The Politics of Climate Change

A standout amongst the most critical issues that individuals will need to address in the 21st century is climatic changes. The consistently rising temperature of the world's climate is what is alluded to as Climate change or global warming. It happens when the weather patterns are altered for a period of time, for example, ten years. The rising temperatures are largely attributed to human activities and coincided with the massive industrialization of the 20th century. Statistically, global average temperatures have increased by almost 1.0 C since the beginning of the century. According to data collected from various metrological agencies, the temperature is expected to approximately rise to 6.5 C (Butos, & McQuade, 2015).  Whoever, Life on Earth is still possible due to the warmth provided by the sun. This examination paper endeavours to give bits of knowledge into what governments, associations and worldwide foundations are attempting to do about this issue, and additionally the difficulties they happen to come across. The paper also addresses some environmental values and their impact they have on climate change.

Brief overview

The evidence is clear that the earth’s temperatures have had changes over the past century. Many places have experienced rainfall shortage; others have experienced floods while others have witnessed drought incidences coupled with more extreme warmth waves. The planet's seas have additionally experienced changes in one way or the other. The oceans have become more acidic, sea levels have risen, and ice caps have continued to melt (Stokstad, 2003). The human beings have been at fault for all these climate changes since they have contributed to the release of large amounts of greenhouse gasses like the carbon dioxide among others. The major activities that have contributed to C02 emission have been burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, agricultural practices and industrialization processes.

Greenhouse gasses surround the Earth and completely cover it. This, therefore, affects the climate as the environment is made warm by the gasses that are emitted and have nowhere to escape to since the earth is already covered. This marvel is what is known as the greenhouse impact (Conlon, Monaghan, Hayden, & Wilhelmi, 2016). The greenhouse effect is natural and also responsible for supporting life on earth. Regardless, the headway of greenhouse gasses can change Earth's climate and result in perilous effects to human’s welfare and their ability to thrive as well as subjecting the organic groups on the loose.

Causes of Global Warming

Researchers around the globe have spent much time in the past decades trying to find out what causes climate changes. They have examined the common cycles and different occasions that have been known to influence the atmosphere. The scientist thus came to a conclusion and stated that climate change is caused by greenhouse gasses that are emitted into the environment by human beings. These gasses originate from the ignition of fossil fuels that are emitted by motor vehicles, processing plants and power generation. A large percentage of global warming that happens in the world's environment is said to be caused by carbon dioxide gas. Other contributors include methane that is discharged from nitrous oxide which is a component used widely found in agricultural fertilizers and landfills. Further, gasses used for refrigeration and modern procedures, and the loss of forests that would be in one way or the other store CO2 have resulted in climate change (Fan, Wang, Wang, & Jiménez, 2015).

Environmental Challenges

Globally, the environment is changing drastically, and that is a fact. Environmental change has occurred in the world that people live in and if human beings fail to take action immediately, then the planet earth would have no choice but to be catastrophically harmful. Climate change affects people’s health, the environment that they live in as well as the economy and natural resources.

Risks to Human Health and Society

Climatic changes throw the human life off the balance as it influences the functioning of many ecosystems and their member species. The changes that occur in the Environmental makes various current health conditions change from bad to worse. The most vulnerable people are the aged, the needy, children and individuals with underlying health conditions. Warmer polluted atmosphere increases chemical reactions that form ground-level ozone that irritates the lungs. Smog also triggers asthma attacks thus increasing deaths. The world health organization in a current report estimated that 4% of worldwide diarrhoea and malaria cases were as a result of climate change. Also, some infectious diseases like vector-borne infections and foodborne infections which peak in the warmer months would thus be on the rise infecting more people and causing a lot of deaths.

Exposure to extreme heat leads to dehydration and sometimes stroke and affects mostly individuals who spend most of their day in direct sunlight. The air that people breathe in should be quality air. Therefore, hotter temperatures and moving climate designs worsen the air quality. This prompts respiratory and cardiovascular health impacts. An adjustment in temperature and precipitation and additionally dry spells and surges influences the agricultural yields and production. This effect compromises the food security and also threatens human health through bacteria-related food poisoning due to chemical contaminants in food. Drought causes food shortages, and the increase of high temperature will soon lead to drought cases thus malnutrition will be on the rise.

