Climate Change and Society

The draft ☐ is about 1500 words long (for Draft 2) ☐ uses headings and subheadings ☐ has double-line spacing ☐ is typed in Arial size 11 or Times New Roman size 12 ☐ has been checked with the online Common Error Detector at http://www2. elc. polyu. edu. hk/cill/errordetector. , 2014, p. These vapors concentrate heat within the atmosphere and cause far-reaching consequences to the ecosystem including adverse weather events, rising sea levels, and droughts. The issue of climate change has been a global concern and the international community has taken continuous and sustainable initiatives to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that all nations participate towards averting climate change (Kolstad et al. , 2014, p. The dispute that third world countries are less accountable for climate change but stand to suffer greater damage has raised questions as to whether this should be well-thought-out when dispensing global obligations on emission reductions.

For instance, the changing rainfall patterns threaten to severely impact on agricultural activities in Africa societies, especially East and Southern Africa. It is estimated that by 2020, the viability of rain-fed agriculture in Africa would have reduced to 50 percent in some African countries (Cosbey, 2009, p. Also, due to climate change, some of the world’s mightiest rivers are at a threat of turning into seasonal flows especially in South Asia and Southern parts of America due to receding glaciers which will severely impact on agricultural activities in these societies. The possible sea level rise is also expected to cause flooding that would create approximately 35 million refugees in places such as Bangladesh. Mitigation Measures to Combat Climate Change The basis for mitigating the issue of climate change has been based on a “contribution to problem” principle which asserts that nations should contribute to the burden of handling climate change in proportion to their share of global cumulative GHG emissions (Page, 2008, p.

S withdrew and other countries failed to comply claiming that agreement was unfair since it did not subject the developing nations to the same level of emission reductions as the developed nations. Paris Agreement (2015) This agreement marks the most recent step societies have taken at the international level in the evolution of U. N climate change regime. The major elements of the agreement included the need to maintain the global temperatures below 2. 0C above the pre-industrial era and make efforts to restrict them more to as low as 1. They should fund more global obligations on emission reductions and policies on mitigation based on their income and wealth. However, this argument raises an ethical concern for justice. Justice under this context concerns the effective accomplishment of desirable results through fair means and it is actually blind to historical backgrounds of human problems (Kolstad et al.