Wherever you stand on the issue of global climate change, there are some facts that you cannot deny. The earth is getting warmer every year. Humans contribute tons of greenhouse pollutants into the atmosphere every minute of every day. Whatever the cause, the world’s climate is radically changing.
Opponents of the anthropogenic-forcing of global warming hypothesis often point to the scientifically identified warming and cooling cycles throughout the Earth’s history. While it is true that the planet has undergone various cycles of ice ages and warm spells, this does not sufficiently rule out the possibility that humans are affecting these long established trends.
The scientific evidence tells us that the earth is currently in the receding phase of an ice age. So, while it is possible that the earth would be warming without any human intervention it is still important to examine how our impact is either hastening or hampering these natural trends. Some opponents claim that earth’s systems are too complex to be possibly be affected by mankind’s relatively minuscule presence. However, the notion that we cannot affect the natural environment, is not only ridiculous but also irresponsible. All one has to do is look outside to view some of the detrimental impacts of humans on the environment. The result of people changing natural environments have caused many animals to go extinct and irreparably altered ecosystems worldwide. The larger concept of man-made global warming is just another impact that we are having on the environment. We cannot burn nearly 100 million barrels of oil a day, globally, and not expect there to be some kind of ill effect on the planet.
Furthermore, the idea that biological organisms cannot profoundly affect earth’s natural systems is absurd and demonstrably false. Around 2.5 billion years ago, the evolution of microscopic photosynthetic organisms would drastically change the earth’s atmosphere. The production of oxygen gas, a natural byproduct of photosynthesis, accumulated in Earth’s atmosphere. The subsequent evolution of aerobic organisms – including all animal species – was made possible by these huge environmental changes.
The source of petroleum, one of the most common fossil fuels, is from planktonic organisms that lived millions of years ago but got trapped under the earths crust and, under great temperature and pressure, changed chemical composition. The energy from oil, therefore, comes from ancient atmospheric carbon, turned into biomass by photosynthesizers and transformed into oil by the earth. Although burning biomass fuels, like wood, also releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, burning fossil fuels releases ancient carbon – so when this carbon is released, it is returning carbon dioxide that earth’s ecosystems have learned to evolve without. When greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere on a massive scale, we run the serious risk of changing the atmosphere, and thus the climate, of the entire earth.
Global warming is an economic issue as much as it is an environmental one. Our altering of the environment puts strains on natural habitats and threatens valuable ecosystem services that save us trillions of dollars annually. Even if you are not convinced about the threat that human pollution poses to the planet, there is also the fact that many of the resources that we use to power our homes, cars, and cities, are old, outdated, 20th century energy sources. Fuels like oil were once cheap and plentiful but with global demand increasing exponentially and the supply not rising nearly as fast, there is going to come a point where the need soon outpaces its affordibility. This will be a catastrophic event if people are not prepared and ready to make the jump to more viable and sustainable alternatives.
There are a couple of options that mankind has to chose from. The first is to stay on the path we are on. We can wait until we run out of fossil fuels or until the resources become stretched so thin that we have no choice but to change to something else. Another choice is to gradually wean off of old resources and start investing in other sources now. The fact is that before too long, oil and other fossil fuels will no longer be plentiful enough to be considered useful for human consumption. 100 years from now we will have had to switch to alternatives. The question is: how and when will we?
Some are trying to push for change through forcible intervention. Government incentives for companies that are in the solar, wind, and biofuel industries are one way we are preparing. Ultimately however, it will take the will and realization of consumers and suppliers for any real and massive changes to actually occur.
Perhaps it might be better for the world to run out of fossil fuels sooner rather than later. Since the transition will not be easy, it would be better for the switch to occur with less people dependent on waning resources than with more. Hopefully this will also occur before global climate change becomes an irreversible problem. If people are able to realize these changes and push to end dependence on oil now, we might be able to avoid larger climate catastrophes in the future.
For those skeptics on global climate change, remember that the issue is a multi-layered one. There is much wrong with our reliance on 20th century resources, and we should seek to invest in alternatives now for the sake of economic growth and long term prosperity as much as for the sake of the environment. High standards of living and economic growth require huge energy requirements, and so we cannot wait to find new energy sources at some point in the vauge future. We can avoid an unfortunate fate if we are willing to act now. It will take a global attitude change but in the end, the only question is if we decide to do it now or later.