The countries that are underdeveloped, as well as the developing ones, face a growing burden from new risks to health. The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that between the year 2006 and 2015, the death rates brought about by non-transmittable ailments expanded worldwide by 16%. The biggest increment was anticipated in the third world countries followed after by the eastern Mediterranean region. European nations were likewise confronted with expanded issues of re-developing irresistible sicknesses that were impacted by changes in temperature.

Impact on Economy

Scientists and economists have grappled with the severe economic and environmental consequences of global warming. Disruptions that are related to climate change in people’s daily life means that there would be lost work, lost school days, and trading activities will be harmed as well as agriculture, transportation, tourism among others. In general, this would mean that the productivity of a given country in any day would be lost. 

When the temperature rises, the sea level tends to grow; leading to cases such as wildfires, drought, and floods. The damages that are done to properties and infrastructures in such situations require extensive repair that needs a lot of money. This adversely affects the economy of national funds will be necessary to repair roads, dams, and power lines among other infrastructure. Additionally, cases of mass migration rise after such occurrences (Butos, & McQuade, 2015). People are forced to leave their homes due to climate related disasters. Mass advancements of people and social aggravation may provoke moderate fomentation, and may even drive military intercession and other unintended results.

Certain zones of the United States of America, for instance, are advantaged from being found near places with natural resources. This is because these resources are the ones that support the local economy. The environmental change could undermine these assets, and in addition be a threat to the goods and services that they deliver. Climate change could also threaten the employments and occupations of the individuals who rely on these natural resources. For example, climate change will affect agricultural communities, insurance industry, amusement parks as well as the tourism industry

Additionally, the emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has resulted in the air being concentrated thus causing the growth of planted crops to increase substantially. This causes individual plants in the fields to grow in an unfavourable manner causing the farmers to have an abnormal harvest that is not as per their expectations. This causes the demand for food products to be high in the whole world and across all borders. This in return causes the food production cost to be high thus an increase in food prices. This developing of plants could likewise prompt profitability misfortunes. This is on account of insects that feed on plants as they have more to feed on. Moreover, severe dry spell and a shortage of water could happen because of every one of these plants.

Changing Ecosystem

The universe's biological systems are in great peril from the impacts of atmosphere change. Many things are adding to the loss of the environment's species, water and plants. The changing ecosystem thus influences geographic ranges of many plants and animal species and the timing of their life cycle events. The rising temperatures in the environment and the changing patterns of precipitation are changing where plants grow, and also the species in the ocean habitat. The connection between environmental change and biodiversity has for quite some time been set up despite the fact that the atmosphere has continuously changed with the biological community and species going back and forth. The quick environmental change influences biological community and species capacity to adjust thus biodiversity misfortune increments. From a human viewpoint, climate change poses a danger to the human race. This is because; these climatic changes may result in a change in the natural pecking order that the people rely on upon. Water sources may change so is the extinction of medicines as they are obtained from plants and the flora that they are gotten from may also become extinct.

In the Arctic and high scope territories, there would be a diminishment in the degree of ocean ice, its thickness, and age. Less ice implies the loss of species that are adjusted to living either on the ice or under the ice from fish to flying creatures, to marine vertebrates like the iconic polar and other mammals. Moreover, the rising seas due to climate change destroy the ecosystems like the mangroves and wetlands that protect coasts against storms.

If global warming continues to grow, the growing seasons of plants will be altered, the rainfall patterns will change, floods and drought events will occur worldwide.

How Direct and Indirect Environmental Values are Impacted by Climate Change

In the early 19th century, researchers identified that global warming was likely to impact the environment. Among the modern problems confronting humankind; climate change is recognized as a top foremost environmental challenge. Human beings have significantly influenced climate change through emissions of greenhouse gasses. These gasses are mainly derived from Co2 that is brought about by the burning of fossil fuel and methane that comes from various sources. Climate change has facilitated adverse effects of extreme weather, indirect effects, and climate sensitive diseases. All in all, crucial changes are required to help curb the human influence on global warming through reduction of greenhouse emissions.

Direct Environmental Values

The immediate effects of environmental change depend predominantly on the exposure to warmth or frosty waves or extreme climate occasions. It includes an adjustment of heat and cold-related ailments and deaths. Research done in subtropical countries indicated that over 60% of deaths were caused by increased high temperatures and affected those people who were engaged in outdoor activities mostly. In the major cities, the high temperatures’ combined with air pollution influences the human mortality. An example is the UK and Paris health impacts that were brought by the extreme temperatures in the year 2003.

