Global Warming and Climate Change

Abstract
Currently, the greatest worry among the environmentalists and the UN is the huge
concern regarding the present rising levels of the earths temperatures. Among their top concern
is the continued effects of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere that continually contribute to the
global warming of the earth. More so, the increased and exploitative usage of the fossil fuels in
the modern industries contributes to the increase in the global temperatures. The reason of the
worries is the fact that the over-accumulation of the carbon IV oxide in the atmosphere
continually deteriorates the climatic balance of the earth. Additionally, the top reasons causing
the worries of the global warming effects on the Earth arise from the provision that the factors
leading to the global warming and causing the upsetting climatic changes are synthetic and
human beings contribute a huge role to the destruction of the atmosphere. The following write-up
aims to focus on the various contributing factors of the climate change and those causing global
warming. More so, the paper will address the challenges and benefits that would arise if the
conventional energy producers would consider seeking greener or renewable sources for their
energy, with a particular focus on oil and petroleum companies. In addition, the paper will have
specific instructions for adaptable processes that various governments, institutions, and

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corporations to adopt and help in the overall campaign for environmental protection to reduce the
detrimental effects of the climate change and global warming.
Causes of Climate Change and Global Warming and Issues Connected to the Global Warming
and Climate Change
The leading cause of the climate changes and the global warming is the increased and
uncontrolled presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Klein, 2015). The greenhouse
gases end up in the atmosphere through some ways. The leading contributor of the greenhouse
gases to the atmosphere is the burning of the fossil fuels, by deforestation, and through increased
environmental warmth (Klein, 2015). Combustion of fossil fuels- oil and petroleum and other
carbon-related fuels are the most common source of energy for various applications in the 21st
Century. The burning of the fossil fuels for energy releases carbon, which then combines with the
atmospheric oxygen to create carbon IV oxide. The high levels of carbon IV oxide in the
environment keep on increasing on a daily basis since a huge population of the earth uses the
carbon fuels to produce energy to power their cars, for domestic purposes, for the various
industrial uses. Apart from the carbon IV oxide being the lead contributor of the greenhouse
gases, other gases such as methane released from agricultural practices and landfills, nitrous
oxide from the various farming fertilizers, the gases from refrigeration and the different
industrial applications also contribute to the formation of the greenhouse effect to the higher
atmosphere (MATHEZ, 2009).
The greenhouse gases play a huge role in the climate change and contribute heavily to the
global warming. When the greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, they absorb the
radiation, preventing and slowing the loss of heat to space. Hence, the greenhouse gases act as a

Global Warming and Climate Change

blanket to the earth, resulting to the earth to being warmer than it would otherwise be, hence the
remarkable greenhouse effect (MATHEZ, 2009). The continuous release of the greenhouse gases
increase the greenhouse effect of the earth and causes temperatures of the land to rise gradually;
hence the term global warming. The scientists worry that the increase in the carbon IV oxide and
other leading greenhouse gases in the past decade has been rampant following the growing usage
of the fossil fuel across the globe. The increased effects of the greenhouse gases have shifted the
known climatic patterns of the past, to create the new extreme climatic conditions of the earth.
The new climatic conditions place the lives on the planet at risk since the climate extremities
create harsh weather patterns that make it hard for living organisms to survive naturally within
their habitats. The changing climatic conditions tend to create extremities such as the continuous
melting of ice from various regions, long and unpredictable periods of drought, heavy and
destructive rainfalls, catastrophic sandstorms, all attributed to the effects of the changes in
climate change. Additionally, naturally occurring creatures face extinction since the changing
climate makes it harsh for their survival.
There is the global awareness campaign that aims to address the activities of man to help
reduce the detrimental effects of climate change and the levels of global warming. The UN and
the leading nations that fight for environmental protection for the benefit of survival of the living
organisms on earth should place a top priority on certain factors that would help mitigate the
devastating effects of the global warming and the adverse changes in the climate. Their goals
should be to lower and control the global warming through curtailing the release of the carbon IV
oxide in the atmosphere and reduce the trapping effect of the other contributing greenhouse gases
that find their way to the atmosphere. The processes upon which the UN and the other
environmental bodies can help us to mitigate the global warming and climate change include

Global Warming and Climate Change

campaigning and advocating for efficient manipulation of available energy sources to have as
low emissions as possible (GOLDMAN, 2013). Additionally, advocating for alternative energy
sources apart from the conventional sources should be among the methods to mitigate the effects
of the global warming and climate change.
The Shift from Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy; the Benefits and Challenges of the Oil and
Petroleum Companies
In a directive to reduce the levels of emissions from the fossil fuels, there is great advocacy for
the fossil fuel companies to consider venturing to other processes that provide green energy. The
solution to such venture is the introduction of renewable energies as the mainstream sources of
energy for the daily uses in the modern world. The renewable sources of energy provide clean
energy and almost zero emissions in their utilization (POSNER, 2010). More so, the renewable
energy sources are by themselves sustainable by the fact that the sources are infinite. The
renewable energy can help the fossil fuel firms to reduce their dependency on the oil and gas
deposits that near depletion in the current future. More so, the renewable energy sources such as
wind, solar, moving water, and heat within Earth have economic benefits when utilized. The cost
of using solar energy is much cheaper when compared to the cost of utilization of the fossil fuels.
It translates to that the fossil fuels especially oil will have stable prices; hence, lowering the
instability of the oil prices in the current world markets. The cost effectiveness of the utilization
of the renewable energy sources will push big business to allocate some energy operations to the
renewable sources, a move that eventually lowers the emissions. However, the fossil fuels will
face challenges while seeking ways to substitute the fossil fuels with the renewable energy. The
principal problem is the fact that the renewable energy cannot generate the massive levels of
energy previously produced by the fossil fuels. Consequently, the energy provision would have

