Month: May 2020

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Electric Cars Over Fossil Fuel Cars for Climate Change Mitigation

Abstract

This paper shows evidence of why fossil-fueled vehicles were one of the main contributions to why the climate change crisis exists. Fossil-fueled cars produce gas emissions that pollute in the air, causing the average global temperature to rise each year, which creates natural disasters that can kill all living things and homes. Climate change has had many huge events that killed off billions of animals and their homes, the same the people’s homes as well all over the world. Switching to electric cars can reduce emissions immensely because of the renewable resource it consumes. Electric vehicles take in electric and emit no emission, rather than consuming gas and emitting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Together all this evidence shows that electric vehicles are the way to go in the future. To have a future on earth we must prevent the world from overheating and destroying everything on it. Evidence in this paper shows why electric vehicles would be more beneficial than fossil-fueled vehicles for climate change.
Keywords:  electric vehicles, fossil-fueled vehicles, climate change, global warming, temperature, finance, transportation, gas emissions, pollution, carbon dioxide, average global temperature

Electric cars over fossil-fueled cars: How electric cars can help solve climate change and be the future for transportation.

Wonder yourself planning a trip to go on a dive in the ocean. Hoping to see different types of beautiful creatures, and corals, then you approach miles of nothingness, not a single fish nearby. Why is that so? Where are all the fish, and why do all the corals have this white, dry-like texture? Sadly, the fish have migrated or died off because they’ve lost their home or had a limited amount of food source. Issues like this happen nowadays and it all revolves around climate change and global warming. Animals are suffering due to high temperatures all around the world. Wildfires and Coral reefs are largely impacted because of climate-changing. While people think corals don’t mean much or have no value to the world, it does. Corals help build shelters and provide food for most of the fish in the ocean. The same argument goes along with the animals in the wilderness. Wildfires in California, Australia, and the Amazon, etc. are killing and injuring different types of wildlife creatures like koalas, kangaroos, tigers, elephants, and more… We might not be able to see these types of animals anymore if these issues continue to happen in the future. Since we’re aware that animals and their environment are being affected, the same goes along with humans and most things around us. Gas emissions from fossil-fueled cars are spewing out into the atmosphere causing the earth to warm up and destroy our beautiful world. Moving over from fossil-fueled cars to electric cars would help save all living creatures from such events caused by climate change and help the world financially.

Reducing gas emissions from polluting the atmosphere is like trying to help the world from burning up and destroying everything. Air pollution is the main source of wildfires, rising of water level, water temperature rising, the melting of ice caps, different living creatures dying and getting injured, natural disasters being created, etc. According to Milman (2018), the author of, Vehicles are now America’s biggest CO2 source but EPA is tearing up regulations. Milman reports that the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution is cars, planes, trains, and trucks. He states that transportation is the main source of air pollution and causing most of the climate change. The research he retrieved from the organization, Energy Information Administration stated, “…in 2016, about 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions were emitted from transportation, up nearly 2% on the previous year.” People are buying more cars every day and the emissions percentage will only grow more each year. Milman indicated that emissions grew 10% between 2012 and 2016 due to people buying more cars and taking more flights around the world. From those numbers that are approximately 2.5% of emissions being emitted each year. Schmidt (2010), an official of NASA study also argued that motor vehicles promote the massive amount of climate change in the world. “Cars, buses, and trucks release pollutants and greenhouse gases that promote warming…” With all the unwanted particles being discharged and carbon dioxide being the main factor of climate change, all living creatures that are getting injured/dying and odd events happening globally are due to air pollution caused by fossil-fueled vehicles.

Every day people’s health is at risk. Animals are dying due to the number of heatwaves; forest fires are clearing out animals’ homes. An increasing number of dangerous hurricanes, tornados, typhoons, and floods are wiping out people’s homes. All these terrible problems will increase over the course of

Figure 1 Graph of global average temperature from 1850 – 2018.  Global annual temperature increased by more than 1.8° F since 1901.
Figure 1: Graph of global average temperature from 1850 – 2018.  Global annual temperature increased by more than 1.8° F since 1901.

