The Future of Climate Change
Climate change has significantly altered the global economy and health of world populations in various ways.
According to meteorologists, the impacts of climate change will be felt in the coming decades especially on the sustainability of water supplies. For instance, more that 1,100 counties in the United States are at a risk of facing water shortages in the next thirty years due to the effects of global warming. This certainly spells doom to various sectors of the economy that depend on water sustainability. For instance, the industrial sector is likely to be hardest hit. This is because almost all their operations depend on water. The machinery that drives the manufacturing process has to be cooled lest it burns up.
Furthermore, the products under manufacture are almost entirely handled in liquid forms where water is used as the solvent. However, it is the agricultural sector that could grind into a halt. Although irrigation has always been an alternative way of growing crops, the predicted water shortages could actually imply that waters available might not sustain meaningful irrigation. As such, the agricultural industries could be forced to shut down as they will be nothing for them to process. Essentially, such a scenario could see an end to humanity. Water is such an important component of life that no human can survive without water for three days.
As such, the worrying trends of global warming must be reversed if humanity is to remain sustainable (Susskind L. E. 1994). Climate change could cause serious floods that could actually leave multitudes of people dead. According to studies by meteorological scientists, global warming will cause a tremendous rise in the sea levels to the extent that resulting storms will leave cities flooded. Particularly, the study points to a possibility that Boston City ending up in pools of water after heavy storms resulting from the impacts of global warming.
Although these are just projections, they could certainly happen someday if nothing is done to reverse the unfortunate trend of climate change. For instance, global warming will raise global temperatures further to the extent that areas currently under ice cover would remain submerged in pools of water. This will not only restrict people’s movement, but it will also cause several waterborne diseases to the world. In addition, the changing patterns of warm and cold ocean currents may result in major weather phenomena. For instance, typhoons and hurricanes could become more frequent and more widespread globally (Kenneth O & Gloria K 2008). The effects of climate change on earth can only get worse with the passage of time.
This is because industrialization that is one of the major causes of greenhouse emissions will never go away. Each and every day, better industrial inventions are being made implying that emissions will remain for quite some time. Besides, human activities that estroy the environment remain a major cause of concern. For instance, uncontrolled logging in the natural forests continues unabated in most forests in Asia and Africa as there are no strong laws to rein in the illegal loggers. The civil society groups that are promoting environmental conservation in these areas have not achieved much due to the fact that they have no prosecutor powers. As such, they remain noisemakers whose word is often taken with little seriousness (Kenneth O & Gloria K 2008).
According to scientists, the future of Greenland looks very bleak unless the trend of environmental destruction is reversed. This is because it is not only the ice that is melting, but also the ice causing serious soil erosion. As such, the effects are being felt both at sea with the increasing sea levels and on land where agricultural lands are being destroyed. Besides, the encroachment of deserts in Asia and Africa has been projected to worsen in the next decade if nothing is done to reverse the trend. This is particularly so considering that in the year 2011, the drought conditions in the Horn of Africa were equally felt in some regions of Kenya and Ethiopia that have never experienced desert conditions. This gives an impression that things can only worsen if the world does nothing to mitigate the idea of climate change (Bauer S 2009).
The political class has projected that international terrorist network is likely to seek refuge in the dry areas the Horn of Africa or Southern Asia. This is based on the argument that these areas do not support meaningful economic activities and as such of little interest the international community. For instance, Somalia in Africa has remained without a stable government for centuries now. However, the world seems to be least interested because the region has no other valuable natural resources apart from being quite inhabitable. This has made the place an attractive place for Al Qaeda terror gangs to hide from the intelligence surveillance of the United States. This means that terrorism could become a greater threat to the world in future.
In fact, Somalia is becoming drier as global warming becomes more severe in the world. Essentially, global warming could leave the world more insecure than has ever been imagined. That is why the international community must step in swiftly to reduce global warming (Susskind L. E. 1994). Global warming may force the world to massively embrace nuclear energy.
This is generally regarded as a cleaner source of energy as it produces no greenhouse gases. In fact, nuclear energy has been proposed for a long time as an alternative source of energy. However, the fear that nuclear technology could end up in the hands of international terrorists has made it quite untenable in some regions of the world. For instance, Pakistan has been put on the international radar by the United Nations and the United States due to their nuclear plants..
According to the United Nations, Pakistan has become rich haven for the Al Qaeda that allowing them to freely exploit nuclear energy is a kin to giving the Al Qaeda nuclear weapons to clear the world. In China, accidents in the nuclear plants have severely thwarted their plans for expansion. However, the new trend of global warming and the resulting effects could force people into embracing it as there is no other viable option. For instance, oil produces greenhouse gases when burnt up, which only makes the situation worse for future generations. Perhaps, the United Nations will have to put in place stiffer measures to ensure that nuclear technology is not abused while at the same time allowing for its responsible exploitation.
In fact, France is already pursuing this option to the extent that more than 40% of their energy is actually from nuclear plants (Kenneth O & Gloria K 2008). In addition, the world must begin to soberly debate the idea of climate change without bringing in the proxies of the cold war into the critical issue. For instance, it has been particularly challenging to fully implement the Kyoto protocol simply because of the economic tensions that exist between the United States and the Republic of China. While the protocol commits the United States to significantly reducing its greenhouse emissions, it only gives the Republic a supervisory role without economic sacrifices. This stems from the fact that the protocol was drawn in the early 1990s and things have since changed in the world especially China. According to the United States government, the total greenhouse gas emissions by China surpassed those of the United States way back in 1997.
As such, the protocol has to be revised to give stiffer conditions to China. Indeed, the opponents of the protocol concede that implementing the protocol in its present form gives undue advantage to the Chinese government of their United States competitors. As such, the United Nations would have to come up with an acceptable way of revising the protocol to make it more applicable with a view to the current realities (Susskind L. E. 1994).In conclusion, the global climate has undergone a gradual change in the last 400 million years.
However, the rapid changes that have taken place in the last century leave no question as to what the future could be like. For instance, agricultural lands will shrink by more than 50% in the next decade. This will imply that the earth will not be able to sustain itself properly in future. Besides, the rapidly melting ice will no doubt submerge most residential areas as well as cause a considerable change in the patterns of ocean currents. As such, the world must urgently intervene to save future humanity from a possible complete destruction. For instance, the United Nations must immediately intervene to resolve the issue surrounding the Kyoto protocol to allow for its speedy implementation (Rosen Gail E.
& Katherine F. S 2011).
