Globalization
is the obscuration
of
borders
between nations that allows countries to interact more freely as a
result of the advancement of technology, which has allowed trade to
grow exponentially as companies can obtain raw materials from around
the world and sell them everywhere. However, this positive growth has
negative impacts on the environment, one of which is the global
warming. There are some solutions to this issue, such as creating
rules on carbon emission, producing materials locally, and increasing
people's awareness of the dangers that global warming presents.
Global
warming is the increase in the world's temperature as a result of the
escalating production of green house gases, especially carbon
dioxide, that traps the heat from the sun inside the atmosphere. It
results
in various environmental issues, such as increasing sea levels, and
more extreme weather conditions. As this is a result of the rising
carbon production, the first logical step is to reduce the carbon
emission. The nations are trying to do this, which can be seen in the
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, a protocol to reduce carbon
emission by the countries. However, the world leaders, especially the
USA, is not cooperating (Chandra, 2007). Furthermore, the leading
world companies themselves are not decreasing their carbon emissions
as instructed. Instead, they are concealing their carbon footprint
data, which is a report on their carbon production. The reports state
that they are producing less carbon, however the gases included in
the reports are minor green house gases that are not really dangerous
and easy to control, not the major ones such as carbon dioxide
(Confino, 2013).
One possible way to spur the companies to take part in
the struggle is by giving monetary rewards (Confino, 2013).
Decreasing carbon emissions is expensive and gives abstract results
such as increasing prestige, thus the companies lack the drive to try
and manage their carbon emissions. Therefore, by providing a concrete
prize such as cash, companies can be more motivated in controlling
their waste materials and energy consumption. This can also applied
to the employees, in which the company can give appreciation, for
example a wage bonus, to the workers who are eco-friendly.
Another policy that can be adopted to fight global
warming is by producing materials locally in order to reduce
transportation, thus reducing the pollution of fossil fuel. According
to Chandra, the world's ecosystem is contaminated by China's usage of
coal and chemicals to export their products (2007). Therefore, by
producing materials in nearby areas, the pollution that causes the
global warming can decrease.
However, population in both the developing and
developed countries need export activities in order to survive,
because they can no longer handle the growing demands in their
countries. China, for example, does not have enough land to grow
enough food for its population. The environmental organization,
Greenpeace, estimates that China's demand for soybean has cleared 2.5
million acres of the tropical forest in Brazil (Chandra, 2007). This
demand is so great that China cannot possibly produce these products,
because China lacks land. This can be seen by the one child policy in
China, which shows that China does not even have lands to support its
housing demands, much less lands for food plantations that cover a
vast amount of areas. This is a hard issue to tackle because it is a
chain of demand and co-dependency between countries that cannot be
broken without any consequences. Therefore, countries need to
minimize their reliance and try to support themselves. For example,
China can search for nearer lands to grow their food, which decrease
the distance for import and therefore reduce pollution. It may be
hard to realize this in the near future, but if the nations cooperate
and try to be independent, it may be possible to achieve this in the
long term.
It is necessary to increase people's awareness of the
threats that climate change bring, as climate change is not just a
problem for big enterprises or nations. Individuals are affected, and
therefore everyone needs to take part in the endeavor against global
warming by doing some simple activities. For example one can minimize
the usage of fossil fuel powered engines, such as cars, by instead
walking, using a bicycle, or using public transportations. One can
also use recyclable and eco-friendly materials to decrease pollution.
Fortunately, communication technologies are developed now and can
become a platform to inform people of these dangers, and hopefully
these information can stimulate people to make efforts in reducing
the carbon emission.
In conclusion, global warming is a serious issue that
should be addressed now. There are a variety of ways to do this, for
example by decreasing carbon emissions, reducing exports, and
informing people of the dangers. However, each strategy faces other
challenges that need to be addressed in different kind of ways. The
fight against climate change is a long and arduous one, therefore the
struggle should be supported from the the smallest community, the
individuals, to the largest ones, the nations.
Resources :
Chanda, Nayan. (2001,
June 28). The Double Edge of Globalization. Bound
Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped
Globalization. YaleGlobal.
Confino,
Jo. (2013, September 12). Report
shows companies still don't take climate change seriously. The
Guardian. Retrieved
from :
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/cdp-report-companies-emissions-failing
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