The Greatest Threat to the United States Essay

Introduction

The US is a global power nation and it has to grapple with various threats such as cyber-attacks, violent extremists' groups, climate interference and changes, drug cartels and contraband products, among many others. Despite the much adjustments over the past years towards dealing with global complex problems, there are still far-reaching issues which are yet to be tackled and one of them being climate change.

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Explanation

Climate change is not only the US problem, but it is a global concern. There are other urgent threats such as insecurity, economic recession and many more but this should not be comparable to biggest threats which are ultimately gradual and hard to tackle in the long run. Climate change is not an immediate threat, but it turns out to be the biggest threat to deal with since it is very progressive and the smallest changes are always overlooked yet they will have massive implications in future. Sometimes the small changes can be visible via weather changes, yet they become difficult to solve or reverse since the damage to the ecosystem shall have overcome human capacity. Due to atmospheric and oceanic warming, the sea levels will continue to rise and pose a significant threat to the coastal towns which would lead to mortalities, loss of property, evacuations, and panic. According to the former president of the US, Barack Obama, climate change is the most significant threat which the future generation would encounter, and that nations should arise beyond their differences to adopt policy agreements to protect the entire planet for posterity ("President Obama: Climate Change Greatest Threat to Future Generations", 2015). Human activities are the main contributing factors towards climate change. Technological advancement has enabled the US to be among the most industrialized nations across the globe which is a great breakthrough but also a detrimental factor to climate change. Industrial emission contributes to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. Human activities would consistently perpetuate hotter heat waves, adverse droughts and floods, and extensive disruptions which can cause evacuations and hunger. Moreover, climate change directly poses a level of threat towards the US national and international security.

Actions to prevent or minimize the threat

Firstly, the US government should start by recognizing climate change among the list of global threats with utmost priority. Unfortunately, President Trump has not included climate change in the national security strategy framework which functions to emphasize the priorities for the national security, governments, and other stakeholders to engage their interests (Wilts, 2017). The strategy focused on four key pillars safeguarding homeland, enhancing the prosperity of Americans, portraying peaceful coexistence via power and progressing the influence of America in the competitive globe. However, when one comprehensively delves into the promotion of American prosperity, climate change should be among the top areas of debate and implementation to achieve a holistic approach.

Secondly, carbon pollution should be reduced tremendously to minimize the greenhouse effect. The earth is trapping excess greenhouse gasses which contributes to the hot waves and overall warm earth. Deforestation should be avoided, and more trees should be planted and monitored during their growths. Besides, the community should be adequately educated about the adverse effects of climatic changes such as global warming to the ecosystem. The leaders play a vital role in creating awareness, promoting goodwill and changing individual attitudes towards environmental protection.

What do you project we will need to concentrate on, both in the short run and long run?

We need to focus on the policies, regulations, conventions and adopt the ones which would serve to present pragmatic approaches towards climate change both for the short and the long-term solutions. Secondly, we need to support these provisions in the action plans, strategic blueprints to push forth an agenda for agencies, states, countries, organizations to champion and establish implementation plans. Some of the issues to be addressed are pollutions, overpopulation, land utilization, zero carbon emission (Harvey, 2018).

References

Harvey, C., E. (2018). Climate Change Is Becoming a Top Threat to Biodiversity. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-becoming-a-top-threat-to-biodiversity/.

President Obama: Climate Change Greatest Threat to Future Generations. (2015). Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/news/president-obama-climate-change-greatest-threat-to-future-generations.

Wilts, A. (2017). Trump officially removes climate change from list of global threats. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-climate-change-threats-remove-list-global-dangers-national-security-latest-a8117486.html.