Global warming could also increase the death and pathology rates directly through injuries caused by landslides, wildfires or storms. Infectious diseases, social problems, Psychological effects and other stresses could also cause deaths in the community. People who have settled in slams, flood prone areas and shanty towns are prone to recurrent natural disasters that adversely affect human health. These overcrowded settlements provide homes to animals that carry diseases and acts as a breeding ground for these disease-carrying host such as rats, cockroaches, and flies. The communities living in the neighborhood of these poverty areas are additionally powerless against occasional infection episodes that might be present in their settlement areas.

Indirect impacts of climate change

Some of the diseases that are infectious, as well as those transferred by parasites, are compelling reasons for bleakness and mortality. These diseases are also the number one killer of small children. Some irresistible sicknesses are fundamental in tropical and subtropical territories. Global warming, therefore, tends to extend the area of influence and also increase the rate of outbreaks. Some of these diseases are water or food related infections which spread over a region once introduced to it by a single host. Infective vectors and agents are sensitive to climate changes especially those conditioned by temperature and humidity.

Addressing Environmental challenges

A climate change is already being observed in raising temperatures that result from the acts of human activities. The major activities that lead to climate change include fossil fuel use, agriculture, and deforestation. According to McKibben (2016), if greenhouse gasses are not decreased altogether underneath flow levels within the next decade, then there will be further warming and ocean level ascent for quite a long time to come. This will result in opposite effects on human well-being, the economy, and natural ecosystem. However, if the right policies are put in place, the emissions of greenhouse gasses would thus be minimal.

With a specific objective to find ways on how to address a global temperature alteration, the people ought to diminish the measure of warmth catching emanations in the air. People can make a move to lessen individual carbon outflow along these lines which will ultimately address the risk of an Earth-wide temperature boost. People ought to request activity from the leaders in the society to back and execute an exhaustive arrangement of how the climate solutions can be met. The government should, therefore, provide a cleaner and less dependent coal energy system. The government should also support solutions that reduce the usage of oil and additionally put limits on the measure of carbon that polluters are permitted to radiate. In addition tropical deforestation should be prohibited, and also the government should invest in energy efficient technologies, industries, and approaches.

Forego fossil fuels

The best policy to recommend and that would foresee that the three problems are addressed would be that of foregoing fossil fuels. The biggest challenge that the humans face is that of how to eliminate the burning of coal, oil as well as the natural gas. This happens because of most people, especially from the developed countries, work, wear, feed on, play and even mull over items that originate from such fossilized daylight. Oil is the lubricant of the worldwide economy and is covered up in plastic and even corn. It additionally helps with the transportation of people as well as the products that are consumed by human beings. Coal, on the other hand, supplies approximately half of the power in the United States of America. It also provides nearly that much to the rest of the world subsequently. According to the International Energy, this percentage is likely to increase in the coming decades.

For this policy to be effective people should thus try to employ alternatives when possible. People should invest in a change for example by investing in companies practicing carbon capture and storage. They should also try to curtail transportation fuel by either settling down near their job places, make an option of strolling to work or to other place or either cycle. They can also use some other method of transport that does not require the utilization of fossil fuels.

Pros/cons of implementing the Policy

The policy to combat climate change that was recommended in this study may also affect growth and prosperity. The burning of fossil fuels may sometimes be cheaper than the low carbon energy. On the other hand, the climate change policy recommended may have a lot of benefits that could outweigh the costs (McKibben, 2016).  

Economic Pros and Cons

Climate change can affect economic growth and prosperity in many ways. For instance, the rising temperatures may hinder the growth of crops' yields, and consequently, food might be expensive to purchase. When the sea levels rise, damages are done to coastal cities and repairing them incurs a cost. Policies that cut greenhouse gas emissions could benefit economies in future by reducing progressive impacts like the rise in sea levels.

The members of the community at any country are in search for jobs. When the citizens live in a clean environment, it would mean that people would want solar panels, wind turbines and also live in comfortable homes. All these will require human resources for them to be put in place. Human beings will also be needed to plant the trees. A well thought out shift to a clean economy will offer more job opportunities, more wealth and better health to people.

