Introduction
Climate change is one of the most significant environmental issues in the world. It has been perpetrated by many causes, the majority of which are connected to the existence of human civilization. Oil spills, toxic waste, smoke from car exhaust, factory and coal plant refuse, increased consumption of natural resources, and many other pollutants are gradually affecting the climate on the planet. Scientists and researchers across the globe are talking about the alarming rates of temperature increase, which threaten the integrity of the polar ice caps. Changes in the climate threaten more than half of the entire world’s population, promising droughts, tornadoes, tsunamis, and floods along the ocean coastline (Baer and Singer 15).
Although climate change poses an existential threat to humankind, the world does not have a uniform solution to the problem. There are many cultural, technological, and political obstacles in the way. In some countries, like the USA, the validity of climate reports is put into question at the highest levels of governing authority. Nevertheless, climate change is not a matter of opinion; it is a fact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the available technological solutions to reducing the amounts of waste, pure water usage, and greenhouse gasses in the industry as well as political, economic, and enforcement issues of such policies.
Climate Change Facts
Although the scientific community is not completely certain of the exact causes and processes behind different aspects of climate change, there are some main issues that are considered prominent in regards to the world’s prosperity and security. Climate change facts are as follows (Baer and Singer 43):
- Global temperature rise: The average surface temperature has increased by almost 2 degrees since the 19th century.
- Oceans are heating up: Oceans play an important part in the world’s ecosystem by absorbing the extra heat coming from the Sun. As it stands, the overall temperatures of the first 700 meters of ocean water have increased by 0.6 degrees during the past 50 years.
- Shrinking ice sheets: Both the north and the south poles have suffered a dramatic loss of their ice sheets. According to NASA, the poles of cold have lost over 400 billion tons of ice during the last 20 years.
- Mountain ice caps shrinkage: Glaciers and ice caps have been shrinking all across the world, including some of the tallest peaks such as the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, and other major mountain ranges.
- Decreased snow cover: Winters have been notoriously snowless in the northern hemisphere during the last decade.
- Ocean acidification: The acidity of ocean waters has increased by about 30% during the last two centuries.
- Increase in CO2 and CO levels in the atmosphere: Since 1950, the concentration of these elements has reached over 400 parts per million.
- Increased water levels. As a result of these climate changes, the water levels in the oceans have risen by 8 inches during the past century. Many cities have suffered the consequences of this rise. In addition, the climate, wind patterns, and temperatures of the coastal areas have become more unpredictable.
As it is possible to see, the issues surrounding climate change are interconnected. High concentrations of CO and CO2 have been causing a greenhouse gas effect, which resulted in an increase in temperature on the land and ocean. This, in turn, facilitated the meltdown of icecaps and polar ice shields, which resulted in an increase in water volumes. Combined, these factors contribute to the worldwide climate-changing patterns, that have the possibility to disrupt the livelihood of billions of individuals.
Health Impacts
Climate change had contributed immensely to the increasing spread of diseases and other negative health effects. The abnormal heat waves that have been striking Europe, Asia, and the US for the past decade have caused numerous deaths, particularly among poor people, the elderly, and individuals suffering from various heart diseases (Scranton 81). Hurricanes that have been active in the western hemisphere have been striking parts of North America, South America, and islands along the Pacific coast. These resulted in various humanitarian crises, which were followed by disease outbreaks, shortages of food and medicine, and the overall decline in the quality of healthcare in the affected regions.
The increased temperatures have also been reducing the quality of life in Africa, which traditionally suffers from shortages of drinking water. According to international water resource management researches, some of the African cities may completely run out of drinking water in the next 5 years, which would force them to rely entirely on imported water supplies. Climate changes have brought unusual weather patterns to other regions of the world, making it hard for individuals and their bodies to adjust, resulting in increased vulnerability to respiratory diseases. Air and water pollution expose people to a variety of health hazards, including heavy metals and cancerogenic particles (Scranton 122).
Technological Solutions and Their Impact
The majority of CO and CO2 comes from the factories, cars, and electric power plants running on coal. The industry is using gratuitous amounts of freshwater to cool its systems while releasing poisonous smog into the atmosphere (Harvey 59). These facilities also produce plenty of waste that has to be disposed of, safely. Presently, numerous technologies could be used to reduce the amount of impact on the surrounding environment. These include various air filters to prevent the particles and gaseous elements from entering the atmosphere, re-using water that was already processed by the plants in order to cut water usage, as well as safe waste disposal technologies.
Some of the existing technologies include HEPA filters, carbon filters, and various waste recycling methods that help turn toxic waste into usable materials. The results of the use of such technologies are impressive. HEPA filters can achieve up to 200% of particle reduction efficiencies, and water filtering and re-use technologies have the potential of cutting water usage up to 90% (Harvey 200).
Nevertheless, although these methods provide long-term profit and solutions, many companies are against implementing them. Many coal plants and refineries are severely outdated, making them incompatible with many of the modern technologies. The main implications for the impact of these technologies are that the carbon emission levels will be significantly reduced but at the cost of economic profitability.
Policy Implications
One of the main issues of devising policies to reduce carbon emissions, water usage, and normalize waste disposal, is because of the fragmented nature of world politics. Not all countries and organizations are part of the world ecological forums and organizations, such as the Global Environmental Faculty (GEF), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), or the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (Harvey 66). In addition, a broad policy to protect the environment would not be met well by the majority of the existing governments, as it is likely to not take into account various socio-economic and political factors.
