As we have learned throughout this course, climate change has substantial effects on the world’s environment such as an increase in extreme weather events, changes in biodiversity, and global warming. Due to these environmental changes associated with current climate change, people have already lost their lives, homes, food sources, water sources, and way of life. Therefore, the discussion of COP21 and COP23, both of which address the issue of climate change, is an increasingly important narrative if we hope to prevent these adverse effects in the future. To begin, it is necessary to discuss what COP actually stands for. It represents the “Conference of Parties”, an annual meeting of all nations that make up the United Nations Framework …show more content…
The most well-known and discussed is COP21, in which “The Paris Agreement” was drafted. It has been seen as a pivotal point in climate change combatance by many people as all the present nations, both developed and developing, agreed upon an initiative to keep global warming below what most scientists say is the critical threshold of two degrees Celsius warming by 2100. Not only does this force an important change in environmental policy across several countries, but it also demonstrates a unity never before seen before on this issue. Interestingly, however, after the goal of the agreement was set, each nation was able to submit its own plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, while there is a unified goal, there is not necessarily a unified plan. Other conditions of the agreement include complete transparency by each nation on the progress of their own plans, and an assessment of their progress every five years, allowing for any changes which must be made to meet the goal of COP21. A big criticism by conservatives, though, is the cost of the proposed plan. Not only will it cost trillions of dollars to adapt to the effects of climate change and develop renewable energy sources, it is also vital that every country participates, even though many can’t afford it. Faced with this financial crisis, the COP21 agreement included a condition that developed countries must send 100 …show more content…
The United States is, after all, the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, and was set to play a large financial role in The Paris Agreement’s implementation.
Fortunately, however, it appears that the withdrawal may not be as catastrophic as it may have once seemed. Yes, the financial burden will be placed on other developed countries, and this could leave developing countries shorthanded once again, but as far as the United State’s following of the climate change initiatives set forth by The Paris Agreement, not much has changed. Many states, cities, and companies within the United States have pledged to honor The Paris Agreement, even without federal support. In fact, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said he will pay the $15 million administration costs related to the deal if the U.S. remains unwilling to recognize the
Climate change is no doubt one of the greatest threats to this planet today. Coastal cities flooding due to melting ice caps and rising water levels, cities experiencing extreme weather, and ocean life dying because of warmer water temperatures, it is not wonder why so many scientist and country leaders are worried about the safety and future of their country. The U.S. is just one of these countries where climate change endangers 333 million people. That is why the U.S. must take action to assure the future of their residents and safety of their numerous coastal cities. Due to the rising coastal water levels, previous legislative mistakes, and the risk of further climate change consequences, President Trump should acknowledge the need for the
The perhaps surprising answer is that in the U.S. policy process, climate change is not now a scientific issue. Although much of the controversy appears to revolve around scientific principles, political and economic forces actually dominate. In a sense, this is not surprising: in dealing with possible climate change, policymakers, stakeholders, and the public have to confront competing economic interests, significant political change, and such difficult issues as intergenerational equity, international competition, national sovereignty, and the role (and competence) of international institutions. What are the primary factors that determine policy outcomes on this complex subject? Detailing them vividly demonstrates how scientific knowledge interacts with the formulation of policy on a significant issue in the United States.
Climate change was a topic developed by a Swedish scientist as far back as 1896 due to the combustion of fossil fuel. The first predicted global warming was in 1976. In 1988, the theory was finally acknowledged when the climate became the hottest within the century (Maslin, 2008). The greenhouse effect became a concern and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was founded. Damages from greenhouse gases could include severe climate changes, altered ecosystem, extinction and loss of biodiversity (Shogren, 2004). The Kyoto Protocol was introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The main six chemicals that needed to be reduced were CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 (Parker & Blodgett, 2010). The goal
On December 12, 2015, President Obama and world leaders secured a global agreement to combat climate change” (White House). For the past eight years in the presidency, Barack Obama showed his devotion in addressing the worsening effects of climate change. He proposed and coordinated with different institutions to help solve the problem. However, since this problem has been around for so long, the results of any projects and programs will not be seen right away. It may take several years, decade or even a century. On the other hand, this is a great start for us. This is his legacy and this should be practiced for us to achieve what we really wanted in solving this problem. We should not just wait, we should
The purpose of this paper is to review the Department of Energy's (DOE) programs and recommend future directions for US policy to address President Obama's desire to save our planet from climate change and reduce reliance on oil (Roberts, Lassiter, & Nanda, 2010, p 4). The context of this review is following the 2008 election of President Obama and the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) in February 2009. This paper will evaluate the effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Act and compare their effectiveness with an alternative strategy of implementing a carbon tax, then make a recommendation on which strategy would have achieved the President's aims in view of the political, economic and environmental situation that he faced.
