Climate Change Debate Essay Sample

“The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities.” This is the issue called Climate Change, and it has been the talk of the town these few years and there are good reasons. Climate change has been on the rise and government officials, scientists, and people are starting to take notice. Climate Change is created from the usage of fossil fuels substances we use every day, 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year, and it comes from greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide coming from cars, or and any sort of vehicle. It is also coming from factories and other ways like cement and fertilizers, which contain gases like methane that are better at trapping radiation from the sun but carbon dioxide is longer lasting; either way, gases like those are extremely harmful to the planet. These gases can be harmful because it affects the planet negatively in many ways in the economy, ecosystem, and it’s biodiversity. 

One way Climate Change harmfully affects the planet is in its Economy. According to the “World Economic Forum” it says, “The largest impact of climate change is that it could wipe up to 18% of GDP off the worldwide economy by 2050 if global temperatures rise by 3.2°C, the Swiss Re Institute warns.” According to Statista,  global GDP is 84.54 trillion U.S. dollars. That means that our global GDP would be around 3.3372 trillion dollars. That would be catastrophic because there are small countries that are very hot and would lose most of their GDP so they would not have enough money to support the needs of people to protect them from heat, and starvation. According to “ScienceDirect” it says, “Recent literature illustrates the economic and social challenges facing cities around the world as a result of climate change including energy shortages, damaged infrastructure, increasing losses to industry, heat-related mortality and illness, and scarcity of food and water.” What this evidence explains is that cities around the world would lose energy sources, and would have damaged infrastructure, which is, “Infrastructure systems include utility networks such as energy, water, telecommunications, and roads, or discrete critical facilities such as hospitals, ports, and airports. ... Earthquake-induced physical damage to infrastructure generates direct losses due to the cost of repairs to these components” We would also have heat-related death and illness, and not having enough water and food to eat. Overall, having a loss to the economy would be a big event that would affect millions or even billions of people.  

A negative effect of climate change is damage to the environment and the population. According to the article Climate Change Indicators: Weather and Climate, it says “More extreme variations in weather are also a threat to society. More frequent and intense extreme heat events can increase illnesses and deaths, especially among vulnerable populations, and damage some crops” This evidence explains that hotter temperatures from climate change can kill people, it can affect environments, and it can affect food, so it would be devastating to have such a huge event happen. Another piece of evidence that shows the effects of climate change is, according to “Worldwildlife”, it says “More frequent and intense drought, storms, heatwaves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and warming oceans can directly harm animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people's livelihoods and communities. As climate change worsens, dangerous weather events are becoming more frequent or severe. This evidence also shows how there would be more intense droughts, which would be another bad event. 

While some people say there are benefits to climate change, yes, that is true, but it’s only temporary and it also has some negative effects with those positive effects. According to the article Climate Change Indicators: Weather and Climate, it says “ While increased precipitation can replenish water supplies and support agriculture, intense storms can damage property, cause loss of life and population displacement, and temporarily disrupt essential services such as transportation, telecommunications, energy, and water supplies.” This evidence supports that while there are temporary benefits, there are also negative impacts. Another piece of evidence from the same article says, “Long-term climate changes can directly or indirectly affect many aspects of society in potentially disruptive ways. “For example, warmer average temperatures could increase air conditioning costs and affect the spread of diseases like Lyme disease, but could also improve conditions for growing some crops.” This evidence also shows how with improved crop growth but with increased chances of Lyme disease and higher air conditioning costs.

Overall, the climate change debate, being good or bad, is not as debatable since there is not enough evidence collected proving that climate change is more positive than negative. All the evidence supports that Climate change is bad for not only the environment but the ecosystem and the economy. But instead of having debates, and arguments, we should be helping the planet as much as we can. We could use the 3 r’s Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse, or if we want to go all out we can use solar panels to provide energy instead of fossil fuels. There are many ways to help this huge society because eventually, it will be beyond the point of helping, so there will be more negative effects more and more frequently, so we should start acting now.