English 2H, Period 1
7 March 2017
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race
Guangzhou? Gone. Miami? Gone. New York? Gone. New Orleans? Gone. Mumbai? Gone. Nagoya? Gone. Tampa? Gone. Boston? Gone. Shenzhen? Gone. Osaka? Gone. All submerged beneath the ocean as global sea levels rise rapidly and catastrophically. The polar ice caps? Melted away into nothingness. Insect-borne tropical diseases and severe weather ravage the world as increased heat and rainfall leads to a shift in global climate. Global economies crash as trillions of dollars are spent trying to fix the disasters humanity brought upon itself. It sounds like a dystopian novel doesn't it? It will become fact within a few centuries. It will become irreversible within a few centuries. It will become permanent within a few centuries. Human-induced global warming is a real and legitimate threat that may spell the end for the planet unless pollution is radically reduced and the human race recognizes this issue and concentrates its efforts toward stopping climate change and repairing the damage it has caused.
Global pollution is the most serious environmental issue ever to strike our planet, and it has the potential to be more devastating than any other historical natural disaster, including the mass extinctions of the past. World powers must unite to reduce pollution as quickly as possible.
One of the biggest contributors to climate change is global emissions of greenhouse gases. However, despite undeniable evidence that a concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to a warming planet, worldwide emissions show no signs of slowing, and are actually increasing. James Hanson, one of NASA’s leading climatologists, said in 2005 that within ten years climate change would drastically alter our planet. The twelfth year since this prediction just began, and no one has heeded this warning. Instead, air pollution and CO2 emissions have continued to rise (Lankford Jr.). Global CO2 concentration surpassed 400 parts per million for the first time in 2013, and this number currently sits at 407.51 ppm as of 27 February, 2017 (co2.earth). This is significant because CO2 concentration remained between 180 ppm during ice ages and 280 ppm during warming periods for 800,000 years, until the advent of the Industrial Revolution (ESRL).
Earth’s climate has been constantly fluctuating over the history of the planet, but it has never reached anywhere near the current temperatures. By looking at observations from satellites and then comparing and combining the data recorded, scientists have been able to discover obvious signs of a changing climate.
Since the 1800’s, it has been widely known that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap heat and infrared energy. What isn't widely known is how quickly this trapped heat can change the climate. Ice cores prove that the planet’s climate changes due to greenhouse can happen in only a few decades. Global surface temperatures have risen drastically since 1880, especially since 1980, with 15 of the 16 warmest years ever occurring after 2001 (NASA). 2016 recorded the hottest average land and sea temperatures of all time, was measured at 1.69 degrees above the average temperature for the 1900’s, and did not produce colder than average temperatures in any region of the planet (Geggel). 2016 took the title as hottest year on record from 2015, which took it from 2014, and the first eight months of 2016 were each respectively the hottest on record. This alarming trend has been building since the early 2000’s, and temperatures continue to rise without showing signs of slowing down.
The average sea ice extent and total sea ice mass was the lowest ever recorded in 2016, and ice sheets and glaciers lost cubic miles of ice. The Arctic was measured at 7.2 degrees warmer than it was before the Industrial Revolution (Geggel). This loss of ice will lead to rising sea levels, which will cause a multitude of problems that will be extremely expensive to fix. Approximately 760,000,000 people will be displaced by this significant change in global sea levels (Discovery). The runaway speed at which global temperatures are increasing is unsustainable, and needs to be addressed as soon as possible before it becomes irreversible.
Estimates suggest that as much as 90% of these warming temperatures were caused by human activity and the emission of greenhouse gases. Volcanic eruptions, solar changes, El Niño, and variations in orbit may cause the climate to warm slightly, but nothing near to the amount that temperatures have risen in the past few decades. Data from the ocean and the atmosphere also show rising temperatures. Record high temperatures are increasing in frequency and record low temperatures are becoming rarer, while violent and destructive storms are becoming more common (Geggel). Climate change is a global issue caused by humanity that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
The leading cause of human-induced pollution is coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Integrity Project found in 2010 that “Coal-fired boilers provided 45% of our electricity in 2010, but were responsible for 81% of total U.S. CO2 emissions from electricity generation last year.” These plants created almost 2,250,000,000 tons of CO2 emissions in the U.S. alone, and this number has been continually rising (Miller).
Despite the environmental damage caused by this industry, governments are reluctant to part with nonrenewable power, and members of the industry are dedicated to fighting against potential regulations imposed by the EPA. With the election of President Trump it will become even easier for companies to avoid regulations and to continue poisoning our planet. Fossil fuel companies are aware of the environmental damage that they are causing, but they refuse to act in an effort to reduce this damage. One of the leading oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell, created a film in 1991 predicting the dangers of the continued consumption of fossil fuels (Guardian). However, despite this awareness, the company has been generally unwilling to create any new policies in an effort to combat these dangers. Shell only began to truly invest in its renewable energy division when forced to by government regulations. This reflects the widespread resistance to confronting climate change among major corporations. Changing their regulations would cost them, so they are fine with poisoning the planet and pumping more pollution into the atmosphere if it means lining their pockets.
As governments and corporations continue to avoid addressing climate change, worldwide pollution levels rise, and SO2 and CO2 build up in the atmosphere, leading to smog and poor air quality in major cities throughout developed countries. These high levels of air pollution are especially dangerous to children and the elderly populations in heavily populated cities. China is the world’s leader in both CO2 and SO2 emissions and as a result of the dense smog surrounding almost all of urban China, less than 1% of the Chinese population has access to air that is considered safe and free of industrial toxins (Miller). According to a study performed by the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency and confirmed by the World Health Organization, approximately 750,000 people a year die due to pollution in China (Miller).