our lives if carbon emissions are continuously being allowed to be polluted in our atmosphere. In the article entitled, How Will Climate Change Affect the United States in Decades to Come?, the author claimed that since 1901 to 2016, the temperature has increased about 1.8° F. With no progress on reducing emissions, annual global temperature could reach 9° F or more by the end of this century (Hibbard, 2017). That’s nearly five times more than the global average temperature is currently now. Hibbard continued and stated, “Over the next few decades (2021–2050), annual average temperatures are expected to rise by about 2.5° F.” With temperatures rising globally, this could cause the ice caps to melt resulting in the sea level increasing more and more annually. With the sea level

Figure 2: River puling homes in the water in Bangladesh in 2019: River water level rising causing more people to lose their homes and evacuate, sooner or later it can wipe out more homes in the future.
Figure 2: River puling homes in the water in Bangladesh in 2019: River water level rising causing more people to lose their homes and evacuate, sooner or later it can wipe out more homes in the future.

rising taking up more land, bridges and houses can be underwater soon. Sea levels have increased about 7-8 inches since 1900 (Hibbard, 2017). Data from a World Bank study estimated that $1 trillion dollars of damages will be done per year by mid-century (Watts, 2019). $1 trillion dollars sounds quite a bit too much per year just from natural disasters like this. Watts stated, “As the tideline rises higher than the ground people call home, nations will increasingly confront questions about whether, how much and how long coastal defences can protect them.” The water level will continue to rise no matter what we do until we help to reduce the global annual temperature overall. If the world’s temperature increases then more ice will melt, resulting in sea-level rise, then more lives and homes can be taken away. Air pollution can also trigger asthma attacks, heart diseases and cause other health issues (Milman, 2018). Speaking of homes and lives being taken away. A famous article on USAToday by Rice (2020) came out about the Australian wildfire that killed over 1 billion animals. Koalas were already one of the top endangered species, and now they’re on the verge of extinction in Australia. The fires didn’t only kill animals. Rice pointed out that it additionally destroyed areas twice the size of the state of Maryland, destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, and killed 26 people. The same issues are happening underwater as well. Heatwaves are bleaching corals in the ocean which affects the shelter and food for animals underwater (Pierre-Louis and Plumer, 2018). Without shelter and food, where would the fish go? They would migrate to another area with plenty of corals to establish new homes. It’s crazy to say humans are causing earth, homes of different types of creatures to die and have their home destroyed. The world can come together to help reduce gas emissions from causing such dreadful events from repeating itself over and over.

Major countries are taking actions to their own hands to find a way to reduce small particles from polluting the atmosphere. Countries like the United Kingdom, are proposing to ban fossil-fueled vehicles, including hybrid vehicles by 2035 (Duff, 2020). Duff explained that the U.K.’s car market is one of the largest in Europe, 37,850 out of 2.3 million cars were electric vehicles. Duff is letting the audience know that about 1.6% of cars in the U.K. were electric cars. By 2035, those numbers should increase drastically as it should have a negative correlation with carbon dioxide being polluted each year as well. Duff also stated, “Some smaller European countries have already set even more aggressive targets, with Norway banning conventional cars in 2025 and Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands aiming for 2030.” Witnessing that these ban proposal against gas-powered cars are becoming more realistic than ever. With the government placing down ban policies, this crisis could be could blow right over everybody’s heads. While countries are starting to take global warming and climate change crises seriously, this act would benefit the world financially too. NPR.org writer, Domonoske (2019) acknowledged that car manufacturers plan to invest more than $90 billion into converting into electric cars in the next few years. Domonoske continued by saying electric cars are easier to make, easier to maintain, and have reliable longevity. Charging electric cars is a lot cheaper than buying gas since electricity is a renewable resource, unlike gas. In the future experts predict that charging electric cars will get quicker and more stations will be available (Domonoske, 2019). Finance does play a huge role in our world. We need finance to help reduce gas emissions, fix what natural disasters damaged, and developing more ways to keep the atmosphere cleaner. Converting from fossil-fueled vehicles to electric vehicles, we would benefit financially because of cheaper renewable energy, less damage to repair from tragic events.

As of today, our lovely planet will only get hotter each year if we don’t find a solution to this climate change. Our evidence shows that 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide is being emitted each year from gas-powered vehicles causing the annual global average temperature to rise nearly 1.8° F. From all the heat natural disasters are created, and sadly, it has taken lives and homes away from people and animals in the past. Obviously, this issue is critical and not a lot of people are aware of this issue. Some countries have used their powers to push a policy that will help the climate in the future by reducing gas emissions, but to have a tremendous impact the whole world would have to join and help. If we don’t make a change immediately, we will see more natural disasters happening and more deaths in the world. Gas emissions are one of the biggest contributions to climate change and if we trace it back, it all comes down to fossil-fueled vehicles. There is a possibility that we can reduce this crisis in order to have more time to figure out more ways to prevent global warming from killing every living thing, and that is converting from fossil-fueled vehicles to electric vehicles.

