Introduction
Global warming affects the lives of the people all around the world regardless of geographical location. Global Warming is a consequence of human activities and decisions that are mostly governed by self-interest and material gain. Therefore, as the population in different areas continues to increase, competition to obtain life’s necessities intensifies. In turn, the destructive activities of humans continue to contribute to of Global Warming.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Global Warming is defined as the rising average temperature of the surface of the Earth increases due to emissions resulting from different human activities, greenhouse gases, and from products known to have Chlorofluorocarbon or CFCs (Conway, 2008).The United States of America's Environmental Protection Agency, commonly known as US EPA, also defined the term as ‘the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth's surface,' that happens due to a number of greenhouse gases that reaches the surface of the Earth. US EPA also distinguishes between Global Warming and Climate Change because changes in climactic conditions have resulted from Global Warming ("Basics | Climate Change | US EPA", 2010).
Scientists often use “global warming” and “climate change” interchangeably . But it is important to clarify that Global Warming and Climate Change are two different concepts. In fact, Climate Change is a result of Global Warming. Because greenhouse gases (made up of the particles of Chlorofluorocarbon or CFCs) have caused the thinning of the Ozone Layer, the rays of the sun can now directly reach the Earth further causing higher temperatures. Therefore, because of man’s activities in which greenhouse gases accumulate, Global Warming occurs, bringing changes in climatic conditions.
People do what they need to in order to survive. And advancements in technology (including the production of products with Chlorofluorocarbons) help people live a better life. But people do not spend enough time thinking about the macro effects and consequences of their actions. They are too focused on what improves their lives in the short term.
It will not be easy to convince people to stop using products that are harmful to the environment, especially if these things are known to have helped them have a more efficient and better life. These days, almost everything comes ready-made and instantly. All these are products of the advancements and in order to have all these, people would need to use harmful chemicals to fasten the production process.
What would people prefer: to have a longer Earth life or to get through the day? In common sense, it does not matter what will happen in the future if the present would have to suffer. If the present generation could not get through the day, if they will die because of having a very limited amount of resources, then no one will be able to reproduce for the next generation. It does not make sense after all if the present would sacrifice for the benefit of the future generation. Given that, to mitigate the effects of Global Warming (such as Climate Change), people must do something, they should start be lessening their use of products with Chlorofluorocarbon (or CFCs) which greatly contributes to the amount of greenhouse gases that are being trapped in the Earth’s ozone layer. Public Participation is very important in solving or minimizing the ongoing and continued devastation that will be brought on by the worsening environmental conditions caused by Global Warming. Thinning of the Ozone Layer Due to Ongoing Anthropogenic Activities
Global Warming occurs when the rays of the sun can freely pass through and penetrate the atmospheric layers of the Earth (e.g. ozone and the other layers) because these layers have been thinning for the past decades. As the technology advances, more products are being sold that are proven to make life easier and more efficient. As mentioned, the problem here is that the content of many of the products that we use contain Chlorofluorocarbon content which greatly contributes to the amount of greenhouse gases in the air.
Figure 1. The Greenhouse Effect as illustrated by the WWF International.
Source: WWF, 2010
According to Fllint (2011), ‘Global Warming: The Hottest Debate of the Decade,’ the concept of global warming as one which refers to anthropogenic activity has been in use for more than a century (Fllint, 2011). Scientists support this theory with data spanning more than 50 years. In ”The State of Climate Science”, Powell (2012) states that there has been no evidence presented in any forum that disputes the contribution of anthropogenic activities to the problem of global warming. Human activities that are primarily believed to contribute to global warming include the burning of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions, and deforestation. However,, scientists also note that it is not possible to accurately measure the extent to which anthropogenic carbon dioxide has caused global warming. Therefore, controlling anthropogenic activities will reduce global warming, but to an unknown extent. The potential negative outcomes of climate change potentially cause the extinction of many animal species, tsunamis, tornados, and droughts throughout the world (Maslin 2004).
Anthropogenic Activities are not the sole basis of the occurrence of Global Warming
While it may be true that human activities harm the environment through more intense Global Warming, complete control of the earth’s environment is not entirely in the hands people. Global Warming has also been caused by natural calamities−phenomena that are completely inevitable.
Since the term ‘global warming’ was coined, it has evolved from a minor environmental issue to the most debated environmental issue of our time. In today’s society, it continues to influence policies and laws on the environment, energy generation, agricultural trends, and technological innovation among other sectors. Global warming is caused by increased solar radiation in the earth’s atmosphere, and this has been linked to both natural occurrences and human activity. Flint (2011), believes that controversies in global warming issues arise when facts and information about the matter are sourced from the media and not scientists who present more rigorous empirical evidence. The mixing of sources on the matter of global warming can be seen as the cause of the debate about its cause, effect, and control. It is important to note that there are disagreements even among scientists about whether or not increased amounts of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide are to blame for the rise in global temperatures Therefore, given that controlling anthropogenic activities will reduce global warming, but to an unknown extent, people should make extra effort until researchers find the best way to quantitatively measure the changes that are likely to occur.
