Climate Change: The Role Of Global Warming In Australia

Great Essays
Global warming has been taking effect on the Earth’s environment since the 1950’s creating dramatic changes and dangerous new records. In the last three decades the Earth’s average surface temperature has each been successively warmer than any previous decade since 1850 as a result of increase greenhouse emissions (IPCC 2014). This temperature rise is impacting some of the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet such as the polar regions, coral reefs and tropical rainforests. Climate change can also be connected to an increase in extreme weather events such as flooding from increased precipitation or glacier melting, drought, cyclones and hurricanes and fires (Tollefson, J 2015). To avoid these dangerous outcomes a multi-nation agreement to …show more content…
The G7 nations have together declared that the world should have a zero-carbon economy by the end of the century and have established a goal to reduce emissions by 40-70% before 2050. The Deep Decarbonisation Pathway Project (DDPP) was collaboratively created by researches from the 15 highest polluting countries and presented to the United Nations Climate Summit in 2014. The report provides a guide for each of these countries, which together contribute to 70% of the world’s emissions, on how to limit carbon emissions enough to achieve the goal of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C (ClimateWorks Australia 2014). This is not an easily achieved goal as worldwide decarbonisation faces many challenges, primary from the coal industry, which is still growing (IPCC 2014). Another major problem is trying to move developing counties away from using carbon when they don’t have the wealth, technology and resources to establish more energy efficient systems. This is a challenging issue, which requires alternative strategies such as rewarding developed countries with carbon credits when they establish an efficient, low carbon system in a developing country (IPCC 2014). It has been found that in all countries the sectors of industrial emissions, land use and energy systems must be targeted. The production of energy from fossil fuels is the largest contributor therefore decarbonising this system will require extreme energy efficiency, very low carbon input and switching fuel to clean alternatives (Tollefson, J 2015). Deep Decarbonisation of the 15 countries highest emitting countries, which includes Australia, needs to begin immediately to achieve the goals set by the G7 and avoid further costs in the future (ClimateWorks Australia

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In several respects, global climate change (GCC) represents new conditions. It is not just extreme events and changing rainfall patterns that have started to affect individuals in various parts of the world. There are also discussions in the political community regarding activities of mitigation and adaptation because of climate change. Decisions by others predict effects (by politicians regarding road toll systems, extra taxes on fossil fuel, etc.) even for those who are not personally concerned.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Already, oil is starting to run out, methane is seeping through the permafrost ice sheets and the waves are breaking the expensive levees. We face a huge ecological debt – carbon is accumulating in the atmosphere and is reshaping our planet. What we need is growth and a replacement for our current fossil fuel system; but without the carbon. We really need to cut down on our carbon emissions, produce all electricity from renewable sources, and meet all of the carbon requirements that have been identified. Wind, solar and biofuels should be the way our system should respond, and in large measures.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chapter 5. Top-down approaches haven’t been effective. What are the reasons why is there such a clash between developed and developing countries over emissions…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There has been an unprecedented amount of evidence that our Earth is heating up due to global warming causing hard to repair damage to the world. According to Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy we must take action now. The rising temperatures are melting the ice caps at alarming rates they are also allowing there to be a rise in bacterial plant diseases that ruin crops, and disease carrying insects. These insects can ruin more crops, as they are active for a much longer time. We humans add about seven billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere every year.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Among the targets was for the United States to reduce the overall emissions to between twenty-six to twenty-eight percent by the year 2025. However, with the adverse effects that have been because of climate change not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world, the fight to reduce carbon emissions need not stop in 2025. There have been challenges implementing the goals set by President Obama especially with the current president reversing some of the laws especially on the use of coal in the production of electricity which the Congress can counter (Ser, 2017). The United States being a major contributor in terms of humanitarian aid to needy countries, should embrace policies that would reduce carbon emissions for it is better to use resources to curb climate change other than using those resources when a disaster which can be avoided strikes. Indeed, it would be more cost-effective for the United States to curtail carbon emission to reduce huge losses experienced because of hurricanes, heat waves, and…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Climate change has been a long-term global issue that requires collective global action in the form of flexible yet stable policy implementation by the global actors. As a global actor, Australia’s approach and commitments to action on climate change, has been considered as inconsistent and lacking in direction (Talberg, Hui & Loynes, 2013). Nevertheless Australia’s climate reputation has not always been a negative one, in the early 1990’s Australia’s reputation was even seen as pro-environmental when the labor government “appointed an Ambassador for the environment, sent experts to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), passed the Ozone Protection Act 1989 and committed Australia to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions at 1988…

