Global Warming: Causes and Mitigation

Global warming refers to an increasing rise in temperature in the oceans and earth’s atmosphere. The earth’s climate has been changing, resulting in changes in weather patterns and distribution. Climate change is either natural or anthropogenic. Natural climate change is as a result of natural causes. These include volcanoes, continental drift, earth’s tilt, ocean currents, meteorites and comets (Matthews, Weaver, Meissner, Gillett, & Eby, 2004). Continental drift is the gradual separation of the land mass. Scientists believe that the earth was joined together in one landmass and it drifted apart over time. This affected the climate since the position and features of the land as well as that of water bodies changed (Matthews et al., 2004). The ocean current flow as well as winds also changed and consequently, the climate was affected.

Volcanic activity also affects the climate as the eruption releases water vapor, ash, sulfur dioxide and dust into the atmosphere, which block the sun rays. The movement of the earth is responsible for different seasons. Scientists believe that the axis of the earth is not fixed and it changes gradually (Matthews et al., 2004). The movement of the axis affects the climate. Ocean currents also affect the climate when they change direction or speed as water vapor leaves the ocean and contributes to cloud formation. Anthropogenic climate changes are caused by human beings. These include the use of fossil fuels, clearing of land, exploitation of natural resources, pollution, burning waste and use of fertilizer (Matthews et al., 2004). Such activities have increased the levels of greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

There is a debate regarding whether global warming is taking place or not. Some people argue that global warming is not happening. However, there is evidence that the earth’s atmosphere is indeed increasing in temperature. One of the indicators of global warming is the rise in sea level (Matthews et al., 2004). This is as a result of the expansion of water after heating up and also due to the water added to the oceans when ice sheets and glaciers melt. Another proof of global warming is that glaciers as well as the sea ice are shrinking because they are melting due to the rising temperatures. Another indicator is an increase in the earth’s temperature. Weather stations have been reporting rising land and sea surface temperatures and each decade is warmer than the previous one (Matthews et al., 2004).

Several strategies can be adopted to mitigate global warming. One of the strategies is carbon taxing. Carbon dioxide makes up the majority of greenhouse emissions and carbon taxing can discourage greenhouse gas emission. A carbon tax involves imposing charges on natural gas, oil and coal according to their carbon content and passing the tax forward into the cost of energy intensive goods, petroleum products and electricity (Elgie & McClay, 2013). Carbon taxing leads to reduced usage of fossil fuels which reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. It is an effective strategy because it has been implemented in various places such as British Columbia and the results were positive (Elgie & McClay, 2013). In areas where it has been implemented, carbon taxing has led to reduced fuel consumption and there has been a decrease in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon taxing is a cost-effective strategy and money is raised from the taxes. Carbon tax is also predictable as its price fluctuates based on the economic conditions. Definite emission limits are set but the carbon price is not definite. The policy implication of carbon taxing is that the revenues collected from the taxes would provide a stable financial base for funding other efforts to mitigate global warming (Elgie & McClay, 2013).

Another strategy used to reduce the rate of global warming is carbon sequestration. This strategy involves capturing and storing carbon from the environment (Richards, 2004). Carbon is sequestrated and stored in reservoirs located underground in order to reduce the rate of global warming and climate change. During carbon sequestration, carbon dioxide from industrial processes and power plants is captured and compressed. Then it is transferred through pipelines and injected into the ground (Richards, 2004). Carbon sequestration is a costly method of mitigating global warming. Storage of carbon dioxide under the ground has been successfully done for a long time. However, the storage of carbon dioxide was temporary. Therefore, the effectiveness of permanent storage of carbon dioxide has not yet been determined. The policy implication for carbon sequestration is that it will require a lot of resource commitment from the government and also the issue of leakage needs to be addressed (Richards, 2004).

I would propose changes to the carbon cap and trade policy. This policy involves using financial incentives to discourage corporations from emitting huge amounts of carbon dioxide. A carbon dioxide emission limit is set and major polluters are assigned shares of the total (Paltsev, Reilly, Jacoby, Gurgel, Metcalf, Sokolov, & Holak, 2008). Companies emitting more than is allowed by the cap have to purchase permits from those companies emitting less carbon dioxide. This can become very expensive and companies choose to reduce their emissions to avoid these costs (Paltsev, 2008). I would propose a huge increase in the carbon caps since many companies find it cheaper to pay the costs than to make long-term expensive structural changes to minimize their carbon dioxide emissions (Paltsev, 2008). Companies involved in diverse industrial processes such as the combustion of fossil fuels, production of cement, chemicals and metals which emit very high amounts of carbon dioxide would be held to stricter standards.

References

Elgie, D. S., & McClay, J. A. (2013). BC’s Carbon Tax shift after five years: Results. An environmental (and economic) success story, 2-9.

Matthews, H. D., Weaver, A. J., Meissner, K. J., Gillett, N. P., & Eby, M. (2004). Natural and anthropogenic climate change: incorporating historical land cover change, vegetation dynamics and the global carbon cycle. Climate Dynamics, 22(5), 461-479.

Paltsev, S., Reilly, J. M., Jacoby, H. D., Gurgel, A. C., Metcalf, G. E., Sokolov, A. P., & Holak, J. F. (2008). Assessment of US GHG cap-and-trade proposals. Climate Policy, 8(4), 395-420.

Richards, K. R. (2004). A brief overview of carbon sequestration economics and policy. Environmental Management, 33(4), 545-558.