Possible Solutions to Global Warming - Term Paper Example

Global Warming Global Warming Introduction An increase in the earths average surface temperature contributed by the effect of the greenhouse gasses like emissions of carbon dioxide resulting from deforestation or burning of the fossil fuels, is considered a description of what global warming is. The carbon dioxide is emitted act by trapping the heat that would have escaped from the earth. The global warming or climate change issues remains a subject of polarization with a persistent and heated debate in the political, economic, environmental and social arenas. One side of the debate is those who believe that global warming presents a devastating threat to life and the planet. According to this group, the intensified hurricanes that have been witnessed to hit the South for the last few years, the raging wildfires experienced in the West, the phenomenon of the El Nino, the flooding coastlines, the sea levels rising in Asia as we as the persistent drought in Africa are some of the signs of contributing problems and more problems still expected to come (Robert, Scott, & John, 2009). According to arguments in some courtrooms in America, the Californias snowpack that is a vital fresh water source has been reduced, among other things, by the human-induced global warming. It has also caused the rising of the sea levels along the coastlines of California, increased wildfire threats, increased urban area ozone pollution and also increased the State of Californias cost where millions of dollars were used to for impact assessment and preparation for future impacts. On the other side of the debate are those who believe that catastrophic global warming threat is one of that greatest hoax on the American people, ever perpetrated. This paper aims at establishing an overview of the global warming, defenses, litigation results as well as the legal theories around the subject matter. Climate Change and Causes of Global Warming According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, climate change has been defined as significant changes in the measures of climate including wind, precipitation and temperature, which lasts for a longer and extended period like over decades (Hayashi, Akimoto, Sano, Mori, & Tomoda, 2010). On the other hand, the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change considers climate change to be a change of climate attributed either directly or indirectly to the activity of human leading to the alteration of the composition of the atmosphere at a global level. The main foundation of global warming rests on the suns energy that heats the earth, then radiates the energy into the surface of the earth. The greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, act by trapping some of the outgoing heat into the surface of the earth. Emissions of carbon dioxide usually persist in the atmosphere for centuries. This makes them have a lasting effect on the climate. According to a recent World Economic Forum, one of the most important global risks in the years to come that key decision makers will have to consider is the climate change. A clear scientific consensus acknowledges that global warming has begun, and the emission of greenhouse gasses is its key cause. These gasses are majorly in the form of carbon dioxide resulting from the combustion of the fossil fuels. The issue of global warming is an international concern. The existence of global warming is a concern that has been acknowledged by many international bodies and institutions including the Supreme Court of the United States. In the case of Massachusetts vs. Environmental Protection Agency, where the main contention was on use of authority to regulate the greenhouse gasses, the court based its ruling on the scientific opinion that there was a well-documented rise in the temperatures of the world and evident climatological as well as environmental change that have come up due to the increase of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Similarly, according to the Supreme Court findings, a well-documented global rise in temperatures has again coincided with a major increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. From these findings, it is clear that when carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it functions by ceiling like a greenhouse. This traps the energy from the sun that then retards the escape of the heat reflected. Ultimately, this is what causes global warming. Impacts of Global Warming Some of which have been mentioned, global warming has a wide range of impacts including disruption of water supplies, wildfires, heat deaths, mud slides, damage and disruption of ecosystems and forests, flooding, rise in the sea level, infiltration of salt into the fresh water bodies, exposure to infectious diseases, general reduction of the availability of water and other more dramatic weather events among others (Runci, 1996). To illustrate some points here, it has been alleged that the Glacier National Park has lost close to two-thirds of its total of 150 glaciers it had by the 19th century. It is still expected that after 30 years from the present, not even one glacier will be left there due to the effect of global warming. Katrina and Rita hurricanes considered to be the most powerful and damaging hurricanes experienced so far in the history of the U.S. From the Hurricane Katrina alone, insurers reportedly were hit with a $45 billion in insured losses. According to reports, numerous weather-related disasters such as tornados, floods, heat waves and the rest have each caused losses worth $1 billion since 1980. Collectively, all the 78 weather-related disasters have caused approximately $600 billion in losses since then. The likely costs of global warming to the U.S and the international industry due to related claims about global warming. However, a report from the United Kingdom estimates that global warming could cost them an equivalent of 5% to 20% of the global domestic product per year (Botkin, Saxe, Araújo, & Betts, 2007). From the same report, it is estimated that global warming can cause the world around $9.6 trillion by the end of the next century. It is difficult, however, to determine the third party global warming claims to liability insurers. Global Warming Legislations in the U.S Several pieces of legislations are currently before the Congress on the subject of addressing the global climate change. Such legislations may have impacts on the legal landscape. Among these, some of the most important proposed bills include the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007, The Low Economy Act of 2007, The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007, The Safe Climate Act of 2007 and The Electric Utility Cap and Trade Act of 2007 among others (NRDC, 2012). From the superficial analysis, it is clear that some of the legislations proposed seek to stop the climate change induced by human interference. Apart from that, they also seek to increase cost allocation, expense and distribution of harm that is due to or related to global warming. From the look of things, it seems that the proposed pieces of legislations are looking forward to putting in place a new statutory framework. I addition to these pending bills before the U.S Congress, there are 300 more bills before 40 different other states addressing global warming and climate change. Joining in the Fight against Global Warming Just like global warming as an issue has become a global concern, the fight against this issue has received much support from