An Domhain

The Main Causes of These Problems

In my humble opinion I think that the causes of climate change and global warming can be broken down into three groups:
1. Gases
2. Growth
3. Greed.
Of course the main cause of climate change is humanity and our society.

The main greenhouse gases that cause climate change are listed below in order of least to most dangerous:
- Carbon Dioxide
- Methane
- Nitrous Oxide
- Fluorinated Gases
These are the greenhouse gases that are found in our ozone layer and trap the heat from the sun, causing the earth to rise in temperature.

Carbon Dioxide

Is emitted from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, gas and peat as well as burning wood and waste. It is one of the largest amounts of toxic gases in the ozone and is creating large problems. It is emitted by nearly every human action, like burning fires, working machinery and making goods.

Fluorinated Gases

These are man-made gases and the most deadly of them all. There are four types, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride. These are widely used in the industrial and home sectors. Examples are in refrigerators, electronics, fire extinguishers. These gases can stay in our atmosphere for decades.

Methane

Is emitted by livestock and agricultural practices as well as well as the decaying of waste in landfills and sewage tanks.
It has a much worse effect on the ozone than carbon dioxide does.

Nitrous Oxide

Is emitted by industrial and agriculture activities and also by the burning of fossil fuels and waste. It's also known as 'laughing gas.'

Due to the growth of our population and growth of our use of technology and advancements in society, we have produced more gases than ever before. Of course because of this growth more gases are released into our atmosphere and so, more gases are in our ozone and are leading to global warming and climate change. Growth in anything means that there is more of a demand for resources. Our world is constantly growing. We have the biggest population in the world since ever before. This means that over 7 billion people need access to resources, resources that are limited and are slow to regrow. So when we start to use up all of these resources to make sure everyone gets them, we begin to run out of them. With growth also comes waste and the need to produce more which leads to large amounts of gas emissions also.

The Problems

We have also grown more ignorant to the earths problems and more disconnected from nature and the earth around us. When we are ignorant to problems and more disconnected from the world, we care less about both things. We lose our connections and our empathy and we are protected from the problems but that doesn't mean they will go away. This means that we will continue to do the harmful things we are doing because we care less of their effect if we are safe from the trouble they cause.

New Growth

Growth is important as it helps humanity flourish and learn but what is the benefit of flourishing if it results in our own extinction and death.
We are getting the earth to do more than it can do. We are asking the earth to supply us with an endless amount of goods that it took the earth millions of years to make.
Now we need to start to grow in a different direction. We need to grow into a sustainable society that is climate change conscious and protects the earth that we live on and should be grateful for.

The greed of humanity is the major factor that leads to climate change and global warming. We are literally destroying our own future. Due to our need to have more, make more, earn more, own more, be more we have pushed the earth past its limits and so everything that the earth provides us with will disappear because we will have used it up too quickly.

Overuse of resources

Due to the greed of humanity the earth has been drained of its important resources which our earth has struggled to make. This overuse of resources has led to many problems like the depletion of the earths natural resources, extinction, death and so on. Resources are anything that helps a person to reach their goal, e.g time, skills, equipment.

Depletion of Natural Resources

Natural resources are resources like fossil fuels and trees that are naturally made by the earth. Some are made quickly like trees who grow in a few years but others take millions of years to form, like fossil fuels. These natural resources are used by humans to survive. The greed of humanity, however, has led to a depletion of these natural resources. This is where the natural resources are used up completely and it will take years or millions of years for them to form again. This puts a large amount of pressure on our earth to try to form all of these resources again. It also puts a large amount of pressure on biodiversity as vital, important natural resources like trees and fossil fuels are gone which disrupts other creatures lives. It also leaves humanity in danger as we don't have the resources we need to survive.

Extinction and Overproduction

The greed of humanity has also led to the huge extinction of many creatures and organisms on earth.
Farming and agriculture has grown hugely due to the greed of humanity for food like meats. This greed leads to the death of millions of animals every year for the easy access of meats for humans. Many of these meats go to waste because people don't buy them. It is no longer kill to eat, it is kill for fun and for comfort and to have excessive resources available that are not even needed.
Hunting also occurs and is a serious threat to many wild animal species and their extinction. They are hunted by humans for furs and fabrics, for glory and fun, the greed of humans to kill animals leads to the extinction of many.

Example: Deforestation

Trees provide large amounts of many resources for humans. Trees provide us with paper, cardboard, fuel, sap, glue, decorations, oil etc. Trees seem to be more valuable for humans by being cut down than they are alive. But how could that be? Trees are a vital plant on this earth that keeps humanity alive. Through photosynthesis they take in the carbon dioxide that we release and is toxic, and they release oxygen so that we can breathe. Trees also aid in the carbon cycle and the water cycle and are vital in helping to keep the soil fertile. They are also homes to many other creatures.
But because of the greed of humanity for money, for resources, these vital and beautiful trees are being cut down all over the world, every second of every day. Deforestation is caused when humans cut down too many trees in a forest that they either eliminate that forest or they thin it to a great extent. This has a huge impact on global warming because there are less plants to photosynthesise so there are less plants to take in the carbon dioxide to eliminate it from our earths atmosphere.
Palm oil is an oil used in the making of many foods. If you check the label on the packaging of food you will more than likely see palm oil. Palm oil causes huge problems of deforestation. Palm oil is in huge demand by people as it is used in such large amounts across the world. The demand for palm oil which is found in palm trees has led to gigantic amounts of deforestation, especially in the amazon forest and it is extremely dangerous. This leads to low levels of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide as well as a huge shift in biodiversity as one of the main components, trees, are disappearing. Many creatures have lost their homes too as well as the indigenous people who live in these forests.

