Dangerous Climate Change. What Strategies Are Available To Avert The Essay

Dangerous Climate Change. What Strategies Are Available To Avert The Onset Of Dangerous Climate Change - Essay Example Some reports have shown European summers getting hotter, Alaskan streams and other lakes getting warmer, and our polar ice caps allegedly thawing (Schneider and Lane, 2006). More than just the actual warming of the planet, the impact of such warming has certainly captured the world’s attention. These are the major issues which have caused much concern among authorities and the public in general. This issue has managed to affect the environmental, as well as the business community with projected losses in profits accredited to climate change. Environmental experts claim that as our planet continues to grow warmer, more environmentally related disasters would be expected to occur with much stronger hurricanes, storms, and typhoons building up in the warmer oceans (Lemonic, 2008). These experts further emphasize that man has to address the issues which pertain to climate change in order to stem the progression of this phenomenon into dangerous levels. The word ‘dangerousâ⠂¬â„¢ seems to have now been strongly associated with climate change. Its actual meaning in the context of climate change will be discussed in this paper. This paper shall discuss climate change and the different ways by which its implications can actually be quantified to dangerous levels. It will discuss the point where climate change can be considered acceptable and the point where it is considered to be dangerous. This study is being undertaken in order to establish a thorough and comprehensive understanding of climate change as well as its implications to our society and our efforts towards reversing its impact. Discussion Defining ‘dangerous climate change’ ‘Dangerous climate change’ is a term which was introduced legally during the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (McGuire, n.d). Climate researchers have come up with different definitions in order to define the point at which climate change can be considered dangerous. Schneide r and Lane (2006, as cited by Spratt and Sutton, 2008) have suggested different metrics in measuring climate change and such metrics have included: the risks to unique and threatened geophysical or biophysical systems; risks related with extreme weather events; total damages; temperature thresholds to large-scale events; risks to global ecosystems; loss of human cultures; key sustainability metrics of water, energy, agriculture, health, and biodiversity; the number of people put at risk; and the triggering of irreversible chain of events. These are all metrics which can be used in order to determine how dangerous the impact of climate change is. Dawson and Spannagle (2009) discuss that dangerous climate change is the degree of climate change which violates Article 2 of the UNFCCC. Article 2 basically sets forth that the function of the UNFCCC is to manage the emission of greenhouse gases to levels which would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the weather and climate system (Dawson and Spannagle, 2009). In effect, such acceptable levels must be achieved within levels which would: â€Å"allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change; ensure that food production is not threatened; and enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner† (Dawson and Spannagle, 2009, p. 112). Article 2 does not use the exact words ‘dangerous climate change,’ however such words are accepted in terms of dangerous anthropogenic interference; it also refers to the man-made toxic chemical emissions which trigger climate changes beyond their natural patterns. The UNFCCC has not come up with a clear definition