Dr James Hansen’s argumentative essay, “A Solution to the Climate Problem,” discusses his premise that it is imperative for humankind to deal with carbon dioxide emissions, which he believes needs to be phased out by the mid-21st century. He begins with the current paradigm in government efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and claims that so far it has been a lot of talk and action in the other direction. Dr Hansen argues that while governments pay lip service to agreements such as the Kyoto Accord, they are going full steam ahead with projects that will result in increased carbon dioxide emissions, such as going forth with coal-fired power plants, coal-to-liquids, hydraulic fracturing, and tar sands oil extraction. Dr Hansen believes
An urgent issue, climate change is undoubtedly a sweeping global dilemma of paramount importance. Though most people are aware of this fact, many either choose to ignore it, or acknowledge it, but take no action against it. Those who do choose to take action usually attempt to combat climate change by using the methods that are most commonly discussed: becoming more energy efficient, recycling, and reducing emissions through using more sustainable transportation. Though these actions are helpful, they are not the most efficient way to counter climate change.
Currently the human race is coming to terms with one of the most monumental problems of its own creation : air and water pollution. The poisoning of the very air we breathe and the water that we drink has become too prolific to ignore any longer. One culprit ? Automobiles. The more smoke we expel from the exhaust pipe, the more we exhaust our environment and poison the air and water that allows us to exist. But what can we do to reduce the amount of pollution we produce ? It’s not like we can just stop driving ,right ? Wouldn’t it have an adverse effect on our productivity or make it harder to get to work ? It’s not like it would make a difference anyway, right ? Well not necessarily, currently there are entire countries banning automobiles
Michael Pollan describes the effects of climate change and the different things that people can do to help correct this problem in his essay entitled "Why Bother?" He believes that even the simplest changes can create a huge difference. One of the things the he says will help is taking one day out of the week to use as little technology as possible. Things to not use include cars/motor vehicles, cellphones, electricity, and more. Just taking one day away from these things will help reduce pollution. Another thing he says would help a lot is planting a garden. Planting a garden will provide people with their own home grown food which reduces the need for food shipments and commercial growing. This reduced the pollution caused by the vehicle
Three quarters of emissions in 2004 were coming from road traffic (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). Emissions used from transportation are forecasted to increase from the year 2007-2030 by about 80% according to studies done by James Woodcock who is currently studying climate change and health from car fuels (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). This is due to the fact that the emissions from vehicles are increasing significantly and are higher than any other energy fragment (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). The only way to lower this percentage is to decrease the number of individual automobiles on the road and increase the number of public transit systems, starting long distance walking to work or school, carpooling or even biking to destinations. These principles would
Organizations from around the world are working together to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth and save the future generations of humans. In order to make a global impact on an affair, it must start locally. In Markham, many citizens are devising a solution to the accelerated heating of the Earth. Advertisements about greenhouse gases have been implanted on billboards and websites to raise awareness of the issue. The mayor of Markham has built more bicycle lanes and pathways to decrease the use of automobiles (City of Markham, 2014). Markham has also increased the effectiveness of public transportation
I am an ordinary 8th grade student at RCMS (Rock Creek Middle School) my science teacher Ms. Kelley has given us an assignment to write you a letter about our thoughts, and how we feel about global warming, and our rapidly rising CO₂ levels. I have written this essay to inform you of information you may not know and/or you need be reminded of, and know that our citizens really do care about your decision. We all want our planet to be healthy, and we all wanna see the world the way it should be seen. Now as our representative of Oregon in our US senate, you vote to make policies that affect all oregonians including myself. You should consider proposing laws that initiate major car brands/companies to produce at least 40% electric/hybrid
In the article “A Unified West Coast,” investigative reporter and author Arun Gupta presents the unification of California as a model to build towards a net-zero emission. To reach net-zero emission and prevent later environmental issues, Gupta explains politicians and leaders must grasp the power of the monopolistic energy companies. He says that once politicians begin resisting the use of fossil fuels and the harm that they bring, communities all over will continue to form and support the progress towards a cleaner world.