References

Domonoske, C. (2019, February 16). As More Electric Cars Arrive, What’s The Future For Gas-Powered Engines? NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/2019/02/16/694303169/as-more-electric-cars-arrive-whats-the-future-for-gas-powered-engines

Duff, M. (2020, February 5). U.K. Moves to End Sales of All Non-Electric Cars by 2035. Car and Driver. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a30772427/uk-ban-non-electric-cars-2035/

Hibbard, K. (2017, November 3). How Will Climate Change Affect the United States in Decades to Come? Eos. https://eos.org/features/how-will-climate-change-affect-the-united-states-in-decades-to-come

Milman, O. (2018, January 1). Vehicles are now America’s biggest CO2 source but EPA is tearing up regulations. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/01/vehicles-climate-change-emissions-trump-administration

Pierre-Louis, K., & Plumer, B. (2018, January 4). Global Warming’s Toll on Coral Reefs: As if They’re ‘Ravaged by War.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/climate/coral-reefs-bleaching.html

Rice, D. (2020, January 8). Australian fires: Over 1 billion animals feared dead, experts say. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/01/08/australian-fires-over-1-billion-animals-feared-dead-experts-say/2845084001/

Schmidt, G. (2010). Attribution of climate forcing to economic sectors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(8), 3382–3387. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906548107

Watts, J. (2019, October 29). Rising sea levels pose threat to homes of 300m people – study. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/29/rising-sea-levels-pose-threat-to-homes-of-300m-people-study

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Two Degrees on the Human Body

If you’re familiar with climate change, you’ve probably heard of Deep Adaptation. Jem Bendell (2018) wrote Deep Adaptation in order to convince and persuade people to believe in climate change. Listing many terrifying consequences, Bendell’s essay “Deep Adaptation” invites readers to think of an endless amount of questions concerning climate change. An interesting take is looking at how the temperature rise will affect humans on an anatomical level. After doing research, a rise in global temperature will likely increase body temperature, thus resulting in more risks working outside in warm weather. A two-degree Celsius rise in temperature worldwide will affect body temperature and outside functioning.

From reading Bendell’s (2018) Deep Adaptation, it is known that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature is coming fast. In Bendell’s words, “The simple evidence of global ambient temperature rise is indisputable.” This global temperature rise is a result of ignorance. Many contributors such as coal and oil companies, non-eco-friendly transportation, and deforestation are putting the Earth in harm’s way. With the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as other harmful gases such as methane, we are raising Earth’s temperature (Buis). What does that really mean for humans on a personal level? A 2-degree Celsius rise would lead to a drop in food harvest and loss of land due to water levels increasing dramatically (Geggel 2017). The consequences don’t stop there; this increase in temperature may lead to a 3 percent drop in outdoor worker productivity due to higher risks of hyperthermia/heat stroke.

Generally, when thinking about climate change, we have the tendency to dismiss the crisis or frantically defend how it won’t hurt us as a human species. People think, “it’s only the oceans, it’s only the ice caps, it’s only the rainforests,” but it’s not. Climate change is the human population and that’s what it will affect. The former holds true though, it will be the oceans that rise and take up our land, it will be the melting ice caps that release harmful methane gases into the air, and it will be the destruction of rainforests that limits the Earth’s production of oxygen. But it will also be our bodies that cook us alive due to unlivable temperatures.

Before talking about body temperatures and how they may change, let’s discuss how our bodies regulate heat. Our bodies have several ways of cooling down when they are too warm. They give off heat and produce sweat in order to cool down, and it works relatively well. If it isn’t too hot, sweating and staying hydrated usually keeps the body in check. Humans also turn to AC systems and fans when the weather is too hot for their liking. However, not all places have these systems and not all people have access to other ways of cooling down. Which makes a warmer world all the more serious.

