Climate change is one of the most controversial topics of debates in the modern era with skeptics arguing that is a conspiracy meant to scare the public. However, there are sufficient facts to prove that climate change a real event that is gradually happening the world. Quite often, the change triggers an increase in the average global temperatures that have been associated with droughts, floods, the sinking of islands, melting of ice caps, heat waves and intense rainfall.[1]
Oceans have also being reported to be gradually warming and increasing their acidity. A profound analysis of the main cause of these changes reveals that human activities have a major role to play because of the high volumes of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases are having an effect similar to a blanket formed around the world which is trapping energy from the sun causing the earth surface to warm excessively. The greenhouse effect endangers the lives of people because of the direct effects on their health as well as the ecosystem. Although people have successfully adapted to the climate and the changes that have been taking place since the ice age, it is evident that the pollution and the effects of global warming are so profound for any human adaptation.[2] Weather reports have indicated that the changes in climate are already affecting the agriculture, the generation of power, water supplies and the transportation systems.[3] Other studies have released more shocking details that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can stay for decades thus, continue contributing to the rise in temperatures for many years.
Greenhouse gases and fossil fuels also influence water vapor, methane, and di-nitrogen-oxide. Their effects are also having to interfere with the natural system that determines the amount of sunlight that should be reflected back to space. Only 70% of the rays from the sun is supposed to be absorbed by the earth, but the earth is reported to be getting more than enough as a result of the presence of infrared energy.[4]
Through increasing the concentration of greenhouse, human beings are making earth more inhospitable and this why international organizations like the United Nations have come with various measure to sensitize industrialized and industrializing nations on the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
Besides human activities, there are natural causes and phenomena that have caused the gradual warming of the earth. A good example is volcanic eruptions and the changes in solar energy. Volcanoes release ash and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere and these particles have been found to be reflecting the solar radiation back to earth.[5]
Besides, weather experts have warned that when ice melt, less energy is reflected back and therefore, more warming happens. Although plants release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at night during respiration, this is not a harmful fraction because the process has been going on for thousands of years. However, the level of methane gas from animals has been increasing as more farm animals continue to be reared. Cars exhaust pipes and wildfires have also been increasing the carbon (iv) oxide concentration in the air.
Empirical evidences of climate change are however inadequate in convincing some section of the population and the political elites who do not think there should be too much focus on a natural system capable of regulating itself. This form of a division has been posing a major threat because it affects the unilateral decisions that are supposed to address the issue. In a survey that was carried out in 2016, approximately 10 percent of the respondents believed that the phenomenon is exaggerated and further not a real issue to be worried about.[6]
Skepticisms is also common in developed countries like the United Kingdom, Norway and Australia.[7]
However, to reduce the adverse effects of climate change, it is essential that scientific phenomenon stop being politicized especially for the conservative members.
To achieve the set global goals in ensuring climate change is adequately addressed, it is essential for practitioners, scholars, communicators, and policymakers at all levels to ensure that the issue is given a multifaceted approach and long-term solutions developed. Campaigns should also be adequately funded to ensure to ensure that more people around the world understand the emission of greenhouse gases is making the world more inhospitable, and without effective control, human being could be extinct years to come because adapting to the harsh climate will be almost impossible. From the statistics released by the IPCC, an international panel dealing with climate change reveals that the effects of climate change will be more prevalent in some regions in the world than others. [8]
Conclusively, climate change is a real event that is taking place gradually, empirically proven through the rise in the average global temperatures. Without effective control of the human activities causing this change especially through the release of greenhouse gases, then living things might become extinct. Every person has an active role to play in controlling the adverse effects. Politicians should stop politizing the issue and understand that human life is more important. The United Nations, as well as other regional organizations like EU, have been playing a significant role in ensuring the world is a safer place through campaigns to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
Bibliography
Boserup, Ester. The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. Routledge, 2017.
Matawal, D. S., and Dafang John Maton. "Climate Change and Global Warming: Signs, Impact and Solutions". International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, 2013, 62-66. doi:10.7763/ijesd.2013.v4.305.
Michel, Udo. "Global Warming and Security: The Security Implications for NATO and the EU of A Melting Polar Ice Cap in the High North". Connections: The Quarterly Journal
Ollhoff, Jim. Climate Change. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Company, 2011.
Osofsky, Hari M, and Lesley K McAllister. Climate Change Law and Policy. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law " Business, 2012.
[1] Udo Michel, "Global Warming and Security: The Security Implications for NATO and the EU of A Melting Polar Ice Cap in the High North".
[2] Ibid, 23.
[3] Boserup, Ester. The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. Routledge, 2017.
[4] Hari M Osofsky and Lesley K McAllister, Climate Change Law and Policy (New York: Wolters Kluwer Law " Business, 2012).
[5] D. S. Matawal and Dafang John Maton, "Climate Change and Global Warming: Signs, Impact and Solutions", International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, 2013, 62-66.
[6] Ibid, 64
[7] Jim Ollhoff, Climate Change
(Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Company, 2011).
[8] Boserup, Ester. The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. Routledge, 2017.
