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Sociological Perspective on Global Warming and Health Problems, Associated With It (1) The effects of Global have been discussed from different perspectives; however, only in recent years, it became obvious to many scientists that rising of Earths atmosphere affects the lives of people in very immediate manner. Therefore, those who suggest that humanity have another hundred years, before Global warming will cause people to reconsider their lifestyles, do not fully understand the whole complexity of the issue. Five years ago, during the unusual hot summer in France, there were 14. 802 heat-related death reported in this country, within a matter of two months. The article France heat wave death toll set at 14, 802, which is available on the site of USA Today, suggests that the bulk of these deaths can be explained by the physical condition of the victims: The bulk of the victims many of them elderly died during the height of the heat wave, which brought suffocating temperatures of up to 104 degrees in a country where air conditioning is rare (USA Today, 2003). This resulted in situation when French governmental agencies now expect the coming of every next summer with great anxiety, because the death toll from summer heat waves in this country is likely to increase, as time goes by. The same can be said about other European countries and southern states of U.
S. , where Caucasians represent the largest portion of population. In his article Global Warming as a By-product of the Capitalist Treadmill of Production and Consumption-The Need for an Alternative Global System, Hans Baer relates Global warming to the worsening of epidemiological situation around the world: Global warming appears to be the primary impetus behind the spread of infectious-borne diseases to environments north and south of the equator and heat waves that threaten the lives and health of vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and the sick (Baer, 2008). The fact that more and more people realize the immediate danger that Global warming poses to their well-being, often causes them to act in irrational matter, while demanding from governments of their countries to drastically reduce the emissions of CO 2 into the air, as if mens industrial activity alone was the sole reason for this climatic phenomenon. At the same time, it is a common knowledge that the eruption of one volcano emits as much CO 2 into the atmosphere as do all coal-operated power plants in the world, over the period of fifty years. In his article Global-Warming Myths, Hoff Stauffer makes very good point when he says: The debate on global warming is burdened with unfortunate misconceptions that inhibit progress in moving forward. One misconception is that draconian measures would be required to mitigate global warming (Stauffer, 1998).
People, who rely on their sense of logic, during the course of contemplating causes and consequences, understand that that the origins and effects of Global warming are still need to be studied, in order to be able to figure out what would be the most effective solution. Still, it appears very doubtful that such solution can be found, under the set of present socio-political circumstances in the world. Exploitation of fossil fuels comes as the result of humanity's increased demand in energy. According to the laws of Physics, energy never disappears but changes its form. After having produced some work, energy transforms into the heat. This is nothing but the form of entropy.
In its turn, entropy is the absence of order; therefore, entropy can only affect us negatively. Global warming is one of the effects of an increased amount of entropy in our world. This is why we cannot talk about this problem outside of sociological context. It does not take a scientist to understand that the problem of Global warming is closely related to the problem of overpopulation.
More and more people require energy to sustain their existence, while producing ever-larger amounts of entropy. Paul Thompson in his article The Effects of Global Warming points out to the link between Global warming and overpopulation: The industrial revolution caused a rapid increase in the population growth, as oil and gas fuels were exploited for our use. There is a clear link between the problems of global warming and overpopulation, as increases in CO 2 levels follows growth in population. Presently, we have too many people on Earth, who are using technologies that are destructive for the Earth. We cannot continue to grow, and make use of limited natural resources (Thompson, 2007). Therefore, it appears that our attempts to decrease the amounts of carbon dioxide that is being thrown into the atmosphere can never be truly effective, unless we find a way to effectively deal with the problem of overpopulation.
For example, the population of Ethiopia has tripled, within a matter of last 25 years, while being constantly subjected to never ending civil wars and famine. We talk about Global warming as the potential threat to the very existence of human civilization. However, if we adopt a logical approach, while discussing this issue, it will appear that the solution to how to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the air might very well be the Global warming itself. This is because it might trigger the ecological catastrophe, which is going to help solving the problem of overpopulation. Every time, when population of rabbits in tundra grows too large, it results in boosting up the birth rate among foxes. This is because nature is based on the principle of maintaining ecological balance.
We think of the value of human life as something un disputable, even though nature has a different opinion, in this regard. Therefore, Global warming can be viewed as natures response to peoples threat to the environment. We can also view it as the proof that the process of biological evolution on Earth might take a new turn. The revolutionary climatic changes usually accompany evolutionary breakthroughs. For example, the end of the Ice Age coincided with emergence of modern man. Most of biologists agree that humans had descended from apes.
