GLOBALIZATION EFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT

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Abstract

Globalization is rapidly changing how the world conducts trades and regulates various issues. One of its major areas of influences has been on the environment because ecological process such as temperature rise cannot be addressed at the national level. To deal with this issue policy makers have argued that clean energy technologies that help to minimize carbon emission are the way forward. This has been coupled with carbon curb policy. This paper explores the background of globalization and global warming literature. It highlights the loopholes in the policy measure and conclude that contrarily to believe that globalization is going to bring prosperity, trade-offs will be made between economic gains and cost of mitigating its costs.

Introduction

Globalization is readily accepted as inevitable and that it provides immense opportunities for economic prosperity. Intertwined with this, is its environmental effect on the world through global warming. Those for globalization have tended to concentrate on its benefits such as its ability to reduce prices, reduce poverty and increase efficiency. Those opposed to some of its policy are considered to oppose the next world revolution. However, policies changes are necessary to handle some of the challenges it brings in terms of global warming. Globalization is resulting in increased carbon emission and consequently global warming, something that can be reversed if proper policies are in place. For instance countries such as China and India have experienced increased trade and exponential growth in energy demand and are meeting these by burning fossil fuels (Leopold, 2007).As a result globalization has resulted in depletion of fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources. Consequently, there is concern that overreliance on carbon sources of fuels is affecting the environment. To minimize global warming effect, technologies and clean energy alternatives have been proposed. This paper explores human activities driving global warming and efficiency of proposed policies

Facts about Greenhouse Gases

Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases. These are atmospheric gases that absorb and release heat radiation and as a result prevent heat from escaping from the lower atmosphere. Most of these gases naturally occur at very small concentration in the atmosphere. Without them the word would be 30^oC colder than it is. They include carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCS).

These gases differ in terms of their concentration in the atmosphere as well as their ability to ensnare heat in the lower atmosphere. Most of the other gases mentioned are more capable of trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but it is the latter that has the greatest influence due to its high concentration in the atmosphere. In the recent decades, this key gas has registered an increase by o.o15 percent due to burning of fossil fuels mainly oil, gas and coal and a further projected increase of 0.02 percent between 2002 and 2003 (Brown, 2004). PAL 2004 States that carbon dioxide concentration has increased in the last two century from 280 million parts to 380 million parts (1). Scientist use global warming potential indexes to determine each gas warming effect. In calculating this index carbon dioxide is used as the base element to compare the radioactive forcing of specific gas to that of carbon dioxide. In addition because various gases stay for certain period of time in the atmosphere before naturally being removed, these calculations are period based. These figures reveal that gases such as HFCs and CFC have very high warming effect relative to that of carbon dioxide (PAL, 2004).

In addition, to their high global warming effects these gases emanate from human activities. CFCs and HFCs for instance, are gases that are used for refrigeration and cooling. Things that will be even more necessary with globalization as perishable goods are transported for longer distances. On the other hand the carbon dioxide is released from burning of fossil fuels. Although natural phenomenon such as El Nino also contribute to increase in carbon dioxide concentration, it is also noted that for the periods that CO₂ increase has been observed, such phenomenon have not taken place (Brown, 2004).

Alternatives

At the center of economic prosperity in globalization era, is constrain by natural resources. Environmental soundness is necessarily to achieve this prosperity. It has come to our realization that natural resources are finite and cannot be adequate to fulfill human demands, in spite of their importance in achieving global goals. As economies like India and China continues to expand the proportion of the natural resources being used has increased exponentially. Consequently global competition and geopolitical forces have emerged to guarantee continuous supply of these resources and how they are controlled (Najam, nd). This far this paper has identified that one of the global environmental concern has been the increase in carbon dioxide gas from burning of fossil fuel, which is one of the major non-renewable resources. As a result it has raised various debates about how to control its concentration as well as geopolitics of alternative energy fuels.

In this global arena technology has been viewed as the best way to reduce these pressures and to deploy the benefit across the world. However, in spite of the importance of the stance taken to address this phenomenon globally, most of the technological measures proposed are economically unfeasible for the developing nations. Emerging economies like India and China as well as industrialized nations are the ones which have dominated in development of the clean technologies. In addition to this, putting of price caps on carbon emission has raised debate on its impacts on world economy. It has been argued that countries that do not need to have carbon credit because they have less emission, are trading the balance credits. This is an abuse of the policy as its main intention was to encourage development of low-carbon efficient technology and not a method of distributing cash (“Globalization and the Environment,” 2009).

Conclusion

Globalization has invoked concerns that certain ecological process do not observe national boundaries and international policies need to be developed to deal with them. Global warming is such an ecological process and it has raised equivalent pressure among the nations to deal with it. The cost of globalization is to ensure energy demands are met without comprising the environment. Development of clean energy technology has been advocated to curb the menace. However, it has resulted in disequilibrium such as capacity of developing nations to develop such technologies.

References

Brown, P. (2004). Climate Fear as Carbon Levels Soar. The Guardian, 11 Oct, retrieved on 3 Dec. 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2004/oct/11/environment.research

Globalization and the Environment. (2009). Does Carbon trading risk becoming the new sub-prime? Retrieved on 3 Dec. 2011 from http://globalisation-and-the-environment.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html.

Leopold, L. Globalization is Fueling Global Warming. AlterNet. Retrieved on 3 Dec. 2011 from http://www.alternet.org/environment/71873/

Najam, A. Runnalls D., & Halle M. (Nd). Environment and Globalization Five Propositions. Manitoba. Unigraphics Ltd.

Parliament of Australia Library (PAL). (2004). Greenhouse gases. Retrieved on 3 Dec. 2011 from .

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