Essay: Climate changes, measures taken and future steps

Climate change can be defined as the shift in the weather on a large scale experienced over a long period of time (Met Office, 2009). It is usually referred to unnatural changes such as global warming, greenhouse effect or floods occurred since the early 1900s caused by man-made activities including burning of coal, oil and gas resulting in the excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (ibid). This has also been caused due to the destruction of rainforests as their role is to absorb carbon dioxide. These changes have led and have been leading to the sea level rising, hotter temperature, depletion of ozone layer, and ice melting causing an imbalance in nature. To prevent these climate changes from getting extreme, governments are applying policies focusing on current climate changes. They are also encouraging the use of nature friendly products and limiting the excessive use of natural resources. However, as this is not enough, further actions should be taken as an individual along with spreading awareness about the issue. This essay will thus focus on climate changes especially global warming, different measures taken to combat climate changes, and future steps that could be taken for its prevention.
Over the past years, climate change has been transformed from an “object of scientific inquiry into one of the most visible environmental problems on the public agenda” (Stoddart, et al., 2012). This is because of recent extreme weather events that took place such as earthquake in Nepal, floods in India, and Hurricane Katrina (ibid). For several years, the atmosphere was balanced with unchanging level of greenhouse gases. However, the influence by humans for being industrialised have upset the natural balance leading to climate changes such as global warming. It has been observed that the Arctic has been heating twice recently which is as fast as the rest of the world (Met Office, 2009). This is because the Arctic ice which is responsible for reflecting sunlight and keeping the Earth surface cool is decreasing because of global warming. This has resulted in around 1.5 billion people living in water-stressed areas (Met Office, 2009). According to a new data, thirty-seven countries in the world come under this areas (Ferner, 2013). This has been due to poor management of water, improper water conservation plans, no freshwater resources, and global warming.
Scientists have been expressing serious concerns regarding global warming for more than a century (Giddens, 2008). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change known for representing mainstream scientific opinion has been firm on climate change being the result of human activities (The Economist, 2014). According to them, human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history (IPCC, 2014). These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. They have depleted the ozone layer leading to harmful ultraviolet radiations from the sun enter the Earth. These radiations cause eye diseases, reduce plant growth, and damage marine life (BC Air Quality, 2016). It has led to warming of ocean and atmosphere, rising of the sea level, and diminishing the amount of snow and ice in the Arctic (IPCC, 2014). Chlorofluorocarbons, mainly found in aerosols and fridges, have resulted in skin cancer among humans as well as animals. This continued radiation of greenhouse gases has thus had an irreversible impact on humans as well as nature.
This severity of climate change led to controversial opinions among people. Some climate change sceptics have claimed that the present day process of global warming has not been proven to be the result of human activities (IPCC, 2014). They believe climate change has been there throughout history and the fluctuations observed in climate has been a result of natural causes. Some sceptics accept that the climate change is the result of human activities, however, the threat it poses has been exaggerated (IPCC, 2014). According to them, other problems in the world such as poverty, possible spread of nuclear weapons, or Aids are of more pressing dangers (ibid). However, putting an end to this argument, Johan Rockström, an environmental science professor at Stockholm University and executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, found that there were nine categories of Nature essential for life and that three of them had been already used beyond limit including climate change (Bawden, 2015). He also stated that the climate change has been transferred to a fourth category, deforestation, to his list of “planetary boundaries” in the danger zone, which threaten irreversible, devastating consequences to the planet (ibid). According to him, the situation concerning climate change can be considered similar to the depletion of ozone layer. The stratospheric ozone layer built to protect Earth from unwanted radiations from the sun has been getting reduced and if a proper action is not taken, it will result in fatal diseases and disturb the natural balance. Also, the majority of climate scientists later started agreeing on the fundamentals of climate change and that it is happening and has been caused by increased greenhouse gases recently from man-made resources (IPCC, 2014). This made the sceptics forget about the actual cause of climate change and focus on ways to prevent it.
To make people aware of this issue, the effects of climate change have been shown in the media on daily basis. Journalists, scientists and other academics are producing literature for the same. Many writers focus on solutions for climate change by referring to the use of solar power in place of electricity. Number of books and articles have been written on ways to limit greenhouse gases. Various governments have also started making plans to solve this issue. Their main objective is to construct international agreements within and outside the European Union to reduce the percent of greenhouse gases (Giddens, 2008). Countries internationally are negotiating terms by coming together at the United Nations. These terms or agreements are aimed at avoiding dangerous climate changes, setting ambitious emission reduction targets, and encouraging low carbon development- particularly supporting the poorest countries (Met Office, 2009). They are also working towards dealing with the current climate change by taking necessary adaptations. Many countries have amended their legislations related to climate. They have started policies regarding climate change focusing on measures to increase energy efficacy in homes as well as businesses, use of sustainable forms of transport such as CNG based vehicles and bicycles, and increase the use of renewable energy sources (Met Office, 2009).
To implement these, in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement, took place. It focused on committing its Parties by “setting internationally binding them with emission reduction targets” (United Nations, 2016). It entered into agreement in 2005. This was later amended in Doha in 2012 (United Nations, 2016). The amendments asked the Parties to present a revised list of their emissions of greenhouse gases thus monitoring emission targets (ibid). The first treaty was signed in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit when they agreed on the revised amendments and agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions (Aid, 2014). However, this created a tension between developed and developing countries. It also resulted in ideological and economical obstacle creating conflict between collective goods and national interests. To eradicate this, in 2015, the United Nations held a conference on climate change in Paris. Thus, 196 countries met to discuss about a new climate change agreement (Aid, 2014). The objective was to limit climate change by reducing emission of greenhouse gases.
In 2006, the government on the UK started a Climate Change Programme. This is because the core climate science was written by 152 scientists from more than 30 countries and reviewed by more than 600 experts (IPCC, 2014). The UK initiative thus focused its attention to meet the objectives of the UN Convention based on scientific evidence (Secretary of State for the Environment, 2006). It focused on various strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, efficient way to supply energy, improve agricultural prospects and monitor actions of industries. In 2008, the UK passed the Climate Change Act to reduce industrial emissions (Aid, 2014). This led to other acts like General Law on Climate Change in Mexico, and National Climate Change Policy in Nigeria (ibid). Moreover, certain actions as an individual could also be taken to prevent climate change. According to Greenpeace UK, the heat wasted in the cooling towers and the chimneys could be reused (Greenpeace UK, 2006). This could be done with the help of renewable energies such as biofuels, solar energy, geothermal energy. Low carbon cars could be used than the ones running on diesel. The consumption of energy could be reduced. The amount of carbon dioxide emission should be reduced and more trees should be planted. Natural resources should be used efficiently and consumed less. Small steps could be taken in individual homes. This could be done by switching off light bulbs when not in use and turning appliances off when not in use. Thus, a green policy approach should be taken.
In all, climate change being a serious issue has managed to grasp everyone’s attention and successful measures are starting to be implemented to prevent it from getting extreme. People are finally getting aware of the situation and not ignoring it. Even if the actions taken by the government are still not enough, small steps will eventually bear fruits for a better climate in the future.