Being currently unable to quantitatively measure the changes in Global Warming is not a scientific failure. Rather it is an issue of differing perspectives. Global warming takes a different form in the eyes of different interest groups and politicians. This is evident in the documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth”, produced by Al Gore. The documentary raised awareness about environmental degradation among the public in a way that was more effective the efforts of the scientific community to date. Films such as this one have given politicians and interest groups a voice in the global warming debate.
It is evident that different parties hold differing positions on the issue of global warming. The motivation behind their interests ranges from political, economic and seemingly noble environmental concern. Political, social, economic and scientific communities are divided on the issue of global warming. While one side holds that global warming is an important phenomenon that poses a significant threat, others hold that global warming is a naturally occurring event, and that the earth's atmosphere has continuously been warming up for millennia (Michaels, 1998).
Since the people from different places around the world take different stances on Global Warming, there is no consensus about its nature or the solutions to be implemented in order to mitigate its effects. While it is true that anthropogenic activities are not the sole basis of Global Warming,, we should still study what should be done collectively to lessen the devastation that the world might encounter in the future.
First World Countries increase the Vulnerability of the Third Worlds
The largest carbon emissions are known to be coming from First World Countries—their machinery and polluting technological are the source of all these emissions. However, it sounds unfair for the third world countries to suffer the same intensity of consequences, or even more harsh that the first worlds feel because of the vulnerability and unpreparedness of the developing countries.
In general, according to Jadhav H. (Jadhav, 2009), the development of the corporations throughout the world has led to the violation of environmental laws in some countries. For instance, the atmosphere is spoiled with carbon dioxide.
Flint (2011), believes that controversies in global warming issues arise when facts and information about the matter are sourced from the media and not scientists who hold empirical evidence. The mixing of sources on the matter of global warming can be seen as the cause of the debate about its cause, effect, and control. It is important to note that there are disagreements even among scientists whether or not increased amounts of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide are to blame for the rise in global temperatures.
The above figure shows that United States offers a good example of great climatic change effects in urban areas due to the high energy use (Hansen, Ruedy, Sato & Lo, 2010). Considerable warming can be caused by energy sources and structures made by humans. However, in the long run, global temperature change as a result of the urban effect is estimated to be very minimal (Hansen, Ruedy, Sato & Lo, 2010). Small changes could be as a result of a partial cancellation of the warming and cooling of the urban regions (Hansen, Ruedy, Sato & Lo, 2010).
Even taking into account the potential capabilities of the United States to mitigate the effects of Global Warming through the technologies they have, people in Western countries are suffering from the effects of environmental degradation. At this point, we can only imagine how much more the developing countries will have to face.
Man Suffers from the Consequences of his Actions
With consequences such as drought, famine and species extinction, the threat global warming poses cannot be ignored. Humans suffer from the ‘direct effects of global warming on the population.'
Since the concept of global warming was coined, it has evolved from a minor environmental issue one of the most important and controversial issues of our time. Today, global warming continues to influence policies and laws on the environment, energy generation, agricultural trends, and technological innovation among other sectors. Global warming is caused by increased solar radiation in the earth’s atmosphere, and this has been linked to both natural occurrences and human activity.
Figure 2: Mortality due to global warming (GW) (Goklany, 2012).
According to Goklany (2012), other factors like diseases and extreme weather events account for more deaths than global warming. In Figure 2, the estimates marked in brown show mortality caused by global warming compared to other factors (Goklany, 2012). The 2009 study on Global Health Risk by the World Health Organization estimates that global warming contributes less than 14.3% of the total number of deaths caused by hunger, extreme weather conditions, and malaria (Goklany, 2012). Thus, the possibilities of global warming being the critical health risk to mankind in future are minimal, despite contrary claims (Goklany, 2012).
Conclusion
Global warming has been affecting the lives of the people in all areas of the world. The effects of Global Warming are consequences of man’s activities and decisions that are governed by their personal interests and gains. The human population continues to increase, and the competition to obtain life’s necessities also heightens. As a result, the number and intensity of certain destructive activities worsens the conditions of Global Warming.
Global Warming occurs because of man’s actions and activities that are governed by their personal interests and personal gains. Now, Global Warming is sought to affect the lives of the people from all over the world regardless of their geographical locations.
Those advocating for mitigation of global warming believe that afforestation and a reduction in the use of fossil fuels is a guaranteed way of controlling global warming and its dire effects (Powell 2012). For such measures to be effective, there is a need for a global shift in environmental policy-making. In retrospect, international organizations such as the United Nations have held a number of conventions on climate change that propose several multilateral agreements. These agreements serve to bind signatories to the various strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Michaels, 1998). However, such strategies may not work especially with major pollution contributors such as the USA, China, India and Mexico refusing to be signatories to advocated policies. As the global warming debate continues, the public will most likely take sides with those who hold the most convincing evidence.
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