Hardy
Cheyenne Hardy
Professor Moore
English -121
20 January 2022
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Is change a good thing? That question is more complex than it seems and truly depends on the situation. The rapid change to the earth’s atmosphere is not a “good” type of change. Therefore, substantial adjustments are needed when discussing the future of the planet. Climate change is a natural occurrence but is also heavily influenced by human activity. Reducing human emissions is the top concern in slowing the rate of climate change and limiting the number of greenhouse gasses released. Unfortunately, certain modern industrialization activities such as farming, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation threaten the planet, causing climate change, and you, a politician, can provide resources to change this.
One type of modern industrialization that plays a prominent role in climate change is deforestation. The term deforestation means to remove large numbers of trees either to create open space or to use the trees for tinder and in excessive amounts is harmful to the environment. The Amazon rainforest can be considered the earth’s “lungs” because the large-scale plant life draws in massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Research shows “Amazonian forests have a substantial influence on regional and global climates. Hence, their removal by deforestation can itself be a driver of climate change, and positive feedback on externally forced climate change” (Malhi, et al). Forests are regarded as a carbon sink, meaning they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release however when trees are removed from the ground, it allows excess carbon back into the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it is the main contributor to the warming of the planet, creating warmer soil that kills vegetation and releases more carbon. Another aspect of deforestation is how the plant life is being cleared from the forest. This is done by burning large amounts of land to make room for farms. Burning these large amounts of land is also a huge contributor to the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and the vegetation that is left to rot and expel any carbon that is stored. Deforestation benefits modern industrialization by utilizing land and resources but is a threat to our environment and a huge factor in climate change. Similar to deforestation, livestock farming also produces excess carbon to be released into the atmosphere.
An additional factor of climate change can be associated with livestock farming and the gasses released into the atmosphere. Though this is a highly debated subject, research shows that a high percentage of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are being put into the atmosphere by this activity. One author explains, “Livestock were attributed 65 percent of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions, the most potent of the four major greenhouse gases” (Statham, et al). Therefore, livestock farming has been said to be the number one producer of dangerous greenhouse gasses, even though these gasses produced do not last long in the atmosphere, and they are highly potent. Rising levels of greenhouse gasses are a concern due to the substantial increase in livestock farming in the last 50 years. With a growing population, this issue will only continue to worsen with time. Furthermore, livestock farming also requires generous amounts of farmland to produce the crops that are used for feed, this also contributes to deforestation.
The burning of fossil fuels may be one of the biggest contributors to climate change because of how much carbon dioxide is produced from everything we use that needs fossil fuels to operate. These nonrenewable resources such as coal, natural gas, and oil supply most of the world’s energy while also allowing us to create the products we use on a day-to-day basis. Humans burn fossil fuels to run vehicles and machinery, power our industrial plants, as well as provide us with energy. With a population of seven billion people and growing, this has only increased the rate at which we are burning fossil fuels and will continue to have a negative effect on our planet. One author explains, “…to prevent catastrophic climate change from more than 2°C of global warming, the world needs to stop rising greenhouse gas concentrations” (Tillmann, et al). As a society, we primarily use these fossil fuels because of energy reliability. Renewable resources are such as wind or solar power can be costly to harvest, and the equipment needed can also be very expensive. Renewable resources also rely on the environment, and solar energy is only available in areas with ample sunlight and wind power if the wind is blowing. Both reasons are why we primarily use fossil fuels instead of renewable resources, but the environment’s effects are more detrimental than expensive equipment.
Due to the excessive amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, the earth’s climate is changing. Climate change will cause an overall warmer atmosphere and because of this crops will require more water, making them even more vulnerable during dry periods. If the temperature continues to rise, plants and produce will die off, resulting in reduced food production. A warmer atmosphere will also create a significant amount of rainfall. More rainfall is an issue because increased rainfall rates could influence disastrous flooding.
Some people may not believe that climate change is a serious problem we are facing today, as well as people who think that human activities are not causing climate change. They may claim that climate change is natural and has happened at other historic points. One author explains, “The effect people have had on climate change worsened in the twentieth century with the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere mostly as a result of energy production,
industrial practices, and deforestation.” (Cunningham, et al). It is true that climate changes happen naturally but are heavily influenced by human activities and modern industrialization.
It is imperative as a politician that you provide resources to set change in motion. Political leaders have multiple resources that should be taken advantage of. For instance, government research and development programs can drive clean energy technologies and bring them to commercial use with additional funding. Clean energy and green technology utilizes renewable resources that are less environmentally invasive. They can also implement and improve traditional regulations such as vehicle emissions standards and company requirements for energy efficiency. These changes will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale.
These issues should be a huge concern to anyone who may be worried about the future of this planet and how we will survive if climate change continues to progress. It may not seem like a pressing issue as of now, but going forward, it may lead to food and water shortages and weather events that will have devastating effects on the population. Furthermore, the overall rise in temperature caused by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could eventually get to the point where it is irreversible and cause our planet to become uninhabitable for future generations. In addition, modern industrialization activities, including livestock farming, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation, threaten the earth because of there effects on climate change.
Works Cited
Cunningham, Mary Ann, and Teresa G. Odle. “Climate Change.” Gale Essential Overviews: Scholarly, Gale, 2018. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJVOIT659729038/AONE?u=colu91149&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=dfce1707.
Malhi, Yadvinder, et al. “Climate Change, Deforestation, and the Fate of the Amazon.” American Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 319, no. 5860, pp. 169-172. 2008, Science,
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1146961.
Tillmann, Taavi, et al. “Fossil Fuel Companies and Climate Change: The Case for Divestment.” BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), vol. 350, 2015. ProQuest, https://libproxy.howardcc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/fossil-fuel-companies-climate-change-case/docview/1777765765/se-2?accountid=35779, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h3196.
Statham, Jonathan, et al. “Climate Change and Cattle Farming.” In Practice, vol. 39, no. 1, 2017, pp. 10. ProQuest, https://libproxy.howardcc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/climate-change-cattle-farming/docview/1883797728/se-2, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/inp.j195.
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