Avoiding Global Change in the Earths Climate - Essay Example

Avoiding Global Change in the Earth’s Climate Mainly, people use energy stored in fossil fuels (Lewis). Scientific progress has achieved such the level that the mankind can not use this source as major anymore since it gives rise to building up carbon dioxide in the air of our planet and estimates show that “this change in the atmosphere is affecting our climate” (Wakefield). Moreover, people have to come up with the new cardinal source within the ten year time frame to avoid irreversible climate change (Lewis). At the same time, we will live in the same world if people stop improving performance of modern computers or searching the cure for deadly diseases (Lewis). Hence, finding new major energy source of the humankind is the challenge of the current generation (Lewis). Only tiny fraction of the energy of the Sun that reaches our planet can potentially satisfy “all our power needs” (“Solar Power”). Scientists are on the verge of coming up with technological advances that will allow people to get most of the energy they need from this rich source (Lewis). Hence, to avoid the irreversible change in climate people have to finance modifying the way we source energy and reduce the carbon emission as much as possible. Since carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere, developed countries are more responsible for the contemporary high level of carbon dioxide content in the air than the developing ones are. Advances in technology allowed rich countries to cut release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drastically, and now poor states are releasing more than the industrialized ones are (Romani, Rydge, and Stern, 4). Therefore, international negotiations are a suitable framework for finding the sources of the above mentioned financing. For more than two decades the parties has been meeting under the aegis of the United Nations. So far the focus of the discussion has been being “the allocation of future Green House Gas emissions and the distribution of the associated costs” (Hedahl). Unfortunately, the negotiations have bogged down. Since the human society has limited time to avoid irrevocable changes in the climate, it is high time for parties to find a better focal point of the discussion. Understanding how devastating these changes are sheds light on the importance of avoiding the global climate change. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating. These changes, coupled with other global dynamics, including growing, urbanizing, more affluent populations, and substantial economic growth in India, China, Brazil, and other nations, will devastate homes, land, and infrastructure. Climate change may exacerbate water scarcity and lead to sharp increases in food costs. The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world. (U. S. Department of Defense 8) Hence, the global change in climate is likely to deepen “poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions” in developing countries. These are “conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence” against the industrialized world (U. S. Department of Defense 8). People can bypass all this through using source other than fossil fuels as the main one, but what proves that fossil fuels are the mankinds cardinal power source. Before showing that most of the power people consume comes from this source, one has to describe how primary energy differs from the secondary one. Primary power is natural sources of energy that was not “converted into heat or mechanical work”. As for the secondary one, it is “all sources of energy that results from transformation of primary sources” (Øvergaard 3). In addition to fossil fuels, there are two additional types of primary energy people use. They are nuclear power and renewable sources of energy (Wakefield). The latter encompasses six different kinds: solar energy, biomass, geothermal energy, hydroelectric power, ocean energy, and the wind one (Wakefield). Comparing consumption rates for different types of primary energy on fig. 1, one can easily arrive at conclusion that fossil fuels are the cardinal energy source of the mankind. According to estimates presented in reference (Lewis), all renewables except for the solar energy are not sufficiently rich to become the main energy source in upcoming decades. As for the solar renewable, it is available only half of the day and folks need to store it for the usage at night. The only technology of such the storage that can meet the huge production volumes is the photovoltaic one (Lewis). In it, the energy of the incident light is stored “in a chemical reaction (as in the conversion of water to hydrogen and oxygen)” (“Solar Photovoltaic Technologies”). Unfortunately, it is too expensive because it assumes the usage of noble metals. However, there are living organisms that do not contain these metals and use chemical bonds as the place to cache the power (Lewis). Therefore, Lewis believes that scientists are on the brink of breakthrough in reducing drastically the cost of the photovoltaic technology. Hence, the solar energy is a good candidate to become the new cardinal energy source of the humankind. To continue using fossil fuels as the main power source scientists have to come up with the technology of the global carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. However, even if the researchers succeed in this endeavour, people will have to find the place to store the extracted Fig. 1. Global energy consumption (Lewis). carbon. Contrary to “oil and gas fields,” it seems that oceans provide enough capacitance to store the gas. However, it will not be feasible to take advantage of this opportunity because storing carbon in large quantities will notably influence “pH in the ecosystem” (Lewis). Underground aquifers provide enough capacitance as well. Nevertheless, subterranean storage of the carbon dioxide is dangerous because the leakage of this gas can entail a lot of casualties (Lewis). Hence, fossil fuels can not remain the main energy source of the mankind anymore. However, this source will still be able to satisfy significant portion of humankind’s need in energy if scientists discover how to extract large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere (Lewis). The only source left is nuclear power. There are two approaches to producing it: through reaction of nuclear fission and through the one of nuclear fusion. Theoretical estimates indicate that energy output of nuclear fusion significantly exceeds the one of nuclear fission (Lewis). However, the current state of financing of the research in the field of the nuclear fusion suggests that scientists will be able to observe this reaction for the first time no sooner than in 35 years. Therefore, the mankind can not count on this technology (Lewis). As for the nuclear fission, it takes place in reactors of numerous nuclear power stations all over the world (Lewis). According to fig. 1, the contemporary rate of the nuclear energy generation is fairly small. Nevertheless, constructing power stations with breeder reactors mankind can switch to this energy source in time (Lewis). Unfortunately, authoritarian states that have weapons of mass destruction make this option to be