How Radical Change Is More Effective Than Incremental Change

In the last 100 years, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, causing the Earth to warm by an average of 0.6 degrees celsius, largely a result of burning fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and land use changes increased for food production. The basic science is straightforward and climate researchers have shown that gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. Human activities such as industry, transport, energy generation and deforestation all produce these greenhouse gases. In the last 20 years, concern has grown that global warming is inevitable and now considered most probably caused by man-made increases in

The issue of carbon emissions is an important one not only from an environmental perspective but also an economic one. While reducing carbon emissions is an important one for the health of human beings as well as that of the environment, the larger question is what type of policy strategy is best for both reducing such emissions which might have an impact on efforts to mitigate the effects of pollution on climate change. While ther are options to consider which does not rely on economics-- technological or output standards achieved by command and control regulations--they are often fraught with political resistance by industry because they do not allow industry to make any choices or play a role in solving the problem of

On the same note, the energy revolution spoken of above brings forth another advance in the ongoing global climate situation. The nature of the Kyoto Protocol calls for nations to increase research and eventually semi-convert their energy usage to accommodate for cleaner energy. Products such as solar power, wind power, biomass, geothermal power, and hydropower are now widely being studying to create processes that use less coal, oil, and natural gas in production. Altogether the results have

Countries around the world have agreed that to avoid potentially dangerous climate change, global warming stay below 2 degrees C. This means that every country, including Australia will need to significantly increase their efforts to reduce emissions. Currently, Australia’s per capita emissions are among the highest in the world, however, there has been recent progress in decarbonising its economy. For example, greenhouse gas emissions have remained stable while economy size has almost doubled. (Pathways to deep carbonisation).

One change that has to be made in industries is to burn less fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gases. According to James E. Hansen, in the article, “Climate Change is Here - And Worse Than We Thought” he says, “ We can solve the challenge of climate change with a gradually rising fee on carbon

However, the Action Plan is not likely to produce 9.8 Mt in new reductions by 2020, as the government stated. For example, the government claimed that using Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account funds to subsidize electricity prices which would produce 3 Mt in emission reductions. We found no evidence to support this claim and concluded that subsidizing electricity rates is not an acceptable use of these funds. Fortunately, the government is no longer proposing to divert Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account funds in this way.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) preliminary estimate of energy-related CO2 emissions in 2015 reveals that emissions stayed flat compared with the year before, whereas the global economy grew (3). The IEA noted that “There have been only four periods in the past 40 years in which CO2 emission levels were flat or fell compared with the previous year, with three of those—the early 1980s, 1992, and 2009—being associated with global economic weakness. By contrast, the recent halt in emissions growth comes in a period of economic growth.”

Last month, the United States of America and fellow global powerhouse China reached a deal to incorporate more non-fossil fuel energy into their total energy consumption. Through this deal, greenhouse gas production will be cut by up to 26 percent in America, lowering our levels to somewhere around 28 percent of the levels experienced in 2005 (Samuelson). This plan has been hailed as a great first step, and it is likely that smaller countries will make similar emissions cuts. That being said, China and America currently combine for 42 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide according to the International Energy Agency. The world still heavily relies on fossil fuels for about 80 percent of its energy. In order to solve this problem of moving to renewable resources without causing a global economic collapse, countries need to be prepared to make budget cuts in other areas. Weak agreements have been enacted with dates a few years down the road to change this degenerative process. However, with loose restrictions on the way each country will achieve this goal, the discussions feels, according to Climate Research Program Leader Myles R. Allen, like a lost cause. It simply is not enough. The United States of America should be taking stronger initiatives and setting the standards for the transition towards a greener tomorrow. These initiatives would benefit both the Earth and its inhabitants. To do this, the government should take this more active role, through

CAP and Trade is a cost-effective method for reducing emissions. The world’s largest implementation of Greenhouse gas trading system is the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and they have been environmentally ineffective. The result of price crash non-stability in California and Quebec are also environmentally ineffective. In 2016, the emphasis was on EU ETS’s fourth phase (2021-2030) which was what the European Commission, presented changes for. The purpose of the presented changes is to bring the cap into line with the EU's 2030 objective, reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions to at least 40% nationally by 2030. The EU provides a better goal of free allocation rules and further supports low-carbon innovation and energy sector transformation. To meet the legal requirements and to compensate for excess pollution EU ETS should reduce GHG emissions, and buy emission allowances in the carbon market. They could also reduce GHG emissions

At this point in time our possible solutions to the global warming are few; our technologies aren’t advanced enough to take the brunt of energy production and wean away from fossil fuel, and we have been too passive for too long regarding our CO2 emissions that’s it’s not feasible to either use cap and trade, or a flat out reduction of CO2. At our current rate of growth, energy from alternative energy sources will be around 8% of the total energy usage by 2025 (Butler 3). This is not nearly enough to be used as a feasible solution to combat our rising CO2 production, and by the time this is feasible, sever climate changes may have

Socolow and Stephen W. Pacala in their article, “A Plan to Keep Carbon In Check (2006)" suggests that “today’s notoriously inefficient energy system can be replaced if the world gives unprecedented attention to energy efficiency.” Taking steps to institute policies and be cost-efficient will entail structural change, but in the end will be in the best interest for countries to aid in the adaptation of lower carbon products and economic competitiveness. They further state that governments need “to stimulate the commercialization of low-carbon technologies” so there is less demand for fossil fuels thereby increasing “competitive options” for the future. (Socolow & Pacala, 2006) Consequently, the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is causing the rise of global temperatures. Utilizing technology specifically for carbon capture and storage is crucial so we can slowly begin our process of adapting to other energy resources. It is also important that all countries participate in policies that will reduce emissions in a cost-effective

Climate change is a major problem worldwide, the actions of one country inevitably have an impact on the rest of the world, some places more than others. Consequently, it is vital for the entire world to be on board with efforts to resolve the issues. The main cause of “climate change” is an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, both naturally occurring and man made, cause the earth’s average temperature to slowly rise. Especially in the past 50 years, the rate of deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal have significantly increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere (Climate Change and Health). Efforts from a few countries, although beneficial can not fix the problem

An increased use of solar and wind power will lower the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air. To ensure healthy future generations society must safely dispose of 200 billion tons of carbon (213). So that we stop damaging the environment, we should collaborate with other countries to stop emitting harmful gases into the atmosphere. One example of this would be all countries working together to put safer jet fuel emissions into the air. To solve this crisis we need to acknowledge that “trees, maids, education, governance, [and] economic development” are all interconnected” (298). While more developed countries use more resources, underdeveloped countries use a lesser amount of resources in more environmentally harmful ways. Furthermore, every nation must acknowledge that pollution knows no physical

The most of global energy production produces from fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. The vast fossil fuels generate energy which use for many purposes for instant residential, transportation and industrial sectors. While the rate consumption of fossil fuel higher than their formation leads to oil price crisis. Another concern of fossil fuel combustion is the impact on the environment. Global warming is a significant problem which results in increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. These problems drive researchers and societies to search alternative energy such as switching to renewable energy or carbon-free energy to replace fossil fuels. For example Nakata et al., (2011:465) show ‘low-carbon society’

Greenhouse gases come from such mainstays of modern life as electrical power plants, automobiles, and heavy industry. Growing consumption of fuel by less efficient cars and light trucks suggests that motor vehicles may soon overtake industry as the largest source of gases suspected of causing global warming by effectively creating a greenhouse around the Earth. Many people do not want to decrease their standard of living by reducing their consumption of fossil fuels. These people do not realize that if they reduce their consumption, there will be a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases. If this does not happen and global warming continues, the long-term effects may be catastrophic.