The society contends with various social challenges that affect the human race healthy life. Climatic change is one of the social issues that has had an impact on people for a long time. The changes in climate are affected by many issues inclusive of natural occurrences, human activities, and other aspects of the environment. While it is difficult to control the fundamental issues, humans have the mandate to streamline their actions in having better climates. The following is a research into the social problem of climatic change and its impact in the society through the lens of sociology to offer ways that can help mitigate its outcomes.
Overview of the social problem over the last 30 – 50 years
Climatic change is an aspect argued to have various impacts on human life and activities. Current studies indicate that climatic changes affect farming, business activities, location, movement of people, housing, and other issues (Urry, 2015). New links to climate had been noticed in the late 1800s with no significant information about the issue of climatic changes. By the 1930s, scientists had made discoveries regarding the greenhouse effect. They claimed that the emission of carbon into the atmosphere was developing an additional insulation layer on the globe, which would have a significant impact on temperatures in the environment and hence affect rainfall patterns. According to Pettenger, (2016), Guy Stewart Callendar, a British engineer, argued that increased CO2 emission in the earth was growing fast and would cause a rise of 2 degrees Centigrade over time. The Keeling Curve was further developed in 1960 that was indicating the steady increase in CO2 within the atmosphere, which, through the use of computing power, was found to have about the 2-degree centigrade rise in temperatures over a century.
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The historical background presents knowledge about climatic change and how it was identified by scientists. The social problems it presents to society are linked to various aspects of human activities. Glacial melts on mountains are one of the issues affecting people living near these regions. As the glaciers melt, they slide down from the top of the mountains at relatively high speeds. These glaciers thus increase the risk of death and other injuries for people living near these mountains. According to Pettenger (2016), vegetation, forests, and grasslands are also affected owing to this issue as the glaciers destroy most of these lands as they flow. The issue had been significant concern over many years as it is a social problem within society.
Humans, while remaining agents in the changes in the climate are also affected by these outcomes. For instance, studies show that there have been shifts on the shorelines along with various water bodies, which increase the risk of flooding, hurricanes, and other natural calamities (Urry, 2015). Additionally, declining agricultural productivity owing to the global warming effect increases the crisis on food supply and availability of water. The aspect is particularly noticeable in the semi-arid areas where the access to water is limited, and this further deteriorates the overall agricultural production. Extreme weather events such as heavy rains, snow, or high temperatures is another issue that affects humans as part of the climate changes. The scope of the research, therefore, is dependent on analyzing the factors affecting humans and how they contribute to reducing how people enjoy their life. It is clear that humans are the most affected and the study should analyze the ways to improving human lifestyles that will reduce their impact on the climatic change as an approach to reducing the problems associated by the same.
Analysis of how addressing the social problem could be improved
There are multiple activities that can be done to help in eradicating the issue of climatic change and its effect on humans and the environment. It is clear that advocacy for reducing the emission of CO2, while they have significantly helped over the years, need support from another mechanism. Humans play the role of managing the environment, and it is their mandate to ensure they keep it safe. One of the approaches I find integral towards addressing the social problem is through positive reinforcement. According to Pettenger (2016), positive reinforcement offers rewards for ethical conduct, and it helps to sustain the right behaviors. Developing good behaviors that will be suitable for better environmental practices is essential, and this necessitates the use of the positive reinforcement strategy to help the community have better behaviors with regards to their environment. For instance, if the people were given rewards by the government and other organizations that have interest on improving the environment, there is a likelihood that the community will be aware of negative factors affecting the environment and further eliminating them. The approach can be helpful especially in the industrialized centers where companies that have the least emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are rewarded as it will increase compliance with state regulations while ensuring the environment is safe and clean.
Another approach is through assigning roles to different states across the globe related to propagating the environment for future benefits. The states are governed by a specific government that has power to push approaches that will be integral in mitigating human impacts on the climate. A good example is the use of government regulations on towns within a country where the mandate is given to have at least 100 trees planted within the said town. Furthermore, the regulation can be given depending on the size of the town, where the more significant the area, the more the trees can be planted. The approach is integral towards helping the environment to have better methods to deal with the greenhouse effect, especially in urban regions and thus an excellent alternative to combat the social problem.