China is not the only world power that faces these pollution problems, and although it is the world’s most polluted country, it is more environmentally aware than many other powers including the United States. Although statistics detailing the negative health effects of pollution are widely known among governments little is done to improve air quality in major cities because taking action would mean reducing economic product which is something that governments are unwilling to do. However, someone needs to draw a line detailing exactly when these health risks become too great to ignore and must be addressed.
It is possible to achieve both economic progress and energy generation without causing such drastic harm to populations, but such a solution would require governments to devote large amounts of time, money, and manpower toward bringing about this change. While this may seem like a waste of resources, the longer that a transition is delayed, the harder it will become to incorporate one. If treaties and agreements are ignored then the difficulty of remedying the situation will increase accordingly. China in particular seems dedicated toward keeping its Paris treaty promises, which is the opposite of the impression the United States is giving to its allies.
The Chinese transition toward environmental awareness began with its leaders declaring their plans to do their part in rescuing the planet. Chinese President Xi Jinping provided a forceful and powerful speech arguing for the upholding of the Paris climate deal, and Nur Bekri, the Chinese energy minister, said “Today, we are facing climate change, and we know this is caused by our use of energy. That is why the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of clean energy” (Miller). This directly contrasts the actions of President Trump, who removed the climate change page from the White House website within hours of his inauguration, and the appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who called into question the role of the EPA as a regulator of emissions (New Republic). With the U.S. falling behind in the fight against climate change it will soon also fall behind on the world stage and as a leader of reformation and evolution.
The United States has long prided itself on being at the forefront of progress and evolution, but now it is unwilling to clean up the mess it has caused because of the work it would entail. While China leads the world in current pollution, if it continues to pollute at the same rate for 40 years it still won’t have contributed as much to global pollution as the U.S. (Lankford Jr.). The United States is more responsible for climate change than any other country, but it is content to sit back and let other world powers deal with the disaster it has caused. Europe and Japan have been trying to address climate change for decades, but China, India, and the U.S. have been reluctant to join the fight (Lankford Jr.). China and India are starting to come to their senses and realizing the problem, but the U.S. still stubbornly refuses to assist in the global effort.
A global coalition of all major world powers is the only way to address the problem at hand, but a divided movement is doomed to fail. A weak and uncoordinated response will be almost as ineffective as no response. Under President Trump the U.S. is even more likely to attempt to sidestep the problem. Meanwhile, American citizens are suffering from changing climates, more violent storms, and tropical diseases appearing in new areas due to rising temperatures. Of the ten cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels, four are in the United States, and millions of American citizens would be displaced along with billions of dollars of property. The longer America delays responding to climate change the more it will suffer from its effects. The world is stuck in a vicious cycle of climate change, and the countries that will be the most heavily affected are the ones doing the least to solve this impending global disaster.
Works Cited
Carrington, Daniel and Mommers, Jelmer. “‘Shell Knew’: Oil Giant’s 1991 Film Warned of Climate Change Danger.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 February 2017. Web. 28 February 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/ shell-knew-oil-giants-1991-film-warned-climate-change-danger
Clemens, Danny. “Climate Change by the Numbers: 760 Million Displaced by Rising Sea Levels.” Discovery. Discovery Blog, 10 November 2015. Web. 7 March 2017. http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/nature/climate-change-by-the-numbers-760-million-displaced-by-rising-sea-levels/
“Climate Change: How do we Know?” NASA. Earth Science Communications Team, California Institute of Technology, 19 January 2017. Web. 23 January 2017. https://climate.nasa.gov /evidence/
“CO2 at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory Reaches New Milestone: Tops 400 PPM.” Earth System Research Laboratory. U.S. Department of Commerce, 10 May 2013. Web. 28 February 2017. https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/news/7074.html
“Earth’s CO2 Home Page.” CO2.Earth. ProOxygen, 27 February 2017. Web. 28 February 2017. https://www.co2.earth
Engdahl, Sylvia. Energy Alternatives. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2015. Print.
Geggel, Laura. “2016 was Earth’s Hottest Year on Record, and Humans are to Blame.” Live Science. Purch, 18 January 2017. Web. 23 January 2017. http://www.livescience.com/ 57537-2016-was-hottest-year-on-record.html
Johnston, Ian. “India Just Banned all Forms of Disposable Plastic in its Capital.” Independent. The Independent, 25 January 2017. Web. 28 February 2017. http://www.independent.co. uk/news/world/asia/india-delhi-bans-disposable-plastic-single-use-a7545541.html
Lankford Jr, Ronnie D. Greenhouse Gases. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.
Miller, Debra A. Pollution. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print
Myers, Chad. “Changing Opinions on Climate Change, from a CNN Meteorologist.” CNN. Cable News Network, 27 October 2016. Web. 23 January 2017. http://www.cnn.com/ 2016/08/24/opinions/chad-myers-climate-change-weather/
Rabinowitz, Abby. “Can the World Beat Climate Change without the U.S?” New Republic. New Republic, 28 February 2017. Web. 28 February 2017. https://newrepublic.com/article/ 141000/can-world-beat-climate-change-without-us
Sutter, John D. “Stop Ruining the Future.” CNN. Cable News Network, 20 April 2016. Web. 17 January 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/20/opinions/sutter-stop-ruining-the-future/
Tabuchi, Hiroko. “As U.S. Cedes Leadership on Climate, Others Step Up at Davos.” Dealbook. The New York Times, 21 January 2017. Web. 23 January 2017. https://www.nytimes. com/2017/01/21/business/dealbook/world-economic-forum-davos-climate-energy.html?_r=1
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