For years, the topic of climate change has been one of the most controversial disputes between world leaders. It has been scientifically proven; there is compelling evidence that it is taking place. Many world leaders have chosen to ignore the warnings of the world’s top scientists; they’ve simply brushed the topic off because they didn’t feel that it was as important as other topics in the political conversation. Some still claim that climate change is a hoax.
However, there are those out there who do recognize it as a real issue.
To efficiently combat the threat of climate change, states must address the problem at the global level, which so far, they have mostly failed to do. Only then is it likely that we’d be able to tackle strategies for confronting climate change.
Climate change imposes a plethora of disadvantages and dangerous conditions on our planet. Sea levels are rising rapidly, while snow and ice cover is decreasing.
There is a noticeable change in rainfall patterns and forest fires are spurring faster than ever before. The warming climate will likely cause more floods, droughts, and heat waves. Ultimately, climate change is causing conditions for natural disasters worse than what the human race has yet to experience.
Predicted long-term effects include the destabilizing of governments, production waves of refugees, and climate change could precipitate the sixth mass extinction of plants and animals in Earth’s history, and melt the polar ice caps causing the seas to rise high enough to flood most of the world’s coastal cities.
Climate change is caused by several things. According to NASA, changes in Earth’s orbit and the amount of energy coming from the sun contribute to it. Ocean changes and volcanic eruptions are also natural causes of climate change. It has been affirmed that while the course of nature is causing some of it, human practices and influence are more to blame for the rapid growth in the last century. Most scientists say it’s very likely that most of the warming since the mid-1900s is due to the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Burning these fuels is how humans produce most of the energy that is used every day. This burning adds heat-trapping gasses, such as carbon dioxide, into the air. Also, the conversion of land for forestry and agriculture is causing the threat of climate change to growing. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, these human influences on the climate system have increased substantially. In addition to other environmental impacts, these activities change the land surface and emit various substances into the atmosphere. These, in turn, can influence both the amount of incoming energy and the amount of outgoing energy and can have negative effects on the climate.
Climate change is a very real threat, and it is insane to think of the ignorance being shown by states on the global level. This denial to address the threat can be attributed to several things, mainly the fact that no one wants to take authority on the issue. Many are calling for the U.S. to take the lead, but they have failed to do so. Battling climate change also proposes a money issue; to limit emissions would mean to stop the consummation of oil, coal, and other natural gasses. States would have to switch to alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear, solar, and wind. This process is seen as too expensive by state leaders, and many do not want to take on this financial burden if no one else is.
For states to efficiently combat climate change, I believe that a lean and consolidated organization devoted to the cause is needed. An international institution whose sole focus is to govern states in reducing their emissions. This global environmental governance would serve as a problem-oriented entity that would advise leaders on the international and national scale. It could also provide a compliance mechanism designed to track transboundary environmental harms and member states’ compliance with treaty commitments. This new structure would make it possible to strengthen the overall coherence of international environmental governance by taking advantage of a coordinated approach to the range of existing environmental treaties and programs and therefore minimizing potential or actual conflicts.
Climate change can not be fought without collective action between states. An issue mentioned earlier was that states don’t want to commit to switching their practices if they are the only ones who are going to do so, therefore being the only ones financially impacted. This institution would hold states to these commitments publicly, causing a change in a number of the world’s leading states. It will motivate more states to join if they know that they are all sharing the burden to fight for a good cause. The institution could also offer financial assistance to developing nations that may struggle to finance the operation.
In conclusion, climate change is real, and it is threatening the lives of many. If the world does not act, it risks a worldwide disaster like none other. Negotiations on the global level have failed in the past, but the threat is direr now than ever before. Action is needed. I propose that to combat climate change, an international institution should be established to govern the global operations toward environmental repair and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Success can only be achieved if states work together to improve this Earth.
Society Should Take on the War Against Climate Change. (2022, Jul 25). Retrieved from http://envrexperts.com/free-essays/essay-about-society-should-take-on-the-war-against-climate-change