Question 1:
Causes of climate change
The term climate change can be defined a prolonged shift in the weather conditions and is recognized with the help of change in precipitation, temperature, winds as well as other indicators. The process of climate change engage changes in average conditions along with changes in variability which includes extreme natural disasters like, drought, floods as well as cyclone.
A good number of factors are there that are responsible for climate change. According to researchers, amongst the primary reasons behind this change, human activates can be considered to be the most impactful cause. Since the initiation of the industrial revolution, individuals have burned huge amount of fossil fuels and have changed huge regions of land (Crate & Nuttall, 2016). As a result of this practice for a prolonged period of time, the issue of global warming came to place. Burning of fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and is one of the chief reasons behind greenhouse effect. Just like a greenhouse, the greenhouse effect enhances the temperature of the earth, making it warmer place. This process is known as global warming. Due to massive change in the temperature, the earth’s climate is changing on a daily basis.
Definition and explanation of the Green house effect
The greenhouse effect is defined as a process that takes place when the atmosphere of the earth traps sun’s heat. At daytime, rays from the sun enter the atmosphere of the earth and heat up the earth surface. During night, the earth’s surface releases back the heat. As the heat enters atmosphere and back to the space, the greenhouse gasses absorb a good amount of heat. Thus this heat gets trapped in to the earth’s atmosphere. This process makes the earth warmer and makes the earth a planet that is suitable for human beings. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth would have been freezing cold and unsuitable for human beings to survive (Edenhofer, 2015).
However, due to excessive emission of greenhouse gasses like Carbon dioxides, methane and nitrous oxides, the greenhouse effect is getting stronger and stronger by day. This phenomenon is resulting in global warming. While several greenhouse gases, for example, methane are produced during agricultural practices like livestock manure, greenhouse gasses like CO2, is emitted due to natural processes that include respiration, burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil as well as gas.
Consequences of climate change on physical environment
Global climate change effect has already been observable on the environment. Some of the major effects of climate change that are evident includes melting of glaciers, earlier breaking of since on rivers as well as lakes, frequent shifting of plants and animals as well as quicker flowering of plants. According to scientists, if not stopped on an emergency basis, global warming which is the reason behind climate change will result in loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise as well as longer, more intense heat waves (Urry, 2015). In a good number of regions like USA, changes in the water resources can be consider a big impact on people’s life. In USA, du to less snow accumulation, some regions are facing droughts where as some areas are getting affected from flood.
Question 2
How climate change is affecting Micronesia
Micronesia refers to a subregion of Oceania, which is comprised of thousands of small islands located on the western Pacific Ocean. It possesses close shared cultural history with other island regions named Polynesia and Island Melanesia. The major impact of climate change in Micronesia includes the rising water level. In Micronesia, the sea level has currently got enhanced 2 to 3 times of the global average. The vast island of Micronesia is comprised on 607 islands and are scattered across million square miles of the western specific (Eriksen, Nightingale & Eakin, 2015). The islands, due to increasing sea level are already being eroded away by the fast rising sea level. The sea level is rising so fast that the graveyards are disappearing. According to the residents of Micronesia, the island being a completely flat one, is at an higher risk of getting slinked. A rising water level, is already turning the ground water of the island salty which in turn is resulting in killing of food carps like Taro as well as other various kinds of plants.
How will climate change affect Micronesia?
According to scientists, there will be more than 3 feet more rise in sea level within a time limit of 90 years along with 6 and a half more feet as an estimated upper bound (Luker et al., 2018). Researchers have stated that even a rise in 1 meter, it would have already imposed a divesting effect. Even an increment in one meter, the island will become uninhabitable.
Strategies taken by the government to deal with this change
The building of existing structures or otherwise “climate-saving” structures is a first step in adaptation. Micronesia already possess a climate saving action plan. For example, the Federative States of Micronesia, in order to reduce the impact of rainstorm and coastal erosion, have increased the height of the main shore road in Kosrae, changed materials used in road construction as well as installed slurry and other drainage measures (Berrang-Ford, Pearce & Ford, 2015). A campaign to ensure that the Mangaia port is climate-friendly on the Cook Islands has designed a retainment mall to minimize wave action.
