Climate Change Debate: It’s Hotting Up

This is one of the climate change debate essays. The climate change debate is hotting up, just as the predicted global temperature is deemed to increase. So, this is something we need to act upon - and act upon now. Start a conversation in the street regarding climate change and people inevitably laugh and sigh - “a few extra degrees might not be too bad” - yet the repercussions of this are potentially devastating for mother Earth. People seem to turn a blind eye to how things like going out in your car or turning on a light are contributing to the swiftly changing climate. This is a debate about so much more than mere temperature; it’s about subtle ways in which we can all change our lifestyles to better the Earth.

With climate change comes controversy: those who walk around surrounded by a cloud of despair believe our planets future is doomed, whilst the sunny optimists are ever hopeful the effects of this can still be reversed. The term climate change simply means the alteration in the Earth’s weather patterns and consequently its climate. At the Paris Agreement (2016) it was decided that the focus of every country should be to cap the Earth’s temperature using “nationally determined contributions” and stop it from rising a further 2⁰C. This may sound minimal, yet the consequences of failure to adhere to this are fatal. Why then were there no consequences imposed on countries who did not comply? This may seem perplexing, yet the focus was on aspirational goals and not punitive measures. Fair enough?

However not everyone shares optimistic hopes for changing the way we live our lives to benefit future generations. There are those who are less well informed who discredit climate change as a real issue. They claim the concerns are erroneous. Many of these spokespersons are part of wealthy industries with a need to protect their investment. Their narrow outlook may even be the simple case of lack of insight who attempt humour as a means to ridicule the climate change lobby. President Trump is a well-known adversary to making such changes. When weather was uncharacteristically cold, he quipped: “Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!” Seriously? If money talks, should it not talk sense?

At times we cannot see the wood for the trees. But it is time to be clear about one of the major factors influencing climate change: deforestation. A staggering 30% of the world’s land is solely comprised of forests. However, this number continues to decrease as these forests are being burned to the ground in the name of progress and consumerism. If deforestation continues at the present rate, we are faced with the apocalyptic horror of no rainforests on the planet in 100 years! This is horrific. Oceans and trees help keep carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Therefore, once a tree is burned all the carbon that tree has absorbed is released into the atmosphere. So, think about how much harm burning an entire forest is going to cause to our poor Earth. Alongside this are the wide-ranging issues surrounding agricultural changes over the years. The main issue that is contributing to Tropical deforestation is cattle farming. 47% of land in America is used for food production and a shocking 70% of that is used just to grow feed for cattle. This seems extreme. Furthermore, cows produce methane which is extremely damaging for the Earth; one molecule of methane is equal to twenty-three molecules of carbon. And who thought the cow would ever be considered a danger? Think about this the next time you decide to eat a burger. Eating a ½ lbs burger causes the same amount of harm to the Earth as using a 60w lightbulb for 200 hours, using an air conditioner for a full 24 hours, or even driving a staggering 42 miles! So even changing your diet slightly can help delay climate change.

Added to these significant issues is the naturally wasteful view we have towards our fuel consumption habits. At this moment in time, throughout the world we currently use over eleven billion tonnes of oil in fossil fuels annually; if we do not change this by 2052, we will simply have no oil left. This is catastrophic - we should be ashamed. Even though coal and gas will last longer after oil has disappeared, gas will only last a short eight years more. And after that all we will have left is coal (only until 2088) which is the most damaging of the fossil fuels for our Earth. Having noted these disastrous scenarios, there are ways we can reduce our use of fossil fuels: there are other alternatives……………………………………………….

A deluge of catastrophic consequences awaits us if we do nothing. It can already be seen through the impairment that has been caused to the coral reefs, where we have unfortunately lost half of over the last thirty years. As the temperature is beginning to rise the oceans begin to heat up, this causes thermal stress which results in coral bleaching and diseases occurring more frequently. PH levels decrease because of carbon being increased, which causes coral to lose its strength. The once famous coral reef will be no more. Think about how the North and South Pole will be affected by the temperature rising. Think about how animals will be affected by this. Research shows that if we do not change our ways by 2040, we will be able to sail over the North Pole, and there will be no sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean during the summer. Without the North Pole the number of floods and droughts will increase considerably. Look at Greenland - that’s already being affected yet nobody knows about it. Their ice caps are melting around 36 to 60 cubic miles of ice annually. Think how many years they have been melting for and you can only imagine how that has affected the sea levels. Once all the ice in the world melts, sea levels will rise an overwhelming 216 feet. This will cause many parts of the world to become submerged in water. Places like Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, London, Bristol and Birmingham will all be under water. And that is just to name a few from the UK never mind the rest of the world. It can even be seen in Florida right now, they have had to invest in raising roads due to flooding.

In conclusion, the time to change is now. We need to embrace alternatives to our energy supply in order to counteract the tides of change. Getting our energy from wind turbines or solar panels, things that are healthier for the environment are the way forward. Agricultural change requires investigation including changes to policies and procedures. But the biggest change of all needs to take place in the global mind-set. The mantra: reduce, reuse, recycle is not only one that needs to be repeated but acted upon.