Global Warming
One of the hottest topics being discussed now a days is the effects of global warming on the environment and the efforts being made in order to combat the potential effects. Simply put, global warming refers to the environmental effects caused by the constant emission of carbon dioxide from carbon based fuels. These effects are supposedly widespread; the temperature of the earth will rise, the land becomes less conducive to, vegetation, and various ecosystems become extinct. There is no common consensus on how to control the problem and through out the paper it discusses the issues of global warming.
There were three articles read that discussed how global warming is becoming a potential problem that needs to be
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And Green Peace claims that the results of global warming are going to be drastic. So who is the authority to believe?
The question then arises, if a plan of action is going to be taken, which would be the wisest? And the answer depends directly on the amount of certainty one has about the effects of global warming. At one end of the spectrum is the belief that a modest tax on carbon-based fuel should be employed.
At the other end is the Green peace camp which wants an exorbitant tax on such fuels. In the middle are those which want a tax on such fuels which would be adjusted according to a timetable to make sure that goals for reducing carbon dioxide will be met on time. One prominent goal is to have the level of carbon dioxide at the year 2000 to remain at 1990 levels.
And politically, getting different interests to agree on a plan of action is not easy. While running for office, both President Clinton and Vice President Gore promised to’ institute a timetable by which carbon dioxide levels in the year 2000 will not exceed 1990 levels. However, the President backed out because he feared the backlash of his opponents who would accuse him of trying to cut the usage of carbon based fuels by adding to the already proposed gasoline tax.
And on a global level, there is also disagreement among world leaders. A recent pact called the Climate Change Convention did not manage to obtain the signatures of fifty countries out of a
Party polarization is another factor halting action being taken to solve the problem. Both political parties in the United States have divided views among many issues. This polarization between the Democrats and Republicans has formed because over time their membership of the two parties are purer, causing them to grow farther apart, states Jonathan Haidt and Sam Abrams in their article, “The Top Ten Reasons American Politics Are So Broken.” Republicans are becoming more conservative while the Democrats on the other hand, are becoming more liberal. In the issue of global warming, the division between the two parties are very distinct. The Democrats in this matter believes global warming exists and should be dealt with. The Republicans on
According to the case, the carbon-tax and a cap-and-trade system are the best economic tool to employ to reduce emissions. As we know, taxes are the most important expense for a company or firm, if they would emit much more carbon dioxide and other gases, they need to pay more taxes on using carbon recourses. It is stated (Bubna-Litic & Chalifour 2012) that ‘One of the defining features of carbon taxes is that they generate a relatively clear and predictable stream of revenue’. The revenue can be used in many different ways and a key issue is how
However, there is another route to respond to Global Warming according to Bjorn Lomborg. Lomborg states “Instead of putting expensive caps on carbon emissions, we should immediately spend more money on researching and developing alternative energy. These include renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and wave.” (Lomborg, 2009, p. 105)
In 2010, Al Gore wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times claiming that global warming is a matter our generation must concentrate on in order to halt the rapid increases of change to our planet’s climate. He creates a strong, convincing argument by addressing and exemplifying issues pertaining to global climate change.
In order to examine and combat global warming, Senator Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 on Jan 15th, 2007. The act was proposed to increase performance abilities for electricity generation and motor vehicles with the choice in emissions “cap and trade” system. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass committee in 2013. (Environmental Defense Fund, 2007)
“Taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” (“Text A”), an international newspaper advertisement from Exxon Mobil and “An Agenda for Climate Action” (Text B”), a speech by Eileen Claussen, the President of Pew Center on Global Climate Change were both written in 2006 with the focus on global warming. The author in both commentaries strives to bring out the message that as human beings, we must take action to stop the worsening of climate change. Text A is a published article by a company that emphasizes that everyone in the world should be able to take part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that illustrates the range of actions, in particular technological advances the company has taken to address the problem. As for Text B,
It is becoming increasingly certain that climate change will have severe adverse effects on the environment in years to come. Addressing this issue poses a serious challenge for policy makers. How we choose to respond to the threat of global warming is not simply a political issue. It is also an economic issue and an ethical one. Responsible, effective climate change policy requires consideration of a number of complex factors, including weighing the costs of implementing climate change policies against the benefits of more environmentally sustainable practices. Furthermore, this analysis must take place amidst serious gaps in the existing research and technology concerning the developing climatic condition.
For many years there has been a great debate between scientists who believe that human activity has major negative effects on climate change, and those who argue that climate change is caused by a variety of factors, not just harmful human activity. Those who support that belief that activities such as the burning of fossil fuels could cause disastrous climate changes and global warming and those who believe that research has been skewed to alter the way findings are presented fiercely debate when and how climate change should be addressed by governments. These debates have caused the idea of Global Warming to become not only a scientific concern, but a political concern as well. With both sides having strong convictions with respect to how the issues are addressed, it has allowed events such as “Climate-Gate” come to pass.
Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make
Global warming projections have been proven wrong many times. The majority of predictions made by scientists were not true. Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States and an environmentalist, said in 2008 that the North Pole would have no ice in the next five years. “...Arctic sea ice coverage was nearly 9,000 cubic kilometers by the end of [2013] melting season, up from about 6,000 cubic kilometers during the same time last year.” The Arctic ice has not been decreasing, but increasing. Just like Al Gore, most of the other scientist that says global warming is an important issue, are
Did you know that the United States is the second largest contributor of CO2, and the less concerned about it? Climate change has been a problem for decades, but just recently we start to see how big of a problem climate change is, and can be. Climate change is one of the biggest problems that we are facing right now, even if keep trying to act like is nothing. Everybody, the people, the government, and big companies are a big contributor of this phenomenon. The more we keep denying its effects, the more we are going to regret it later, and going to wish that we could go back and try to fix the issue. You going to know one day, and its going to be late. Climate change should be the U.S government main focus this decade and the ones to come. Climate change can affect a country in every way economically, destroyed …., cause a lot of deaths.
Today global warming is an international challenge and needs global strategies to prevent it. Greenhouse gas emanation has the same effect on the climate whether they occur in London, Washington, or Dhaka. As a result, steps taken by one country to minimize emissions will result slight to decelerate global warming except other countries so something as well. Eventually, an effective plan will need action and dedication from all countries with major emission.
Imagine you are placed into the future. The year is 2100. You begin to live in this
This doesn't necessarily mean that every scientist sees eye to eye on each component of the climate change problem, but broad agreement exists that climate change is happening and is primarily caused by excess greenhouse gases from human activities.” (EPA)
U.S. Conditions like Florida and other states with a high range of hot spells are perfect