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Last updated January 2019

Essay on ‘Climate Change’- How to deal with this

Outline:
1. Introduction (The extent and the severity of the problem world around and Pakistan)
2. Thesis statement (the focal point around which the essay revolves)
3. Damage caused by the climate change (floods, storms, droughts, heat waves, the rise in
the Sea level, inundation of low-level islands and deltaic regions, smog, etc.)
4. The impact of polluted air on human health
5. The process of global warming (The greenhouse effect of CO2 and Methane like gases,
and the rise of the average mean temperature of the globe)
6. Main Causes (Burning of fossil fuels, less tilt over renewable resources, Large-scale
deforestation of the equatorial forests)
7. Efforts made to deal with the issue (Kyoto protocol, Paris Climate deal, and UN Climate
Change conference Poland December 2018, and indifference of the major emitters
towards these agreements)
8. The solution/conclusion
Thesis Statement: Climate change is a human-induced calamity due to increased emission of
greenhouse gases. Man accordingly has the ability to arrest the same by way of switching over
to renewable sources of energy.
Climate change, which is caused by the excessive emission of greenhouse gasses like CO2
and Methane, is a human-induced calamity. It is believed to be the third largest concern of
humanity after widening the rich-poor gap, and worldwide aging of the population, particularly in
the developed world. It is not only those who are responsible for creating this peril are suffering
and going to suffer in the times to come, but it is also affecting everybody on the globe as the
harmful gasses emitted by any country know no border. We know that people of Africa are bearing
the brunt of climate change in the form of heatwaves, droughts, and resultant famines whereas the
largest emitters of greenhouse gasses are somewhere else. There have been unprecedented flooding
in Malawi in 2015 casing 300 deaths. The average person in Malawi emits around 80 Kg of CO2
per year against USA 17.5 metric tons. Likewise, largest emitters of CO2 are China and USA along
with Europe but the Philippines emitting just 0.5% has to suffer a lot due to the typhoons
originating in the Pacific and the South China Sea. Pakistan emitter of only about 0.3% of CO2
has to face both floods and droughts in the last few years. Pakistan’s per capita emissions of
greenhouse gases today are one of the lowest in the world, yet it ranks amongst the top ten countries
most affected by climate change during the last twenty years. We have not only faced floods,
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droughts or even the 2015 Karachi heatwave but also other impacts such as glacier melting, rising
temperatures, rising sea level just to name a few. That is the disproportionate level of suffering.
Even then Pakistan is considering to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 2008
levels by 2025.
Global warming has already caused a rise in the sea level as a result of melting of polar ice
sheets and that of glaciers causing a significant threat to the low-level islands like the Maldives
and many deltaic regions of the world including that of Bangladesh to submerge in due course of
time. On one side there have been heat waves and droughts in the sub-Saharan Africa and the Thar
Desert of Indo- Pak subcontinent, on the other torrential rains and flooding in many parts of the
world particularly Southern states of America under the command of hurricanes, and Philippines
and adjoining areas of the South China Sea prone to typhoons. India and Bangladesh are also
experiencing heavy, devastating rains and floods. Greenhouse gasses are not merely adding to
global warming only these are polluting our atmosphere in the form of smog also affecting our
health with every breath we take in. At the moment Beijing is one of the worst Smog hit city in
the world. This phenomenon has also started engulfing Pakistan particularly Punjab during
winters.
Hurricane Florence has caused havoc deep inside the South Carolina and the North Carolina
States of America in September 2018 causing damage $17 billion to $22 billion. Before that
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has killed 1833 people in the New Orleans, USA. Typhoon Manghust
devastated the Philippines in September 2018. There has been enormous damage caused to the
California state forests due to the widespread forest fire during the 2018 summer.
Storms are getting more severe in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The question is
why these storms are getting worse? The scientific answer is that 90% of the additional energy we
receive from the Sun is stored up in the oceans. And the warmer oceans means more severe and
longer lasting storms. According to one report Seas are rising @ of 3milli meter per year. There
are two factors of the sea rise. Number one is the melting of polar and glaciers’ ice, and number
two is that water expands as it warms. When the atmosphere warms its capacity to hold moisture
also increases that eventually falls in the form of rains.
Scientifically, the process of global warming activates with the accumulation of CO2 and
Methane like gases in the atmosphere in quantities more than the pre-industrial era. How these
gases cause global warming? This happens due to their greenhouse effect on the atmosphere.
Under the usual circumstances whatever the heat earth absorbs during daytime from the Sun is
released during the night time. Hence the average mean temperature of the Erath remains the same.
But when the CO2 level of the atmosphere increases mainly on account of the excessive burning
of fossil fuels, it does not allow all the heat absorbed during the daytime to go back into the
atmosphere. It gets entrapped around the earth atmosphere. That means CO2 acts as a blanket.
This is commonly known as the greenhouse effect of CO2 and methane like gases.
The primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. To keep
our cities worth living, we have to get rid of fossil fuels and switch over to electrification of our
vehicles and go for renewable resources in the industrial setups with zero greenhouse gases
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emissions (CO2 and Methane). At the same time, we have to go for afforestation to neutralize the
effect of the increased accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. At the world level, maximum
energy is consumed in urban areas about 2/3rd of the total. On the average globally 50% of the
population lives in cities which is going to become 70% by 2050. Hence, urban areas warrant more
attention to be switched over to non-fossil fuel sources of energy from fossil fuels.
Other than this, burning of fossil fuels pollutes the air causing many breathing ailments. As per
WHO there have been over seven million people premature deaths every year due to the polluted
air. Air pollution kills more people than tobacco does. In places like Delhi people who have never
smoked a cigarette are dying of lung cancer. Polluted air kills three times as many people as AIDS,
tuberculosis, and malaria combined. But like climate change, air pollution had not been a priority
for many of the leaders gathered in Davos in January 2019.
There have been so many talks at the world level to deal with this menace by making the
world carbon neutral by the year 2045 and after that speeding up the consumption of the
greenhouse gasses more than emitting these into the atmosphere. There was the Kyoto (Japan)
protocol which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) that commits states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol was
adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. There are currently 192 parties.
However, Canada withdrew from the protocol in 2012, and the United States didn’t ratify it.
The Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases, notably the Carbon dioxide (CO2),
Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and Sulphur hexafluoride
(SF6).
The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. A second
commitment period was agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol,
in which 37 countries have binding targets, but Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have stated that
they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with
second-round targets. Japan, New Zealand, and Russia have participated in Kyoto's first-round but
have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period. As of July 2016, 66 states have
accepted the Doha Amendment, while entry into force requires the acceptance of 144 states. Of
the 37 countries with binding commitments, seven have ratified. That exhibits the lukewarm policy
of the states towards the implementation of the spirit of the agreement.
Subsequently, negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate
Change Conferences on measures to be taken in future which resulted in the 2015 adoption of the
Paris Agreement. It was a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of
the Kyoto Protocol with 195 signatories vowing to keep the global warming ‘well below’ 2 degree
Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels, and ideally to 1.5 degree Celsius. However,
intergovernmental panel on climate change in October 2018 provided another scientific assessment
on the impact of climate change. It revealed that the difference between the increase in average
global temperature of 2 degrees instead of 1.5 would mean twice as many life-threatening heat
waves and the loss of nearly all the world’s coral reefs. Paris agreement was to step up efforts to
cut the greenhouse gasses emissions every five years. The year 2020 is the first test of these
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pledges. 2020 is also the year to bend the curve of the global emissions sharply down towards net
zero by 2050 to confine the warming up to 1.5 degrees.
The global climate change conference in Poland wrapped up on Dec. 15, 2018, was held
after a succession of reports in which scientists have made it abundantly clear that current efforts
to avoid global warming catastrophe are not sufficient. Because the CO2 emissions are reaching
unprecedented levels in 2018, and many NGOs warn that wealthy countries are not pulling their
weight in the fight against climate change. Three years ago in Paris, 196 countries agreed to put a
curb on global greenhouse gas emissions. In Poland, they had to decide on rules and guidelines for
how to do it or to develop a program for implementation of the Paris Agreement at the national
level. The meeting was to finalize the rulebook for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, provide
assurances to poor nations on financial support for tackling global warming, and send a message
that countries are committed to stepping up their efforts in the coming years.
The Paris Agreement, which will take effect in 2020, was made within the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to create a global response to combatting
the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The objective is to limit responsibly the average global
temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by way of developing the mechanism for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing the decarbonization of the current fossil fuel-
based economy. The Global leaders in the conference reaffirmed their struggle to find the will to
set aside their short-term economic and political interests and work for the common good. They
finally came to a consensus on the “rulebook” for implementing the Paris Agreement.
There were two challenges before the leaders; First, regarding the U.S. President Donald
Trump announcement in June 2017 to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in November 2020.
Second, although countries that are responsible for 97 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions
have pledged to make cuts, the initial reductions will surely not be enough to keep global warming
below two degrees Celsius.
However, nations now have agreed on uniform rules for measuring and reporting their
performance in cutting emissions. They also discussed how to connect reduction efforts across
regions and nations.
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Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. NOAA In
the Paris Agreement 195 countries plus the European Union – accounting for 97 percent of global
emissions – pledged to develop national targets and action plans for reducing the emissions. In
contrast, the predecessor international agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, covered only 14 percent of
global emissions.
The good point during the conference in Poland was that the U.S. and Chinese delegations worked
closely to foster a consensus that all countries must follow uniform standards for measuring
emissions and tracking the achievement of their national targets.
This equal treatment could make it easier for the United States to remain in the Paris
Agreement if President Trump should become convinced that such action would be politically
advantageous in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. (Robert Stavins, Professor of
Business and Government, Harvard University)
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Wealthy nations account for most of the world’s cumulative carbon dioxide emissions since 1751,
but large developing nations are becoming increasingly important sources. OurWorldinData.org,
CC BY-SA
Delegates in Poland sought to write guidelines for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which
guides international cooperation. However, they were not able to reach an agreement, due to
objections from a single country – Brazil – and hence the issue was punted to the next conference,
which will be held in 2019 Santiago, Chile.
Ultimately, success or failure of the Paris Agreement will depend upon national actions. And
for that, it remains too soon to observe or even to predict the long-term outcome. (Robert Stavins,
professor of Business and Government, Harvard University). However, regarding its success, the
Vatican observed that UN Climate Change conference Poland December 15, 2018, was lacking in
urgency and in proper concern for human rights.

The measures taken so far in this regard indicates that there appears no substantial political
grip on the emission of greenhouse gasses. Things accordingly have gotten worse over time.
Therefore, the point of consideration at the moment is to what extent the world is serious in
implementing this agreement to a verifiable extent. The most severe threat to this agreement came
from the Trump administration as it has threatened to withdraw from the Paris agreement to protect
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its industries by making use of the domestic fossil fuels particularly the coal. Many other countries
are also halfhearted as coal is still being used widely both by China and India already largest
emitters of greenhouse gases. It has been observed that during 2018 CO2 emissions increased by
more than 2% because the countries kept on burning the fossil fuels and the investors continued to
find these more. New power plants are still under construction that will use coal for decades, the
largest source of CO2 emissions. The energy companies are still searching for new oil and gas
resources.
To keep this planet livable we have to learn to keep the maximum of our fossil fuels
underground and go for renewable energy, i.e., through solar, wind, tidal and wave energy, though
a big challenge. The developed world must come forward in helping the developing world and
emerging economies to develop their renewable resources. This requires complete human
solidarity. Though some good job is being done in various places yet a lot of has to be done. For
instance, in Hawaii, legislation has been made to switch over to 100% renewable energy by the
year 2045. Apple has pledged that their factories in China will use renewable energy.
We have to develop a mindset to live sustainably with the mother Earth. For that, we have to
take care of our ecosystem which we are destroying speedily by cleaning the forests mainly the
equatorial rainforest of Amazon basin, Congo basin and forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, the
largest source of CO2 consumption. We have to go for electric cars like Tesla, discourage the use
of fossil fuels by eliminating the subsidies, restoration of depleted equatorial forests including the
coastal mangroves, and making use of the Agroforestry being less capital intensive.
As a bottom line, Climate change is a human-made phenomenon, and mankind has the ability
to fix the same subject to only one condition that is the ‘sincerity of purpose’.
Largest emitters of CO2