several other states all over the world. As such, several states have developed regional targets to help in reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses. For illustration, there is a report from several of the Northeastern States that have announced to have come up with a regional program aimed at reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide through a cap-and-trade system. This program was named as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). There was also memorandum of understanding, to reduce greenhouse gases using the market-based efforts like a regional cap and trade program, signed in 2006 by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California governor, with other States such as Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, and Washington. Several other governors, in 2008, formed task forces that were charged with addressing the global warming issues (Robert, Scott, & John, 2009). The same year, the New York Attorney General led a 15-state coalition that was challenging the position of the federal government that states like New York were not in a position to have the right of regulating the emissions of the greenhouse gases from the automobiles. At the same time, the Attorney General summoned around five large companies dealing in energy to make an investigation about them whether they were informed about the financial risks involved towards the plants dealing coal-burning and are involved in releasing the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, to the atmosphere. There was also a landmark settlement agreement announced by the New York Attorney General with the Xcel Energy as the first-ever, binding agreement which is also enforceable and requiring a major national company in the energy sector and with the aim to disclose the financial risks involved that climate change has the potential to pose to its investors. Possible Solutions to Global Warming Global warming is a wider problem whose causes are also very wide and profound. For this reason, theres no single remedy that can be offered to curb global warming. However, there are various solutions that can be used collectively to reduce the global warming menace. Some of these approaches and technologies are as discussed below. Boosting energy efficiency is one of the solutions that should be provided to solve the global warming issue. One single largest contributor to global warming has been found to be the use of energy to decorate, light, power, cool and heat our businesses as well as homes. When energy efficient technologies are used, less energy to achieve an equal or higher production levels, comfort and service (Unonymous, 2002). When this technology is applied, a lot of money and energy can be saved that can then be deployed very quickly. Over the past decade, emissions from the transportation sector have tremendously increased at a faster rate than other energy consuming sectors. To reduce the emission levels, efficiency or the miles per gallon used, in all modes of transport should be improved. Alternatively, people can switch to low carbon fuels and reducing the miles traveled by a vehicle through sing other safe alternative transportation means such as bicycles. Reviving up renewables can also be a way to reduce global warming. There is a variety of renewable energy sources such as geothermal, solar, the wind, and bioenergy. These are readily available around the world. According to many studies, renewable energy has been shown to have the potential to meet a bigger proportion of our energy demands. The technologies related to renewable energy have the potential for faster deployment and apart from the fact that they are cost-effective. Such technologies also have the potential of creating more jobs also to their main purpose of reducing pollution. Fossil fuel electricity has been found to be the major contributor to global warming, especially during combustion. If we can reduce dramatically the use of fossil fuels, especially reducing the use of coal which is carbon intensive, we can essentially have the ability to handle climate change issues in a better way. To be able to do this, we can begin by not building any more power plants that burn coal. Secondly, there should be an initiative to shut down the coal plants beginning with those rendered very old and dirty. We can also capture and store carbon emissions in the power plants instead of releasing them into the atmosphere. There is available technology that can be used to store carbon emissions in the underground; this can also be used to reduce the atmospheric emissions. In as much as this technology has been tested and proved to work with the gas and oil sectors, it is yet to be proved if it can be used on the large scale and whether it is permanent. Forests and agriculture also need to be management to reduce the global warming effect. Taken collectively, it is reported that emissions from agricultural practices and deforestation contribute to almost 30 percent of the total world head-trapping emissions. When we make the processing of food production sustainable, reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation of forests, we can have a potential of reducing global warming by nearly 30 percent. To ensure sustainable development is another way to reduce global warming. There is a wide variation amongst countries of the world from the most developed to the least developed in their contribution to climate change. At the same time, these countries vary in their capacities and responsibilities to fight the menace. To be able to successfully carry out global compact on climate change, there must be financial assistance coming from the richer and developed countries to the poorer and undeveloped countries that will go towards helping developing carbon transition to low development pathways of carbon and also help them adapt to the impacts of the changes in climate. Conclusion Global warming has been identified to be a worldwide menace of climate change brought about by various human activities that interfere with the status of the environment. Greenhouse gasses, especially carbon dioxide is mostly helped responsible for the cause of climate change, which causes global warming. The problem has numerous negative impacts on our environment including wildfires, an increase in the rising level of the sea, flooding and many others. There are several pieces of legislations that have been put forward to help in the fight against global warming. Many states and countries in the world have joined in the fight against global warming. The main remedies to global warming include sustainability and recycling of our wastes part of going green ad employing the use of renewable energy. References Botkin, D. B., Saxe, H., Araújo, M., & Betts, R. (2007). Forecasting the effects of global warming on biodiversity. Bioscience, 57(3), 227-236. Hayashi, A., Akimoto, K., Sano, F., Mori, S., & Tomoda, T. (2010). Evaluation of global warming impacts for different levels of stabilization as a step toward determination of the long-term stabilization target. Climatic Change, 98(1-2), 87-112. NRDC. (2012). Solving Global Warming: Your guide to legislations. Natural Resources Defense Council, 1-2. Robert, A., Scott, S., & John, D. (2009). Emerging Issues: Global warming claims and coverage issues. Defense Counsel Journal, 76(1), 12-39. Runci, P. J. (1996). Land use and the causes of global warming. Environment,, 38(5), 25. Unonymous. (2002). Mitigating the rate and extent of global warming. Climate Change, 52, 255-262. Read More