Climate Change and the Role of International Agreements

This article discusses the causes and effects of climate change, with a focus on carbon emissions. It also explores the role of international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and Australia's Renewable Energy Target, in combatting climate change. The article emphasizes the need for global cooperation and awareness campaigns to address this pressing issue. In-text references from reliable sources, including NASA and the IPCC, are provided to support the information presented.

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R E F E R E N C E S E X E R C I S E – T A S K 2
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TASK PARAGRAPH
Climate change is becoming increasingly serious throughout the world. There are various
factors which contribute to this change, but many scientists and researchers argue that
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carbon emissions are one the main causes. In an attempt to globally combat these emissions,
an International Climate Change Agreement was held in Paris in 2016, at which Australia
and many other countries agreed to reduce their carbon output. As a result, the Australian
Government has set a Renewable Energy Target (RET) to implement the guidelines for
carbon reduction. This climate change solution must be tackled internationally if it is to be
successful.
According to Pachauri et al (2014, pp-53) Changes in many extreme weather and
climate events have been observed since about 1950. Some of these changes have been
linked to human influences, including a decrease in cold temperature extremes, an increase in
warm temperature extremes, an increase in extreme high sea levels and an increase in the
number of heavy precipitation events in a number of regions. The climate change is a topic
scientists are becoming increasingly concerned. Shaftel (2018) defines, “Climate change
refers to a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels,
which add heat-trapping gases to Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena include the
increased temperature trends described by global warming, but also encompass changes such
as sea level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers
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worldwide; shifts in flower/plant blooming; and extreme weather events” There are countries
who are taking required actions to reduce the factors influencing climate change however,
there are also existing states who are contributing more and more each day to climate change.
According to climate scientist, the major reason for the climatic change is the expansion of
greenhouse effect by humans (Bulkeley, 2014). The emission of the harmful gases is
warming the planet when the atmosphere is trapping the heat. The contribution is from
humans and therefore it is the responsibility of the humans to act in eliminating or reducing
the causes of climate change.
The theory of global warming: The theory of global warming has three basic key factors.
Firstly, on planet earth, the natural green house is being disturbed by human activities. It has
been noted that the burning of the fossil fuel such has coal and oil has increased over the last
century resulting to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in nature. Also, burning of
forests to seek more land for the purpose of agriculture, industry and other human activities
has fueled the process of climate change. Although the consequences of natural atmospheric
greenhouse change are hard to predict, scientists have some evaluated effects. Secondly, the
planet as a whole will become warmer and regions with colder temperature are likely to
become warmer. The warmer condition including the ocean, will release more evaporation
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resulting to unnatural rainfall and climate change. Thirdly, global warming will have harmful
impact on people. The strongest impact would be on the glaciers where the ices will melt
followed by the after effect of rising sea level. The warming in the atmosphere including
ocean and land will have severe effect on crop growing and animal habitat (Hansen et al.
2016). Several crops will respond favorably to the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and
some might respond negatively. There will be serious damage to the food chain since several
animals might not be able to cope with the changed atmosphere.
Australian government is one of those concerned state who are taking the initiative to
address climate change and ensure security and affordability. It has begun with policies and
program for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adapts the changes of the climate.
It has incentive plans for the businesses and industries that are brainstorming to create smart
and innovative practices and technologies. It is helping the farmers in agriculture to do the
same. It is helping the local government and communities to adopt efficient practices to adapt
climate change and changes in household by bringing energy efficiency goods.
It is not only Australia but also other countries that are well aware of the
consequences of climate change. However, there need to be a serious awareness campaigns
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all around the globe as it is not a minor problem and needs global attention. The developed
countries need to create innovative ways to reduce its emission and the developing countries
need to use energy efficient tools and adapt to the climate change.
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REFLECTION:
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The two in-text references that have been chosen here are for the reason they are
relevant and reliable source. One of the references is an authorized website of NASA that
provided information regarding the topic and the other reference is the book on climatic
change. The references are related to the topic “climate change” that I was asked to do.
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References are important to successful research. It gives evidence that the written
information is valid and the original source can be found if the readers wish. Also, it helps
the research gaining authenticity. The purpose of using in-text referencing here is also to give
credit to the original authors and to show respect to the intellectuals that has helped in
gaining knowledge regarding the topic assigned.
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References
Bulkeley, H., 2014. Sustainable cities and climate change. Retrieved June, 12, p.2014.
Hansen, J., Sato, M., Hearty, P., Ruedy, R., Kelley, M., Masson-Delmotte, V., Russell, G.,
Tselioudis, G., Cao, J., Rignot, E. and Velicogna, I., 2016. Ice melt, sea level rise and
superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations
that 2 C global warming could be dangerous. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 16(6),
pp.3761-3812.
Pachauri, R.K., Allen, M.R., Barros, V.R., Broome, J., Cramer, W., Christ, R., Church, J.A.,
Clarke, L., Dahe, Q., Dasgupta, P. and Dubash, N.K., 2014. Climate change 2014: synthesis
report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (p. 151). IPCC.
Shaftel, Holly, 2018, "What’S In A Name? Weather, Global Warming And Climate
Change". Global Climate Change: Vital Signs Of The Planet, retrieved from:
https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming/. Accessed: 2 Sep 2018.
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