ENV 305 Milestone Four
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Dec 6, 2023
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Milestone Four: Global Climate Change
Adam Stevens
Southern New Hampshire University
ENV 305 Global Climate Change
Lance Franklin, Ph.D., P.E., CHMM
October 8, 2023
Climate change is a global issue, every country and person on the planet will be on the receiving end of whatever happens in the coming decades as the Earth’s climate changes. The elected leaders of the free world have a responsibility to act in accordance with their citizens and to do what is necessary to mitigate the driving forces behind climate change. The driving politics behind climate change do not always match up when it comes to international relations, each country is attempting to do what is best and necessary for their own benefit and this often does not line up with what needs to be done to stop climate change. The United Nations was selected to take a front seat in dealing with ongoing climate change. This forum allows all nations, no matter how small, to participate in negotiations and to have input on the direction of politics. The
UN strives to enable dialogue between nations that are often deeply divided politically, socially, and economically. Nations cooperate in the fields of international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace (Kitchen, 2016). The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that was adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. It operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. The Kyoto Protocol only binds developed countries, placing a heavier burden on them under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities” because it recognizes that they are largely responsible for the current high levels of emissions in the atmosphere. U.S. government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are responsible for climate change research for the country (Kitchen, 2016). Political party views of climate change can be summarized in two frames of thought. The Democratic Party, more liberal views, see climate change as an immediate actionable issue, they rely heavily on the scientific community and the research that has been done and enact policy change based on those institutions. The Republican Party, more conservative views, see climate change as more of a natural issue and not something humans have any impact on, research done by the scientific community is not seen with as much authority as their political counterparts, they are less likely to enact policy change based off such research. The division that is created on climate change very much reflects the individual views of people belonging to each political party. It becomes much more difficult to have collaboration and thoughtful discussion when the divisive nature of politics separates individuals, the issues of climate change belong to everyone and there is not one simple answer to what should be done.
Change can only be driven, it does not happen organically, the population growth and energy demand from emerging nations are at the root of climate change. As the Earth’s population increases the demand for food, water and energy increases as well. It is accepted that developed nations should bear the current responsibility for reducing driving forces behind climate change. Under the Berlin Mandate, economically developed countries accepted responsibility for today’s historically high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and acknowledged the urgent need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions (Kitchen, 2016). Developing nations claim that their right to pursue economic growth is an issue of social justice and equity. They are prepared to act sustainably but want the developed nations to accept responsibility and take the lead (Kitchen, 2016).
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There are nine agreed upon actions that need to occur to reverse climate change and they are focused around reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These goals follow the SMART model, all actions need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time oriented. First action, the capture of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Second, increase the generation of energy from sources that produce fewer emissions, wind, solar and nuclear energy. Third, enhancing the capture of carbon dioxide during industrial production, major industrial processes such as cement manufacturing and the petrochemical industry produce large volumes of CO2. The fourth and fifth action are related to road travel, increase the efficiency of public and commercial transport, and decrease the use of public and commercial transport by road; more efficient vehicles will reduce fossil fuel consumption and decreasing the amount of transport by road to mass transit rather than personal vehicle use will help reduce the 72% of emissions from road transport. Sixth action, decrease overall demand for energy by relying on conservation and efficiency; 15% of greenhouse gas emissions are from residential buildings, using more efficient materials and enhance building standards will reduce these emissions. Seventh, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from waste treatment; the primary greenhouse gas that is released from waste treatment is methane which is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Eighth, stopping deforestation and carbon loss from soil; land use change and forestry (LUCF) practices in the developing world account for nearly 18% of all global greenhouse gas emissions; this is more than the entire global transportation sector and is second only to the energy sector (Kitchen,
2016). Ninth, changing agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; agriculture practices account for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions and are the third-largest source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, after fossil fuels. To mobilize the world towards meaningful change in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reversing the current state of the climate,
public awareness and participation incentives are the most important. Policy frameworks like those laid out in the Kyoto Protocol and aiding nations that do not currently have the means to independently cut emissions in their growing economies. The biggest takeaway that can be delivered when presenting this information is that while
it sounds like there may be no hope, there is as long as cooperation is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. The actions delivered in a broad sense seem large but there are small choices everyone can make that will make a difference. It is everyone’s responsibility to act with both conservation and efficiency in mind. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the most important thing that can be done to help mitigate the change in climate we are currently facing.
References
Kitchen, D. (2016).
Global Climate Change
. Taylor & Francis.
https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781315506630
.
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