It is common knowledge that normal body temperature is 98.6°F but with

Cartoon of man sweating
Figure 1: Sweating Cartoon. (Source: depositphotos.com)

climate change, it is likely to rise (Naumova 2020). Based on what we believe to be normal temperature, any temperature above 99.9°F is considered a fever, and 104 °F is a life-threatening medical emergency (Wikipedia 2020). What will happen if global temperatures cause our body temperature to change? Even a half-degree Fahrenheit rise in average body temperature will put humans closer to the point of fever and heat stroke. Although it’s impossible to predict what normal body temperature might become, it’s safe to say that too much of a rise could be deadly. With a body temperature even slightly higher, humans are closer to the point of overheating.

When the temperature rises globally and it’s harder to regulate body temperatures, what is going to happen? Hyperthermia and heatstroke. In Susan Brink’s (2013) article “How 100 Degrees Does a Number On You” we see how high temperatures can be dangerous. “The hotter it gets, the more difficult it becomes to shed that heat. At temperatures topping 100 degrees, the system reverses and heat flows from the environment into the body.” With higher global temperatures, it will become more and more dangerous to work outside in warm areas. Going on to say that warm weather is already a problem for construction workers, “We consistently see temperatures over 100 for 30 days in a row in midsummer. People are dying because they’re putting themselves at increased risk and exposure.” (2013).

With higher outside temperatures, higher body temperatures, and fewer ways of regulating that heat, humans will fall victim to numerous fevers and hyperthermia. Is that really so bad? Yes, it is. Fevers, heatstroke, and hyperthermia are serious threats to the human body because that amount of heat can essentially cook the brain. This leads to the denaturing of our important proteins and later causes brain damage. An easy way to explain this is with eggs. When raw, the part of an egg with the most protein is the clear section. When cooking an egg this clear portion turns white. This is because the heat is denaturing and changing the proteins. Once the egg is white it can’t

Denaturing of Protein. A Cooking Egg. (Source sciencesource.com)
Figure 2: Denaturing of Protein. A Cooking Egg. (Source sciencesource.com)

go back to clear, just as the proteins can’t go back to their original functioning state. Heat does the same thing to the proteins in the brain. If our temperature rises too high and the body is unable to lower it, the proteins in the brain will denature which causes a loss of function, “chronic damage, reported to occur in 50 % of survivors discharged from an ICU after heatstroke … systemic toxins to enter the cerebral circulation … cerebellar dysfunction predominates” (Walter 2016).

What can we do to prevent this from happening to our bodies? On one hand, it’s simple, we need to care. It has to be known that climate change is real and dangerous, otherwise, the fight against climate change will keep being delayed. If we do not fight we are not giving humans a chance for survival. Although the simple answer is to act, it’s easier said than done. There are still ignorant people that don’t believe climate change is a real issue or don’t think it’s worth the money to fix. According to Barclay (2019) with Vox, in order to halt climate change we can “Price carbon emissions, subsidize clean energy, and end subsidies for dirty energy, close coal plants and cut off the fossil fuel supply in other ways, end production and sales of cars, trucks, and buses that run on fossil fuels, and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” It sounds like a hefty task but with the support and belief of our country’s leaders, this could be possible. If we do not begin to care, horrible consequences are coming quickly. There isn’t enough time to push this back, again.

Because of the inescapable threat of climate change approaching, there are consequences coming not only to the Earth but to our own bodies as well. With a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature, it is likely that the average body temperature will also increase. With a higher “norm” temperature, humans will be closer to fever and heatstroke thresholds. Already suffering in the summers from hyperthermia, it cannot be predicted how much this may take a toll on the human body. After reaching a body temperature of 104°F or higher, the brain begins to cook itself and in more cases than not causes brain damage or death. There is a fight to be had and it needs to begin, for this planet and humanity to survive.