    • 1524 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Through the author’s explanation of global warming, I have really developed an understanding of how beneficial clean energy can be for humans. Global warming is a process that is caused by anthropogenic forces, meaning they are caused by human activities. These activities include production/manufacture of goods, transportation, and deforestation. Although there are numerous other examples of how humans are polluting the Earth with greenhouse gases, the main point is that we need to make a switch to more sustainable and clean sources of energy production if we want a hospitable future for our…

    • 1900 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The people of Australia are very much aware of the way that environmental change is adversely affecting their condition. According to an overview led by The Sunday Telegraph in 2006, 54% of the respondents expressed that a worldwide temperature alteration was the most serious hazard confronting Australia, more than fear based oppression which came in second with 20% of votes (PMSEIC,…

    • 62 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Global Weirdness Summary

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Human influences are unpredictable, and the aftereffects will take time to change. The final “Can we avoid the risks of climate change” explores the options in which less fossil fuels are emitted, and more recyclable material is utilized, and gives us other alternative for sources of energy from wind to geothermal to geo-engineering. The costs for their alternative energy sources does tend to be an issue for some consumers, but if we were to increase fossil fuel prices and in turn make cheapest option the alternative, then more people would…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Habitat loss, animal extinction, rising temperatures, and problems within our societies are just some of the known problems resulting from the earth’s changing climate. And the worrying thing is, there 's not much we can do to stop it.. Climate change is a scary reality that we all face, one that threatens not only the environment but the general public as well. BODY 1 Research has shown…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Global warming and the world General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of global warming and its impact on our planet Central Idea: The growing concern of climate change and the rising sea level due to globe warming has been a big discussion in many parts of the world Introduction I. Attention-getter: How’s the weather outside? Many of us many not this but the earth is growing hotter as the years goes by.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ulrich Beck is a German sociologist and professor (until 2009) at Ludwig-Maximilian 's University in Munich Germany. Now Beck teaches at Munich University and the London School of Economics. He was born in Stolp, Germany in 1944. At Munich University where Beck studied many different majors he eventually attained a Dr. of Philosophy and then worked at the university as a sociologist. He was elected to the Convention and Executive Board of the German Society for Sociology, and he received many international awards and honors, and his works are being translated into about 35 different languages.…

    • 1404 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kyoto Protocol Effect

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is important to note that there are positives and negatives in this respect. The most notable positive is that the countries who kept with their contractual agreements satisfied their GHG reduction requirements. These countries reduced collective emissions by roughly 16% (Schiermeier, 2012). The Kyoto Protocol has also helped create a widespread knowledge of GHG emissions and their impact on the climate. Ambitions to utilize clean energy has encouraged research and investment in these new technologies, and an awareness of the importance of maintaining carbon sinks has promoted a drive to preserve natural…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Global Warning Essay

    • 2610 Words
    • 10 Pages

    What is global warning? Our world faces an everlasting dangerous threat…… global warming. This is caused by the increase of the earth’s atmosphere temperature and by the moving levels of carbon dioxide. We know this because in the last 650,000 years the polar ice caps have gradually been reduced to water.…

    • 2610 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There is a dire need of the solution if we are to reduce the environmental degradation for the sake of the future generations. The development of the sustainable energy policy is required to change values and lifestyles in energy production and use. The decline of petroleum production near the end of the 21st century will cause oil and gasoline to be in shorter supply and more expensive but before that they need to be reduced to decrease global climate change. Although people living in industrialised countries are relatively small in percentage compared to the world’s population, their energy consumption is disproportionate to that of the world. This results in the fact that there is a direct relationship between a country’s standard of living and energy consumption per capita.…

    • 1674 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays