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Climate Change in Relation to the 2020 Election
With the United States experiencing the adverse effects of climate change such as flooding in Midwest, hurricanes and fire seasons, climate change has been on each politicians manifesto. Moreover, climate changes are being noted in different places in the world. Some climate changes include loss of sea ice, accelerated sea-level rise and more intense heat waves. As a result of the greenhouse effect, worldwide temperatures are projected to increase if nothing is done. This essay aims to explore climate change concerning 2020 and the necessary solutions to climate change.
In 2019 the people in Midwest who most of them are farmers experienced devastating floods that led to about 14 million acres of land failing to be worked on when the farmers wanted to plant crops. The production of corns in the Midwest went down by 25% by mid Century according to National Climate Assessment. Moreover, the floods in 2019 affected residents in their respective homes. According to a poll taken by Yale and George Mason University, about 80% of Iowa voters claimed adverse weather conditions posed a severe problem where they reside. Majority of the voters in Iowa claimed that they would support government measures to climate change (Alina, & Stephanie, no pg.). Scientific reports about climate change by researchers have influenced the people to reason twice before they cast their votes in 2020. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018 gave a report showing that greenhouse emissions were supposed to decline by half before the year 2030 before severe climate change effects kick in. Scientific reports, coupled with the recent rises in temperature have led to increased anxiety to people all over the world. Massive protests have been held to protest against greenhouse emissions. Moreover, politicians have taken a keen interest in the matter. Whether politicians have taken an interest in the matter to manipulate voters or to help in countering the adverse effects of climate change remains to be unknown.
With the United States getting closer to presidential elections, presidential candidates have drafted their manifestos that are aimed to address their policies. There are only two candidates for the 2020 presidential elections. These presidential candidates include Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. Biden in 2019 proposed a strategy that would be used to minimize adverse effects brought by climate change. He said when he wins the presidential election. He would set aside $1.7 trillion to get rid of the greenhouse effects caused by gas emissions(CNN, no pg.). His plan is however based on Green New Deal which was first proposed by representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her proposal focused on renewable-energy infrastructure and climate change. Biden has even gone ahead and called for ban and end of fossil fuels. It remains upon the Congress to determine the mechanisms that will be used by organizations to meet the goals set without interfering with their goals.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has failed in the war against climate change. It is evident from the 2016 presidential campaigns that Trump was against Obama’s plan on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. Trump, after getting to office as the president withdrew the United States from the Paris climate treaty, which was meant to reduce fossil fuel emissions and was signed by almost all the nations. His call for American domination in global energy supply leads to domestic oil production. The resultant effects were a reversal of declining carbon emissions. Moreover, Trump went ahead and weakened fuel economy standards leading to more emissions. The Colombia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law highlights 131 moves by Donald Trump’s administration that led to the deregulation of federal climate. After the National Climate Assessment report was released, Trump rejected the findings that greenhouse emissions caused by human activities resulted to economic damage and had to be minimized through strict measures (Fieldman, and Lavelle, no pg.).
Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential elections has perhaps realized the adverse effects of climate, thanks to his policies. The energy and environmental issue policy have focused on how the how EPA will improve the Superfund program, which its primary task is to clean up hazardous waste. EPA has relaunched the smart sectors program to cooperate with the private sector to achieve better environmental results (Fieldman, and Lavelle, no pg.). However, Trump does not back down from high oil production as he is looking forward to increasing sales to other countries. Trump repealed Clean Power Plan as a result of compliance cost. It was estimated that compliance costs would add up to $33 billion by 2030.
If greenhouse emissions are not reduced or eliminated in the United States several consequences may arise as a result, for instance, increase in temperatures, rise in sea levels, increase in ocean temperatures, shrink in glaciers and thawing of permafrost among other consequences. Increase in greenhouse emissions has resulted in an increase in annual change in temperatures by 3.6F. Weather conditions such as flooding are likely to be more intense as a result of high precipitation (Alina & Stephanie, no pg.). More problems are likely to be experienced like an increase in pathogens, health risks, increased acidifications, among other negative consequences.
As the temperature increases, the sea levels increase since high temperatures mostly cause ice melting. It was discovered in 2014 by the World Meteorological Organization that the sea levels since 2014 have been increasing by 0.12 inches annually globally. Melting of ice in the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions was seen as the cause of an increase in the sea levels. Climate change is as a result of human behaviour has been attributed to ice melting, which consequently, leads to an increase in sea volume. According to the EPA, global sea levels have increased to about 8 inches (Alina & Stephanie, no pg.). The rate of increase is expected to rise in the coming years due to the increase in heat intensity resulting in more ice meltdown.
