Introduction
Climate change will have devastating effects worldwide, and its effects are already known to be permanent at this point in time. That is a fact that not all believe to be true, but it is known to be so. Climate change has been an unresolved issue for decades, since fossil fuel burning and similar industries, as it caused greenhouse gas emissions. This gas that is produced traps heat in the atmosphere of the Earth, warming the average global temperature slowly or not, as they are produced, heat is trapped. This is a necessary process to keep the temperatures at a livable degree for life, yet when there is more greenhouse gas than necessary the atmosphere heats up, on average, above the livable temperature for life. This is what is current happening, and the most sensitive forms of life are dying because of it. Just as life cannot withstand high temperatures, weather is highly effected and unstable because of it also, leading to many other kinds of troubling issues. Many issues across the world are directly caused by climate change, thus being an inevitable issue humanity is encountering.
Air Pollution
Climate change has had a devastating impact on the world, and as it continues, many federal laws have been passed, along with geopolitical climate treaties. The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act, October 20, 1965, was a fight against climate change in the United States. The goal of this act was to decrease carbon emissions of motor vehicles and reduce “smog,” which according to Gale, a major publisher and database of academic papers, which the term was used as early as the 1940s, and described as, “the hazy, brownish, eye-burning irritants that were polluting the air of the Los Angeles basin” (Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act, October 20, 1965.). Due to this smog in the atmosphere of the Los Angeles basin, there has been many pushes to reduce it, and the biggest of which is the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act. It limited the amount of air pollution in cars for car manufacturers, and defined what is considered “clean air.” Because smog was so prominent in the Los Angeles basin, “smog alerts” was a term used to lock down citizens as to not worsen the situation if possible. There was a large count smog alerts constantly, but it was found that, “In the Los Angeles basin, the number of smog alerts issued in the 1990s was lower than in the 1970s” (Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act). These statistics were recorded, although the fact that the air quality was not measured directly. Because there were less smog alerts in the Los Angeles basin, this concludes to the fact that there were less times when the air was dangerous with smog. This also shows that the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act worked to reduce the carbon emissions, and in-turn reduce the amount of smog in the air. Though the act worked in the goal directly, it had consequences that may have been able to be prevented. Due to the reduction of carbon emission on the car industry, fuel efficiency and cost were at stake.
The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution act is a federal act that was passed, but there have been international treaties that have been signed by many countries across the world. One such treaty is the Kyoto Protocol, created in 1992, was a treaty to reduce carbon emissions globally to help prevent climate change worsening. The Kyoto Protocol targeted 6 different greenhouse gasses specifically, “carbon dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); Nitrous oxide (N2O); Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)” (Kyoto Protocol). There are many methods for countries to meet their deadlines in reducing these greenhouse gas emissions, and it should be to note that countries that signed for a commitment period was required to follow through. One method to lower carbon emissions, especially for nations that may be at risk, is the flexibility mechanisms, which was designed to provide a “system of tracking and transactions, compliance, and reporting, as well as helping at-risk nations adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, and to finance projects that aid those nations” (Kyoto Protocol). There were multiple methods to do so, such as Emission Trading. This allowed countries to trade the difference if they exceeded their carbon reduction goal, and penalties countries that didn’t, realistically forcing countries to trade with countries that have a surplus. So, countries that reduced carbon emission more than required could trade with countries who didn’t, therefore incentivizing countries to not only meet their goal, but exceed it as well. There were multiple other methods, but this was a method so highly used it has been considered the “carbon market.” The Kyoto Protocol was a legally binding agreement, but it didn’t have the foreseen outcome. Many countries found that their own carbon emission was reduced, with minor success, but “global emissions had increased by more than 30 percent between 1990 and 2010” (Kyoto Protocol). This led to the successor of the treaty, and the second commitment term of the treaty, much less attention and will to do so.
Wildfires
In the Western United States, and many other locations, wildfires have devastated land, and these wildfires are caused by the effects of climate change. Climate change has many devastating effects worldwide, and on average the temperature of the atmosphere is rising, due to this, many locations have dried to a point of decade long droughts. The Western United States has fallen victim to this, especially in already dry states like California. Found by trends from the American Geophysical Union, “the total area burned by fires from Nebraska to California has increased by nearly 90,000 acres a year” (Gale, Water Rationing and Wildfires in the U.S. West). This staggering amount of land has had more effects than simply burnt land. Though, it should be noted that this amount of burned land is increasing by the year, and it is unclear how much worse this could get if the droughts in the Western United States continue. Due to the wildfires, firefighters have been using much of the water reservoirs in states like California, as it takes much more water than anticipated to both put out the fires and keep the land wet as to not have fires further. Many precautions have been taken, but as it was to no avail, “In January of 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency” (Water Rationing and Wildfires in the U.S. West). This shows how serious and real the issue truly is, especially since the Governor had to involve themselves in this situation. This restriction was imposed to both allow firefighters to continue doing their job to prevent wildfires further, and halt already lit ones, but also to not run out of drinking water, as that would be a dire situation. As climate change continues to worsen, and its devastating effects only getting stronger, the world at large is waiting to see what comes next. Governments of all countries are both scrambling to find a solution when issues arise and playing it off when there are no direct issues.
