One of the most serious problems at the time is global warming. It is progressing due to human actions, namely the increased use of combustible fuels and other energy resources (Al-Ghussain 1). This activity increases the concentration of vaporized water and greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide, and others, which cause the temperature on the planet’s surface to rise.
Even small increases in average temperature have a devastating effect. The overall climatic changes that would naturally occur over hundreds of thousands of years are accelerating today and are literally happening right in front of the eyes of society (Diffenbaugh and Burke 9810). Over the past couple of decades alone, surface temperatures have risen by at least one and a half degrees Celsius, according to various sources (Diffenbaugh and Burke 9810). It leads to melting glaciers, rising water levels, more weather disasters, and other problems. Most adverse effects are interrelated and cyclical and often reinforce each other.
An example of this relationship is the problem with agriculture in Central Asia. Due to the rising water levels, rice fields, the main crop of the region, can be entirely submerged under water for long periods of time, thus contributing to crop failure (Zandalinas et al. 589). It causes hunger among the population and losses to the economy, which leads some regions to switch to more electricity production by burning fuel for export, which further harms the environment.
Several basic strategies can be identified to combat the effects of global warming and reduce its further development. These are represented by the adaptation strategy – the development of new technologies that are based on reducing environmental damage. The strategy of inaction implies the continuation of current human actions and does not imply improving the current situation (Al-Ghussain 8). The strategy of reducing emissions is the most effective and implies the complete or partial abandonment of harmful practices. However, it may include a drop in the earnings of energy and other companies and is denied by modern corporations due to unprofitability.
Works Cited
Al-Ghussain, Loiy. “Global Warming: Review on Driving Forces and Mitigation: Global Warming: Review on Driving Forces and Mitigation.” Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, vol. 38, no. 1, 2019, pp. 13–21, doi:10.1002/ep.13041.
Diffenbaugh, Noah S., and Marshall Burke. “Global Warming Has Increased Global Economic Inequality.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 20, 2019, pp. 9808–9813, doi:10.1073/pnas.1816020116.
Zandalinas, Sara I., et al. “Global Warming, Climate Change, and Environmental Pollution: Recipe for a Multifactorial Stress Combination Disaster.” Trends in Plant Science, vol. 26, no. 6, 2021, pp. 588–599, doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2021.02.011.