Different Ways to Counter Climate Change

At the lecture on 30 January, the three guest speakers spoke of climate change and the different means to address this problem. The catastrophic effects of climate change and global warming are no longer news; therefore, the main focus of the lecture was the solutions to climate change rather than the effects of climate change.

Global warming is caused by the rapid buildup of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, preventing heat waves from re-entering space; therefore, the way to solve global warming is to control carbon dioxide emissions. There are two possible approaches to reduce carbon dioxide emissions: by using technology, or through government policies.

The use of new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions includes alternative energy resources like gas, nuclear power and biomass fuels. There are also renewable energy resources like solar and wind power. The most interesting method is the use of “carbon dioxide capture and storage”. Instead of reducing carbon dioxide being released into the air, this method seeks to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store them in depleted oil and gas fields or the ocean. However, carbon dioxide stored in the ocean will diffuse into the seawaters and cause the ocean environment to become more acidic, resulting in severe biological effects. This can be solved by storing the carbon dioxide in a membrane, like stuffing a huge sausage, before putting these “sausages” into the ocean.

However, I disagree with this method. There is always a risk of the membrane breaking, resulting in carbon dioxide leaking into the ocean. Moreover, even if the membrane stays intact, the placing of huge foreign objects on the ocean bed will also cause severe disruption to the ecology. It may solve the problem of global warming, but it is creating another major problem in its place.

Government can introduce policies and laws to slow down climate change. There are policies that encourage people to be more environmental friendly, such as subsidizing energy-efficient technologies and usage of renewable energy. There are also policies that deter people from harming the environment, such as introducing carbon taxes and putting a cap to the total carbon dioxide emissions. Having a good balance of both types of policies would be ideal.

In conclusion, there are many ways to counter climate change and global warming. However, it is important that governments of the world choose their methods and strategies wisely. Selecting the wrong approaches can result in the birth of other problems.