References

Barclay, E., & Irfan, U. (2019, November 26). 10 ways to accelerate progress against climate change. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2018/10/10/17952334/climate-change-global-warming-un-ipcc-report-solutions-carbon-tax-electric-vehicles

Bendell, J. (2018, July 27). Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating ClimateTragedy. Retrieved from https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf

Brink. (2013, July 16). How 100 Degrees Does a Number on You. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/7/130716-heat-wave-dehydration-stroke-summer-sweat/

Buis, B. A. B. N. G. C. C. (n.d.). A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2865/a-degree-of-concern-why-global-temperatures-matter

Geggel, L., & 2017. (n.d.). How Would Just 2 Degrees of Warming Change the Planet? Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/58891-why-2-degrees-celsius-increase-matters.html

Human body temperature. (2020). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_body_temperature&oldid=939847817

Mark. (2019, May 31). Fahrenheit > Celsius. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/fahrenheit-celsius

Naumova. (n.d.). 3 dangers of rising temperatures that could affect your health now. Retrieved February 19, 2020, from http://theconversation.com/3-dangers-of-rising-temperatures-that-could-affect-your-health-now-105028

Walter, E. J., Hanna-Jumma, S., Carraretto, M., & Forni, L. (2016). The pathophysiological basis and consequences of fever. Critical Care, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-016-1375-5

Will the Human Body Be Able to Adapt to Rising Temperatures? – The Atlantic. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/will-the-human-body-be-able-to-adapt-to-rising-temperatures/255223/

 

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Humanity’s Biggest Weakness: Forms of Climate Change Denial

Abstract

In this paper, I will be introducing the idea of climate change denial to you. I will talk about who has the most influence over us and our beliefs and why right now that is bad. I will also talk about the five main reasons that the majority of humans do not believe in climate change. These reasons are, government, economic reasons, some people believe it is good for us, some scientists believe that climate change is not real, and it can simply just be too big of an issue for humans to wrap their heads around.

Keywords: denial, psychology

Humanity’s Biggest Weakness: Forms of Climate Change Denial

Climate change is a widely debated topic all over the world. Some people are convinced that climate change is not real. This is what psychologists call denial. They believe that the government is using it as an excuse to collect more tax money among other things (Maslin, 2019). There are ways that people can overcome that denial. A big reason people are in denial is that it is a very big issue for human minds to comprehend. As humans, we don’t see something as a threat unless it’s going to affect us in the short term (Alasko, 2012). People think that people don’t believe in climate change simply because they didn’t want to, which for some people is true. Although there could be underlying actual psychological reasons they do not believe in it. There are five main forms of how people deny climate and they need to be educated to better understand the full effect of climate change.

Psychology

There is a lot of psychology behind someone being in denial. According to Dr. Carl Alasko (2012), a practicing psychotherapist says that people deny facts because it helps us to keep living our lives instead of facing reality. People deny things because they don’t want to admit to themselves that something is wrong. Dr. Carl Alasko (2012) also states that denial doesn’t work out for people in the long run. The reality of whatever they are denying will always win. When reality does win, the next step is putting the blame/responsibility on someone or something else. This is what will happen if we do not do everything to try and help people understand climate change. This shows that denial is such a big factor in climate change non-believers.

Too Big To Understand

The biggest reason that humans are unable to understand climate change is that it is simply too big for us to wrap our heads around. According to Sarah and Jack Gorman (2019), both holding high degrees of education, for humans the result of climate change is so huge that it is pretty much unthinkable. Our brains try and steer us away from hopelessness by pushing thoughts of climate change away. The denial starts as our minds default for short term self-preservation. This is something that everyone needs to be aware of. That for some people they may understand climate change and know that it is happening, but do they really know. Can their brain really understand the full effect of what is going on? To back that up Rachel Riederer (2019) explains how Margaret Klein Salamon, who trained as a clinical psychologist says that it is not surprising that humans cannot process the climate change crisis, and, instead of realizing the truth, they construct defense mechanisms. This shows that it is not uncommon at all that people will make up defense mechanisms in place of the truth because they just don’t want to face reality.

United States Citizens

The United States has one of the highest rates of climate change among non-believers in the world. Why do so many Americans deny climate change? According to Harvey (2019), Americans have a big idea of individualism and don’t understand how much they influence/affect everybody else around them. Harvey (2019) also talks about how 17% of the people who were polled in America said that global warming is not manmade and that it’s all a hoax that was made up to deceive people. This was also said by America’s president Donald Trump, who inaccurately said that climate change was made up by China. What she explains in this quote influences Americans greatly. What the president of your country says you believe.

