ESD Plan as a Mitigation Strategy and Solution for Global Warming Research Paper

Global Warming (GW) is a term that connotes elevated temperatures of the globe at closer planes. This originates from the sun’s heat enclosed within the atmosphere.

It is notable that such a warming process appears to be escalating. Probably, changes appear negligible to many societies, but they will augment with time. Apparently, the next decades may witness elevated warming levels, upon comparison to the temperature in preceding years. Diverse segments of earth inhabitants and property drastically suffer from the predicaments of global warming.

In order to address the repercussions of GW, it is necessary to initiate mitigation strategies. These strategies will augment people’s adjustment and solutions to GW consequences. Thus, this paper will design a sustainability plan for implementing mitigation tactic and solutions for GW.

Detailed Description of the Problem

The balance of input of energy into the earth and its eventual loss control the earth’s temperature. Some atmospheric gases named “Greenhouse Gases” (GHGs) avail greater controls to this balance (O’Hare, 2011). A fraction of solar radiation that reaches earth surface goes back to the environment.

Similarly, land and surfaces of expansive waters also attract other components. This enables earth surface to augment in warmth thus emitting “long wave infrared radiation” back into the atmosphere (Luo, Behera, Masumoto et al., 2011). Certain GHGs traps this “long-wave radiation” making atmosphere warmer, which eventually causes GW (Luo, 2011).

GHGs include “carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide” which initiates the enclosing effect thus generating earth’s surface warming (O’Hare, 2011). It is notable that carbon dioxide and methane emerge as the greatest victims causing GW.

Nonliving and Living Factors that contribute to GW and Suffers its Consequences

Carbon dioxide and methane escalate in the atmosphere because of human activities, necessitating making conclusions that human beings cause GW. These human activities include fossil fuels burning, together with clearing of forests for cultivation (O’Hare, 2011). The consequences of GW affect all living and lifeless things on the earth surface.

Escalation of sea capacities, recurrent extreme weather occurrences, melting ice, diseases emergence appear to affect human beings, animals, and plants. This happens due to losses of lives of living creatures, which apparently causes extinctions (O’Hare, 2011). The earth’s property also appears damaged after such occurrences. Conversely, GW also generates climate change, which contains diverse benefits including rainfall in certain regions. This escalates cultivation activities significantly thus improving food production.

Positive or Negative Human Impacts

It is notable that diverse human activities implemented to create wealth and augment food production generate higher levels of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. The activities include burning fossil energy and deforestation, which apparently deposits monumental quantities of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Metz, Davidson, Bosch et al., 2007).

Similarly, massive implementation of animal farming activities also generates methane, which escapes. The two gases emerge as greatest victims of GW. This eventually causes GW because of the escalated warming of the atmosphere. These constitute negative human impacts because they escalate rates of GW.

Evaluation of Current Sustainability Strategies and Solutions

It is notable that current sustainability tactics and solutions for responding to GW entail mitigation. Furthermore, such tactics also entail adaptation.

Mitigation connotes anthropogenic intercession to diminish sources of GHGs or escalate the gases uptake by sinks (Itol, 2010). It focuses on avoiding the extensive undesirable impacts of GW. Adaptation means regulations in usual or societies systems in reaction to real and likely GW stimuli or their consequences, which moderates sufferings or exploits favorable opportunities.

Adaptation thus includes designed tactics to lessen unavoidable consequences of GW in both short term and the future. Current sustainability tactics and solutions link the mitigation of GW and adjustment to temperature alterations to attain a uniform feedback (Luo, 2011). The common goal entails weakening unwelcome consequences of GW.

Certain consequences of GW also appear to have gained solutions developed for its mitigation. Apparently, communities implement such solutions.

The diverse mitigation and adjustment tactics for GW tend to focus on different segments of societies economies and activities. The mitigation measure for energy supply entails escalating availability and circulation efficiency, shifting of fuel use to clean energy (Metz et al., 2007). It also encourages utilization of renewable energy and implementing “carbon capture and storage” (CCS) thus hoarding carbon dioxide emanating from natural gas (Metz et al., 2007).

Transport industry also manufactures fuel effective vehicles, hybrid cars, and vehicles utilizing cleaner diesel. Many strategies also entail shifting to rail transport, common transport means, cycling, and land use planning and walking. Many upcoming buildings implement energy efficient tactics (Metz et al., 2007).

The industry segment also mitigates GW by implementing highly effective electrical equipment, energy recovery, resources reuse, and substitution.

Further, they scheme for non carbon dioxide gas discharges as well as utilizing diverse progression exact technologies. The agriculture sector also utilizes sustainable strategies including escalated land manipulation tactics, which increases capacity of land to absorb more carbon dioxide (Metz et al., 2007).

The tactics also diminishes quantity of GHGs discharged. Forest practices also mitigate GW by augmenting forestation, reducing deforestation and sustainable jungle management. Practices to utilize forest outputs as bio energy thus substituting fossil fuels also emerge.

