Climate change and global warming debate - Case Study Example

Prof Climate change is the radical change of weather patterns that is generally attributed to increasing and excessive pollution emission to the atmosphere caused by human activities from the industries, companies and residences (Bergman, 2011). The radical alteration of atmosphere severely damaged the green house that is supposedly shielding the earth from excessive heat from solar energy thus, consequentially causing global warming experienced by inhabitants of the earth. Climate change is also caused by massive illegal logging activities and wanton destruction of environment done by extractive industries.

For the past decades, loggers and miners have not seriously introduced rehabilitation of damaged mountains, rivers and shores. Such have serious implication to disasters such as the floods in Philippines, Pakistan, Australia, India and other part of the world that have killed thousands of peoples and damaged properties. The wanton disregard of massive wastes due to consumerism and the use of non-biodegradable materials are also noted, albeit increasing campaign for recycling and waste management.

The need to practice solid waste management as part of eco-governance worldwide remained to be inculcated as most countries deal with mountainous garbage everyday. Added to these is the disturbing deposit of toxic wastes in the oceans ridges that is affecting sea habitats. Moreover, global arctic regions rich with ice and glaciers are melting and have accordingly affected the tropical areas as sea level arises at 23 inches (SRREN, 2011). As weather pattern changed and became unpredictable, the cycle of vegetation is are also affected--seriously impacting to agricultural produce and to world economy (Solomon, Manning, Chen, Marquis, Averyt, Tignor & Miller, 2007).

The issue of climate change certainly relates to sustainability. People need to realize the fundamentals of human existence: clean oxygen from trees to breathe, food from organic farm to eat, vegetation and trees needed for our clothes, wild species and plants for medicinal and health care use, and materials needed for our shelters. The rest of our necessities can be viewed in a wide spectrum of value chain. To sustain human civilization and our needs, this earth must be rehabilitated. True, developments of civilization necessitate utilization of natural resources.

But people need not forget that we have only one earth where these limited resources are accessible ( Parry, Canziani, Palutikof, van der Linden &Hanson, 2007). As stewards of earth, people ought to protect and preserve nature too as well as undertake rehabilitation of those exploited regions. This issue can simply be put across with a simple fact that we all needed oxygen to breathe; not carbon dioxides emitted from industries and vehicles. Only trees could take in the pollutants. So you see, the simple act of breathing is part of a complex symbiotic interaction of human beings and nature-- a fact of our interrelatedness and interdependency.

Thus, it is observable that climate change crisis and it’s anent agenda is an urgent mandate for all countries worldwide. Aside from raising stringent quality control for extractive industries e.g. oils and minerals, there is also an increasing demand for nations to maximize renewable energy to mitigate the risks brought by climate change (SRREN, 2011). This refers to the use of bio-energy, solar energy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean and wind energy as sources of electricity (Solomon, et.al, 2007).

Ecological protectionism should also be integrated as a matter of policy to institutionalize climate change mitigation and adaptation (Yohe, Lasco, Ahmad, Arnell, Cohen,Hope, Janetos & Perez, 2007) and to motivate nations to plant trees, care for the environment and protect the oceans. Economic actors and human capital should be well educated too on how developments be undertaken anchored on genuine sustainability and sensitivity to resiliency in case of disasters. In conclusion, it should be realized that climate change is not a hoax.

Disasters, calamities, and the likes are real and are empirical experiences that we ought to analyze or resolve. While protecting the earth is a global imperative, each of us should share our stake for our children’s future. And while it’s true that we need to strike a balance with our needs as developing civilizations, it’s also equally true that no other could improve our environment but us people. After all, isn’t it sad to wake up one day and realize that a nuclear-based energy can wipe millions of people in one single catastrophe?

References SRREN (2011). Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  IPCC Working Group III. World Meteorological Organiztion & UNEP. http://srren.ipcc-wg3.de/ Accessed July 14, 2011. Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (2007). Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html Accessed: July 13, 2011. M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (2007) Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/contents.html Accessed: July 13, 2011. Yohe, G.W., R.D. Lasco, Q.K. Ahmad, N.W. Arnell, S.J. Cohen, C. Hope, A.C.

Janetos and R.T. Perez, (2007). Perspectives on climate change and sustainability. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 811-841. Bergman, Jennifer (2011). Effects of Climate Change. Windows to the Universe. http://www.windows2universe.

org/earth/climate/cli_effects.html Ma 2, 2011. Accessed: July 13, 2011.