The Effects of Global Warming and Individual and Organizational Solutions

Global warming is a more recent environmental issue that is slowly becoming more evident in the world today. The greenhouse effect is the Earth's temperature rise due to the trapping of energy from the sun by gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane. Recently humans have increased the amount of these gases released into the atmosphere through pollution, enhancing the greenhouse effect and ultimately causing global warming. As a result, people's health, eco-systems, crop yields, and water supplies are affected. Individual solutions such as hybrid cars and organizational solutions such as the Kyoto Protocol help reduce the amount of gases released into the air that contribute to global warming.

Global warming greatly affects the climate of the earth. Basically, "the climate of Earth and its global mean surface temperature are the consequence of a balance between the amount of solar radiation absorbed by Earth's surface and atmosphere and the amount of outgoing long-wave radiation emitted by the system" (Charlson, Valero and Seinfeld 806). The greenhouse gases are what produce the long-wave radiation that warm the earth's surface. One effect of global warming includes the rising of the present sea-level due to land ice melting (International Energy Agency 13). The rising of the sea-level causes "erosion of beaches and coastal margins, wetland loss, increased frequency and severity of flooding, damage to port facilities, coastal structures and water management systems" (13). In the middle latitudes of the earth, global warming would have a significant effect on rain forests. The increasing number of severe droughts coupled with a rapid temperature rise may cause the extinction of species, reproductive failure, and ultimately decrease the size of the forests (13-14). Another expected result of global warming is a decrease in the amount of rainfall in semi-arid tropics. This change will greatly affect "food, water, and fuel-wood availability, human settlement patterns and unmanaged ecosystems" (14). Climate changes in the tropical regions will "increase the frequency and intensity of tropical storms which, together with a sea-level rise, would represent a significant threat for the coastal and river mouth areas in the humid tropics" (14). And in the high latitude regions, an increase in temperature will increase rainfall and cloudiness as well as an eventual loss of the permafrost and changes in the tundra and natural ecosystems (14). All of these changes will cause an increase in the release of gases, such as carbon dioxide, and will contribute even more to the greenhouse effect. Overall, people's health will be affected because diseases that thrive in warm water will be easier to spread, and people with cardiovascular disease will be vulnerable because their hearts will have to work harder to keep up with the warm temperatures.

Studies have estimated that carbon dioxide has been responsible for about 60 percent of the enhanced greenhouse effect (15). Every year, the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere increases by about one half percent. This is due to the increased use of fossil fuels. Therefore, in order to reduce global warming, the amounts of fossil fuels used in the world must decrease to reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide as wells as lower the emission of long-wave radiation.

One solution to the global warming problem is for people to use hybrid cars. This is an example of an individual solution, in which each person can do something small that will impact the bigger picture of saving the earth. According to the National Resources Defense Council, hybrid cars "combine a smaller gasoline engine with a battery-powered electric motor" (1). Hybrid cars get double the mileage of other combustible engine cars because they "burn little fuel when they are slowing or idling, and some capture and then use later energy created during braking that would otherwise just produce heat" (1). Currently there are three dealerships that produce hybrid cars in the United States: Toyota, Honda, and Ford. The Toyota Prius was introduced in the United States in 2000 and gets approximately sixty miles per gallon in city driving and fifty-one miles per gallon on the highway (2). Honda produced a hybrid version of its Civic in 2002 which gets approximately fifty-one miles per gallon on the highway and forty-six miles per gallon in city driving (2). Ford released a hybrid SUV in 2004 (2). These dealerships plan to release more versions of hybrid cars in the future and other dealerships are expected to join soon (2). Because hybrid cars use less gasoline, less fossil fuels are combusted and less carbon dioxide is released into the earth's atmosphere. If less carbon dioxide is released, global warming is reduced because the carbon dioxide will not emit as much long-wave radiation and there will be less of a rise in the earth's temperature.

Unfortunately, hybrid cars are not very popular yet. In the new car market, less than one percent accounts for the hybrid cars (1). One reason for this is that hybrid cars are not being mass produced in the United States yet. Also, not many people know the details about hybrid cars. For example, they do not know that the average conventional automobile only gets approximately twenty-one miles to the gallon (2).

Other ways individuals can help solve the problem are to encourage the use of renewable, non-petroleum fuels, encourage the acceleration of the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, and push for 'smart growth' instead of suburban sprawl (2). The way to expand the use of renewable, non-petroleum fuels is to use ethanol created by specially made plants of crop wastes and to slowly "increase requirements for 'renewable content' in gasoline" (2). To accelerate the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, a combination of incentives and state requirements are needed to stimulate production (2). Pushing for smart growth will give Americans more transportation options, as well as "make communities more livable with less driving" (2).

