Addressing Carbon Emissions
The What
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere have been a main issue of concern for everyone, including scientists and ecologists. Ever since the period of the industrial revolution in the 1700’s when humans first began to burn fossil fuel, the atmosphere has been constantly polluted to the extent where now the situation is nearly unavoidable (Terry, 2015). Carbon emissions have contributed to climate change, which has in turn generated serious consequences for human beings and the environment. For this reason, there is the need to come up with effective and lasting solutions that address carbon emissions. The proposed solution in this case is to actively remove carbon dioxide from the air or to offset its impacts. This can be attained by creating awareness on the need to protect forests, plant new forests (afforestation) or restore old ones (reforestation). Therefore, the awareness campaign will target the public and schools. As such, they will be educated on the importance of trees, and encouraged to take an active role in planting trees in nearby forests, planting trees in schools, and even in their homes.
The How
Carbon emissions have far-ranging effects on the environment. By contributing to global warming, carbon emissions have impacted the environment negatively. For instance, ice is melting globally, particularly at the earth’s poles. This encompasses mountain glaciers, ice sheets that cover West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. Most of this melting ice contributes to a rise in the sea levels; it is estimated that worldwide sea levels are increasing by 3.2mm yearly, and the rise has been happening at a faster rate in recent years. Increasing temperatures are also impacting wildlife and their homes. Disappearing ice has challenged species like the Adelie penguin in Antartica, where some populations have decreased by more than 90%. As changes in temperature occur, numerous species are migrating. For instance, several foxes, butterflies, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to areas that are cooler. Globally, precipitation, i.e., snowfall and rain has increased. Hitherto some areas are experiencing more severe drought, lost crops, shortages in drinking water, and increasing wildfire risks (North & Hurteau, 2011). A number of species encompassing ticks, mosquitoes, and crop pests are flourishing. Increasing populations of bark beetles that feed on pine trees, for instance, have destroyed millions of forested acres in the United States. It is important to note that big industries have played a huge role in the emission of carbons, and as such, they can be partly blamed for the aforementioned environmental problems that the world is currently experiencing. In this regard, the “climate savers” programme is proposed. This is a program where various industries are encouraged to join hands to set targets for reduction of greenhouse gases. They can achieve this by increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources like solar power and wind energy and utilizing materials substitution to decrease the intensity of greenhouse gases of final products.
The Why
Carbon emissions have impacted a wide range of social aspects. For instance, the resulting global warming brought about by carbon emissions has impacted food systems negatively. Increasing temperatures and increased frequency of weather events have put great pressure on food availability, access and use. Many crops have been destroyed by diseases, pests, and soil water-holding properties have been damaged thus affecting food security. Human health has also been impacted negatively. Carbon emissions are associated with respiratory diseases like asthma, lung cancer, bronchitis etc. Cardiovascular diseases have also been linked to carbon gases. Carbon emissions have worsened poverty and inequality, which the world has been working to improve for decades. Disadvantaged groups have been worst hit by the effects of carbon emissions because they do not have the means to cope with events like extreme droughts or flooding (Jorgenson et al., 2016). As such, most of them have been displaced and forced to change their way of life. The solution in this case entails investing in green cities, through supporting ‘green cities movement.’ Basically, green cities includes urban areas that strive to decrease environmental effects by reducing waste, increasing recycling, decreasing green house gases emissions, increasing housing density while expanding open space, and encouraging the development of local businesses that are sustainable. One of the initiatives that seek to support the green cities initiative is the creation of a committee whose main purpose is to conserve waste. The committee can achieve this by creating awareness to the public on the need to adopt various approaches like avoiding burning wastes (especially plastics, trash and other materials), recycling, reducing household garbage, going nearly paperless, etc.
The Who
Carbon emissions have impacted virtually everyone in society. However, some groups of people have been hit hardest by the impacts compared to others. For instance, the rural and urban poor are the people hit hardest by the impacts of carbon emissions. According to Schandl et al (2016) approximately 1 billion individuals are living in extreme poverty and most rely on their surrounding natural resources for survival. Poor neighborhoods in cities across the globe are already known to experience more air pollution. This is attributed to the fact that many industries that emit carbon gases are found within these neighborhoods. Therefore, these people are at greater risks of developing respiratory illnesses. Small farmers are also hit hardest by the effects of carbon emissions. For instance, the weather changes brought about by climate change have led to the destruction of crops, and as such, reduced crop yields. Therefore, these farmers’ livelihoods have been greatly impacted. Indigenous groups have also been greatly impacted by carbon emissions. Climate change resulting from carbon emissions has been shown to impact the health and well-being of indigenous tribes in various ways. It has made if more difficult for these tribes to access safe and nutritious foods encompassing conventional foods vital to many tribes’ cultural practices. Currently, many tribes do not have access to safe drinking water, and climate change has constantly escalated health risks associated with water quality issues like contamination and reduced the availability of water, especially during droughts for these tribes. The solution lies in conducting an awareness campaign about the health risks of carbon emissions. As such, the campaign will also aim at educating people about the measures they can take as communities or individuals (for instance, to promote green spaces, to cease waste burning and walking/cycling) to improve the air quality.
The Where
One of the primary sources of carbon emissions is the transportation sector. Carbon emissions from transportation mainly originate from burning fossil fuel for trucks, vehicles, ships, planes and trains. Production of electricity also generates greenhouse gas emissions. An estimated 63% of electricity comes from burning fossil fuels like natural gas and coal. Industries also contribute to carbon emissions, and they mainly come from burning fossil fuels for energy. In this regard, the proposed solution is to start a company that provides loans to people who want to purchase electric cars. This will act as an incentive, and as such, more people will increasingly be drawn to electric vehicles as opposed to vehicles that use petroleum or diesel as fuel. This will in turn make a significant contribution in decreasing carbon emissions since electric cars use clean energy.
References
Jorgenson, A. K., Schor, J. B., Knight, K. W., & Huang, X. (2016, September). Domestic
inequality and carbon emissions in comparative perspective. In Sociological Forum (Vol. 31, pp. 770-786).
North, M. P., & Hurteau, M. D. (2016). High-severity wildfire effects on carbon stocks and
emissions in fuels treated and untreated forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 261(6), 1115-1120.
Schandl, H., Hatfield-Dodds, S., Wiedmann, T., Geschke, A., Cai, Y., West, J., … & Owen,
A. (2016). Decoupling global environmental pressure and economic growth: scenarios for energy use, materials use and carbon emissions. Journal of cleaner production, 132, 45-56.
Terry, N. (2015). Energy and Carbon Emissions: The Way We Live Today. Uit Cambridge.
