Global Warming

Abstract

At the current state of the science, the fact that global climate change is occurring is undeniable and the only question that remains is to what extent humans will be affected and in what ways we can mitigate damages. Island countries such as New Zealand need to pay particularly close attention to predictions of rising sea levels and often severe changes in weather patterns. With predictions of these rising sea levels and increasing storm surges impacting the west coast and decreasing participation impacting the east coast, the problems facing New Zealand are rather clear and also warrant immediate action to ensure the stability of New Zealand's economy and society even in the face of these formidable challenges. It is because of this inevitability of change that New Zealand must prepare itself in ways ranging from monitoring new coastal building regulations to strengthening irrigation infrastructures. As a final note, more attention should be spent studying often dramatic methods of reversing some of the greatest impacts of global warming. (167 words)

1.0 Introduction

Global warming is not only a hot topic in the news but is also one of the most significant and serious issues facing the world today (Spencer, 2005). Internationally, damages attributable to global warming are being reported and scientists are continuing to study and report about the extent of global impacts. Recent studies estimate that New Zealand will experience major changes to the coastline and impacts to agriculture that have the potential to seriously impact the local economy. Therefore this report aims to identify the threat that global warming poses to New Zealand and offer recommendations to mitigate the extent of potential losses. (103 words)

2.0 Literature review

Chris Spence (2005) defines global warming as the phenomenon of long term ascending of the surface temperature of the earth and the mean temperature of sea. In his book, Global Warming: Personal solutions for a healthy planet, Spence (2005) introduces the main causes of global warming and outlines its potential influence to the world. Spencer (2005) indicates that the main cause of global warming is the increase in concentration of greenhouse gases such as atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane caused by human activity. Furthermore, Spencer (2005) predicts that even in the current best possible scenarios, global average temperature will increase steadily for decades. This fact is accompanied by his prediction of the collapse of human civilization due to the problems associated with rising global temperature.

William R. Cline (1992) discusses the influence that global warming has on the world. In his book The Economics of Global Warming, Cline (1992) indicated some of the major problems caused by global warming and how it will affect the world. Cline (1992) claims that climate change will slow down economic growth and may cause worldwide stagflation and similar economic problems. He further states that the changes that global warming brings to the ecosystem may cause major disruptions in human living patterns and health, such as a pattern of increasing tropical diseases like malaria. Finally, Cline also indicates that increased temperature can serve as a catalyst for photochemical reactions in the air and ozone concentration, therefore influencing human health and communities by intensifying air pollution (Cline, 1992).

Laura Jones (2005) gives a more elaborate identification of the negative effects of global warming and solutions in her book Global Warming: The science and the politics. Laura claims that the process of global warming is already set in rapid motion and it may cause serious societal, economical and environmental problems to countries which have extensive high population density delta regions that rely on producing food (2005). Laura also touches on scientific and general solutions which need to be practiced in everyday life, but notes that at current atmospheric CO2 levels, the process is already in motion and