Government

The government has great influence over its country. We have a free country so whoever has the most people in their political party out voting will have the most pull in the government. According to Bump (2018), Republicans usually have a better turnout of voting than Democrats. What he said shows that everyone who is republican is going to believe what Trump says, which is that Climate Change is a hoax. Which leads to no action being taken in any political way towards climate change. Also as of right now, Republicans control the Senate, and Democrats control the House (“116th United States Congress”, n.d.).  This means that nothing about advocating for climate change will be able to be passed up to the president as long as Republicans have a majority of the Senate. According to Baggs (2016), Trump had pledged to back out of the Paris agreement which was signed to agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Trump is also not the only leader to deny climate change. This is a huge deal! When leaders of countries actively say they do not believe that climate change is influenced by humans is not good. How could this not be a big factor in people not believing in it either?

Science Does Not Agree

People will also deny climate change because some scientists do not agree with each other. There are some scientists who will say all the things happening to the earth are just part of a cycle. According to Mark Maslin (2019) Professor of Earth System Science at University College London and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit scholar, some people in denial think that climate change is just a natural cycle that the earth goes through. They also suggest that climate change models are not reliable enough. Some will even say that CO2 makes up such a small part of the atmosphere that it cannot affect the heating of the earth as much as people say. People also claim that scientists could be falsifying data to show earth warming. All of these reasons that Maslin states are people’s brains coming up with different defense mechanisms. They are making all of these claims against science and scientists so that they can cling onto the hope that this is all made up.

Economics

Another way of denial is the economic side of climate change. People claim that climate change is just too expensive of an issue to fix and some people say it’s all made up by the government so that they have a reason to tax their people more. Although according to Maslin (2019), if we set aside one percent of the world’s GDP (gross domestic product), we could greatly improve our chances of avoiding climate change. Although if we wait until 2050 it would cost twenty percent of the world’s GDP. This shows that we need to act fast. There is no time for people to deny. According to Harvey (2019), The fossil fuel industry has put billions of dollars towards lying and influencing the American people. They have turned climate change into a debated topic and influence people to not believe in climate change. Maslin (2019) makes a point that people who deny climate change are also trying to keep a fossil fuel industry that collects about $5.2 trillion in annual subsidies. He basically says how the fossil fuel industry is a big contributor to the whole issue of climate change and people would be out of jobs and so much more. It’s such a huge industry that would make a huge impact on everything if it were to be shut down. To be shut down people would have to admit that it is very bad and contributing to climate change, but that will not happen.  A way to help climate change economically according to Nunn et al. (2019) is to invoke:

a carbon tax starting at $25 per ton in 2020 and increasing at 1 percent annually above the rate of inflation achieves a reduction in CO2 of 10.5 gigatons or an 18 percent reduction from the baseline (emissions level in 2005). A more-ambitious $50 per ton price, rising at 5 percent subsequently, would reduce near-term emissions by an estimated 30 percent.

This is a reason that people do not think climate change is real. They believe that it is just a tactic for the government to collect more of our money.

Could Be Good For Us?

There is a side of the argument that climate change could be good for us. There are some reasons to support this but not in the long run. Even if this is true now, it won’t be when we are all starving and dying from the heat. Again, people do not see it as an immediate threat because it is not affecting them right now. Maslin (2019) states that these people suggest that the longer and warmer the summers are it will make farming more productive. However, the gains that this produces will be offset by everything being drier and an increase in heatwaves. For example, “the 2010 Moscow heatwave killed 11,000 people, devastated the Russian wheat harvest and increased global food prices.” Maslin, pointing this out, puts to rest people’s suggestion that the warming could somehow be better for us. In the short run, yes. But in the long run, the drought that this would bring would not be good for any farming or any human. On top of that, according to the article “Could Climate change be a good thing?” (2011) Yes, there are positives in the beginning but do not outweigh the negatives that will follow such as rising sea levels, the number of people rising that are exposed to droughts and floods, and mass extinction. These reasons explained by this article cannot be ignored. So that puts the argument that this possibly could be good for us to rest.

How to Help People Understand

Now to look at how to encourage and help people understand climate change. It’s not going to be easy, people don’t just decide to believe that climate change is real after denying it for so long. You will have to be patient in the process. Yoder (2019) gives a couple of ways that could help you in convincing people that climate change is real. You could start by giving people the information they want. Some people just do not have the time to do the research themselves and just simply don’t have enough information to make a decision themselves. She points out that you need to understand that it’s not easy for humans to admit when they have been in the wrong. They have to get past their pride. So attacking them online probably won’t do any good. They will just be worried about defending themselves so they don’t look bad instead of reading what you actually have to say. You also have to remember that it’s not always about the facts, it can be about politics. So people tend to argue about the parties instead of the actual issue at hand. Yoder does a really good job of giving examples of things we can use to help make the world a better place. We just have to be patient with people and realize that not everybody will understand, but at least we tried to help them find their way to the truth.

