Disadvantages of Climate Change and Potential Solutions

In today’s world, they are numerous environmental dangers that threaten to weaken the Earth in terms of its capacity to sustain itself. However, out of all these threats, climate change can be argued by scientists to be the greatest. Many scholars have agreed that this challenge threatens the survivability of humanity at levels that are both devastating and alarming. With that being said, there are numerous other factors that contribute to the problem of climate change. With every single problem, there is a solution, and one should note that there are also solutions that can be put into effect in order to curb the harmful effects brought by climate change.

Therefore, analyzing the grounds, outcomes, and solutions to climate change problems that are being experienced all over the world will be an effective approach to making the situation known, along with emphasizing the importance of the problem. The human population has impacted the climate change issue at an astonishingly terrifying rate, and something needs to be done.

Understanding Climate Change

Before leaping into the causes of climate change, it is important to fully understand and grasp the meaning of what climate change really is. According to some experts, climate change can be argued to be the transformation in weather patterns that are experienced on a regional or global scale, which usually corresponds to an excessive amount of rising temperature. It is imperative to note that these changes affect the world in a negative manner, as introduced earlier. The many causes of climate change can be subdivided into groups of anthropogenic (human) causes or natural causes. These causes can result in a destroyed balance of the energy that exists on the Earth’s surface. If the balance is destroyed, then, in simple terms, the temperatures on the Earth’s surface fluctuate as a result of the different causes.

Problems That Arise from Climate Change

When speaking of natural causes, one needs to be aware that there were more active natural causes prior to the start of the. Industrial Revolution in the 17th century. In that period, scientists argued that natural alterations in the amounts of greenhouse gases, volcanic eruptions, and the sun’s energy were the main causes that affected climate change. On the other hand, human causes spiked in the 1700s as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The industrial activities of humans ended up releasing a great quantity of carbon dioxide and additional harmful gases into the (Bellard et al., 2012). The negative effect of these gases is the same as those resulting from natural causes. However, they are more lethal. Once the gases are released into the atmosphere. The ozone traps the heat from the Earth’s surface, preventing it from leaving the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

Greenhouse gases have a number of effects that have been causing the Earth more harm than good. Adedeji et al. write, “A natural system known as the “greenhouse effect” regulates temperature on Earth. Just as glass in a greenhouse keeps heat in, our atmosphere traps the sun’s heat near Earth’s surface, primarily through heat-trapping properties of “greenhouse gases.” Earth is heated by sunlight. Most of the sun’s energy passes through the atmosphere to warm the Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere” (2014). It can be depicted that greenhouse gases tend to collect themselves in the Earth’s atmosphere creating a blanket that traps the heat that comes down from the sun, preventing it from going back up and warming the globe.

Hence the term global warming. In the past, scientists had predicted several changes that might take place as a result of global warming, and they are true to their word. These changes are being experienced today. Some of the larger and more noticeable changes are the flowering trees occurring at a faster rate, shifting of animal and plant ranges, ice that covers lakes and rivers breaking apart much earlier than predicted or expected, and ice glaciers shrinking, which is believed to be impossible. According researcher Inouye argues that defrosting of flowers has also increased in levels thanks to climate changes (2008). One thing leads to another, and the melting ice glaciers have contributed to the rise of sea levels and ocean waters. However, the biggest adversity of greenhouse gases is the increase in the Earth’s temperature that has resulted.

Current Effects and Future Dangers

One of the biggest arguments that is addressed is that climate change problems, if not taken care of immediately, may lead to far more negative effects than the ones noticed today. As of right now, the main effects are extreme weather conditions, changing of seasons at weird paces, the depth of coral reefs, and rising sea levels. If nothing is done, the rise of diseases, wars, famines, drought, and floods will also be experienced (Lorenzoni, 2007). Therefore, the solution to climate change problems should begin with the reduction of human emissions and industrial activities. The solution would reduce the carbon sources of energy to as minimal levels as possible. Using cleaner and safer sources of energy in vehicles emission, electricity sources, or simply the disposal of products. The sources can be converted to solar, tidal, wave, and wind energy.

The Role of Human Activities

The reason why the solutions are focusing more on energy sources for human beings is that, at the moment, human activities are the leading causes of climate change. As mentioned earlier, natural causes still contribute but are not nearly as common as they were in the past. Human activities in terms of burning fossil fuels are the leading causes of climate change, and this needs to be changed as soon as possible (Rockstrom, 2009). Currently, industries, modes of transportation, and other minor activities, such as cooking, depend on the burning of fossil fuels.These fuels include oil coals which, when burnt, produce the previously mentioned green gases like carbon dioxide.

Urgent Need for Action

From the information provided, it is evident that climate change problems need to be addressed before it is irreversible if it isn’t too late already. If the issue is not taken care of immediately, the world as we know it will be at stake or may cease to exist. Ocean levels rising will lead to flooding of the surrounding areas. In addition, the destruction of the ozone layer by greenhouse gases will lead to an increase in temperature levels. If that exceeds a certain level, it will result in a drought around the world. Once there is a drought, then disease and famine occur, which leads to disagreements between nations of the world, thus resulting in wars.

Consequently, the nations of the world need to be fighting the problem head-on by changing the use of fossil fuels to the use of clean energy. Since climate change is primarily a human-caused issue, changing the way things are fueled will be very effective and quick. Therefore, every person contributing to the solutions will play a crucial role in the improvement of the world, potentially making it as good as it was years back. Humans are the root of the problem, so humans are ultimately the only ones who can fix it.

Works Cited

1. Bellard, C., Bertelsmeier, C., Leadley, P., Thuiller, W., & Courchamp, F. (2012). Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity. Ecology Letters, 15(4), 365-377.
2. Inouye, D. W. (2008). Effects of climate change on phenology, frost damage, and floral abundance of montane wildflowers. Ecology, 89(2), 353-362.
3. Lorenzoni, I. (2007). The role of social capital in understanding community responses to climate change: An example from the UK. Global Environmental Change, 17(3-4), 343-353.
4. Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin III, F. S., Lambin, E. F., … & Foley, J. A. (2009). Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society, 14(2), 32.

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