Essay Example on Climate Change Reaches Point of No Return: Humanity's Strange Priorities

Human beings are strange and mysterious creatures that are accustomed to assigning huge significance to trifles such as fashion or private life of celebrities and ignoring serious problems looming in front of the civilization like an iceberg approaching the doomed Titanic. This is why ecological issues rarely make it to the front pages of the newspapers, but when they do, it means that the humanity has reached the point of no return. Climate change has been a front-page matter for some time already. Famous actors, journalists, and writers have teamed up with activists, businessmen, and politicians to make the masses aware of the problem of global warming and the danger it is carrying. The data are nothing less than eye-opening. Currently, the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere is higher than at any given moment since 1860 when the scientific measurements were first taken and, according to G. Best, "in April 1997, it was announced that satellite measurements of the northern hemisphere of the globe showed that spring was arriving seven days earlier than ten years before and that the leaf fall of autumn was taking place four days later" (Best 96). One does not have to be a scientist to see how the weather has changed within only two decades. The global warming has already changed millions of lives, and, in the case of the worst possible scenario, it will touch every single person on the Earth. And yet, many people still prefer to be blind to the situation and to let it run its course. I will argue that though global warming remains a controversial issue, this problem is real, and as such it requires a responsible pro-active attitude of every individual.

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In the modern social media one might come across a rather widespread opinion that the climate change is a myth invented at the end of the 20th century, but this conclusion is exclusively speculative and extremely harmful. Though the problem of climate change has indeed acquired special significance and topicality within the last three decades, it is not as young as computers and the Internet. In his article "Anthropogenic Climate Change: Revisiting the Facts" Stefan Rahmstorf offers a brief outline of the genesis of the concept of climate change:

The idea that humans can change and are in fact changing the climate of our planet has developed gradually over more than a hundred years. A fringe idea in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it is close to a well-established scientific consensus at the turn of the twenty-first century (Rahmstorf 34).

Debates about the nature and effects of the global warming and related phenomena which started more than one hundred years ago have not ceased yet, moreover, today they are more heated than ever. And though there are still many issues to be discussed, there is one point that all national and international scientific societies in the world agree upon - it is the conclusion that "in reality, the available scientific evidence clearly shows that the Earth on average is becoming warmer" (Brigham-Grette et al. 35). Realization of this basic fact is the foundation of ecological awareness that will allow to diminish the economic and social effects of the climate change.

Though such awareness is crucial for the future development of civilization, too many people still remain skeptical. James Hansen, a climate scientist and activist, in his illuminating TED-talk "Why I must speak out about climate change," underlines the fact that over the last hundred years enough proof of the destructive influence of global warming on the ecosystem of the Earth has been found. According to Hansen, the greenhouse effect came into the focus of scientific attention in the 1850s when British physicist John Tyndall discovered that CO2 and other similar gases absorb heat and act like a blanket warming Earth's surface (Hansen). In 1981, a team of researchers led by Hansen published a report which contained stunning predictions based on scientifically proven data, namely that "the 21st century would see shifting climate zones, creation of drought-prone regions in North America and Asia, erosion of ice sheets, rising sea levels and opening of the fabled Northwest Passage" (Hansen). Hansen explains how the climate change is dramatically affecting Earth's water cycle, saying that it will lead to heatwaves and droughts, on one the hand, but also storms and greater flooding, on the other hand, because "a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor with its latent energy" (Hansen). One does not have to be a meteorologist to see that most of Hansen's predictions which he and his colleagues made four decades ago have come true. The hurricane Katrina and disastrous bushfires in Australia in 2019-2020 are only two of the many examples. While the temperatures have risen dramatically, more and more natural disasters threaten the safety and health of people all over the world. It is a fact that cannot and must not be ignored anymore.

Global warming skepticism is not only ungrounded, but it is also harmful, and should give way to the pro-active attitude to solving the problem on all levels. The humankind was used to believe that it was in control and could effectively manipulate the workings of nature, yet, today this unreasonable presumptuousness has been shattered in the face of the global ecological crisis. Modern society has to forsake its complacent illusions and accept the responsibility for the future of the planet. Nobel Laureate Al Gore, in his powerful speech "New thinking on the climate crisis," asks the Americans not to "wait for the kind of drought Australia had to change our political culture" (Gore). Some steps in this direction have already been taken: in 1992, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in 2009, the Copenhagen Accord was produced and in 2010 an agreement upon the necessity to reduce emissions was signed at Cancun (Oshitani 1-11). According to Shizuka Oshitani, "the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997 brought global warming politics to the next stage" (Oshitani 1). These seminal agreements prove that the climate change has finally been recognized as a serious threat to humanity. Yet, these steps are not enough to curb the destructive effects of the greenhouse gases. Citizens have to join governments in this struggle.

Though, it might seem that single individuals are helpless in the face of such a global problem that defies the joint efforts of governments of several countries, there are many things that can be done by citizens. In her paper "Inside global warming," Roxanne Greitz Miller suggests four relatively simple and accessible steps that can help diminish the destructive effects of global warming. The first step is to activate the three R's, i.e to reduce, reuse and recycle. The second step is to switch to energy-efficient technologies and appliances. The third step is fighting deforestation. According to Miller, "from 1850 to 1990, deforestation worldwide (including the United States) released 122 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, with the current rate being approximately 1.6 billion metric tons per year" (Miller 59). Finally, the fourth step is to choose non-fossil-fuel-based means of transport, including bicycles, electric vehicles and cars consuming cleaner fuel (Miller 59). The statistical data may seem terrifying, but the efforts of the US population which amounts to more than 300 million can become a powerful game-changing asset in the fight against the climate change.

Today, climate change is not just one of the problems that mankind is facing, rather it is the most urgent one. Brushing the global warming off as a myth is an irresponsible and negligent attitude that humanity must not tolerate. Today, raising ecological awareness is crucial for the preservation of life on Earth. Ecostrophy is a real threat and it can be averted only by joint efforts of the government and every single citizen.

Works Cited

Best, Gerry. Environmental Pollution Studies. 1st ed., Liverpool University Press, 1999. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vjbmx. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Brigham-Grette, Julie, et al. "Petroleum Geologists' Award to Novelist Crichton Is Inappropriate." Eos Trans. AGU Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 87.36 (2006): 364. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/25744682/Petroleum_geologists_award_to_novelist_Crichton_is_inappropriate. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Gore, Al. "New Thinking on the Climate Crisis." TED. TED, Mar. 2008. http://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_s_new_thinking_on_the_climate_crisis. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Hansen, James. "Why I Must Speak out about Climate Change." TED. TED, Feb. 2012. http://www.ted.com/talks/james_hansen_why_i_must_speak_out_about_climate_change. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Miller, Roxanne Greitz. "Inside Global Warming". Science Scope 30.2 (2006): 56-60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43181019. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Oshitani, Shizuka. Global Warming Policy in Japan and Britain: Interactions Between Institutions and Issue Characteristics. Manchester University Press, 2006. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt155j6n4. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Rahmstorf, Stefan. "Anthropogenic Climate Change: Revisiting the Facts". Global Warming: Looking Beyond Kyoto. Ed. Ernesto Zedillo. Brookings Institution Press, 2008. 34-54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt127xgs.7. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.