The average global temperature is rising and mankind is about to experience a deadly catastrophe as a result. This is as a result of accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
It has been primarily attributed to human activities such as combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. Global warming can be termed as the greatest threat facing humanity in the twenty first century whose effects are overwhelming due to massive climatic changes.
It is attributed to the rise in sea levels, alterations of rainfall patterns as well as extension of subtropical deserts. Besides, it has been associated with the extreme weather such as tsunami and retreating of glacier in Polar Regions to cause rising sea levels. Consequently, species extinction and food insecurity due to reduced agriculture has been evidenced especially in the developing world.
With the rising population along with food shortages, mass starvation could be evidenced as well as sanitation issues and other health problems. The melting of ice caps will desalinate the oceans, reduce its temperature and change the ocean currents, leading to another ice-age, which could overwhelm the human civilizations causing their extinction (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
The developed world is aware of these threats to humanity and has engaged into various mitigation policies to alleviate the issue. They have proposed ways of dealing with global warming that include adaptation to its effects and geo-engineering geared at eliminating the buildup of greenhouse gases. Additionally, the developed world has initiated international mitigation procedures outlined in the Kyoto protocol.
The protocol includes the developing world in mitigating emission of greenhouse gases. However, the developing nations maintain that it is not their role to regulate their greenhouse gas emissions because they have much less per capita emissions as compared to the developed countries.
From research, it has been noted that a third of the global population is not aware of global warming. Significantly, those in the developing world particularly in Africa are least aware while the other developed countries such as the US maintains that global warming is a serious threat that result from human activities (Miller & Spoolman, 2008).
Research shows that developing countries are not expected to lower their emissions up to a time that their economies are developed although some limits have to be executed. Global warming has affected a big percentage of our planet thus becoming a global issue. The developed world has a role to play in assisting the indigenous communities of the developing countries.
This has been seen in their efforts to enhance the standards of lives for the population in developing countries by giving them food aids (Goff et al., 2007). They have also helped to set policies in these nations to prevent air pollution and advocating for their investing in alternative clean sources of energy other than the fossil fuels.
Besides, they have helped the developing countries to go ‘green’ by enhancing public awareness of the need to safeguard the environment by planting trees.
In Africa for instance, the US and other developed countries have helped to enhance water sustainability to eliminate issues of water shortages.
Finally, the developed nations should continue to fund the developing countries e.g. through the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) to finance the adaptation measures in these nations (Paterson, 1996). Irrespective of the momentum of several problems, the issue of global warming is still unresolved. Measures should be drafted accordingly in poor countries while their governments should act responsibly to mitigate global warming.
References
Goff, R. D., Moss, W., Terry, J., Upshur, J., Schroeder. M. (2007). The Twentieth Century and Beyond: A Brief Global History. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Miller, G.T & Spoolman, S. (2008). Sustaining the Earth: An Integrated Approach. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Paterson, M. (1996). Global Warming and Global Politics. London: Routledge.