As it stands, the majority of the world has adopted some measures of environmental protection. These, however, differ in terms of scope and the severity of enforcement. National environmental protection laws are subject to revisions and repeals. In the USA, President Donald Trump had promulgated a series of measures to reduce the restrictions and demands towards environmental safety in all major industries. Thus, the implications of using policies as a means of improving the situation remain unclear.
Economic Implications
Numerous studies show that constructing modern, up-to-date electrical plants and refineries promises significant economic advantages in the long-term perspective. Not only are they more environmentally friendly, but they also provide better quality products, use up fewer materials, are compatible with all kinds of environmental technologies, and have a greater output. In addition, modern facilities are safer for the employees, reducing the number of injuries and diseases acquired during work.
As a rule, such facilities pay for themselves in a 10-15 year time period. Nevertheless, few industrial corporations are willing to replace their existing facilities with new ones. The construction of a modern coal power plant takes up to 3 years. For an oil refinery plant, it is 3-5 years (Drake 100). These facilities represent a long-term investment as well as significant expenses associated with the construction. The majority of corporate CEOs are expected to deliver short-term profit rather than focusing on the long-term perspective, which impedes the promotion of environmental policies from an economic point of view.
In addition, the proposed solutions are impossible to implement everywhere in equal measures. The majority of developing countries do not have the time or money to restructure their facilities and improve their ecological imprint on the surrounding environment. This could be stated for countries like Iran, India, and China, where the ecological situation is unfavorable (Drake 25). Neither is ready to slow down production because doing so would mean losing a percentage of sales and market share. In addition, the use of new environmental technologies typically makes the products more expensive. Developing countries, which are already challenged to compete with industrial nations, are unlikely to invest in ecology.
Enforcement Issues
There are numerous enforcement issues in the way of implementing global environmental resolutions like the Paris agreements of the Kyoto Protocol. These conditions must be enforced everywhere for them to be successful in reducing humanity’s environmental footprint. At the same time, there are numerous countries with various agendas, socio-economic, geopolitical, and strategic ambitions. As it stands, there are no international bodies to enforce environmental compliance. Even if there were any, they would not have any authority over individual nations, based on the concepts of sovereignty. International bodies cannot serve as the police and cannot enforce compliance (Harvey 73).
At the same time, allowing other countries to act on behalf of these organizations undermines their political neutrality. As it was already seen with the examples of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, enabling large countries to enforce policies makes the organizations in question lose credibility through engagement in geopolitical confrontations between the major industrial nations. Smaller countries would see these attempts at manipulation as infractions on their sovereignty, making them even less likely to comply. Thus, the question of enforcement remains open.
Recommendations
In order for the technological interventions to be effectively implemented and enforced in all countries of the world, there is a need to provide a socio-economic framework to support them. As it stands, the majority of developing countries see increases in production costs as threats to their own economy. The majority of the corporations do not have the time and finances to fund such a large reorganization of their assets. Therefore, the intervention of other economic agents, such as the WTO and the WB are required. Producers and electric companies could be stimulated to utilize environmental technologies through economic stimulation.
The World Bank could provide the companies willing to undergo the procedure with loans at favorable conditions, whereas the WTO could give these companies lower tariffs to access the bigger markets. As a result, the companies would have both the resources and the stimulation to improve their environmental footprints. Since these goals would be achieved through positive reinforcement rather than through rules and penalties, developing nations would have fewer reasons to avoid or cede from the agreement.
Lastly, the media awareness of the ecological issues should be greatly increased. The people have an influence over the governments and the companies alike, as they could vote with ballots as well as dollars (Baer and Singer 65). As it stands, not everyone realizes the importance of protecting the environment, reducing the concentration of greenhouse gasses, and protecting the water supplies. Should environmentalism gain popular momentum across the world, it would become a basis to facilitate change around the world.
Conclusions
Climate change and the overall state of the environment should be the primary issues of concern for all countries in the world. Humanity needs to set its own selfish interests aside if it wants to preserve the planet for future generations. The technology to reduce carbon emissions, purify waters, and reduce wastes already exist. However, there are many political, economic, and enforcement barriers that prevent these technologies from being widely used. The prosperity and survival of humanity depend on it how can humanity slow down and prevent drastic climate changes.
The scientific community has provided enough data to conclude that human-made climate change is a reality. The engineers have provided us with the technological acumen to facilitate the change. However, the people of the Earth remain largely ignorant of the threats posed by global warming and the greenhouse gas effect. The rise of ocean and sea levels has the potential to drown entire cities and cause massive humanitarian catastrophes. Once the individual citizens realize that it is their duty to demand and support the government to protect the environment, only then would the process move forward.
The people are the ultimate focus that could bring together the activists, the politicians, and the industrial magnates. Until the scope of the problem is fully realized, the situation will remain as it is now, with most countries enacting sporadic and deficient policies without exerting the political will to enforce these standards. The fate of humanity is in humanity’s own hands, and unless it starts paying attention to the environmental issues surrounding the planet, it would only become worse.
Works Cited
Baer, Hans, and Merril Singer. Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health: Emerging Crises and Systemic Solutions. Routledge, 2016.
Drake, Frances. Global Warming: The Science of Climate Change. Routledge, 2014.
Harvey, Danny L. D. Global Warming. Routledge, 2018.
Scranton, Roy. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of Civilization. City Lights Books, 2015.