Section I. Background.
The population of the world continues to increase every day. The world population is even expected to grow in future to a situation where the earth surface will not be able to support the vast population. Population growth leads to people competing for resources to sustain them. Natural resources are, therefore becoming depleted due to the many activities that people are being engaged in to maintain their lives. Population growth is also responsible for increased emission of greenhouse gases which in turn causes global warming. The developing countries are the worst impacted by the emissions as it is demonstrated in this analysis with Nigeria as an example. Nigeria faces economic, security and political challenges due to emissions. The two significant causes of greenhouse gases that will be analyzed in this analysis are human activities and the burning of fossil fuels. The UN needs to carefully consider the impact of population growth on global warming to find a comprehensive solution.
What are greenhouse gases?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (n.d), greenhouse gases are the gases that trap heat into the atmosphere, which means they prevent heat from getting out of the earth’s surface. There are various greenhouse gases and are said to bring about an effect called the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an example of greenhouse gases which gets into the atmosphere a result of chemical reactions, trees and burning of fossil fuels. Methane is another greenhouse gas that during the extraction of minerals like coal, oil and natural gas, it gets into the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas that gets into the atmosphere through agricultural and industrial activities. Each gas affects climate change. The impact that each of the gases has on climate change depends on how much, how long and how strongly they are in the atmosphere (Miller, 2006). Most of these gases have harmful effects such as the depletion of the ozone layer and trapping of radiation with long-wavelength within the atmosphere, thus leading to global warming.
How do greenhouse gases contribute to global warming?
Greenhouse gases trap heat into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Global warming is as a result of greenhouse gases and other natural causes. However, the natural causes only add a tiny percentage of global warming while greenhouse gases contribute by about 95 per cent. Just like the way a typical greenhouse behaves with heat, the greenhouse gases block the weather, making it escape to the atmosphere (Ollila, 2012). Human activity, such as burning fossil fuels increases the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which in return, absorbs heat into the atmosphere to cause global warming. When global temperatures rise, various incidents occur that are indicators of global warming. Examples of such events include reduction of surface water, wildfires, sea-level rise and desertification (Armstrong, Krasny & Schuldt, 2018). Air pollution also causes smog which traps poisonous effluents close to a city’s skyline and close to the surface causing health hazards and invisibility
Section II. How Emissions Causes Problems for the Developing World.
Which countries produce the most greenhouse gases?
Countries around the globe are involved in different economic activities. The difference in economic activities means that the amount of greenhouse gases emitted is different in every country. There are, therefore, countries that emit more greenhouse gases than others. According to Wang (2019), the countries that produce most greenhouse gases include China, United States, European Union, Russian Federation, India, Brazil and Japan.
What are the economic challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)?
One economic challenge that Nigeria is facing due to greenhouse emissions is a disruption in agricultural activities. The carbon emissions into the atmosphere disrupt the country’s weather conditions which result in disrupted agrarian movements. A part of Nigeria’s economy is dependent on agriculture, which means that when the agricultural sector is not producing enough, the economy of the country is negatively affected (Ejuvbekpokpo, 2014). Another economic challenge due to emissions in Nigeria is reduced GDP. Greenhouse gases emissions reduce output and productivity, which adversely affects economic growth. Nigeria is one of the countries that is globally known for gas emissions into the atmosphere (Ejuvbekpokpo, 2014). The productivity of the land at large is therefore affected hence hindering economic growth.
What are the security challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)?
Greenhouse gas emissions have posed challenges to Nigeria’s security. One security challenge of the emissions in Nigeria is a threat to public safety. The reason why Nigeria’s public safety is at stake is that the country is a developing country that is not able to handle public safety like the developed countries (Nwauba, 2018). The citizens of the country are therefore highly vulnerable and cannot quickly adapt to the adverse changes.
Another security issue that Nigeria faces due to emissions is reduced stability in the country. The emissions which have made the country’s major economic activities to be disrupted have made the citizens as well as the country at large unstable (Nwauba, 2018). The citizens and the leaders are therefore left worried what might happen in future if the trend continues hence instability.
What are the political challenges of these emissions (include examples from your chosen country)?
The political challenge that is posed by emissions in Nigeria is difficulty in policymaking concerning the reduction of emissions. The most significant part of Nigeria’s economy is dependent on oil. If Nigeria were to pledge to cut down its emissions, it would mean that their economy would be disrupted. It, therefore, needs a lot of time and resources to plan and implement such a hard decision (Ilevbare, Sanni, Ilevbare, 2015). It is hard for the leadership which is made up of politicians to make decisions concerning the reduction of the emissions.
Section III. Causes and Solutions of Greenhouse Gases.
What are two causes of greenhouse gases?
According to Lallanilla (2019), significant causes of greenhouse gases are agricultural activities and the burning of fossil fuels. Besides, industrial processes such as manufacturing of plastics or purification of coal create by-products which are released into the atmosphere. Some of these by-products are gases such as carbon dioxide which trap terrestrial radiation making the temperatures of the ecosphere to rise. Greenhouse gases, therefore, come from the burning of fossil fuels and waste products of some industrial processes.
What are potential solutions to address each of the causes you identified?
The production of electricity largely depends on the burning of fossil fuels. Burning of fossil fuels should, therefore, be reduced to reduce the emissions. Use of renewable sources of energy would be an alternative to fossil fuels burning. Renewable sources of power do not release greenhouse gases hence reduced global warming (Lallanilla, 2019). Some renewable sources of energy include biomass, wind, solar, water or geothermal power.
To reduce the greenhouse effect from human activities, farmers around the world should adopt organic farming methods. Chemicals like fertilizers used in commercial farming emit gases into the atmosphere. Planting of trees should also be made a priority by all countries to ensure that the earth is the tress uses well-covered add carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. This would ensure that land is well covered with trees which help to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the photosynthesis process (Lallanilla, 2019). It is unfortunate that many countries around the world have not achieved the recommended minimum tree cover and to make matters worse the available tree cover is declining exponentially.
What is the relationship between population control and greenhouse gases?
Demand for fossil fuels increases with population increase since people require energy in their day to day activities. Greenhouse gas emissions and population growth have a direct relationship (LeDoux & HI, 2009). However, most of the times when people talk about global warming caused by greenhouse gases, tend to overlook the role that the population plays (Gitlitz, 2018). Increased population leads to increased demand for fossil fuels. The mechanization and modernization of people’s lives is making them be involved in lifestyles and activities that contribute to emissions. Increased population also leads to cutting down of trees and depletion of natural resources so as the people can build houses to live in.
Conclusion.
Global warming is currently one of the major problems facing the world. Nationals around the world are looking for ways in which they can deal with this problem. Greenhouse gases emission is a major cause of global warming as the gases trap heat into the atmosphere. Every country around the world is responsible for the emissions into the atmosphere. The emissions bring about adverse effects to countries more so the developing countries which are unable to handle the negative effects. From the above discussion, Nigeria which is one of the developing countries in the world face adverse effects due to emissions. The negative effects that Nigeria face due to emissions are economical, security and political challenges. To be able to overcome these challenges, Nigeria needs adequate time and resources to plan how to reduce the emissions. To come up with successful future policies, the UN needs to consider the causes of greenhouse gas emissions. The two major causes of emissions are burning of fossil fuels and agricultural activities. Again, the UN should consider population control since population is also responsible for greenhouse gases emissions.