Are the simple, daily choices we are making affecting our earth’s changing atmosphere for our own generation and generations to come? This issue of global warming is very involved, because there are many direct and indirect causes for climate and environmental change.
Global warming is an issue that has many direct and indirect causes and effects on our global society and our environment. Sadly, as our population increases, the majority of people globally seem to have fairly uninformed outlooks about these harmful changes, which are having devastating effects on our world within so many unspoken levels. Our world is changing, not only by the natural shifts in our environment, but also significantly by human technological advancements and alterations through a variety of methods. Along with economic, political, and social implications, food production, home & industrial construction, auto manufacturing, shipping & transportation, and product consumption all contribute to the many harmful effects we create on our vulnerable ecosystems.
The production petrochemicals and synthetics is increasing. While manufacturers look for ways to reduce production costs, more and more synthetic ingredients are superseding natural ones, which increase environmental toxins and chemical waste. The use of products in homes for everyday comfort, aids in production of synthetic, chemical-based products, which directly & indirectly leads to negative global environmental change during production and disposal. Petrochemicals, or chemical products derived from petroleum, are not only added to our everyday body care & household cleaning product ingredient lists, but they are also found in product packaging, vinyl & laminate flooring, car manufacturing, paints, etc. Petrochemicals make up plastics, resins, fibers, lubricants, paints, and gels. These plastic products may not break down for decades and can leach their chemical components into the earth during production, upon use, and after disposal. Synthetics are in almost everything these days, and the largest petrochemical industries are, surprisingly, located in the United States and Western Europe! There is, however, a major growth in new production capacity for these petrochemical plants in the Middle East and Asia.
Because many countries, such as our own country, are outsourcing the manufacturing of goods to nations who can produce cheaply and at higher production rates, climate change can be influenced if these manufacturing countries do their part in diminishing the usage of dirty fossil fuels. Cleaner, renewable energies, such as wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal sources, are unfortunately still more economically hindering than carbon-producing fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gases. This economic burden therefore creates the unlikely use of these renewable energies, by poorer manufacturing nations. Political & economical implications, therefore, can easily impact the global warming issue.
Within the food industry, goods have become altered by way of GMO (genetically modified organisms) manufacturing, or artificial manipulation in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This unstable alteration of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes, through crossbreeding methods, not only affects society on a health level, but also through environmental modification. GMOs are the direct extensions of chemical agriculture. They are developed, promoted, and sold by the world’s largest chemical companies. Once released into the environment, these synthetically created organisms cannot be recalled. GMOs are grown with highly toxic herbicides, such as Roundup, which can leach into our earth & water systems. This process can result in a slowly changing natural environment, eventually damaging the earth’s makeup, indirectly causing various side effects of global warming. Ironically, global warming has actually influenced the creation of these GMOs, because the rise in climate temperature has caused certain crops and grains to be less sustainable. In accordance with these changing environmental factors, governmental efforts have created “synthetic” production of certain produce, such as corn, soy, and other commonly consumed grains. Unfortunately, along with this new kind of food production, we are forced to use highly toxic pesticides and chemicals, which again, generate many risks to our Earth’s natural environment as well as creating health risks to ourselves and other animals.
HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE…
There are of course ways we can make a difference! Change must begin locally, by educating our friends & family with relatable facts & ideas for simple everyday alterations. Personal justifications may be the real solution for this overall difference in the global warming change. Educating our friends & family can begin the influence & persuasion for individual change on a personal level. Beginning with small efforts to choose glass & recycled material goods over plastic, petroleum-based goods, is not only a positive step toward environmental change, but also toward our own personal health & safety! These personal decisions could even help influence manufacturers to make small changes toward our health & environment’s best interest.
Ingredients in petrochemical-made products have been proven to be cancer causing. The majority of these changing efforts will most likely begin in countries that have the economic resources to allow higher education and technological change for this important global warming issue. We can each take small steps by buying locally made products & food, which can cut down on gas emissions from transportation & outsourced production fuels. We can begin to limit our supporting influence on dirty methods of manufacturing. If we all tried to limit our water & electrical usage in our homes & offices, a small difference can lead to a global one.
Through a global commitment for change, we can begin to turn to new & progressive energy forms through a social, economic, & political global consensus. Limiting and eventually avoiding the usage of fossil fuels in manufacturing plants will lessen the negative environmentally impacts to our Earth’s ecosystems.
Sadly there is a huge drive for capitalism in many of our world’s ego-driven societies. High-power global decisions seem to dictate the distribution of goods & production of synthetic foods & products. If selfish, capital-driven societies could begin to look past their destructive outlooks and into the health concerns that global warming is creating for our shared environment & overall health, we may have a chance to make a positive change in today’s world, as well as the world of our future generations.