Background-Climate Change
Prepared By: Dominic Rodiack
Global Warming, also known as climate change, is an issue that has been building up overtime and is finally starting to affect our lifestyles. t is occurring at this exact moment. Global warming has been forming from all of the pollution that our world puts in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide depletes the O-zone layer which lets UV rays and other harmful rays come down stronger on the earth. This is bad for two reasons. It is bad because these harmful rays hurt the people that are under them, and also it is also bad because these rays are heating up the earth and melting ice caps, changing all of the characteristics of the earth that we are so used to seeing.
The oppressed in this social justice are the people. The people are affected by global warming because the earth is changing, the weather is becoming more drastic and the actual physicality of the earth is changing with the melting of the ice caps and all of the pollution in the air. This is something that people should see as inconvenient. Kevin Shapiro proclaims, “Speaking of inconvenient truths, this is a real one” (Shapiro, 5). This affect that is being created from global warming is indeed something that will change the lives of all. It will make life more difficult for multiple generations, making life inconvenient. The people are being oppressed because global warming is such an inconvenient thing.
The oppressed in this social justice are the plants. Plants are being oppressed by global warming because the extreme weather is killing crops by either making the weather too cold or too hot. As Somero states, “Temperature affects all biological structures” (Somero, 1). When it comes to plants, temperature is key to survival. Some plants need a cooler atmosphere, some need a hotter atmosphere. The problem is that temperature keeps increasing. “In fact, if you look at the 21 hottest years measured, 20 of the 21 have occurred within the last 25 years” (Gore, 72). With the temperature increasing at outrageous rates, plants are having a harder time of surviving through the seasons. This also affects humans because people need the oxygen in order to survive. Plants are oppressed and because of their oppression, they make humans become ever more oppressed also.
The oppressed in this social justice is the earth itself. The earth is being oppressed because all of human life is putting pollution out into the air causing all of these harmful side effects. People need to make the change necessary for there to be a healthier environment. CST #7 says that people should care for God’s creation. People need to come together and create a stronger force to stop or even slow down global warming. At this rate the earth will be so hot that almost any living organism on the earth will no longer be able to live. The earth with become unstable and make it so nothing can survive on it.
The oppressors in this social justice are the people that are allowing our country to be run in the fashion that it is now. No political figure is attempting to make a global change to save the climate. They see it as a minor problem, when it should be one of the top problems on the list. The only political figure truly showing great interest in change is Al Gore, who is doing his best to save the earth from this global disaster. He is attempting to get all people to come together and make the change necessary to save our environment, but many people, the oppressors for example, are not doing anything about it.
The social systems involved in this include all people besides those that are trying to be green, or environmentally friendly. On pages 232-233 in An Inconvenient Truth, Gore shows two formulas that people have lived by. One shows the old ways with the old technology and old habits, showing that people knew the outcomes that were going to be created. The other formula though shows the old habits added with the new technology will lead to altered consequences that people do not know about. By not trying to go green and become environmentally friendly, people are creating consequences that are new and dangerous. People are the main cause of the problem that people call climate change.
The people that are outside of the problem are saying that we need to make a big change so that their grandchildren will not have to deal with their ancestor’s mistakes. No one is truly outside of the problem when it comes to climate change because everyone is affected by it. Certain people could be considered outside of the problem maybe if they were already environmentally friendly and tries their hardest to make a change. For the most part, the government is not in full support of making the change to save the environment. Many people want to go against the fact and say that global warming does not exist. “Among the most vocal skeptics have been Rush Limbaugh, James Inhofe, Pat Buchanan, Glenn Beck, John Stossel, Lou Dobbs, and Sean Hannity” (Gore, 354). Not everyone is making the change that is needed, and that is a main reason why not much of a change is happening at all.
Over 95% of all scientists in the world agree that global warming is affecting our planet and that we need to make a huge change so we don’t ruin our planets future. With this kind of consensus, there should be no choice but to agree and start taking action. Unfortunately, people are still looking at global warming as a hoax and non-existent, so they do not worry about it. In all actuality, this climate change should be at the top of our list in changes that need to be made in order to keep the human race thriving. Global warming is a valid injustice that has yet to be solved. The saddest part is that in many ways, the change is so simple.