Of course, such an endeavor cannot be met by America’s ambitions alone, but by meeting other nations levels of commitment and by setting certain courses of action, America will lead by example and other nations will be set up for success. This will allow us to advance toward a better world as a whole. Low carbon pollution has the potential to strengthen our nation through investment and innovation in clean energy. By investing more time in industries such as wind and solar power there will not only be a cleaner environment, but a steady stream of middle class jobs. Something that has occurred over the past few years with Obamas current Clean Power Plan. Power plants are the largest source of emissions in the United States. In August 2015, the
California has been at the forefront of addressing environmental concerns, by balancing environmental protection with economic growth, property rights, public health, and energy production. This is done mainly through laws and regulation passed at all governmental levels and influenced by many stakeholders with different agendas. California has been the most active state in addressing climate change. The state has enacted mandatory carbon reductions, and required emissions standards for automobiles.
There is much controversy concerning Carbon Dioxide emissions in recent years and the effect these emissions have on the environment. As people continue to be more interested in profits than in environmental matters conditions are likely to worsen in the near future. It is actually surprising to observe how in spite of data pointing toward the belief that CO2 emissions have a particularly negative on the environment people fail to express enough concern about this general situations. More and more environmental agencies and strategies have emerged during recent years but they have had a limited effect on CO2 emissions and this is largely owed to the fact that the general public is still reluctant to get actively involved in fighting on behalf of the environment.
The short term effects of CO2 emissions on a community can be observed by analyzing the state of California. A highly populated area with lots of traffic, California saw a significant increase in CO2 emissions which increased from approximately 425 metric tons in 1990 to 428 metric tons in 1999. This noticeable increase in emissions gave the community the political basis to lobby for change, allowing them to increase emissions standards in California's Low Emissions Vehicle regulations.
In his book, The United States of Excess, Robet L.Paarlberg says, “Per capita carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States are roughly twice the average for the rest of the wealthy world (defined here as the 34 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD)” (7). Contrasting the situation with the wealthy world is enough to realize that the USA has a serious problem of carbon-dioxide emission. If we compare the emission with a poor developing nation like Nepal, the problem is much clearer or, precisely, scary. CO2 emission in metric tons per capita for the United States in 2005 was close to 20 (Brooks 27). Moreover, in 2013, the measurement for the USA was still 16.4 while that for Nepal was 0.2 (“CO2 Emissions (Metric Tons per Capita)”). The figures show that the USA emitted 82 times the carbon emitted by Nepal on a per capita basis. With all the focus towards competing industrially with other wealthy countries, consequently, the USA has not had enough attention towards the resulting problem from carbon emission. Instead, this competition has added up to the emission of more amount of carbon. The difference in technological advancements, education system, and the people’s lifestyles in the two countries is the main reason for the higher per capita carbon emission in the USA.
It seems as humans evolve and advance, we also use nature to our advantage, and do not use any of our new-found technology to find ways to replenish those supplies which we so willingly take. Today, California is a test of our capability to adapt to human caused climate change. California’s first efforts to adapt started with the Assembly Bill 32 (the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act), which has goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Then the state later drafted its first climate
These practices have left many people scared of their future as well as their children's future. It is not known what the effects of CO2 emissions will have in the future, but there seems to be a strong consensus among scientists that problems may arise. Using this knowledge, it only makes sense for us to take action and keep from finding out what might happen. It becomes difficult for any one person to feel as though he/she is making a difference, but there are things that can be done. The job of each person is to do the best they can to try to balance the carbon debt they are creating. This can be done by various methods of energy and environmental conservation. We need to be concerned about preserving our environment, but it is not necessary or helpful to become paranoid. All we can do is our part and set a good example for others to do the same. Those who want to become more involved can start new programs in the community or educate others about our environment. There are still many people who do not know the extent of damage being done to the environment. In order to effectively combat CO2 and other forms of air pollution so that future generations can live in and enjoy the same environment,