Why climate change is essentially an economic problem
All the impacts and effects of climate change can be easily measured and evaluated in economic terms. This is because it has come with a lot of economic costs and therefore can be termed as the most severe problem that we are facing.
Various countries have incurred a lot of economic costs and this can be looked at from different perspectives. In this case, climate change is an economic problem because it has increased the costs of energy and we all know that energy is used for production activities (McKibben 2011, p. 38).
A reduction in food production is another effect of climate change which is an economic issue. In this case, people will have to spend more on food which affects their income.
The rate at which the world has been witnessing storm and coastal damages has increased tremendously in recent years as a result of climate change leaving a lot of destruction. This is undeniably an economic issue because it leads to lost recreation that has been used as an income activity.
There should be efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change and green house emissions because the public health costs have been going up as time goes by (Ruddiman 2005, p. 69). This means that governments and other institutions will spend a lot of money in treating various diseases which will affect their budget.
Nations should drive reduction in climate change because this is an economic problem that needs to be solved by all. Climate change can lead to unsustainable economic activities which will not take care of our general long term sustainability.
Economic policy
Climate change mitigation is a necessity that can be solved through sound economic policies. Alternative energy sources are some of the economic policies that can be effectively used to mitigate against the effects of climate change.
This has been agreed upon in various conferences like the Copenhagen conference on climate change in Denmark. There is need to promote policies that will enhance the use of renewable energy. This will ultimately reduce carbon emissions that have been witnessed in recent years.
Energy efficiency is another policy that can be followed by all economies as a cost effective strategy (McKibben 2011, p. 85). This is a major policy that is supposed to be followed and enforced by all stakeholders because existent energy sources have led to a lot of carbon emissions thereby destroying the environment.
There should be efforts to enhance and promote efficient adaptation to climate change which can also be done through sound economic policies (Ruddiman 2003, p. 46). Efficient use of resources can be enforced as an economic policy that will help in promoting efficient adaptation to climate change.
This is because when resources are used well in the face of climate change, the society can be able to withstand such issues.
Features of climate change
Climate change has a direct inclination to our environment and this makes it difficult to design a climate change policy. This is because various aspects that revolve around the environment have to be looked at for long term sustainability (Wignall 2001, p. 43).
In this case, it is difficult to design a policy that will cover all aspects of our environment because any mistake will be costly to the whole society. As a matter of fact, we all depend on the environment for survival and that is why designing a climate change policy can be quite challenging.
Climate change revolves around energy and it is quite obvious that we all use energy in one way or the other. As a matter of fact, all our energy has been coming from the climate.
Therefore, it will be challenging to design a policy that will integrate everybody because people need energy to go about their activities without any problem. In this case, any policy design should be wholesome and take care of such issues which have been difficult in the current world.
Reference List
McKibben, B., 2011. The Global Warming Reader. New York: OR Books.
Ruddiman, W., 2005. Plows, plagues, and petroleum: how humans took control of climate. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
Ruddiman, W., 2003. The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Wignall, P., 2001. Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions. Washington, D.C: The National Academies Press.