Climate change has been the most disturbing factor for environmentalists throughout the world. Finding a solution to that can stop or slow down the progress of climate change and a means of reverting the already bad situation to the desired normal. The situation is complicated more by the fact that the factors contributing to climate change towards the worst are added to the environment daily. The emission of harmful gases, the use of chemicals that persist in the environment and plastics that are indiscriminately thrown about all over places have contributed greatly to climate change. These factors have made the problem bigger and urgent necessitating a quick response from concerned organizations and the people in general. However, the complexity of who should initiate and fund programs such programs remains a stumbling block to any progress. This essay will discuss the construction of the social problems of climate change.
The Constructionist Four Stage Problem Construction
The social construct of the problem of climate change developed over a four stage process (Schneider, p.211). The first stage is where people realize there is a problem that could lead to negative changes in the near future. This has already happened in the world and there have been many conferences towards the enlightenment of the people about the progress and effects of climate change all over the world. The second stage is the recognition of the claims of the groups by the governments and bodies such as the UN’s World Health Organization and the Environmental Programme (UNEP). These institutions are tasked with ensuring a safe environment for the people in the world and they have activities that lead focus on reducing pollution and ensuring a clean environment. The third stage of the social construct is the claims that by environmentalists that whatever the government and the bodies charged with protecting the environment are doing is not enough. Climate change is a problem that started many years ago; decades have passed, a lot has been invested towards trying to curb the situation yet still the same governments that pledge to do the same still allow emission of the harmful gases into the atmosphere. This leads to more damages to the environment and the belief by the environmentalists that, though the governments are trying, the situation is still not improving. In fact it has gotten worse today that many years ago and the effects are more profound today. The final stage, according to Schneider (p.212), is the attempt by the environmentalists groups to help find an alternative solution on how best they can curb the situation. This has been the case in recent years where many conferences have been held to focus on the problem of global warming. Today, the groups do not focus on the developed and heavily industrialized nations alone; the contribution of the developing nations also needs to be reduced. The governments throughout the world are required today to reduce their per capita emission of the greenhouse gases
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Climate change is a phenomenon that has been in existence for a very long time. Scholars, government officials, industrial experts and multi-national organizations have known about the problem of climate change, the possible effects of the change and even ways of stopping the progression of climate change. However, there remains a push and pull kind of battle between the government and concerned groups about the government’s commitment to reducing the climate change and save the ever deteriorating condition. The groups of environmentalists believe that the government can do more to help reduce the damages being caused and improve the situation use of technology. The problem of climate change should not blamed on governments and the factories alone as the citizens of many nations play a major part in pollution as well. The use and dumping of wastes that pollute the environment is appalling amongst the people. As much as the governments and the factories need to help cut down the emission, the people too need to play their part in conserving the environment.
Evolution of the Problem in the United States
In the recent years, there have been calls by environmentalist groups worldwide for the governments to ensure their per capita gas emissions do not exceed certain amounts. The United States is no exemption and the government has pledged to help curb the enormous emission of greenhouse effect gases so as to help stop global warming. The amount of money allocated towards cutting down gas emissions and helping the people whose have been affected by calamities resulting from global warming has increased over time. The increment of calamities related to weather and climatic issues in the United States may as well be an indicator of the problem that has been neglected and is coming back to haunt the people. The Geography of the country has also suffered some negative impact of the climate change with particular reduction of the glaziers’ sizes and the rising sea levels as well as the frequency of hurricanes.
The United States government has directed on many occasions; both locally and internationally, that it is committed to fighting climate change and that it aims to cut down the use of coal and other pollution enhancing materials and use the clean energy or means that do not contribute to pollution and if they do, the effect is negligible. The funds that have been allocated to the governmental departments that deal with environmental conservation are substantive. These amounts of money have been increasing with each financial year. It remains to be seen what will happen with the incoming government with the president elect having said that his government will cut the funds contributed to the UN to help reduce climate change and improve the lives of people suffering because of the effects of global warming.
Bibliography:
Schneider, W. Joseph. Social Problems Theory: The Constructionist View. Ann. Rev. Sociol. 11 (1985): 209-29