Global Warming and Climate Change

to be a balance between the renewable energy sources and the fossil fuels energy sources.
Additionally, the reliability of the renewable energy sources is poor since most of the sources are
dependent on the prevailing weather conditions. With the unavailability of direct sunshine, or
strong water currents, or high winds, it might be impossible to generate the energy for the
various applications. Additionally, the fossil fuel companies in their efforts to launch to
renewable energy might spend massive funds to acquire and install the necessary technology
needed to extract energy from nature.
The sustainable development for the oil and gas companies aim to meet the energy
requirements of the world population of oil and gas at a reasonable cost, maintaining high safety
standards and offering minimal impact to the environment (ROSENDAHL, 2013). The process
of sustainable development for the fossil fuels tends to get cumbersome as most of the oil
reserves are depleted annually (Kang, 2015). More so, the urge to protect the environment is
neglected by the huge oil companies. Hence, there is a need for the companies to come up with
clear solutions that will help protect the environment and provide enough energy until they find
alternative sources of providing energy to the world populace. Therefore, the current
developments to find alternate energy sources that will sustain the energy needs are not futile.
The efforts address the UN Conference on Human Development held in Stockholm in 1972 that
aimed to address the global environment, and the development needs (TORDO, 2011).

Practical Actions the UN Should Take to Mitigate the Effects on the Environment
The UN should place emphasis among home settings to help them emit tiny greenhouse gases
in the daily home applications that require energy. More so, the processes would lower the strain

Global Warming and Climate Change

placed on the fossil fuels to provide the energy needed to run the various activities at home.
Among them is the emphasis to switch to energy-efficient lighting. Switching to energy-saving
lighting systems at homes lowers the energy bills to nearly 7000 pounds of carbon IV oxide in
the air over the lifetime of the bulbs (HOFFMAN, 2015). More so, UN needs to urge companies
to manufacture home appliances that are energy-efficient. The companies need to come up with
equipment with energy ratings that will help customers choose and buy the devices with the
highest energy rating when acquiring the new appliances for their homes (HOFFMAN, 2015).
Furthermore, the reduction of the energy spent on the heating and the cooling systems would
significantly help to lower the emissions from such systems. Passive technologies provide
energy-efficient cooling systems, hence unloading the overall amount of carbon fuel needed to
run the conventional cooling systems.
The United Nations in its war to mitigate the effects of the global warming and climate change
needs to improve and control on the vehicle fuel efficiencies. Fuel-efficient cars are among the
best cars to enforce in the market to lower some carbon gases that petroleum-driven vehicles
emit on normal occasions (METZ, 2009). The new hybrid cars that use gas-electric engines cut
down the amount of carbon fuels used to power the engines; hence, their adoption would help
substantially lower the accumulation of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The UN should
move resources to ensure the petroleum companies sell fuel with low-risk emissions to the
environment. Such efforts are present by the elimination of leaded fuel in the market, but to
protect the earth from the detrimental global warming and climate change, the petroleum and oil
producers should focus on selling fuels with low carbon fuels. The driving of the machinery
using carbon fuels should be fuel-efficient driving. The UN should introduce mechanisms in the
motoring industry to occasionally aid in the easy maintenance of the machinery. Regular

Global Warming and Climate Change

maintenance lowers the inefficiencies of the engines; hence, saving on the fuel used (METZ,
2009). Nations that encourage less driving and motivate more walking and cycling are among the
leading countries in controlling the greenhouse gases emanating from the vehicles.
Phasing out the fossil fuel electricity is a significant move to tackle the climate change
(KIRTON, 2015). The reduction of the fossil fuel electricity should be a move by the UN to
eliminate the power systems that manipulate coal. Key processes the UN should undertake
include not allowing any construction of coal-burning power factories, starting an organized
shutdown of the coal powered companies and capturing the emissions from the left existing coal
plants (KIRTON, 2015). Management of agricultural processes and conservation of forests can
fight global warming. The reduction of the emissions accumulated from the deforestation
processes and controlling the farming and other agricultural chemicals lowers the levels of
accumulation of the carbon and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that create the
greenhouse effect (KIRTON, 2015). Additionally, the UN has the mandate and power to launch
nations into nuclear power exploration and usage. The nuclear energy has few greenhouse gas
emissions. However, despite the go-ahead on the efficiency of the nuclear power, the UN should
put into consideration the risks associated with the nuclear energy.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that the human activities have increased the burden of the
provision of clean energy for utilization. More so, the apparent lack of clear structures in the past
that would regulate the amount of emissions that companies emitted to the atmosphere facilitated
to the current destruction of the global climate. The massive emissions during the Industrial
Revolution were hugely uncontrolled, and consequently, the structures to control the
environment were absent. The current levels of global temperatures will keep on rising since the
world is highly dependent on the fossil fuels for the daily energy provisions. The factories and

Global Warming and Climate Change

cars still run on petroleum products; hence, the emission will continue. However if active bodies
such as the UN and other environmental conservations groups combine efforts and fight to
protect the environment, the future generation can have lowered levels of emissions. That would
protect the environment, and it would provide the earth with cleaner sources of energy that are
sustainable even for the various generations to come.

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References
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Klein, N., 2015. This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. Simon and Schuster.
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METZ, B. (2009). Controlling climate change. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
POSNER, E. A., & WEISBACH, D. A. (2010). Climate change justice. Princeton, N.J.,
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ROSENDAHL, T., & HEPS, V. (2013). Integrated operations in the oil and gas industry:
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TORDO, S., TRACY, B. S., & ARFAA, N. (2011). National oil companies and value creation.
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