Waste management also entails utilizing landfill to enhance recovery of methane gas. Incineration practices tend to focus on recovering energy. Other mitigation measure involving wastes entail organizing used water curing, re use and diminishing waste production (Metz et al., 2007).

ESD Sustainability Plan as a Mitigation Strategy and Solution for Global Warming

The proposed sustainability plan for my community entails implementing “Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) as a mitigation strategy and solution for GW (UNESCO, 2011).

Completion of ESD will employ the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” (DESD) guidelines proclaimed in 2002 (UNESCO, 2011). ESD requires a multidisciplinary approach in the implementation of programs designed to realize its goals. However, this proposed ESD plan will focus on dispensing sustainability knowledge to youngsters in the neighboring schools.

This will contain youngster’s oriented practical activities, plays, and presentations. The execution of these will significantly escalates their understanding of sustainability issues with a focus on practicable activities. This potential enhances youngster’s capability to implement diverse activities within their households and at school to contribute to attaining sustainability.

Benefits and Challenges of the ESD Plan

The benefit of this proposed ESD plan for mitigating and availing solutions to GW matches its necessity. The youngsters will gain knowledge into diverse sustainability issues affecting communities at international scales. This will enhance their global thinking of ecological predicaments facilitated by human activities. They will gain knowledge for acting locally to contribute to attaining sustainability.

This will originate from dispensing relevant ideas to the youngsters on diverse things. Youngsters could implement such ideas at their households and schools to achieve sustainability. The youngsters also gain from an enjoyable learning, which focus on relevant issues outside classrooms. Further, the youngsters will appreciate local predicaments with international roots and design tactics of solving their local ones.

The execution of this sustainability plan encounters potential challenges of schools refusing to permit the implementation team to access their institutions. Some institutions will apparently refuse to avail students for this course. Further, the execution of this sustainability plan will also encounter financial challenges. It is notable that finances will facilitate movement of the execution team among diverse schools. Further, it will avail necessary stationery and equipment for the successful implementation of the plan.

Required Government, Societal, And Global Support

This sustainability plan implementation necessitates certain level of support from diverse societal segments. The local administration will apparently support in the implementation by availing necessary permits and authorization to for team identification while they visit institutions.

The probable support availed by the local society will entail allowing their youngsters to implement diverse sustainability practices learned within their households and schools. Further, the society will also avail youngsters and may accompany them for ESD learning sessions. Relevant global organizations will support the sustainability plan implementation by availing various learning materials and financial support.

ESD Plan Guidelines

The implementation of the proposed sustainability plan will occur over a three-year period with possible extensions. The team will implement this plan in twenty institutions within the locality. Further, participants will agree on implementing diverse sustainability practices in their households and schools.

After its successful implementation, the team will award outstanding participants. Furthermore, various support segments will avail their assistance towards the ESD plan implementation for smooth execution of the components. The overall activities for this proposed sustainability plan would occur under the following timelines.

A Table Outlining the ESD Plan activities Implementation over Three Years Period

Source: Corporation for National & Community Service. (n.d.)

Conclusion

The ESD sustainability plan appeared necessary as a mitigation strategy and solution for GW. Its implementation adhered to the United Nations DESD thus attaining its objectives. The plan avails diverse benefits for participating schools and students. Participants gained from knowledge sharing as regards to sustainability predicaments occurring internationally and locally.

This enhanced their appreciation of such predicaments thus implementing learned issues and practicable activities to solve the ones observable in their localities. Furthermore, the implementation progression escalated enjoyable learning and gaining hands on experience for the participants. Implemented over a three-year period, the ESD plan emerged as a sustainable and practicable mitigation measure for GW.

It is notable to comment that the plan encountered diverse challenges ranging from authorities refusal to avail permission to logistical predicaments. Most importantly, the ESD plan successfully attained its projected objectives. The overwhelming success of this plan necessitated calls for extension of its implementation.

References

Corporation for National & Community Service. (n.d.). Sample Sustainability Plan. In Toolkit for program sustainability, capacity building, and volunteer recruitment/management (Section 4). Web.

Itol, A., & Kawamiya, M. (2010). Potential Impact of Ocean Ecosystem Changes Due to Global Warming on Marine Organic Carbon Aerosols. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 24, 1012-1021.

Luo, J., Behera, S., Masumoto, Y. & Yamagata, T. (2011). Impact of Global Ocean Surface Warming on Seasonal-to-Inter Annual Climate Prediction. Journal of Climate, 24(6), 1626-1646.

Metz, B., Davidson, O., Bosch, P., Dave, R. & Meyer, L. (2007). Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change, Contributions of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

O’Hare, G. (2011). Updating our Understanding of Climate Change in the North Atlantic: The Role of Global Warming and the Gulf Stream. Geography, 96(1), 5-16.

UNESCO. (2011). Education for Sustainable Development. Web.