excessively risky. However, reasonable number of new stations with breeder reactors can satisfy significant portion of the humankinds need in energy (Lewis). To find funds for financing the change in the way people source energy and to control emissions, rich and poor nations conduct negotiations. “Common but differentiated responsibility” has been being “a key principle” of these talks since 1992 (Hedahl). According to this principle, most of the emitted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has originated in the rich nations that did not have to incur greenhouse emission reduction costs. Therefore, it will be fair if the developed states assist the poor ones in cutting their emissions and bear the main burden of financing the mankind switch to the new cardinal power source (Shah). Unfortunately, the parties have not arrived at a consensus yet. Industrialized nations strive for “an inclusive international agreement” to achieve “maximum effect and legitimacy”. As for the developing ones, taking into account “the past history of global emissions” they do not believe that it is fair “to commit themselves to reduction targets” (Hedahl). Due to the time constraint, the parties have to strike a bargain as soon as possible. Therefore, they have to change the framework of negotiations radically. Experts propose to choose “Equitable Access to Sustainable Development” as a new key principle of these negotiations (Hedahl, 2013). Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the worlds poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environments ability to meet present and future needs. (World Commission on Environment and Development 43) The new key principle facilitates reaching a badly needed consensus. Specifically, it allows developing countries “to choose how they develop sustainably and how they manage climate change risks”. Besides, it requires linking the rich states efforts of adaptation to the climate change to the poor countries’ ones (Hedahl). Thus, mankind’s dominant sourcing energy from fossil fuels explains building up CO2 in the air. If scientists come up with technology of global removal of carbon dioxide from the air, then mankind will be able to keep sourcing significant part of the energy it needs from this source (Lewis). People can store large amounts of CO2 only underground. It can result in the leakage of this gas that is dangerous for human lives. Therefore, this source can not be the cardinal one anymore (Lewis). Humankind has ten years to avoid the global change in climate, and it can convert nuclear power to the main energy source through constructing numerous power stations with breeder reactors within this time frame. However, it is too risky because of the presence of totalitarian states that possess nuclear weapons (Lewis). As for the solar energy, to use it at night, people have to store large amounts of it. The only technology that allows doing this is the photovoltaic one (Lewis). This technology assumes intermediate converting the solar energy into the energy of chemical reaction (“Solar Photovoltaic Technologies”). At present, such the storage is too expensive because the respective device must contain noble metals. However, evolution provided some living organisms that do not contain these metals with a mechanism of storing solar energy in chemical bonds (Lewis). Therefore, it is likely that scientists will come up with needed innovation in the photovoltaic technology soon (Lewis). Since developing states emit more than the industrialized ones (Romani, Rydge, and Stern, 4), negotiations between them is a proper framework for achieving emission reduction and allocating funds needed to switch to a new main energy source. For more than twenty years such the negotiations have been assuming that the rich countries have to finance the switch to the new main energy source and to help the poor ones with cutting their emissions (Hedahl; Shah). However, the talks on the climate change have been stalled because the developed states want signing the inclusive treaty whereas the poor ones are reluctant to accept emission restrictions (Hedahl). Since the humankind has only a decade to avoid irrevocable changes in the climate, it is high time for the parties to change the focus of the negotiations. This message is the general theme of this paper. It is important because the accumulation of the carbon dioxide in the air gives rise to floods, atmosphere warming, as well as more and more severe storms. As a result, it contributes to destroying roads and buildings, as well as damaging the land resources and can cause global shortage of potable water and foodstuff (U. S. Department of Defense 8). Hence, this accumulation is going to provoke the global fight for scarce resources (U. S. Department of Defense 8). Experts recommend focusing talks on the following: delegation of decision rights in implementing policies that restrict emissions; joining efforts of the industrialized countries directed to adjustment to the climate change with those ones of the developing states (Hedahl). I am interested in the presented stuff because the paper suggests that a career field related to implementation of the large scale sourcing energy from the solar power that strikes the Earth provides secure job places. The paper describes how human society induces and eliminates the global change in the climate. Since the human society and the climate are the subsystems of the Earth system, the topic of this paper sheds light on the behavior of the Earth system. Works Cited Hedahl, Marcus. “Moving From the Principle of ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibility’ to ‘Equitable Access to Sustainable Development’ Will Aid International Climate Change Negotiations.” LSE EUROPP. The London School of Economics and Political Science, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. Lewis, Nathan S. “The Roger Revelle Centennial Symposium Series: Powering the Plane.” YouTube, 7 May 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. . Romani, Mattia, James Rydge, and Nicholas Stern. “Recklessly Slow or a Rapid Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy? Time to Decide.” Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and Graham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment, December 2012. Web. 20 April 2014. PDF file. Shah, Anup. “Climate Justice and Equity.” Global Issues. 08 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. “Solar Photovoltaic Technologies”. Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS Information Center, n. d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. < http://solareis.anl.gov/guide/solar/pv/index.cfm >. "Solar Power". Energy Resources. 03 May 2013. Web. 20 Apr 2014. . U. S. Department of Defense. Quadrennial Defense Review 2014. U. S. Department of Defense, 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. PDF file. World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print. Wakefield, Maggie. “What is Renewable Energy?” Types of Energy, 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. . Øvergaard, Sara. “Issue Paper: Definition of Primary and Secondary Energy.” United Nations Statistics Division, September 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. PDF file. Read More