Extreme Weather
Just as fire become a dire issue in the Western United States, worldwide, extreme weather is also playing its devastating effects. Across the world, extreme weather like cyclones is playing a role at large, displacing many citizens of all countries as they move to safety. These issues are especially prominent in countries such as Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, and African Coastal Regions. Extreme weather events can cause many deaths, and a staggering amount of damage costs. From the research of an international team of weather scientists, “there is a link between a rise in global temperatures and the strength and number of cyclones” (Cyclical Cyclones, Including Batsirai and Freddy, Present Challenges to Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, and African Coastal Regions). Since global temperatures are only rising, the strength of these cyclones is becoming larger, and the amount more numerous, which matches perfectly with the study. As temperatures are rising, there are more countries at risk of these devastating cyclones, and the countries that are already at risk will have even worse effects than now. This poses a threat to not only affected countries, but also the global economy, which will be mentioned later. Many cyclones have devastated the world, and according to World Meteorological Organization, a recent cyclone, the “Tropical Cyclone Freddy may have been one of the longest-lasting and most powerful systems on record” (Cyclical Cyclones). This is a real effect on cyclones rather than a presumed one and is directly caused by climate change. If it was not for climate change having its devastating effects, the Cyclone Freddy would not have formed in such a disastrous nature. Cyclones and other such extreme weather like these are a just but a few of the multitude of effects posed by climate change. If changes are not imposed then climate change, these consequences will only escalate in a manner than it will be unpredictable, thus, changes are necessary to adapt to this current situation.
International Politics
As climate change worsens, political leaders are forced to make decisions about how they will react to it. Just as there needs to be a response from political leaders, there are imminent threats to both the economy and geopolitical advantages and relations. Climate change will be a shift in politics, and political leaders must make decisions on what must be done. Many options are being thought of internationally, like for the successor of the Kyoto Protocol, and “One of the options under discussion is calling for an end to the use of all fossil fuels” (International Responses to Global Warming). This has been in discussion for many years, as scientists find that fossil fuels are a large cause of climate change itself. One such part of this was the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act, which although it didn’t prohibit fossil fuels, it attempted to reduce the largest consequence to fossil fuel usage, being greenhouse gas emissions. The threat of climate change at large is on the minds of many political leaders and scientists alike, and according to research and simulations, studied and proven from both the Max Planck Institute of Meteorology in Germany and the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, “The threats include melting glaciers, rising sea levels, submerged coastal cities, and increasingly extreme weather conditions that cause severe devastation” (International Responses to Global Warming). This poses a threat to not only the countries who are directly affected, but also countries that are affected in a less severe manner, and that is because of the global economy and political relations. The effects of climate change could ultimately lead to the downfall of entire countries, from extreme weather and rising sea levels, which, albeit obviously, directly affects the country in ruins. But not only to the country in danger, other countries that have any sort of trade, relation, or treaty could be indirectly affected, in a small or large way, possibly creating a domino effect. Due to this, political leaders are scrambling together to, universally or not, find a solution to as many of these problems as possible, as they know the implications of such effects.
As issues arise from the direct effects of climate change, the future of geopolitics is also at stake. This is due to many reasons discussed earlier and is primarily due to the domino effect of one country’s downfall leading to the struggle of another, eventually collapsing the entire world’s political relations. This is all in due time, and as if now, those possibilities are only likely, not definite. And according to a paper from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, a university from Arizona State, “climate change will be a destabilizing force both nationally and internationally. It will have cascading effects, … ultimately destabilizing governments and precipitating regional conflict” (Bodansky). Due to climate change, this paper discusses how the destabilizing nature of it can lead to conflict across the world, in a cascading manner. The issue of this is unprecedented, as major shifts in power can happen simply because of geographic advantage to climate change. Be it a country that is more protected from climate changed compared to a country that will flood over due to climate change. One example of this is that “Fossil fuel exporting states, such as Saudi Arabia, will lose power as the world decarbonizes” (Bodansky). As the world starts to reduce fossil fuel usage, many countries will lose their power, and this causes a shift in relations as many countries no longer have the need to support them. Just as countries lose their power, some countries gain even more power with renewable energy sources and an abundance of raw materials that are highly useful. These are “raw materials needed to generate, distribute, and store renewable energy (e.g., rare-earth metals, lithium, and cobalt)” (Bodansky). One such country that will gain power because of this is Russia. Russia has an abundance of these kinds of materials for renewable energy, even as their economy is hurt from the loss of value of fossil fuels. Due to this, there will be a large destabilizing factor in government across the world, changing geopolitical relations and a cascading effect that could ultimately turn out in a multitude of ways. An optimistic scenario is where is where countries successfully decarbonize, and switch to renewable energy. Another scenario is where social movements are the ones to make change, pressuring governments to make them. Yet, the realistic and most probably scenario is where countries try to make change, but don’t do anything, leading to the continuation of climate change, devastating the world, and causing large shifts in power.
Conclusion
Climate change is inevitable, a harsh truth that will eventually reveal itself whether governments decide to make change or not. Climate change has been an issue for decades, completely unresolved, and simply noticed. Not only that, but it will also have, and already has had, devastating worldwide affects. Many governments have made their own laws to reduce air pollution and have come together to reduce international greenhouse gas emissions. These acts to reduce the effects of climate change have both had large successful results, but also resulted in failure, with nothing to show. Just as laws have been made to reduce climate change, governments and international relations will be entirely affected by climate change, large shifts in power. Many countries will lose power and funding entirely, while some countries may gain power within the international trades. The eventual outcome of climate change is entirely determined by what action is made soon, and not what actions will follow down the line after it becomes too late. Currently, we are entering the point of no return, the point where climate change will have permanent effects on the world, yet it can get much worse than it is now. There are many possibilities of how climate change could possibly go, most of which being entirely determined by the ways governments act. Climate change is inevitable, so which end to this all do you want? which do you think will happen?