How would you like to live in a home that is beginning to fall apart, but only to go on about your day and continue to neglect it until it all comes crashing down? Humans and animals share this beautiful planet that we call home. But this beautiful home of ours is being regularly and increasingly torn apart by our own ignorant actions. These actions of ours have begun to unravel the very world in which we live, causing a self-inflicted crisis known as Global Climate Change. Global Climate Change is a severe dilemma, and it is continuously becoming more evident to the world’s population that climate change is being caused by changes in the reflectivity of earth’s atmosphere and surface, the ever changing variations of energy from the sun reaching the earth, and the daunting increase in greenhouse gasses.
Climate change, never has such an impending natural disaster been so heavily ignored. While this problem of Greenhouse Gasses holds more long-term implications than any other problem found today, little to nothing has been done to address this problem. Through the last century, industrialization has revolutionized the world, in all aspects of life from comfort to industry. While this has obviously had its benefits, it has also created a world that is almost entirely dependent on carbon dioxide producing technology. This has caused the single biggest problem when it comes to curbing this issue known as climate change. That problem is the simple fact that in order for the people to make a positive unified change in the C02 levels they produce, they’re going to have to make sacrifices. These sacrifices range from giving up or reducing their use of various CO2 producing technologies, to paying new taxes such as carbon taxes. The causes for Climate Change and the lack of action to curb it are, of course, complex, but there are at least three significant factors: High prices required to produce and implement low-carbon technology; lack of political and corporate support; and an extensive public reliance on technology (Weeks). More than this, the public, along with the government, have been unwilling to sacrifice either money or effort, which has only served to exponentially increase the problem at hand.
Although it is often a topic for contention in politics, global warming over the span of several decades, has led to climate change, which has had an alarming impact globally. Climate change needs to ...
“An introduction to climate change.” Natural Resource Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council 8 November 2015 n. pag. Web. 28 November 2015.
To sum up, the EU drawn attention on climate changes and has essential goals to help other regions and countries to change the world. According to the Kyoto Protocol, the EU and other countries have big dreams about changing climate in positive way. That how the EU manages to accomplish the defined aims on the Kyoto Protocol depends on the EU leaders and Europeans also on the major emitting countries and other powerful world’s countries which have essential impact on climate changes.
For these reasons, global warming stands as one of the most daunting policy issues facing our world today. This is compounded by the debate over the very existence of climate change. While countless sources of empirical evidence testify to the very real presence of climate change the world over, considerable denial of the phenomenon still exists. The argument has been made that evidence about climate change is a gross overstatement, or in some cases, a complete fabrication. Despite the evidence to the contrary, many interest groups with considerable political clout have successfully perpetuated the argument that documented changes in the environment are a product of natural cyclical changes in climate, and are not associated with human activities. However, even the acceptance of this particular brand of reality is no grounds for the disregard of environmental consciousness. Even if one accepts the premise that recent climate change is not resultant of human activity, the rationale behind environmental conservation remains ...
The central challenge to people and places around the globe is climate change. The costs of inaction are high, and smart solutions can propel economic opportunity, innovation, and greater energy reliability—goals that all Americans can embrace.” Read our full statement following the U.S. election. Here are the top things you should know about the Paris Agreement – and what it means for you. Sign the Pledge and call on world leaders to make good on their promises for climate action.
Former Vice President, Al Gore’s speech, The Climate Emergency, was a highly accurate prediction of the circumstances our planet would be under in coming years. The facts relevant as of 2004 are still true in the year 2015. While many companies and individuals have learned to contribute to helping our plant go greener, the dangers of the climate change are still a pressing issue supported by scientific evidence. With occurrences such as extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ice cap disappearances, global warming is physically being show on our planet and in order to prevent a complete reversed climate on our hemispheres, the population of Earth as a whole must ban together to reduce our carbon footprint.
Climate change has been an extremely controversial topic in recent history and continues to create much debate today. Many questions concerning climate change’s origins and its potential affect on the globe are not fully understood and remain unanswered. What is climate change? Is climate change happening? Is it a natural cycle of the world or are there other catalysts involved such as human activity? What proof is there? What data correlations show climate change is accelerated by humans? How serious is climate change and how will it affect the future of our globe? What are we doing to address climate change? Should we really be concerned about climate change? Questions such as these have made climate change a very serious issue in today’s world and created the ideology of climatism. The issue of climate change has affected many different aspects of our lives and the world we live in. Policymaking, human activism, technologies, emission control, global warming, alternative energy sources and many other things have been greatly affected by the mania of climate change. This research report will present climate change in a light of common sense and rationality that will take a grounded discussion of the science behind climate change, global warming, human activity, and how the ideology of climatism has corrupted and driven the actions to combat climate change.
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the forth assessment report of the IPCC project even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damages in the future. It is estimated that mean global temperature will rise by 1.8 ºC - 4.0 ºC by end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009). A new global climate model predicts that in the coming decade the surface air temperature is likely to exceed existing records (Smith et al., 2007). Growing season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics by end of the 21st century will exceed the most extreme temperature recorded in the history (Battistic and Rosamond, 2009).