The root of global warming and how it can be prevented

Global Warming: Cause and Mitigation

Introduction

Global warming has been among the most controversial topics that scientists are debating about today. Berg et al. (2016) argued that the recent developments in the past few decades in climate change have prompted the scientists to develop a theory that human beings are causing global warming through their activities. The world climate is fast changing at a dramatic pace. Scientists have been trying to speculate and figure out how the world would be in 20 years to come by making a comparison to how the world used to be 20 years prior. Several changes have taken place in our environment. The changes witnessed are as a result of the human activities that are slowly destroying our planet, Earth. Global warming is tremendously increasing compounded by activities such increasing number of cars using petroleum fuel, use of coal to heat homes and provide cheap energy in homes, and the cutting down of trees that previously offset and balance the Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. These activities have resulted in a rise in temperature and carbon dioxide levels, a greenhouse gas.

Natural Versus Anthropogenic Climate Changes

In their work, Crate and Nuttall noted that global warming is caused by greenhouses gases of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and chlorofluorocarbons. Climatic changes can be categorized into two types, natural and anthropogenic changes. Natural climatic changes refer to natural occurrences that lead to climatic changes which human beings have no control over them, for instance, the tilt of the earth’s axis, volcanoes, hot springs, and the plate tectonics. The natural theory suggests that the earth has been going through many peaks and valleys of changes; there has been a rise in temperatures which are attributed to natural occurrences. The natural theory investigates the extent of climatic changes as a result of natural phenomena taking place on the earth surface. Volcanic eruptions, hot springs, and geysers have been reported to cause a rise in carbon dioxide levels and high temperatures within the areas where they occur. On the contrary, anthropogenic climate changes refer to human activities that influence the climatic changes which include emissions and clearing of trees. The consumption of fossil fuels leads to carbon emission. Carbon dioxide being a greenhouse gas prevents the escape of heat from the earth, and thus the earth cannot cool leading to a rise in the earth’s temperatures (Crate and Nuttall, 2016).

Global warming is taking place

It is undisputable that global warming is taking place. Global warming is evident by unseasonable weather taking place all over the world (Frischknecht et al., 2016). People and animals are already feeling the heat changes due to a rise in temperatures. Global warming is evident with an increasing temperature. The greenhouse gases and soot resulting from deforestation and use of fossil fuels are reducing the size of the Arctic ice caps. Subsequently, this has led to high temperatures, severe rainstorms, and droughts since there would be less reflection of the sun’s energy away from the earth. The Earth’s atmospheric temperature has warmed by 1. 5 degrees Fahrenheit since the 20th century. These temperature rise has also been noted in ocean waters, soil, melting glaciers and polar ice. Global sea level has notably increased by 8 inches over the past century. Global warming caused the expansion of ocean water and melting of ice in glaciers leading to a rise in sea levels. Moreover, precipitation patterns have changed. The changes are attributed to global warming which has led to some places getting more rain than others. Some places are experiencing more temperatures that have led to air in that area holding more water vapor leading to a higher rainfall than expected (Manzello et al., 2017).

Current Global Warming Mitigation Strategies

The rise in global warming calls for effective mitigation strategies. According to Bong (2017), current mitigation strategies include a carbon tax and use of clean energy. The carbon tax is the amount of money levied on individuals releasing greenhouse gases from fossil fuels. The tax would help deter the use of fossil fuels. In this policy, the tax would be based on some gases released to the atmosphere. The taxes levied should be high enough to discourage the release of these gases. On the other hand, governments should encourage the use of clean energy for example use of solar energy that is environmentally friendly. The government can encourage this by helping people install solar panels in their homes and big companies, and thus this would encourage the adoption of clean energy globally.

Recommended Policy Changes

Given that the gases are released to the atmosphere without care globally, it is recommended that carbon tax should be implemented to mitigate global warming. Aghion et al. (2016) argued that the tax would help discourage the release of gases anyhow. Moreover, the collected tax can be used to carry out research that would see the implementation of the best mitigation strategies. Many companies would be impacted negatively, but there are no other means of tackling global warming without having to inconvenience some of the concerned parties. Thus, anybody contributing to global warming should be socially accountable for the damages that they are causing to our planet.

Conclusively, global warming is as a result of natural and human activities. Thus, protecting our climate is the responsibility of every individual. Every individual should take an initiative of making sure that greenhouse gas release to the atmosphere is reduced to prevent the deterioration of our climate. This would help foster research and ensure that the research being done bears fruits.