Climate Changes Essay Example

Anthropogenic Climate Changes

Climate change can either be anthropogenic or it can be natural. Anthropogenic climate changes are those that are caused by human activities. Natural climate change is those changes that have been caused by natural activities throughout history. Climate change is caused by the inflow and outflow of energy to the climate. The axial tilt of the earth orbit is the major contributor to climate change (Asplund, 2014). The energy produced by the sun, the ocean cooling and warming cycles and the volcanic activities play a major role in global warming. The glacial retreats and advances that occur throughout history are also natural occurrences that lead to global warming. The ice ages that have occurred through history have been as a result of the natural occurrences. In all these activities, there is no human activity that influences the changes.

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Natural Climate Changes

Anthropogenic climate changes are those changes that are caused by human activities. The human-induced changes include the burning of fossil fuels, release of aerosol and deforestation. The industrial revolution was an era that saw the rise of global warming. Fossil fuels cause greenhouse gases emissions (Asplund, 2014). The emissions play a significant role in the rise of global warming. The gases play a major role in climate change by trapping the heat that is released into the environment. The trapping of the heat has caused the melting of ice sheets and glaciers and the rise of sea level. Deforestation has also played a significant role in the rise of global warming. The tree cover has been reduced which have affected the absorption of carbon gases. The reducing in tree cover has also led to the diminishing of water sources which has further affected the situation.

Taking a Position

I believe that there is global warming based on the evidence that is available. The recent years have seen an increase in the sea levels. The changes in the seas level have been caused by the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. The melting of the ice sheets is caused by the rise in the global temperature. The other evidence that is there which shows there is global warming is the rise in the world temperature. The temperature has been caused by the trapping of greenhouse gases. The inability for the sea and land to trap heat has made the world temperature rise. It is such evidence that has made me believe there is global warming.

The other evidence that is presented by researchers and has made me take the position is the occurrence of extreme natural events. Hurricanes have been getting stronger over the years. There has also been an increase in ocean acidification over the years. Other evidence of global warming includes deforestation which has been caused by excessive logging. The forestation has led to an increase in deserts and a reduction of rainfall. The result is an increase in the number of people who suffer from hunger especially in Africa. There have also been cases of people dying from heat waves especially, in countries such as India. The cause of the heat wave is as a result of the reduction of the ozone layer.

Current policies that deal with pollution

Different countries have taken some steps in mitigating global warming. In the US, Congress has passed the pollution prevention Act. The act is controlled by the environmental protection agency which collects and disseminate information relating to pollution (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). The law requires companies to reduce their emissions by investing in cost-effective ways of production. The source reduction policy has been hailed as one of the ways that companies can reduce their waste and reduce emissions. Companies are also required to use non-toxic products or less toxic materials in their production. The recycling and reuse of materials rather than dumping them has also been a great way of reducing the amount of waste that is dumped into the environment. However, the materials that cannot be reduced or recycled should be disposed of safely.

The high death toll has also seen countries such as China start to implement policies that are meant to tackle global warming by reducing carbon emissions (Jin, Andersson, & Zhang, 2016). The coal smoke from factories and power plants have contributed significantly to the carbon emissions which have caused an increased in global warming and deaths of thousands. China has invested billions of dollars in the wind and solar power as an alternative to coal. Since China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the policy will have a significant change not only in the country but around the globe (The World Bank). The country has also set up high standards for cars. The emissions produced by cars are now at par with Europe and the US. Unfortunately, the US has recently claimed it will withdraw from the Paris agreement that was established as a body that would ensure global warming is reduced.

Policies that I would propose to deal with climate change

There are several policies that I would suggest being implemented if we are to deal with climate change. One of the policies would be to reduce taxes paid by companies that invest in clean energy projects. This policy aims to ensure people in these industries can produce their products at a cheap rate. The ability to have the products produced at a cheap rate will ensure the companies can sell the products at a relatively low price. Customers will then have an incentive to buy the products because they can save money. Consequently, investors will be motivated to invest in these companies because of the high return. The results will be more investment in the companies and an increase in the use of clean energy.

I would also propose an increase in the taxes to companies that are polluting the environment to a certain extent. Companies should have a threshold on the amount of CO2 that they can emit each year. Any company that exceeds the level set by the government should pay a certain fee which would be channelled to green energy projects. There should also be a body like the atomic agency which would be given the responsibility of ensuring countries adhere to the policies. The agency should be given powers to act on any country or nation that violates the agreement set by the countries. However, since the developing countries are yet to industrialise, they should be given some leeway when it comes to pollution. Countries that are highly industrialised such as us, Canada and China should play a leading role in reducing their emissions.

References

Asplund, T. (2014). Natural versus anthropogenic climate change: Swedish farmers' joint construction of climate perceptions. Public Understanding of Science, 25(5), 560-575. doi:10.1177/0963662514559655

Hansler, J. (2017, December 30). 5 major changes to US environmental policy in 2017. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/30/politics/environmental-policy-moments-2017/index.html

Jin, Y., Andersson, H., & Zhang, S. (2016). Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(12), 1219. doi:10.3390/ijerph13121219

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2017, September 7). Pollution Prevention Law and Policies | US EPA. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/p2/pollution-prevention-law-and-policies

The World Bank. (n.d.). Reducing Pollution. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/brief/pollution