There are many reasons why people need to start to understand how huge this issue really is. It is not their fault that they do not understand the severity of the issue. It is to some degree human psychology. If we all can understand that it is not their fault and take time to help them understand, instead of just getting into arguments. Maybe there would be more hope for the world in solving this issue. There are many ways that having everybody collectively working together would help climate change greatly.

References

116th United States Congress. (n.d.). https://ballotpedia.org/116th_United_States_Congress

Alasko, C. (2012). How Does Denial Actually Work? | Psychology Today. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-blame/201204/how-does-denial-actually-work

Baggs, M. (2016, November 10). What climate change deniers, like Donald Trump, believe. BBC Newsbeat. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37936740/what-climate-change-deniers-like-donald-trump-believe

Bump, P. (2018, July 24). Only a quarter of the country identifies as Republican. There are two reasons the party keeps winning anyway. – The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/07/24/only-a-quarter-of-the-country-identifies-as-republican-there-are-two-reasons-the-party-keeps-winning-anyway/

Could climate change be a good thing? (2011, May 11). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/may/11/climate-change-good-thing-benefits

Gorman, Sarah, G., Jack. (n.d.). Climate Change Denial. Psychology Today. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/denying-the-grave/201901/climate-change-denial

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Healthcare: Back to the Basics

Abstract

Climate change and health care go hand in hand with each other. Health care contributes to the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, climate change affects human health in many ways. If climate change continues to advance we will have to resort back to pre-modern medical practices. To prevent society from reaching that point the Health Care Without Harm organization has already started making their move.
Keywords: climate, global warming, healthcare

As the debate on climate change continues to accelerate, the talk about the future is something that needs to be discussed. Will society collapse? How will we obtain food or clean water? Most importantly, should we be worried about obtaining health care?  Medicine won’t be produced or delivered to people in need of them. Hospitals won’t be functioning for emergencies forcing us to take care of ourselves. If we are in a state of societal collapse I believe we will have to resort back to the way health care used to be delivered before modern times.

The first talk on climate change, according to the editors at History.com, started around the 1800’s when scientists discovered that humans produced CO2 and these gasses could stay within our atmosphere. After years of research and the abundance of data collected we finally have proof that climate change is real and will have horrific consequences. According to National Geographic (2019), the average global temperatures have increased by 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the polar ice caps have melted, melting causes water levels to rise, and natural disasters such as wildfires or landslides have caused a lot of deaths. Other than the deaths caused by natural disasters Rettner (2019), an editor for the live science website, states that more than 250,000 people every year could possibly die due to the other effects of climate change such as malnutrition, heat stress, and diseases such as malaria. This statement puts into perspective how many casualties will occur due to this global health crisis. As people are dying off it will decrease the population tremendously. What will happen to the rest of us left on the planet? John Watts (2018), an editor for The Gaurdian states that scientists say we have 12 years until the earth will be beyond the saving point after hitting the 1.5-degree celsius increase point. When we hit this point we could be in danger of a societal collapse. If we aren’t ones that die off in the annual 250,000 humans then we’ll have to live in a state of societal collapse. I believe the most important thing we would have lost is healthcare in a world with no structure. Healthcare is an important part of everyday life, from small things like needing a bandage for the scrape on your knee to emergency situations demanding professional help. When society is in a non-functioning state we will need to figure out how to manage our own health care needs.

We are already affected in health care by climate change in many ways. According to The Lancet Commission (2019), an international, multi-disciplinary research collaboration between health and climate change, climate change is “the biggest health threat of the 21st century.” This statement puts into perspective how much of an impact climate change actually has on our everyday health. There are also a handful of long term effects that come from the climate crisis. The Health Care Without Harm website states that rising temperatures can cause deaths from heatstroke and cardiovascular failure. Another effect of rising heat is the change in vector ecology. The geographical locations of these vectors are changing due to climate change so different diseases are able to move to new places via the vector. Pathogens that weren’t in the United States such as chikungunya, Chagas disease, and Rift Valley fever viruses, are now a major threat.  An example of this here in Michigan is mosquitos are supposed to be dead during the winter months but within the past couple of years it has been so warm that the mosquitos don’t die. This gives the mosquitos the chance to spread more diseases. Also because of the warmer temperatures, various other plants don’t die off for the winter, so allergens and asthma are a rising concern. Air pollution also contributes to respiratory failures. The severe weather caused by climate change, such as wildfires caused by droughts, flooding, and landslides result in injury, fatalities, and mass migration of innocent civilians. This affects things such as mental health, malnutrition, and disease from lack of quality foods and safe to drink water. If climate change keeps going in the direction it will, these things will only get worse and lead to societal collapse.

