Fighting the Climate Crisis: Mobilizing for a Sustainable Future

The climate crisis is a phenomenon caused by human activities and fossil fuels; global warming, extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels and biological depletion are some of the outcomes of it. Stanhill (2001) assessed the number of scientific papers on the topic of climate change, and found that the number of papers per year has been doubling every 11 years since the 1950s. Changes in atmospheric CO2 were considered a possible cause of the ice ages, for example by Svante Arrhenius in 1896, but another potential driver for ice ages was and still is considered to be wobbles in the Earth’s orbit around the sun. Today the temperature around the world is increasing faster than ever and as for the future of climate crisis according to Hunt and Watkins (2010) the trend in global emissions of greenhouse gases and associated climate change will continue. These changes will lead to wide ranging impacts and economic costs across different sectors and regions.

1. Growing Emissions Needs Renewable Efforts

Climate crisis, driven by escalating global emissions of greenhouse gases, poses wide-ranging impacts and economic burdens. Efforts to promote greener consumption patterns face limitations, while urgent action is imperative to transition to renewable energy sources and mitigate impending catastrophes.

1.1. Addressing the Persistent Threat: Escalating Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Imperative for Renewable Solutions

The looming climate crisis, as projected by Hunt and Watkins (2010), will persist due to escalating global emissions of greenhouse gases. These emissions precipitate wide-ranging impacts and economic burdens across diverse sectors and regions. While climate activists advocate for greener consumption patterns worldwide, the efficacy of this approach remains limited. Alfredsson (2004) argues that such measures offer only temporary relief, as partially green consumption may inadvertently escalate total emissions. Cumulative carbon emissions surged by 1.5 percent in 2017, predominantly fueled by conventional energy sources like gasoline and diesel (Lenssen et al, 2019). However, viable alternatives such as solar, bioenergy, and wind turbines exist. Transitioning to these renewable sources offers a pathway to curbing carbon emissions. This discussion underscores the pressing need to confront climate change by analyzing human activities' profound impact on greenhouse gas emissions. By elucidating the urgency of addressing climate change, this paper underscores the imperative for mitigative action against impending environmental and socio-economic catastrophes.

1.2. Shortcomings in Policy and Energy Innovation About Climate Crisis

First of all, there are many factors for fighting the climate crisis, and these are policies and instigation. Governments can arrange for the percentage of energy sources that people and industries use. For example, one of the world’s first carbon taxes started to be used in Sweden in 1991 to decrease carbon emission, and this is $110 per tonne of carbon (Pierrehumbert, 2016). In recent years, they increased to $500 per tonne to carbon taxes. Also, British Columbia’s carbon tax is $30 per tonne, while California’s tax is $50 per tonne (Pierrehumbert, 2016). Besides, governments can encourage people to use renewable energy sources for their houses. As a result, governments have a big role in the climate crisis, such as regulating and incentivizing people and industries for using renewable energy sources. The combination of strategies and energy resources required to address this issue will vary across nations. Certain countries may incorporate a higher proportion of wind, solar, and nuclear energy into their energy mix compared to Sweden. Conversely, nations abundant in fossil fuels might benefit from utilizing more natural gas alongside carbon capture and storage technologies. Firms and companies are using a lot of energy for production. 

1.3 Warming at an Unprecedented Rate

Exploring global warming, the focus is on the unprecedented rate of temperature rise. Nasa (2019) compares 50 years ago and now; the pace of increasing temperature keeps getting faster. Human activities, notably increased carbon emissions, utilizing scientific data, including ice cores and satellite observations, the severity of climate change and its urgent mitigation. All proves the statistics and supports the rate of Earth’s warming is faster than ever.

2. Industry's Role in Climate Advocacy

Factories, requiring substantial energy, can adopt renewable sources like solar power. They should educate workers and promote climate awareness.

