this change is usually very slow. The Earth’s recent warming has been very rapid. Many scientists believe that the burning of fossil fuels is causing this rapid warming. Burning fossil fuels emits greenhouse gasses that trap radiation from the sun in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing it to warm up much like a greenhouse. The most important of these gasses is carbon dioxide. As a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide has many natural sources. Bacteria within the soil produce carbon dioxide, as does respiration from humans and animals. Volcanic eruptions have the ability to emit vast amounts of carbon dioxide as well. But the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere from human sources has been increasing rapidly over the past century. Scientists are finding a correlation between the amount of human carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere and an increase in global temperatures. These scientists feel that earth has natural buffers to account for naturally occurring carbon dioxide. The human produced carbon dioxide does not have a buffer so it is changing our climate. Most of the carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere comes from the wealthy, industrialized nations of the west. They were the first economies in the world to start using oil, coal and natural gas on massive scales. These fossil fuels are the source of most of the human emitted carbon dioxide that reaches the atmosphere. So it is easy to place blame on powerful western nations such as the United States and Great Britain for the current crisis we are facing. While this may be true, what is especially troubling to many economists and scientists is the rapid industrialization of nations such as China and India. While economic growth in these places has greatly improved the standard of living for many citizens, following in the footsteps of the high carbon dioxide emitting economies of the west is sure to make human induced global warming worse. Most of the world’s population lives on the continent of Asia. In the past, Asia has been viewed as a place that would be victimized by a warming planet because they didn’t create the problem but would need to deal with the consequences. Now, it is becoming apparent that nations such as China, India and Indonesia are going to also be major contributors to the problem. The effects of a warming climate are far reaching according to scientists. A warmer planet will affect all of the earth’s natural systems. Many computer-generated models predict that entire ecosystems will be altered leading to extinction off many animals. The warming polar ice will become more fragile and eventually disappear. Warmer seawater will fuel massive, more violent storms. These storms will damage everything from coral reefs to coastal cities. These cities will be susceptible to flooding, mudslides and wind damage caused by the storms. As has been witnessed in storms such as hurricane Katrina in the United States, entire cities can be wiped out even if they are located in the wealthiest nation on earth. For those living in poverty, the effects of the changing global climate are going to be more severe. Changing rainfall patters will bring crop failures or flooding to subsistence farmers. In Asia, most of the population lives very close to the sea. Coastal cities depend on the oceans for food and for easy transportation. If the seas are unpredictable, economies and survival in these cities will be threatened. The way to battle global climate change is clear. We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by humans. What has proven problematic is the fact that doing this is going to require some nations to slow their rapid economic growth and for other nations to make a commitment to using sources of power that do not emit carbon dioxide. There is plenty of technology available to rich nations that can help then reduce their dependency on carbon dioxide emitting fossil fuels. Wind, solar and nuclear power are all energy sources that emit little or no greenhouse gasses. These wealthy nations need to set the example for developing nations in how to switch to carbon neutral energy sources. The wealthy nations of the west are in the best position to do this because their citizens already enjoy a comfortable standard of living. The developing nations of Asia need to recognize that the path the west has followed to industrialization and a high standard of living does not need to include ever-increasing outputs of carbon dioxide. Several summits have been held that have aimed to get all countries to agree to carbon dioxide limitations. The Kyoto Protocol in 1992 was the first such summit. More recently most of the nations sent representatives to Copenhagen to try to reach some agreement on a worldwide carbon-trading scheme. Again, the international community failed to come to a consensus. Global climate change is indeed a difficult problem to solve. Some question the science behind the computer models and the dire results they predict. Some nations will not agree to limit carbon dioxide. Other nations will not agree to switch to more expensive alternatives to fossil fuels. There is a growing consensus that something must be done. The problem is that no one seems willing to make the first step. Wealthy nations do not want to lose their present position of advantage over developing nations. Developing nations do not want to slow their economic growth. Someone in these two camps needs to show leadership that inspires both sides to tackle the problem together. Doing nothing is not a good option because fixing the problem now will be much less costly than the destruction that looms in the future. Coastal populations will be affected by global climate change all over the world. The poorest coastal populations will be the most affected because they do not have the economic resources available to those in wealthy western nations. Read More