During a state of societal collapse, we will have to fend for ourselves in terms of healthcare. This means learning to use herbs, plants, and other naturally occurring things instead of modern medicines. Yvette Brazier (2018), an editor for Medical News Today, stated that in prehistoric times humans used plants as forms of healing. Which will be what we must \ resort to during our societal crisis after our everyday medicines, such as Neosporin,  run out. The Yarrow plant was used as an astringent which causes tissues to contract. This would be helpful to stop the bleeding for smaller wounds such as scrapes and cuts. If your injury is more intense then a bump or scrape, such as a broken bone, you’ll have to turn to more drastic and painful measures of healing. In pre-modern times there were people called bonesetters. These bonesetters would move the broken area around until they heard cracking. When the bones were back in the appropriate spot they set the appendage with mud to keep it in place during the healing process.  O’Keefe Aptowicz (2014), an editor for Live Science, states that before anesthesia they didn’t have any sort of calming agent so during painful procedures the patient had to be held down by many men. This is another eye-opening reason why we need to take control of climate change as soon as possible.

As we already can see how climate change is affecting our health and what will become of health care delivery if society collapses, we need to start making a difference now. The Health Care Without Harm organization is already beginning to make a difference. According to the Health Care Without Harm website, the reasoning behind their mission according to the healthcare sector’s greenhouse gas emissions make up 9.8 percent of the U.S. total. The team has three main focus points in their concern between health care and climate change. The first focus point is mitigation. They are wanting health care delivery systems to reduce their carbon footprints to fit in with a low-carbon economy. The second focus area is in resilience, the team is working on helping facilities prepare for the impacts that come with the problems related to climate change. This builds up the resilience in community health. The third point of focus is leadership. They became advocates for the talk on how healthcare is affecting the earth and climate change. The Health Care Without Harm states, “The ultimate goal is for health systems to start by doing no harm, mitigating direct fossil fuel emissions so that the delivery of health care creates no negative health impacts, and so we are able to evolve up to a healing role, building community health and resilience and creating conditions for communities to thrive.” This shows how much this organization cares about making a difference in climate change.

Climate change and health care go hand in hand with each other. Health care produces a lot of carbon that contributes to the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, climate change affects human health in many ways including, the increasing number of cases in respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease, and physical injuries due to natural disasters. When climate change continues to advance we will have to resort back to pre-modern medical practices. To prevent society from reaching that point the Health Care Without Harm organization has already started helping raise awareness on the change we need to make in health care through mitigation, resilience, and leadership.

References

Brazier, Y. (2018, November 2). Prehistoric medicine: Research, disease prevention, and medications. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323556

editor, J. W. G. environment. (2018, October 8). We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report

Editors, H. com. (2018, October 10). Climate Change History. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/history-of-climate-change

Global Warming Effects. (2019, January 14). National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-effects/

Health Care Without Harm. (2013, April 28). Climate and Health. Health Care Without Harm. https://noharm-uscanada.org/climateandhealth

January 17, R. R., & 2019. (n.d.). More Than 250,000 People May Die Each Year Due to Climate Change. Livescience.Com. Retrieved March 4, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/64535-climate-change-health-deaths.html

O’Keefe Aptowicz, C., & 2014. (2014, September 25). Surgery in a Time Before Anesthesia (Op-Ed). Livescience.Com. https://www.livescience.com/48003-anesthesia-was-once-devils-work.html

The Lancet. (2016). Climate and health: Joining up the pieces, scaling up the action. The Lancet, 388(10055), 1956. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31852-9

The Lancet. (2017). Counting down to climate change. The Lancet, 390(10107), 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32809-X

The Lancet. (2019). Health and climate change: Making the link matter. The Lancet, 394(10211), 1780. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32756-4