Local and Global Solutions to Climate Change - Essay Example

Local and Global Solutions to Climate Change by The of the The of the School The and State where it is located The Date Local and Global Solutions to Climate Change Introduction There are different approaches towards viewing the relationship between the human civilization and the nature. While some think that the mankind is able to introduce any changes into the environment, there are people who think that the humanity should minimize its negative impact and eliminate the damage that it has already done. This paper will analyze the issue of changes in the climate. Indeed, the weather patters of the present day are extremely different from the one that the world witnessed earlier. One of the most alarming evidence is the rise of sea level which endangers the very existence of the states that are situated on islands. In addition to that the changes in patters of precipitation have had a profound negative influence on the agriculture. This paper will focus on the effectiveness of local as well as global solutions of the problem of climate changes. First of all, it will dwell on the most essential examples of this environmental phenomenon. Then it is will analyze in great detail the examples of measures to combat it on a local level, followed by examination of advantages and disadvantages of it as well as the perspectives that can be seen in its development. The next part of the paper will analyze global measures, such as introduction of the Kyoto protocol or alternative fuel, taking into account advantages and disadvantages of this approach, followed by a discussion of further perspectives that might be utilized in order to develop global solution of the problem of climate change. Examples of climate change It must be noted that when it comes to the analysis of the issue in question, a big emphasis is made on the global warming that is caused by excessive emission of the so called green house gases. Indeed, Earth is gradually becoming hotter and the consequences of it are devastating (“Global Warming” n.d.). To begin with, one should note that there is a tremendous amount of ice that is stored on the poles of the planet. The gradual increase in temperature means that this ice will melt. One of the most dramatic consequences of it is the rise of the sea level. It would not be an exaggeration to assume that a considerable number of cities around the world are located in close proximity to water. This means that if the humanity is not able to resolve this issue, they are doomed to go under the water. The next important aspect of climate change is focused on distribution of precipitation. It has been found out that the global patters of precipitation are moving into positive magnitude (“U.S. and Global Precipitation” 2014). While this might be seen as a positive sign by some people, the ultimate result of this change may appear to be catastrophic. Thus, the modern agriculture is based on the patters that have been established long ago and relies on the distribution of plants that are suitable for a particular zone. If the latter becomes damper, the plants will simply not be able to survive which will urge the farmers to find a suitable change. Local solutions Examples Considering a wide range of local solutions, it would be logical to chose ones that are, on the one hand, are easily implemented and, on the other hand, have the biggest effect on the environment; in this case driving a car less would be a perfect example. Indeed, all around the world people rely on their private cars as the primary means of transportation, while the latter are also regarded as one of the primary sources of green house gas emissions. What is more important is that the majority of the modern cars are not fuel efficient (Powell 2009, p. 49). This suggests that cars remain to be a major threat to the global environment and using them less will be a suitable way to start mitigating the damage that has already been done. In addition to that, the modern life heavily relies on other forms of energy as well, especially electricity; that is why if people use less electricity at home, they will be able to make a valuable contribution into reducing the harm that is done by the humanity. Thus, there are numerous ways to make a house more energy efficient, starting from simple measures like turning off the light that people do not need to using specially designed energy saving light bulbs that save on only energy, but also money of their owners (Montgomery 2010, p. 10). As one can easily see, such simple steps as the above mentioned are available to anyone who cares about the global environment. Advantages To begin with, one should note that local solutions to climate change put the control over the situation into the hands of the people. In other words, citizens are able to make a conscious decision to change their life in a way that would be helpful to the planet. As a result, there is no need for any special training or preparation: people might start saving the global environment the minute they would like to. This means that local measures can be easily promoted: the only thing that is needed for this is to teach the people the most effective way to direct their efforts to negate the harm that is done by the society in general. What is more important is that the steps, like the one that were described above, are easy to implement. Indeed, all a person has to do is to introduce some changes into one’s life and, possibly, alter some routine. For example, car sharing might be a suitable idea for friends who live close to each other or work together. In addition to that, some of the solutions, like the usage of energy saving bulbs, is beneficial not only in terms of environmental influence, but in financial terms too, arguing that a person may be helping nature and save money for different needs. This might be one of the strong points of implementing local solutions: they are beneficial for all the sides that are involved. Disadvantages Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that local solutions also have some disadvantages and the biggest of them is the limited scale of application. Indeed, some people might reduce the amount of time they use their car, they even might think about other ways that would beneficial for the