If this is the true; than we can suggest that the modern man is not the final product of evolution. It might very well be the case that homo sapiens is only the intermediate link between man and super-man. Therefore, Global warming might not necessarily be the result of humans industrial activity, but rather a necessary precondition for the emergence of new specie. The fact that elderly White people are the most likely to become victims of Global warming might sound tragic, but if we look at the issue from sociological perspective, it will appear that White race will benefit from it, as whole. It is not a secret that senior citizens assisted living facilities are stuffed almost exclusively with aging White folks, who have absolutely no social value whatsoever. At the same time, many young White people do have a hard time, while trying to meet ends, because half of their salaries are being taken away from them in taxes, in order to support old people that are burdened with their own existence.
The governmental officials in Western countries could not care less about the abnormality of such situation, because their primary concern is to get reelected for the second term, while relying on the votes of elderly citizens, who often cannot even remember their own names. However, as practice shows, those who dispute the validity of laws of nature, pay dearly. Therefore, Global warming can also be viewed as natures tool to improve peoples biological quality. In fact, we can talk about Global warming as an opportunity for Third World nations to become competitive. White people cannot last long without air conditioners, when temperature rises up to as low as 80 degrees, whereas in India, only 1 % of houses are equipped with air conditioners and there are practically no heat related deaths reported in this country. The most basic law of biology is survival of the fittest.
It does not take much to realize that Global warming might give the people in Third World countries a competitive edge. John Baden and Tim OBrien in their article The Global Warming Myth and its Selfish Defenders, tell us why people in Third World countries do not think of Global warming as ultimate evil: There are many benefits associated with increased atmospheric CO 2. Doubling CO 2 levels will favor bigger plants and may increase average crop yields by an estimated 33 percent. More atmospheric CO 2 allows plants to grow using less water by reducing evapotranspiration - water evaporating after it is released from plants pores.
Precipitation and soil moisture may rise, and droughts may become less frequent (Baden, OBrien, 1994). (2) Ancient people might have lacked the empirical knowledge, but they were perfectly aware of the fact that everything has to do with everything. We cannot talk about the phenomenon of Global warming within the context of environment alone. This is why signing the Kyoto Protocol cannot be associated with effectiveness in principle. The Protocol bases its notions on wishful thinking, without making provisions for the implementation of CO 2 reduction policies in every particular country. In his article What Makes Greenhouse Sense? , Thomas Schelling provides us with the insight on the metaphysical inconsistency of Kyoto Protocol, as whole: With the Kyoto Protocol, commitments were made not to actions but to results that were to be measured after a decade or more. This approach has disadvantages.
An obvious one is that no one can tell, until close to the target date, which nations are on course to meet their goals (Schelling, 2002). Apparently, Kyoto Protocol has more to do with international transfers of large amounts of money then with protection of environment, which provides critics of this agreement with valid reasons to have a negative attitude towards it. If governmental officials were really concerned about the well-being of the citizens, who are the most likely to be affected by Global warming, they would adjust social policies to correspond to the realities of post-modern living. Instead of throwing milliards of dollars into the air every year, in order to feed the hungry children of Somalia, the governments in Western countries should have adopted a comprehensive social policy, which would list equipping every house and apartment with air conditioners, as one of its essential components. This, of course, can only be possible if social dogma of multiculturalism is being replaced with the notion of national solidarity. The time has come when we cannot talk about humanity as something united.
The reality is nations are deeply divided along racial, religious and cultural lines. Therefore, it is only logical to suggest that nations that had not contributed to cultural and scientific progress, over the course of history, simply do not have the tickets to sail in the spaceship Earth. There is no room under the sun for all. The process of Global warming results in situation when more and more citizens, in Western countries, begin to realize this simple fact. Bibliography: Baden, J. and OBrien, T. 1994.
The Global Warming Myth and its Selfish Defenders. Free Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment. Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. Baer, H. 2008. Global Warming as a By-product of the Capitalist Treadmill of Production and Consumption -- The Need for an Alternative Global System. Australian Journal of Anthropology.
Vol. 19 Issue 1, pp. 58 - 62. Dunn, J. 2007. A Necessary Apocalypse. American Thinker. Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. France Heat Wave Death Toll Set at 14, 802. 2003.
USA Today. Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. Stauffer, H. 1998. Global-Warming Myths. Technology Review. Cambridge, Mass.
Vol. 4 Issue 5, p. 14. Schelling, T. 2002. What Makes Greenhouse Sense? . Foreign Affairs. Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. Thompson, P. 1996.
Effects of Global Warming. Times Square. Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. Vidal, J. 2007. CO 2 Output from Shipping Twice as Much as Airlines. Guardian Unlimited.
Available from: web [ 13 April 2008 ]. Abstract: This paper discusses Global warming and its effects on peoples health from sociological perspective. Outline: Main part Conclusion
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Research essay sample on Third World Countries Global Warming