2.1. Governments Role in the Fight

Governments play a huge role on educating people, if they provide their own courses they can shape the public opinion about climate crisis. On the other hand for the greenhouse gas emissions every government should use life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. According to Alfredsson (2004) this method calculates all energy use and CO2 emissions in society to be assigned to last consumption. With this calculation governments can track the data and use it for their advantages to reduce unnecessary energy usage. For politic problems we can use the tactic Sweden used back in 2011, Pierrehumbert (2016) says Sweden taxed the industrial energy uses at the half standard rate in order to prevent leakage, so the countries with low costs of emitting carbon gained the control of industrial production. There is always a more radical way of solving problems, Dittmar and Nicollerat (2004) came up with this idea which aims to limit the damage by reducing CO2 emissions by 2 factor smaller in 2025. This only can be done by reducing 2 percent each year which is too hard due to 1.3 percent population increase in the world every year, but if a radical action is taken it is possible even though its hard.

2.2. Industries Effect on Climate Crisis

Factories have big facilities and they need high energy rather than houses. For instance, they can switch their energy sources to renewable energy such as solar power plants on their roof. They should use recycling plans and encourage and inform their workers and customers about the climate crisis, they should arrange lessons and give classes to people in order to fight with a plan. Of course every sector of companies are different and solutions vary but generally speaking, the first mission has to be informing other people first because a high percentage of workers doesn’t know how the company they work for effect the climate crisis. Research conducted by Cone Communications revealed that 90% of consumers would change brands to support a cause, underscoring the influence of promoting climate awareness and integrating sustainable practices on consumer preferences and brand allegiance. Pierrehumbert (2019) says that world is failing to make a responsible start on decarbonization of the economy.

2.3. Individuals Mission

Individuals should arrange and raise money and sources. People can play a crucial role by advocating for decarbonization efforts and supporting initiatives financially. By raising awareness and mobilizing resources, they can help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Every contribution, whether through activism or financial support, counts towards shaping a sustainable future. As Pierrehumbert (2019) notes, the world is failing to make a responsible start on decarbonization, emphasizing the urgency for individuals to take action. To conclude this, we understand that governments regulate energy sources; companies use renewables, educate, and recycle; individuals advocate and support decarbonization efforts for a sustainable future, without everyone involved nothing changes, we should gather every piece together in order to end climate crisis.

3. Urgent Action Required: A Call for Comprehensive Solutions to Combat the Climate Crisis

In conclusion, the climate crisis needs a versatile approach that acknowledges the limitations of certain solutions while leveraging the potential of others. While “green” consumption may offer temporary relief, it falls short of providing a comprehensive solution to the complex issue of CO2 emissions. Governments must play a proactive role in implementing policies and regulations to steer industries and individuals towards sustainable practices. Gabric (2023) says despite ongoing reliance on fossil fuels and slow mitigation progress, urgent action is needed to prevent catastrophic climate impacts and explore carbon removal technologies. On the other hand, in order to reduce emissions, exploring carbon removal technologies like improved land management is crucial. The climate crisis necessitates a multifaceted approach, recognizing both the limitations of certain solutions and the potential of others. Governments play a crucial role in regulating energy sources and incentivizing renewable energy adoption. Companies can utilize renewables, educate, and implement recycling plans. Individuals must advocate and support decarbonization efforts. As Pierrehumbert (2019) underscores, urgent action is imperative. Ultimately, collective efforts are vital for shaping a sustainable future amidst escalating climate challenges. To finish,  humanity should play their part and take this matter into account with more attention because the near future may not be bright as the consequences of climate change increases rapidly, today we still need more people to be conscious about this matter and keep working to end climate crisis for the better.

Özenç Baran Yeni | Enerji Sistemleri Stajyeri
 

References

Raymond Pierrehumbert (2019) There is no Plan B for dealing with the climate crisis, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 75:5, 215-221, DOI: 10.1080/00963402.2019.1654255

Gabric, A.J. (2023) The Climate Change Crisis: A Review of Its Causes and Possible Responses. Atmosphere. https:// doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071081

Dittmar, M., & Nicollerat, A.-S. (2004) Man-made climate change: facts and fiction. arXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0403083 

Raymond Pierrehumbert (2016) How to decarbonize? Look to Sweden, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 72:2, 105-111, DOI: 10.1080/00963402.2016.1145908

Alfredson, E.C. (2004) “Green” consumption-no solution for climate change, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2003.10.013

Hunt, A., Watkiss, P. (2011) Climate change impacts and adaptation in cities: a review of the literature. Climatic Change 104, 13–49, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-010-9975-6