Potential strategies that should be taken by the government
Kiribati initiated the rainwater tanks and water pumps, enhancement of drainage, and recycling of water in homes and industries as part of its Kiribati Adaptation plan. Tisaction can also be taken by both the local and state government of Micronesia. Nauru can expands the use of solar pipe purification and the houses of Tokelau as well Niue can install rainwater storage tanks and reduce the leaking pipes. The Marshall islands can work to increase the capacity of their main reservoir in Majuro (Luker et al., 2018)..
Food safety can be a problem, especially with the flood, drought and salinity of groundwater both decreasing plant production and the quantity of land available for cultivation. Fiji is currently working with farmers on improving drainage systems and is looking for variants of crops such as taro, sweet potatoes and cassava which can withstand both excessive levels of salt and water. In discovering three salt-resistant taro varieties Palau has recently achieved success.
Question 3
Moral responsibility of developed nations to pay for the effects of those emissions
It has been found that majority of the developed countries are responsible for climate change while the impact of the same has been faced majorly by the developing as well as the under developed nation. Hence, it can be pointed out that it is the moral responsibility of developed nations to pay for the effects of those emissions.
Strategies to contribute
The nations decided for the first time that ‘ developing countries which are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change ‘ would have the right to mitigate any loss or damage caused by large polluting nations. In particular the U.S. delegation tried hard to ensure that damages and lawsuits were not listed. The action being taken in Qatar, though, indicates that nations now agree that negative climate change effects are inevitable (Nunn et al., 2017). As these countries are still under international law agreements to avoid dangerous climate change, the day that nations will seek compensation in the courts over losses caused by climate change is approaching.
Who would determine the kinds of damages those nations should be responsible for?
The reality that talks are even on how to deal with climate change “losses and harm” shows how poorly climate policy has collapsed in 1992 at the first earth summit in Rio de Janeiro, along with the U.S. under George H.W. Bush, to sign the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under this convention, the nations have promised “to ensure stability in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas at a level to avoid dangerous anti-climate interference.” However, after the proposed emissions avoidance has not occurred, the levels of greenhouse gas have continued to increase (Abrams, Shimizu & Ishida, 2018). At its much-anticipated Copenhagen climate conference in 2009, delegates acknowledged that action remained missing after 17 years – the lamentably bad Kyoto Protocol of 1997 being the only sign of growth (Leal Filho, (2018). Thus, another element was added to the Copenhagen Agreement. In order to help poor countries and modify to what now seemed like unavoidable climate change, the governments promised to spend money on a “Adaptation Fund.” Three years later, the view of a new global treaty for mitigating emissions has seemed to be far away as ever, as well as the adaptation fund is empty. In Qatar therefore, they have added a third stage, introducing studies on how well the growing threat of ‘ loss and damage ‘ can be responded to (Yadav & Kumar, 2019).. What they are actually saying to the world is that mitigation or adaption will not work.
Reference List
Abrams, M. D., Shimizu, Y., & Ishida, A. (2018). Long-Term Changes in the Dominance of Drought Tolerant Trees Reflect Climate Trends on a Micronesian Island. Asian Plant Research Journal, 1-7.
Berrang-Ford, L., Pearce, T., & Ford, J. D. (2015). Systematic review approaches for climate change adaptation research. Regional Environmental Change, 15(5), 755-769.
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Crate, S. A., & Nuttall, M. (Eds.). (2016). Anthropology and climate change: from encounters to actions. Routledge.
Edenhofer, O. (Ed.). (2015). Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change (Vol. 3). Cambridge University Press.
Eriksen, S. H., Nightingale, A. J., & Eakin, H. (2015). Reframing adaptation: The political nature of climate change adaptation. Global Environmental Change, 35, 523-533.
Leal Filho, W. (Ed.). (2018). Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for coastal communities. Springer International Publishing.
Luker, V., Puas, Z., Samo, M., & Goodspeed, S. (2018). Diabetes Control in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Nunn, P. D., Runman, J., Falanruw, M., & Kumar, R. (2017). Culturally grounded responses to coastal change on islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, northwest Pacific Ocean. Regional Environmental Change, 17(4), 959-971.
Urry, J. (2015). Climate change and society. In Why the social sciences matter (pp. 45-59). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Yadav, M., & Kumar, R. (2019). Impact of Climate Change and Global Warming in India (With a Special Reference to Its Stand on Climate Change in International Forums). Available at SSRN 3427728.