Materialism

Our society is mainly driven by capitalism and materialism. People are driven and defined by the amount of money they earn and the amount of goods they own. This causes huge amounts of greed in people because our society is built on greed. The greed of humanity for money leads to a huge imbalance between the poor and the rich as the rich make sure they get richer and the poor are forced to be poorer. Greed for material objects leads to people buying more than they need so resources are wasted and many of the goods end up in waste.

Industrialisation

Due to the industrial revolution greed has only grown. Even though it has benefited society greatly as it has helped us to advance, it has also led to very negative negatives. It has led to the overproduction of gases due to machinery and the industry being run by fossil fuels. This has enhanced the greenhouse gas effect and greatly influenced climate change. Industrialisation has also led to excessive production of goods and then a new expectation of society started where we expected these goods to be made and we demanded more and more because we could.

Capitalism

Our society is run by money. You need money to survive. You need money to live. You need money to prove yourself. Due to the huge need for money many people forget about the environment and always put earning money first so they will go to any lengths to earn their money.
This also leads to people and the environment being left behind because the need for money outweighs the needs of others.
Due to money proving how worthy a person is in society many people buy more and more to show off the money that they have earned by flashing off all of their belongings.

Example: Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion is when clothes are made using the least amount of money by the producers so they end up being bad quality. This results in the clothes only being worn once or twice and then breaking or being damaged so they are thrown to waste. This leads to more and more resources being used daily to make large amount of clothes and then these clothes after one or two wears are left in a pile in waste. This releases a huge amount of greenhouse gases and toxins during the course of making the clothes and then them being incinerated or just sitting in a waste pile. It also leads to many resources being wasted.
Another cause of fast fashion is the demand that people have for clothes. Instead of just buying the clothes that people need, they buy way more than they need. People buy clothes because new fashions have come out, to flaunt their newly earned money, to have new outfits for every day and many other reasons.

A terrible result of fast fashion is unfair trade. Due to employers and the managers in charge of making clothes trying to make clothes at as low a cost as possible to avoid spending too much money, many people are taken advantage of. Producers of clothes from developed countries go to developing countries to be able to take advantage of employees and to try and pay them as low wages as they can.
Fast fashion must be stopped! It is helping to drive the production of greenhouse gases, the extinction of the earths natural resources and the greed of society.

Bad results of Greed

There are immense negative results of greed for society and our earth. These include greenhouse gases being produced, a huge gap between the rich and the poor in the world, capitalism, industrialisation, overuse of resources, a power grab and waste. Greed leads to people taking more from the earth than the earth can deal with and it is killing the earth.

Power Grab

Power is the main thing that people are greedy for. It is also what causes the most problems in society. The things that earn people power are their money and their privilege and where they are on the social structure. The greed of people leads to people fighting for a power grab. Each person wants to be more and more powerful and so will do anything to get that power. This leads to a huge divide in the world between the rich and the poor as the rich oppress the poor people to make sure they always remain rich forever. It never gives the poor people of the earth the chance to have a better life.
This is a huge problem of greed as there is no equality and people will always be oppressed.

Waste

An unacceptable issue with greed is the massive amounts of waste produced. We can see above that materialism and the earths natural resources are huge causes of climate change and of waste. With the greed of humanity goods are produced at a rapid and repugnant rate. The overproduction of goods leads to a materialistic society that continues to buy goods even when they aren't needed. It results in some people buying goods and then throwing them away when they do not serve a purpose any more. This leads to goods piling up in huge dumping grounds. Here they sit in piles of waste without any use. They release huge amounts of greenhouse gases like methane and they damage the environment all around them.

Example: Microplastics

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastics that people can't see with the naked eye. Plastics are made from fossil fuels and take millions of years to break down into smaller pieces. The main problem is that plastics don't naturally biodegrade so they don't break down on their own and return to the earth like paper. Instead they have to be broken down by people and that is down by incinerating them or by recycling them. When plastics aren't incinerated or recycled they are left in the earth to break down themselves but they never break down properly. These microplastics are so light that they can be carried by the wind all across the earth. Microplastics are found everywhere; in the sea, in the soil, in animals stomachs, everywhere. This also means that they are in humans systems too as if they are found in animals, we eat those animals and then they are in us. Our bodies can't break down plastic and neither can other animals and so they begin

to poison our bodies. Plastics are toxic, poisonous and also carcinogenic - which means they can cause cancers in the body. Scientists are still studying the implications of microplastics and what implications they have for humans and the earth.
So to avoid microplastics we have to stop the production of plastics and the buying of plastics. This will benefit humans and the earth as there won't be fossil fuels used to make the plastics and there won't be huge amounts of waste of plastic.

Links to websites related to this topic:

https://www.theworldcounts.com - Here is an amazing website that tells you how many earths you will need to provide all the resources we use and to absorb the waste that we produce. They also include the depletion of natural resources. You must visit this website!

https://ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-and-agriculture - This is the website for the Union of Concerned Scientists and it explains the impact of climate change on agriculture and the impact of agriculture on climate change.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/deforestation/ - The National Geographic is an amazing website to find articles on nearly everything to do with geography and the earth.

https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/ - This is a brilliant website that also rates products and how sustainable they are so you can buy more sustainable products.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/microplastics/
https://www.epa.ie/irelandsenvironment/waste/ - The E.P.A or environmental Protection Agency has a large amount of resources and information on their websites to find out more about the waste of countries.
https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/food_practice/sustainable_production/palm_oil/