environment; however, the number of people who will not abandon the old practices will still be tremendous. This means that the positive input that will be done by the local solution will be overweighed by the actions of other people who are less environmentally aware. As a result, efforts of the people will be for nothing. Another point that should be noted that is quite logically connected to the previous one which is the insufficient amount of change that is done on a local level. Even if people are able to affect the local environment on a systemic level, the problem of climate change is surely a global one; so, an improvement in one particular part of the world will not be able to bring any positive impact on the planet. In other words, local solutions might be quite useful in the process of reducing the immediate harm that is caused by the people, but they can hardly change the negative patterns that have existed for several decades. It is quite obvious that in order to do so, the mankind should utilize a different approach and not put too big emphasis on local solutions. Perspectives You should also keep in mind that local solutions to the issue of global warming exist in a dynamic state which means that they are able to change themselves, which will lead to their increased effectiveness. For example, one of the suitable ways for them to change is to coordinate the efforts of groups of people in different parts of the country. It would not be an exaggeration to point out that some regions of the world are more in need of environmental intervention than the others. As a result, an effective way to coordinate local solution would be to direct people to regions that might benefit from it the most. In other words, while the scope of actions will remain the same, the actual effectiveness will be increased. In addition to that, there might be an effective way to increase the number of people who participate in the local solution; legislation might provide some bonuses for the people who willfully take part in environmental programs. In this case, the local community will be able to enjoy benefits of reducing the damage that is done. Indeed, the majority of the people are willing to help the planet, but they are not motivated enough. This means that a proper introduction of certain benefits they receive for their environmentally aware actions might be the key to engaging more people. In other words, there are numerous ways to make local solutions more effective and, possibly, reduce the disadvantages of them in the long run. Global solutions Examples It would not be a mistake to suggest that the humanity has been trying to address the issue of climate change on a global level; the adoption of Kyoto protocol might serve as an exemplary situation which shows that the all the countries of the world worked out some terms to limit the impact that industrial product has on the environment (Orford & Raubenheimer 2004, p. 5). Indeed, the idea that the above mentioned document relies on was a truly bright one: it limited the amount of emission of CO2 which directly affected the greenhouse effect on the planet. Keeping in mind that all countries were expected to join the protocol, this might have been a part of the ultimate solution to the problem of global warming. Another suitable example of a global solution to the issue of climate change is promotion of alternative fuel. Indeed, the idea behind this was quite simple: petroleum is used primarily because the production as well as distribution of it is well established; that is why if there were an alternative source that is as efficient, but more environmentally friendly and is as convenient in use the humanity would have no problem switching to it. Thus, instead of oil, cars can run on electricity which will minimize the emission of green house gases. Efforts to create as well as popularize this kind of transportation have been made and some of the countries are actively developing infrastructure for such cars (Gerrard 2007, p. 574). Advantages It is quite obvious that the biggest advantage of global solution is the scale of implementation. For example, the above mentioned Kyoto protocol addressed all the countries in the world (Koh 2010, p. 179). There is no doubt that with such level of coverage any, even the smallest effort,s become quite effective. In addition to that, the universal application of global solutions contributes to the feeling of unity of the humanity, explaining that climate change is a problem that affects all the people in the world. This kind of thinking allows people to motivate themselves as well as involve others into environmentally friendly initiatives. However, one of the most essential strong points of this approach lies in the fact that it matches the nature of the problem. It is quite understandable that climate change, global warming are examples of problems that affect the planet as a system; that is why a global approach is able to make a valuate contribution to dealing with the above mentioned phenomena (Elliott 2013, p. 41). For example, as it has already been noted, the green house gases are not produced in a particular part of the world; so, the solution for it should not only be implemented in one specified location. The use of Kyoto protocol reflects the understanding of the fundamental problem and adequately reacts to it, providing the world with guidelines that are able to introduce some changes into the way the global production interacts with nature. Disadvantages If global solution to climate change had been effective, the world could have stopped worrying about this problem, but it is obvious that this is not the case; a careful analysis of the disadvantages of this approach might reveal the following problems: little control of the overall process as well as difficulties in implementation. Speaking of the former, it is clear that the humanity can hardly have any control over atmosphere: a system that has been existing for millions of years and the full nature of which has not been fully studied yet. In other words, the limitation of emission of green house gases may sound quite reasonable in theory, but the practical result might only be perceived in the long term perspective: at the present moment there is no factual evidence that global solutions have been effective. The