In recent decades, global warming and climate change have become pressing issues for humanity. Global warming refers to the steadily increasing temperature of the Earth, while climate change is how global warming changes the weather and climate of the planet. Both of them are the result of human activity and industrialization. The commonly known problems they may cause are melting glaciers, the extinction of animals, and others.
The main reason for global warming is human activity in recent decades. The especially important issue here is the greenhouse effect, caused by gases preventing the warmth from leaving the planet’s atmosphere (National Geographic, n. d.a). One of the steps for preventing global warming is replacing energy sources and cutting greenhouse emissions (National Geographic, n. d.a). Personally, on a domestic level, people may save energy, switching to public transport, and so on (National Geographic, n. d.b). By working together, people have a chance of saving the planet.
President Trump leaving the Paris Agreement clearly stated the president’s position regarding climate change, and it is difficult to argue that he supports it. President Trump’s domestic policies considerably slowed down the decrease of gas emissions in the U. S. (Borunda, 2020). In my view, the long-term harm to climate cannot be justified by economic gain, and Trump’s policies did not help my family or me.
There are several problems humanity faces caused by global warming. However, Lomborg (2001) argues that they are not as severe as they may seem. For example, to support his argument about population growth, he provides statistics to show the slowing down (Lomborg, 2001). However, I do not find Lomborg’s arguments to be reassuring. Brown’s position is more convincing since it looks at the follow-up problems. For example, Lomborg (2001) states that the population is not growing as quickly, but his analysis lacks mention of the growing poverty and hunger rates present in Brown’s (2012) analysis. For that reason, I find Brown’s book more convincing.
In my opinion, there is no reason to deny global warming. The evidence is rising sea levels, migrating animals, growing average temperature, and many other changes in the last decades. I have doubts whether humanity can reverse or even stop global warming, but we can slow it down. Currently, it is the most pressing environmental issue since it affects the future of the entire planet.
References
Borunda, A. (2020). The most consequential impact of Trump’s climate policies? Wasted time. National Geographic.
Brown, L. (2012). World on the edge: how to prevent environmental and economic collapse. Routledge.
Lomborg, B. (2001). The truth about the environment. The Economist, 360(8233), 74-79.
National Geographic. (n. d.a). Causes and effect of climate change | National Geographic. [Video]. YouTube.
National Geographic. (n. d.b). Global warming 101 | National Geographic. [Video]. YouTube.