There are myriads of negative health impacts that millions of people will continue to face as a consequence of climate change. The ill effects of global warming should be addressed with urgency. The earth’s climate is being affected by the disruptive human activities.
It is indeed true that the emission of greenhouse gases has immensely contributed to the devastating effects of global warming. Gaseous emissions such as methane and carbon dioxide usually restrict the dispatch of long wave radiation from the surface of the earth.
When this radiation combines with the short wave rays from the sun, a warming effect is created on the immediate surface of the earth (Smith and Wigley 448). These effects are multiplied several times and eventually result into global warming.
It is unfortunate that the key policy makers are not wiling to address the impact of global warming and offer a lasting solution. It does not require rocket science to understand that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to the life of both plants and animals.
Most of the negative health outcomes of global warming are straightforward. For instance, enhanced pollen production, interruption of the hydrologic cycle and warmer temperatures may directly lead to poor quality of air, increase in morbidity, and intense exposure to heat stress.
Worse still, there are other potentially harmful indirect effects associated with the changes in climate. When the natural systems of the planet Earth are altered, both animal and plants are exposed to great danger. For example, we have witnessed several instances of erratic weather in different parts of the globe.
These include flooding, drought, desertification, hurricanes and tornados. The aforementioned risks have hampered access to vital natural resources such as food and water. Excess precipitation that leads to floods is not beneficial at all in the survival of plants and animals.
In addition, aridity and desertification are growing at a very high rate in some parts of the world. Eventually, the human population will have limited access to necessary food nutrients.
The latter is a direct impact of climate change that the developed world should be in a position to comprehend. Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has scantly addressed some of the scaring effects of climate change.
As it stands now, there is uncertainty on whether governments across the world are really interested or committed to control harmful emissions to the environment.
Ever since the Kyoto Protocol was ignored, subsequent global summits on climate change have hardly instituted firm measures that can be put in place in order to curb the derailing impacts of environment pollution.
The quota system of greenhouse gas emission was a viable proposal to cut down emissions. However, the future is greatly uncertain.
Water is one of the most precious natural commodities that sustain human and animal health (Villar and Jon 7). Nonetheless, lack of adequate water resources is currently a key global concern. Poor access to pure water has been aggravated by the effects of climate change and global warming.
Where are we heading to as a planet? Water table is below the sustainable level in some regions. A case example is the northern plain of China. Although the region supports large scale wheat farming, the ground water table has been dwindling at a very fast rate.
Recent estimates reveal that the level of ground water is diminishing at a rate of three meters per year. This implies that the region might eventually turn into an arid and semi arid zone. Second, India is spending 50% of its electricity expenses to facilitate irrigation.
Water has to be pumped from deep wells and transported some kilometers away in order to irrigate crops planted in the dry zone.
If such trends will continue, we can be assured that the human population may eventually be eliminated from the planet. It is not sustainable to irrigate crops in dry regions due to the high cost of operation.
The human population is also rapidly growing. A high population will translate into an increased demand for resources to sustain life. Consequently, the pace of industrial growth will equally skyrocket. The net effect will be the continued emission of greenhouse gases.
Hence, the pollution cycle will repeat itself. Nonetheless, such a dire situation does not mean that there are no solutions for the challenge. A case in point is the adoption of green energy revolution in the mass production of goods.
It is not mandatory to burn fossil fuels in order to generate energy. Scientific inventions can be adopted to replace rampant use of fossil fuels. The latter have already been suggested to policy makers. Nevertheless, it is taking too long to embrace the green energy solution.
Some of the clean energy sources that can be used instead of fossil fuels include solar energy, wind energy, nuclear power, geothermal energy and power from hydrogen. All of these clean energy sources have been tested and proven to be functional for both small and large scale production processes.
The world leaders should be asking themselves very critical questions regarding climate change and the associated ill effects on human health. From the readings, there is fear that the sea level will continue to rise as ice caps melt due to global warming (Myers and Aaron 35).
Some islands and beaches may finally submerge into oceans. The latter effect will also contribute significantly to the overall volume of liquid water on the planet. Will the increased amount of water volume affect the human population?
As already pointed out in the above section, food availability will be a challenge to grapple with in the future. In any case, food shortage in several parts of the world is a humanitarian issue that is being addressed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The latter is a subsidiary body of the United Nations (UN).
On a final note, it is pertinent to underscore the fact that human beings are solely responsible to conserve the environment. When we emit harmful gaseous compounds into the atmosphere, we risk our health.
As much as we should appreciate the role played by industrial revolution in economic development, it is also worthy to countercheck the negative effects associated with such developments. The economic and health benefits of industrialization should be keenly weighed against the detrimental impacts.
If climate change can lead to water scarcity, poor nutrition (due to inadequate supply of food), displacement of populations and gross deterioration of the natural ecosystems, then it is prudent for world leaders and policy makers to address the menace urgently.
We may end up phasing out the entire human population that we purport to safeguard through industrialization (Houghton 76).
Works Cited
Houghton, Theodore. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
Myers, Samuel and Bernstein, Aaron. “The Coming Health Crisis”. The Scientist. 2007: 32-37. Print.
Smith, Steven and Tom Wigley. “Global Warming Potentials: 1. Climatic Implications of Emissions Reductions.” Climatic Change 44. 4 (2000): 445-457.Print.
Villar, Ana and Krosnick, Jon. “Global Warming Vs. Climate Change, Taxes Vs. Prices: Does Word Choice Matter?” Climatic Change 105.1 (2011): 1-12. Print.