Climate Change Essay

Bethany Jarvis

Student ID No. 9543376

Submitted as an assignment in SSK13 Learning & Communication Behaviour

Due Date: 15th April 2012

Tutor: Dr Geoffrey Hon

Class: Wednesday 9pm - 10pm

Word Count: 1,137

Climate Change Essay

‘Is climate change the new apocalypse? Are Western Nations too influenced by capitalism to effectively deal with the problem?’

Climate change is a rising issue of importance in our day and age, and one that is threatening our global society on many levels. In the past few decades, scientists have discovered that our planet’s climate has been changing at an alarming rate. The way in which we have changed the land to …show more content…

It is no surprise that according to research in the UK, during periods of economic growth there is a strong increase in carbon emissions, and during periods of recession there is a decrease in emissions (B.S. Butcher & F. Stilwell, 2010). Our dependency on the economy is too great to for the need of carbon emissions to be lowered. These statements alone, prove that our western culture and society are incredibly influenced by capitalism and cannot deal with the issue of climate change effectively enough.

Awareness of the issue of climate change has however increased, and governments across the world have had a growing need to acknowledge that it is an important issue and that action needs to be taken. Australia has been on of the first western nations that has tried to introduce a policy to help with climate change. The emissions reduction scheme however was severely shunned by the public and opposing parties, due to the hefty loss that the tax would cause to individuals, businesses and in the long run, the health of the economy. Another pointer to the fact that we are more focused on the economy then the preservation of the earth. According to scientific research however, the only real effective solution to climate change is to stop the flow of carbon emissions all together (B.S. Butcher & F. Stilwell, 2010). A solution that leaves capitalism and the economy out of the equation completely.

While the average temperature of the earth