In the contemporary world, the issue of global warming has been slowly creeping into the limelight as an important issue that if not addressed, could prove to be the end to us all. Although many have tried to dismiss the idea of climate change, or push it away from the top of our priorities, this is absolute folly. The world must push toward efforts to reduce the global output of pollution because, if we do not, an exponentially changing climate will be the key to the disintegration of life as we know it.
Slowly, but surely, the climate has been changing, and it is due to its slow nature that people have begun to ignore the severity of this issue. However, if left unchecked, there are numerous events that will occur sooner than later. Examples of such events are as follows: tropical forests changing into barren lands, melting of glaciers in the Arctic and on the mountains, coral structures as well as aquatic life will decrease, the entire Mediterranean region drying out, and coastal flooding across the world. All of these effects upon nature are still going to impact the quality of living for humans as well. With coastal flooding comes less land for an ever-expanding number of people inhabiting the Earth. The decay of plant life will provide less oxygen for an air supply already riddled with poisonous gases, produced from factories. Many groups around the world rely on water transport as well as aquatic life as a primary food source, but if these were to change, it is easy to connect how its effects on the wild will trickle into the lives of humans as well. These are just a handful of the effects that the rapid climate change will have on the world around us, but what was left out of this list were the effects that have already taken effect.
The National Resources Defense Council has found that this has been the hottest decade since the 1980s. Summers since 2005 have peaked with intense heat, and heat exhaustion claimed 85,000 lives in Europe alone. Another appalling instance of this is current day Beijing, China, where coal is still burned for fuel. Researchers have shown than Beijing has seen an increase in lung cancer by 36 percent. The people in The people of Chine must wear breathing masks whenever outside because the smog is too thick to breathe in directly; this alone should be enough to force the world into red alert, but sadly some politicians are still blind to the effects of pollution. Aaron McCright wrote the following, “We think the dearth of work on the social construction of non-problematicity of global warming limits our sociological on the role of power in struggles to place global warming on the political agenda.” This statement is completely absurd. Through his piece, McCright calls for the end of “scare tactics” to the global warming agenda, however, debates regarding climate change are not strategy, they are legitimately frightening and should be presented and viewed as such. With the effects global warming has, and will have, upon the world around us, we are long overdue for a plan of action, a powerful stance against climate change, to better the world and halt the destruction that is currently impending.
The first step toward a cleaner world would be a small one, ensuring every household, or the majority of households, is doing the most to reduce their carbon footprint. Every home owner is able to weatherize their household, by this I mean preserve their electricity and gas bills by securing their windows and doors. By making sure your house is properly insulated, you can reduce your electricity bill by 30 percent. Also, as a personal step, one could replace their current light bulbs with florescent bulbs, as these last 10 times as long as an average bulb, stopping waste production and promoting a healthier house. In addition, a surprising fact is that by making sure a car tire is fully stocked with air could increase your miles per gallon ratio by up to 40 percent, this way when traveling long distances, you are able to reduce how much pollution one is ejecting into the world. Also, there should be a push toward efficient cars, ones with a higher gas mileage, this way you are saving gas money, while saving the Earth.
Currently the world is operating with fossil fuels and petroleum gases, however these are neither abundant nor renewable sources of energies. The second step proposed would be the larger transition to renewable energy sources. Wind turbines to harness gusts in windy regions, turbines under the ocean to use ocean currents, and solar panels to convert sunlight into energy, these are only three of many ways to produce renewable energy. Endless amounts of renewable energy, and they are only stopped by lack of money funding these programs. Statistics show that these power sources are producing vastly lower numbers of power compared to fossil fuels. Well, that is due to how much fossils we are burning and how little renewable energy plants we are constructing. If we poured as much work and funding behind increasing these power supplies, we could easily transition to a world that is healthier, not only for the environment, but for ourselves.
Finally, there must be reformation to the current animal agricultural system. CAFOs, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, are destroying our ecosystems. The manure from large animal factories is dumped from these operations into water sources that could in turn be in our drinking supply. If not in your cup, it is providing toxic living environments for fish life and has been the sole cause of mass death of aquatic life in rivers, ponds and lakes across the world. In addition, these animals are given dangerous chemicals that are toxic, not only to humans, but to the environment. Nitrates, and other fumes are being released into our air supply to please the growing population, and these companies have grown lazy with production value. In addition, animal agriculture is the largest consumer of clean water worldwide, water that could be vital in saving underdeveloped regions. The gases emitted by both chemical factories, and even the animals themselves are producing more harmful gases than most car emissions. Therefore, I propose a change to this industry, starting with stronger regulations for these companies. We must stop the generic engineering and hormone treatment of animals, the god complex may be strong, but the harmful effects of such practices are even stronger and deadlier. The factory setting should be abolished in favor of free range, and there should be less secrecy within these settings. In addition, the world as a whole should push toward eating less meat products, this way we could be able to still eat meat produced by these industries, while reducing the large demand for copious amounts of animals. This will lead to a healthier, happier and greener world.
Global warming may seem like a gigantic leap of changes and these changes may seem impossible, but frankly, that just isn’t so. This three-step plan is actually very simple and can be explained like so: making small changes in your own life, reallocating funds for renewable energy, and adapting your diet. These three steps may not end global warming as a whole, but they will greatly halt the hemorrhage that is climate change.
