GEN 499

Causes of global climate change

Human civilization is the major cause of climate change which has seen the increase of production of carbon dioxide which would be otherwise be absorbed naturally by the environment for example through plants which absorb the gas for photosynthesis. Burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity and power is a major cause of global warming as it results in the production of carbon dioxide and also heat that leads to thermal pollution. Other industries also produce carbon dioxide which is released into the atmosphere. Other ‘producers' of carbon dioxide include vehicles and other machinery that produce smoke and emit them to the environment causing an increase in the levels of carbon dioxide.

Volcano eruptions cause an increase in temperature on the earth's surface. This cause an increase in climate change. This is because they contain a lot of heat that causes global warming and also melting of ice on glaciers. During volcanic eruptions, gases and ashes are emitted from the earth’s crust into the earth’s atmosphere. These gases corrupt the ozone layer as they contain harmful gases like bromine and chlorine. They are absorbed by the ozone gases and can stay there for a long time causing chemical reactions. This leads to depleting it hence more sun rays are able to penetrate into the earth’s surface causing an increase in the earth’s temperature thus global warming. (Sneed, 2017).

Effects of global climate change

Global climate change has already registered major effects on the earth. This includes loss of ice glaciers in rivers and also oceans. This is due to the temperature increase that usually leads to the melting of ice caps on mountains and also glaciers that float on seas. This effects often have a major result where the sea levels are increasing. Islands have sunk and major cities along the coastal line may be at a danger of being submerged by the water and also increased coastal floods. (Jackson, 2018).

Global warming as also caused an increase in the earth’s temperature where there are heat waves that lead to drying up of the earth’s surface as a result to over-evaporation. Rivers and streams run dry and there are famine and drought registered in many parts of the earth. This cause many deaths of people and also domestic animals especially in undeveloped and developing countries where their poor disaster management plans. (MacMillan, 2016).

Climate change has significant implications for our health. Rising temperatures will likely lead to increased air pollution, a longer and more intense allergy season, the spread of insect-borne diseases, more frequent and dangerous heat waves, and heavier rainstorms and flooding. All of these changes pose serious, and costly, risks to public health. Global warming also creates conditions that can lead to more powerful hurricanes. Due to global warming, there is also a change in season change where seasons are coming earlier than expected. For example, the heat wave experienced in August 2017 has caused the arrival of long rains earlier in 2018 than expected in many parts of the earth due to climate change. (Jackson, 2018).

Solutions to the problem

According to McMillan (2016), the best solution to curbing the issue of global climate change is to decrease the emissions that occur. This can be done through energy efficient methods of energy which can be made possible by using efficient technology and also inventing methods of generating energy for example clean energy such as solar energy, wind turbines and also hydro-energy which do not produce carbon dioxide and other dangerous gases into the atmosphere. There can also be the use of other energy sources such as electricity other than gasoline, charcoal and also fossil fuels. Vehicles should also use energy efficient methods such as electric vehicles rather than gasoline.

There should also be Acts that regulate environmental matters and also govern the use of funds by the governments to curb the issue of climate change. These regulations may include suggestions on how the industries should deal with their emissions. It should also govern issues of deforestation and also be planting of trees which do not only act as water catchment areas but also carbon sinks. It is also important that the government creates awareness of what should be done to the people. This will help to communicate the importance of controlling the carbon dioxide production. The government should also come up with programs that educate the people on how to prevent these emissions, for example, they can teach them on how to reduce water wastage as water helps reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the air. (Denchak, 2017).

Conclusion

According to scientists, studies show that the global temperatures will continue to increase due to the increased greenhouse effect as a result of industrialization. Many industries are coming up and also there are many activities that are resulting in increased climate change. However, when there is control of carbon IV oxide in the air, there will be less evolution and hence less global climate change. Both governmental and non-governmental organizations should work towards ensuring that there is environmental control to ensure that global climate change is reduced.

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