Another possible solution to the global warming problem can be seen through the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an example of an organizational solution, meaning a group of people work together to solve a problem rather than just individuals doing their part. Generally, organizational solutions are more important than individual solutions because it has a bigger impact. The Kyoto Protocol began in December of 1997 when "leaders of the world's governments met in Kyoto, Japan, to discuss a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic sources, particularly carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels" ( International Energy Agency 11). Again, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions means that less long-wave radiation is emitted into the atmosphere and consequently the earth's temperature does not rise as much and global warming is reduced. Four ways that national governments can intervene are "reduce[ing] or restrain[ing] the growth of activity and movement of people and goods, shift[ing] traffic to less energy-intensive or carbon-intensive transport modes, reduc[ing] the modal energy intensity of the various modes, improving utilization or improving traffic conditions so that vehicles can perform better, reduc[ing] the carbon dioxide content of fuels themselves" (22). Ways to reduce the model energy intensity would be to reduce the amount of energy for an activity or to get more activity from a certain amount of energy, which can be accomplished through technology. An example of this is the creation of vehicles that use less fuel per mile, as seen in hybrid cars. An example of improving utilization is to carry more passengers per vehicle or improving traffic conditions so vehicles can perform better.

There are eight categories countries adopting the Kyoto Protocol must take into account regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. These categories include fuel costs, other variable costs of motor vehicle use, conditions of road traffic flow, public transportation and other alternatives to road transport, vehicle production (supply), vehicle fleet demand and characteristics, urban space, and public attitudes toward transportation (27-8). To influence the costs of fuel, the government can adjust taxes to "reflect likely pollution from using these fuels" (27). To cover the other variable costs of motor vehicle use, there could be road pricing or zone pricing, "insurance premiums could be set that are directly proportional to vehicle use

Currently, there is no way to gage the success of the Kyoto Protocol. Although it was introduced in 1997, it did not officially begin until February 16, 2005 after Russia ratified it on November 8, 2004. As of September 2005, one hundred and fifty-six countries have ratified the agreement. However, it is interesting to note that the United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, meaning the United States has chosen not to participate in following the Kyoto Protocol's guidelines.

Instead of the Kyoto Protocol, the United States has implemented other policies in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. For example, the California Air Resources Board developed a Low-Emissions Vehicle program meant to introduce low-emissions vehicles between the years 1990-2010. The United States has also been giving credit for highly fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. Basically, it would provide a tax write-off of two-thousand US dollars for hybrid cars from 2003-2006 that are two-thirds more efficient, three-thousand US dollars in 2004-2006 that are twice as efficient, and four-thousand US dollars between 2004-2006 that are three times as efficient. Presently, this incentive has not stimulated significant sales in the United States, but it has boosted future prospects for these hybrid cars. In that sense, these organizational factors are successful because it paves the way for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the future. Eventually, more people will buy hybrid cars and the combined efforts of the individual and organizational solutions will decrease emissions of carbon dioxide and reliance upon fossil fuels.

The road to reducing reliance upon fossil fuels and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere is a long and difficult one. According to Alan S. Manne and Richard G. Richels, "during the early decades, (1990-2020), noncarbon-based supply options are severely limited" (113). The best step for the time being is to conserve; higher energy prices will decouple GDP and energy growth (113). The economy must first overcome "the introduction limits on carbon-free backstops" (113) before there can be growth in energy consumption. Once that happens, "fuel switching is then the principal means of adapting to the carbon constraint" (113).

Global warming already has a major impact on the world. But if humans are not careful, the damages done by global warming will continue to worsen. For this reason, it is important to do everything in one's power to reduce global warming, meaning reduce the amount of gases such as carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by means such as limiting the combustion of fossil fuels. There are individual and organizational solutions to this problem. Although organizational solutions have a bigger impact, there are ways for individual and organizational solutions to work together. For example, individuals have the power to buy the hybrid cars and organizations have to power to give individuals more incentive to buy the cars. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming will take a long time to take effect. The first few decades will be especially hard because not only will humans not see immediate results, but the most drastic measures will be taken and it will take time to get used to the new policies. Essentially, it will take time to first conserve fossil fuels and then to replace them altogether. However, the prospects of a fossil fuel free environment look brighter everyday, especially with inventions like hybrid cars. Reducing global warming is possible.

References

"Break the Chain and End Our Dependence on Oil." Natural Resources Defense Council. 1 Nov. 2005. .

Charlson, Robert J., Francisco P. J. Valero, and John H. Seinfeld. "In Search of Balance."

Science Magazine. 308 (2005): 806-7.

International Energy Agency. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Energy Dimension. Paris: Cedex, 1991.

International Energy Agency. The Road from Kyoto: Current CO₂ and Transport Policies in the IEA. Paris: Chirat, 2000.

Manne, Alan S. and Richard G. Richels. "Reducing U.S. CO₂ Emissions-The Value of Flexibility in Timing." Global Energy Strategies. 47 (1994): 107-119.