While Biden as proposed an excellent solution to climate changes, the United States alone cannot change the global climate. The first solution to climate change is to forego fossil fuels. Fossil fuels result from products such as the use of coal, oil and natural gas. However, the biggest challenge is that there are no alternatives that have been devised to replace fossil fuels. For instance, industries mostly rely on fuel to perform their daily operations. Coal supplies electricity to almost half of the United States’ population and therefore, even if there were alternative shifting to that alternative would incur the country a lot of costs (Calma, no pg.). There are no perfect solutions in the comparting greenhouse effect. However, there are alternatives which cannot yield as much energy as fossil fuels but can still be useful. Some of the other options include biodiesel, wind power, among others. Divesting from oil sale and investing in organizations that deal with carbon capture and storage should be a way to go.
The second solution to climate change is an infrastructure upgrade. The United States alone contributes to about 45% of greenhouse gas emissions from infrastructure. With the increase in power demands, power companies have resulted in using more fossil fuels to meet the excess demand. This move has proved to be detrimental to the environment since it will eventually destroy the ozone layer. Therefore improving the existing roads and transmission lines can help in minimizing greenhouse emissions.
Living closer to places of work is another solution to minimizing greenhouse emissions. Since transport in vehicles results to carbon oxide emissions, living closer to areas of work can help in eliminating this problem since an individual can choose other means that do not result in gas emissions like riding a bicycle or walking to the place of work. Using public means of transport is another way to help in reducing carbon (iv) oxide gas emissions(Calma, no pg.). Moreover, some organizations even allow individuals to work from home and telecommuting while at home to check on work progress. Air transport is the only means of transport that does not have an alternative. Cutting down long-distance travel, however, can help in reducing emissions.
Another solution is to consume less. This solution can be achieved through focusing on reducing effects on climate by, for instance, buying a car that would have less impact on the environment or reducing the amounts of packaging by buying in bulk (Calma, no pg.). Being efficient is another solution that people ignore. Most people drive their cars at high speeds even when there is no urgent matter to rush to, and this results in more emissions due to the high conversion rate of fuel. Besides, electricity consumption can be reduced by using efficient air conditioners, refrigerators and other electrical appliances. This move would consequently reduce the amounts of fuel, such as coal that is required to be burned to meet the electricity demands.
Planting more trees and stopping the cutting of trees would help in reducing global warming. Cutting down trees would result in the accumulation of carbon in the air since we need trees to consume the carbon. If people cut down trees, carbon is likely to accumulate in the atmosphere causing global warming.
Replacing fossil fuels in the 21st Century can be tricky since most industries have adopted fossil fuels as a source of energy. Industries have been known to be the source of income to many countries, and therefore, it would be difficult to change some of their raw materials. Moreover, the alternative sources of energy cannot provide the required power by these industries. Besides, it would require a lot of money to invest in alternative sources of energy. Since the United States cannot solve the problems of climate change alone, underdeveloped countries would find it difficult to switch to alternative sources of energy due to high cost and lack of skilled personnel (Calma, no pg.).
Climate change has subjected the world to an experiment. If each of the countries fails to follow the guidelines, the people will suffer. Scientists have developed several objects aimed at addressing the problems of climate change. However, resolutions like geoengineering and radical interventions should be the last move that scientists should adopt (Calma, no pg.). Recent research by scientist has seen viable solutions to greenhouse emissions. Some of the solutions suggested by scientists include fertilizing oceans with iron and other nutrients to allow for growth of planktons. This move is supported by the fact that planktons absorb carbon. Another solution based on research is placing several mirrors to deflect sunlight. These solutions have unintended consequences making the solution far much worse than the problem. However, geoengineering is, more viable than others since it would help in capturing carbon dioxide.
The effects of global warming are expected to affect not only human beings but also plants and animals. Animals have started moving to higher altitudes as a result of high temperatures. Plants, on the other hand, have reduced production, as evident through crop yields. According to EPA migratory insects and birds are now arriving in their summer feeding destinations earlier than they used to in the 20th Century. This fact is as a result of a change in climatic conditions they experience, which forces them to seek an alternative.
It is now or never for human beings to put up measures in addressing problems arising from climate change. Survival would require a sacrifice which we could afford to lose. Therefore, no matter what the cost, something has to be done to save humanity and its contents. It is time that human being shifts their focus on alternative sources of energy because even if they are not sufficient, at least they are environment friendly. Human beings created the problem. Therefore it is time they deal with it.
Works Cited
Alina and Stephanie. “Effects Of Global Warming”. Livescience.Com, 2020, https://www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html.
Calma, Justine. “As The 2020 Election Heats Up, Climate Change Becomes A Bigger Priority”. The Verge, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21125006/climate-change-election-2020-priority-voters-iowa-president-primaries.
CNN. “Joe Biden”. Edition.Cnn.Com, 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/election/2020/candidate/biden.
Fieldman, Stacy, and Marianne Lavelle. “Donald Trump’s Record On Climate Change”. Inside Climate News, 2020, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19122019/trump-climate-policy-record-rollback-fossil-energy-history-candidate-profile.