Climate Change

Abrupt Climatic Shifts and Global Warming are the causes of some serious concern worldwide, but so is finding alternative energy sources. For economic and many other reasons, the nations of the world are more interested in the latter. But while brainstorming to find new energy sources, the options to be considered may just as well benefit the climate shift issue.

Currently the fuels running the world are oil and coal. These have been fuelling the Industrial Revolution as well, and are continuing to be central to human economic and industrial progress. Oil is the main fuel worldwide and it is critical for functions like transportation and thermal power generation, and our dependence on oil is far greater than on coal. While coal is available in a lot of countries in the world, oil is scarce. At the same time, the greatest of oil resources in the world are present in the most politically unstable and turbulent parts of the world, which are constantly involved in one conflict or the other at any given time, for example, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. Oil resources of the world are also considered to be limited, and the world will run out of sufficient oil supplies in the distant future. With China becoming one of the largest economic powers in the world, there is a unanimous understanding among the global community to look for alternative energy sources.

Call it Karma or whatever you like, but all the alternative energy sources the world could come up with, are found to be polluting the atmosphere far lesser, if at all, than the conventional fossil fuel burning. Let it be solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal or even nuclear energy, if it is carried out in a safe and careful manner despite the threat of potential radiations, all of these sources do very little to pollute the environment.

The greatest reason why fossil fuels are so harmful to the environment are the consequent emissions of carbon dioxide through its consumption. Carbon Dioxide is identified as one of the primary Greenhouse gases, which contribute in enhancing the Greenhouse Effect, which in turn increase the temperature of the earth, causing abrupt climatic changes.
If the carbon emissions from the consumption of oil are reduced, a significant improvement in the atmosphere of the planet will be observed surely. That is possible only if we reach an alternatively acceptable and commercially workable energy source.

Another way to control climate shifts is to prevent deforestation. Thick forestation and Rain Forests, like the Amazon in South America, should be preserved and prevented from uncontrolled and illegal deforestation. Such places are very beneficial for the reduction in greenhouse gases, as they are one of the primary sources of the nature to regulate the amount of Carbon Dioxide, a major Greenhouse gas in Earths atmosphere. Plants help reduce CO2 through the process of photosynthesis. However, the rainforests are quickly being deforested illegally or for purposes like agriculture and building colonies. Their disappearance is harmful to the cause of reducing Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, apart from being an unrecoverable loss of a gift from Mother Nature.

Finding alternative energy resources and terminating deforestation can really help preventing abrupt climate shifts, but the only question is whether we are willing to accept and implement these solutions, and how workable and commercially successful the new energy resources will prove to be.