MONDAY SEPTEMBER 29 2008
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Climate change: An environmental imbalance
By Segun Imohiosen
Our environment has been placed under a serious siege for too long due to the threat posed by human activities. The paradox in this regard is so profound that it is almost as if there is going to be possibly no way out of the challenge. Human activities in terms of quest for a more meaningful life by way of research and advancement in technology have no doubt accounted for a greater percentage of the problem the environment is facing. It must be understood that our environment is very delicate and as such, every human activity must be carried out in such a manner that the environment is allotted priority. When human activity is going on, its impact may not be felt almost immediately and the environment on the other hand may not open her mouth to tell us directly that we are encroaching.
But the problem of climate change that occurs and other environmental problems are pointers to reflect that we have violated the environment. And at some other time it may be an experience quite different from climate change. These activities some time may result in desertification, deforestation, flooding and pollution of the water tables and myriads of other challenges. Whether we agree or not, the challenges we have as a resultant impact of our activities culminate in the climate change and the other environmental problems we are faced with. It is fast becoming very evident that humans have caused most of the past century’s warming through the release of heat - trapping gases called green house gases, as we power our modern lives. Their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years. It must be recalled that excessive carbon dioxide generated through human activities released into the atmosphere causes global warming and this result in the increase of the heat budget of our planet, this however culminates in the climate change.
Global Warming can be referred to as being the accelerated warming of Earth’s surface as a result of releases of greenhouse gases due to human related activity, industrial activity and deforestation. In the same vein it could be said to be the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. Global Warming is a specific example of the broader term climate change which can also refer to global cooling (Wikipedia). In common usage, the term refers to recent warming and implies a human influence.
The broad agreement among climate scientists that global temperatures will continue to increase has led nations, states, corporations and individuals to implement actions to try to curtail global warming or adjust to it. Many environmental groups encourage actions against global warming, often by the consumer, but also by the community or regional organisations. There have also been other initiatives on climate change to combat global warming. It is worthy of note that the world’s primary international agreement on combating global warming is the Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) negotiated in 1997. The Protocol now covers more than 160 countries globally and over 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Only the United States and Kazakhstan have not ratified the treaty, with the United States historically being the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas. This treaty expires in 2012, and international talks began in May 2007 on a future treaty to succeed the current one.
In recent time, with regards to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reports have it that the warming of the earth by human activity and its consequences are of intense concern to scientists , policy makers and citizens. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has soared by 34 percent since the Industrial Revolution due to our use of fossil fuels. Although the majority of scientists agree that there is a link between fossil fuel and climate change. Climate change no doubt will affect water, crops, fisheries, forestry, biodiversity and human health. Not all the effect will be adverse, but the greater the degree of global warming the greater the risk of adverse effects. The challenge as it were, is that the planet is heating up at such an alarming rate that it calls for serious concern at this point; glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are drying and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace.
Some reports have it that though it is difficult to connect specific weather events to global warming but an increase in global temperatures may in turn cause broader changes, including glacial retreat and worldwide sea level rise. While changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation may result in flooding and drought. There may also be changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Other effects may include changes in agricultural yields, addition of new trade routes, reduced summer stream flows, species extinctions, and increases in the range of disease vectors. Some effects on both the natural environment and human life are, at least in part, already being attributed to global warming. A 2001 report by IPCC suggests that glacier retreat, ice shelf disruption such as that of Larson ice shelf, sea level rise, changes in rainfall patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, are being attributed in part to global warming. While changes are expected for overall patterns intensities, and frequencies, it is difficult to attribute specific events to global warming. Other expected effects include water scarcity in some regions and increased precipitations in others, and adverse health effects from warmer temperatures. To narrow it home, the richly endowed Coastal zone of Nigeria is vulnerable to climatic change because it is generally low. These are Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, and Delta states and a large southern section of Ogun, Ondo and Edo states. A sea level rise will submerge the coastal zone wetlands, with sea water through the many tidal inlets that characterise the Nigerian coastline and in particular the Niger Delta. And the mangrove ecosystem which is of particular significance to the regeneration of the coastal fishery will be adversely affected because this particularly sensitive ecosystem constitute the spawning and nursery grounds of much of the coastal fishery and also serve as the habitat of some crustaceans and molluscs.
A rise in sea level will result in flooding of the lowly beaches. This will automatically cause flooding in the adjacent coastal areas. This can become more threatening whenever storm surges coincide with spring tides and flooding is accelerated and there will be loss of productive wetland, which provides crucial habitats for many animal species.
The challenge to scientists at this point is that it is clear that there are still many areas of debate within climate science. There are uncertainties in climate modelling and in the consequences of global warming and what should be done about it. There is however broad consensus on the link between carbon dioxide levels and global warming. The debate now needs to move on to consider some of the uncertainties. But the fact remains that with the growing link between carbon dioxide and global warming the scientific community according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change must take up the challenge of developing more successful low carbon energy technologies. And the policy community must engage the public so that they understand the consequences of their energy use. The overwhelming evidences of climate change exist and it is very paramount and advisable at this point that giant strides are taken on our part as a nation and government to safe guard the environment from the imminent crisis that is looming. The environment is ours and we have no other place, let us treat it with care and put at the back of our minds the ideals of sustainable development, this I mean development without creating any form of environmental imbalance that could cause a misfortune in the near future.
Irrespective of political leanings and varying interests, the larger society must be taken into consideration. My take in all of this is that we need to start from somewhere to begin to prepare way to combat global warming in whichever little way. The noise about tree planting has totally died whereas this concept has a great impact in addressing in ‘part’ this challenge of global warming. Of all the trees that are felled, how many trees are planted now? But in all of these environmental challenges, where is the Dr. Adegoke Adegoroye of the old Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA)? This man with his team had a great passion for the work and they had dreams and blue prints for the environmental matters. If NAFDAC was under the Ministry of Health, I doubt if Professor Dora Akunyuli would have been able to achieve this feat. I leave the rest to you to fill in the gap.
*Segun Imohiosen writes from NATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, ABUJA and can be reached for comment through <segunimohiosen@yahoo.com>
