Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Looking for Solutions to Global Warming

There is the assumption that global warming is a problem created by environmentalist and that data collected on atmospheric climatic conditions do not give any credence to the problem of global warming. This assumption would have been plausible except for the fact that: many of our large cities are experiencing prolong erratic weather conditions, excessive heat wave in the summer months, more than mild winters, rising sea level that makes coastal cities vulnerable to the problem of flooding, unstable seas and river levels which have caused frequent floods in areas once considered floodless or with low incidence of flood and global warming pollution.

Politicians, academics and researchers understand the need to get started in tackling a problem as huge as global warming however, because there is not yet a consensus as to the gravity or definition of the problem, everyone continues to drag their feet. Solutions to climate change are within us, only if we can get everyone to talk to each other, and find amicable solutions to a problem that will not go away. Burning more fossil fuel will not only make us demand more imported foreign oil it will also increase incidences of environmental pollution. Instituting and supporting a national fuel standard as proposed by the Obama Administration, would not only create better transmissions and engines, stronger and lighter cars which are cost effective on fuel economy, but also help reduce carbon emission that has been a problem for global warming. Better gas mileage from automobile would not only reduce global warming, it will also help Americans save millions of dollars at the pump over the life of most vehicles. Supporting coal burning power plants which continue to dump pollutants and heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere will only deter investment in clean renewable energy, and thus, reduction in Carbon dioxide emissions. Avoiding dangerous climatic change will require efforts by all coal, petrochemical, industrial and similar electricity generation complexes to adopt new practices that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To avoid environmental and economic consequences of generating energy by biomass or biodegradable organic matter we must fashion out bio-energy policies that take into consideration the gravity of the problem of environmental pollution.

Opponents and supporters of the global warming thesis, argue that there is need for more research and that unless further researches are carried out on the thesis of global warming, we may be unable to provide answers to questions of the interactions of clouds, water vapor and sea ice on climatic systems; and, their consequences on heat-trapping gas emissions. Because we now understand that higher carbon emission levels and changed precipitation patterns exert interactive efforts on natural wetlands, we are now able to assess the problem of global warming and its impact on our ecosystem.

The underlying truth to this entire hullabaloo is the fact that the atmosphere cannot wait and the earth’s residents cannot be satisfied by a prolonged debate that is getting us no where and just compounding a problem that is not oblivious to anybody, researchers, politicians and academics alike.

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