Concepts from reading material that helps to understand the social problem better
Social Action
Social action refers to the act that takes into account the actions that others have done and is thus oriented in the same course. Considering that humans are social beings, they tend to do what others are doing. As a result, understanding this concept helps to show that as more people tend to pollute the environment, the trend is practiced more and more (Brown, 2019). However, if the behavior were to be changed for small groups, the effect would be better and hence more preservation of the environment. The concept thus shows the need for ensuring behaviors of single individuals are adjusted to accommodate practices that preserve the environment, hence having better outcomes on the same and reducing the impact on climatic changes.
Culture
Culture refers to the beliefs, characteristics, and behaviors of a given member or members who emanate from a group of people. Analyzing different cultures within the community reveals that there are groups that have an interest in tree plantations and preserving the environment as compared to others. Furthermore, it is clear that advancement in time and urbanization has led to the deterioration of various traditional cultures that were helpful towards the improvement of the environment. People in the contemporary world, therefore, fail to observe these cultural practices that would otherwise reduce the impact on the climate, hence eradicating the impact of these changes.
Social Structure
Social structures determine the stable agreements among people on living together as humans. It is integral to note that within the social structure, the people often prefer the best for each other, which shows that improving the environment can borrow from the same. Eradicating practices that enhance climatic changes in demand practices that incorporate the whole society for their own benefit as a group. Additionally, it ensures to foster proper human conduct towards meeting the societal expectations, which guides these individuals in having better strategies to mitigate their practices in affecting the climate.
Power
Power refers to the authority and capacity of an individual to influence the behaviors of other people. In respect to the social problem of climatic change, it is evident that people with power can influence a change into actual conduct in maintaining a pleasant environment. A good example is a government that monitors automotive whereby there is a maximum limit to what amount of CO2 can be emitted by the vehicle. The automotive that exceed such limits are regarded as unworthy for the road. Through analysis of power in the community, it is clear that people who have influence can help to streamline human behaviors into a more acceptable way of preserving the environment. Using the power and influence of the leaders can aid to reducing these climatic changes and thus eliminating the chances of the social problem from propagating further.
Sociological theory related to the social problem and analysis of how it helps to understand the social issue
One of the theories that can be helpful in understanding and analyzing the problem of climatic changes perpetrated by humans and its impact is the role theory. According to Walsh, (2019), the Role theory posits that the behaviors of any human are guided by the expectations that other individuals in the society have on them, which is why their conduct varies depending on the specific environment they are within. Majority of the people will act according to what society expects, which explains why, under surveillance, people have good behaviors than when not being surveyed or in public.
Through the theory, it is evident that people have a challenge of maintaining the environment because there is no massive expectation that they will do so. A good example is the examination of a park where there are litter bins all around. It is uncommon to find people spreading their litter all around when they see these bins because there is an expectation that the dust must be put in these bins. However, if the bins are absent, people tend to assume that it is not their responsibility to keep the environment clean. The theory thus shows how people anticipate depending on the environment and their counterparts to streamline their behaviors towards having better outcomes. It is clear that by reinforcement and awareness practices that they have a burden on other people as part of the societal expectations can help to curb the issues affecting the environment, thus further eradicating the impact of climatic changes.
Conclusion
The research has evaluated the scope and impact of climatic changes as a social problem in society while exploring possible measures to eradicate the issue. It is feasible that over the last 40 years, climate changes have been noted across the globe thus imposing detrimental outcomes such as reduced agricultural produce, fall of glaciers, rising of sea levels that lead to relocation, drought, greenhouse effect, and others. Through various strategies such as awareness programs and positive reinforcement of the people, it is possible to curb the impacts of the climatic changes by eradicating factors that instigate these changes to occur.
References
Brown, S. (2019). Social movements. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/society-and-culture/demographics/v/social-movements
Pettenger, M. E. (Ed.). (2016). The social construction of climate change: Power, knowledge, norms, discourses . Routledge.
Walsh, J. (2019). Aspects of Collective Behavior: Fads, Mass Hysteria, and Riots. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/behavior/normative-and-non-normative-behavior/v/aspects-of-collective-behavior
Urry, J. (2015). Climate change and society. In Why the social sciences matter (pp. 45-59). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