According to the world trade organization (2010), building cleaner cities can save over $3 trillion in investments by the year 2030 raising the GDP which can drive a new wave of innovation for growth. When burning of fuel decreases, it will save countries 4% of the GDP which is spent in health care. Also when worldwide degraded land is restored, it has a capacity of feeding 200 million people and also stores billion tons of carbon by 2030.

The developing countries might be affected by this policy in some ways. They may be drawn to disputes over energy supplies, food, and even water. This could also lead them to be embroiled in military conflict making the situation worse. These situations would thus interrupt the economic growth since the developing countries would be slow to adapt to climatic changes.

Environmental Pros and Cons

Useful results of ecological change may join greener rainforests and redesigned plant advancement in the Amazon. There would likewise be expanded vegetation in northern scopes and possible increases in a few sections of the sea.

There would also be negative responses like the growth of poor ocean zones. The fresh waters may be either exhausted or contaminated. There would also be increased incidences of bushfires. The coral extinction may be for real as well as birds and animals migration. The human being would also suffer since there would be changes in the food chain which the human relies on for survival (Weart, 2011).

Political Pros and Cons

According to recent research, it was found out that the climatic changes could have grave consequences for the country's security; therefore, people should remain alerted. This would in return increase the pressure on the countries armed forces. This is because; the military would have to get involved in solving conflicts that would arise across the whole nation. Climate change would be the reason for the conflicts as the resources would be few and there would be migrations in vulnerable parts of the world. The U.S military may be called to react to philanthropic calamities in these areas. Moreover, there would be cases of terrorist activities as such countries would be vulnerable, and this would further increase the burden on overstretched US troops.

On the other hand, a dangerous atmospheric deviation would diminish the country's dependence on oil since the oil would be less. This would bring about individuals putting resources into cleaner vehicles and a more proficient transportation framework that would cut the utilization of petroleum items up to 10%.

Social Pros and Cons

According to the World Trade Organization (2010), a recent study demonstrated that unleashing the maximum capacity of approaches intended to advance capability and renewable imperativeness, alongside a sharp utmost on a dangerous atmospheric deviation emanations would spare U.S family units, an average of $ 900 by the year 2030. The organizations in the nation would likewise save an estimated total of $ 125 billion annually. So as to accumulate those reserve funds, the country would need to make some forthright interests in more proficient machines. Drops in energy bills like electricity will be efficient for the investment growth. This would make household energy costs to reduce thus bring about savings in the society.

The use of efficient energy and the reduction of climate change would help families especially those that have a low income to lower their household expenses. The clean energy economy would thus create job opportunities for the disadvantaged workers in both the urban and rural places.

The poorer population have a high chance of not being insured on their health while those living in urban areas will experience air pollution and airborne diseases. Those residing in the low-lying areas will find it difficult to relocate since the high chances are that they are not insured against loss of property.

Conclusion

In conclusion, climate change is firmly identified with the ascent of the worldwide economy since the industrial revolution. This discussion has highlighted how the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes temperature rise thus causing the climate to change. Human beings should understand that if they continue to increase emissions, then the temperatures will continue to increase, warming the environment and the hydrological cycle will intensify. It is, therefore, the responsibility of every human being to take care of their surroundings so that the world that people live in can become a better place even for the future generation. The animals and the plants should also be given a chance to live and grow respectively in a favourable environment, and this should be the duty of the humans.

References

Butos, W. N., & McQuade, T. J. (2015). Causes and consequences of the climate science boom.  Independent Review, 20 (2), 165-196.

Conlon, K., Monaghan, A., Hayden, M., & Wilhelmi, O. (2016). Potential impacts of future warming and land use changes on intra-urban heat exposure in Houston, Texas.  Plos ONE, 11 (2), 1-19. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148890.

Fan, X., Wang, Q., Wang, M., & Jiménez, C. V. (2015). Warming amplification of minimum and maximum temperatures over high-elevation regions across the globe.  Plos ONE, 10 (10), 1-17. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140213.

McKibben, B. (2016). Global warming's terrifying new chemistry.  Nation, 302 (15/16), 12-18.

Stokstad, E. (2003). Environmental indicators: EPA report takes heat for climate change edits. Science , 300 (5628), 2013a-2013. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.300.5628.2013a .

Weart, S. (2011). Global warming: How scepticism became denial.  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 67 (1), 41-50. 

World Trade Organization, (2010). Global problems, global solutions: (p. 228). Switzerland: WTO Publications.