second disadvantage of the global approach towards solution of the problem of climate change is lack of adequate enforcement of its application. Thus, there are countries which disagreed to follow the guidelines of the Kyoto protocol and there is not legitimate way to make to change their mind. In other words, within the framework of the global community there is no superior body to states that is able to make they perform particular actions. In other words, any environmental initiative that is being proposed on a global level may be doomed to failure in case the countries that have the biggest environmental impact refuse to participate in it. Perspectives One of the points that should be stressed while considering the perspective of the global approach is the fact that climate changes will be more evident in the future. This is extremely important since it will motive ordinary citizens to urge the governments to adequately react to the problem of climate change. At the present moment various environmental initiatives are primarily endorsed by non governmental organizations and are not taken into serious consideration, while economic issues are thought to be of the highest priority. If the current pace of climate change is maintained, the future governments will have to deal with far worse environmental conditions which will urge them to agree on some kind of a policy. Other than worsening of the situation, the future will also bring some positive moment for the global solutions. Thus, every year contributes to accumulation of the valuable experience of consolidating the world around preservation of the planet. In other words, a decade later the global community will be more coherent and more cooperative due to implementation of various environmental projects that are being executed at the present moment. No matter whether they fail or succeed, efforts that are aimed at providing the global solution of the problem teach the world how to find mutually agreeable ways to negate the harmful effect that is being made on the nature. This means that the more global initiatives are introduced, the bigger is the change that they will contribute to a positive change in the global environment. Plausible solution: combination of local and global approaches Having examined all the advantages and disadvantages of local as well as global solutions to the problem of climate change; having analyzed the peculiarities of their implementation and the perspectives of their development, one might come of a logical idea: the best solution to the environmental problems that the world is witnessing is to combine the two approaches. Thus, the mankind should maintain its focus on finding a global solution for the problem of global warming since no local initiatives are able to address it adequately. Nevertheless, if there is little initiative from the bottom, the proposed solutions no matter how effective they might be will simply remain some abstract plans on paper. What is even more important is that a combination of local and global approaches will allow people on both sides of the spectrum to be active. For example, the number of people who are involved in the issue resolution on a global level is limited to politicians, while the number of people who would like to participate in local initiative might be quite big. It is quite obvious that if all these groups of environmentally aware people work together, the effect that their activity brings will be extremely effective. In addition to that, the coordination between those who work on a global and on a local level might be quite useful since it will allow the former to make the necessary adjustments into policies, based on the observations of the latter. Conclusion Having examined all the evidence one is able to come to the following logical conclusion: the issue of climate change should not be addressed on one particular level, but rather on all the possible levels since this is likely to bring the biggest benefit for the world. Climate change can be easily witnessed on the example of melting glaciers or changes of patterns of precipitation. The local solution to this problem often includes using personal cars less and introducing energy saving technology. The advantage of this approach lies in the fact that it is easy to implement and the people have full control of their environmentally friendly actions. However, the disadvantages are the small scale of application and the insufficient significant of contribution. The perspectives of this method include direction of efforts to the areas where they are much needed and introduction of bonuses from people who participate in programs. The examples of global solution are the Kyoto protocol and promotion of research of alternative sources of energy. Their advantages are large scale of implementation and the overall positive effect on the environment. However, there is little control over global environmental processes and such solutions are difficult to implement. The perspectives suggest that the more humanity practices these solutions the more unified it becomes. In addition to that, as the environmental conditions become worse citizens of different state will urge their governments to participate in different global initiatives which is likely to contribute to their effectiveness. References Elliott, L 2013, Human security and climate change in Southeast Asia: Managing risk and resilience, Routledge, New York, NY. Gerrard, M 2007, Global climate change and U.S. law, American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Chicago, IL. “Global Warming” n.d., Retrieved January 18, 2015, from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page2.php Koh, K 2010, Crucial issues in climate change and the Kyoto Protocol Asia and the world, World Scientific Pub, Singapore. Montgomery, J 2010, Keeping Your Home Energy Efficient, Clinton Gilkie, Michican City, IN. Orford, M & Raubenheimer, S 2004, Climate change and the Kyoto Protocols clean development mechanism: Brazil, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Africa, ITDG, London. Powell, J 2009, Climate Change and the Post Carbon Future, Evans Brothers, London. “U.S. and Global Precipitation” 2014, Retrieved January 18, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/weather-climate/precipitation.html Read More