Disastrous Outcomes of Climate Change

With a rapid rise of temperature in recent years, climate change has become a thorny issue challenging every country in the globe. Global warming has exposed people to risks directly, and the trend in global emissions of greenhouse gases and associated climate change will continue. (Alistair Hunt & Paul Watkiss 2011, p1). Climate change can be defined as a lasting fluctuation in the earth’s climate, especially a change caused by the increasing temperature. Continuous rising temperature has devastating impacts on urban areas. This essay outlines the negative effects caused by global warming, and evaluates three environmentally friendly solutions to the problems. The essay argues that climate change has done significant damage on coasts, air quality and human health, and such issues need to be tackled at once.
There are various disastrous outcomes of climate change. Firstly, the global warming accelerates rising sea level, causing a great loss in people’s lives. For example, Munbai, Sherbinin et al.(2006) quote TERI(1996) who estimates that a 1-m rise would result in $71 billion damages without dykes, reduced to $33 billion with dykes. In addition, the sea level is rising faster than ever seen, threatening the coastal cities and leading to the erosion of the coastline. Secondly, the polluted air is another concern. With rapid urban growth, greenhouse emissions released into the atmosphere are mostly from the motor vehicles. Smog, heat pollution are not just the phenomena that exist in urban areas. They also affect the rural ecosystem, reducing the agricultural land (Ashmore 2005) and spawning tornadoes. Thirdly, health risks suffer as a result of climate change. In fact, the UNFPA (2007, Chapter5) states that without adequate sanita...

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... international talks not only help these countries gain more experience, but also enable them to adapt better to global warming.
In conclusion, climate change leads to three major costly effects: rising sea level, air pollution and health problems. This essay explored three solutions from reducing GHG emissions, upgrading infrastructure for the poor and work together internationally to combat climate change. Adopting a new policy to impose restrictions on cars or living a greener lifestyle to reduce the use of cars would be both beneficial to the environment. Furthermore, providing basic service for the poor residents help them to protect themselves in the face of climate change. More importantly, international efforts are necessary in tackling climate change. As a result, everyone should shoulder the responsibility to attenuate the effects of this global issue.