GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE

GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE
In the last few years, there has been a huge uproar from many Governments and international civil society organizations on climatic change and the hazards that are associated with it. What initially sounded like normal agitations and unnecessary propaganda by civil society organizations seems to have gained global acceptance now, at least for the fact that these agitations and propaganda are real and if nothing is done about it the effects could be more devastating than imagined.
Some of the warnings on changing climate and weather that sounded like fairy tales and were easily dismissed initially have finally taken their toll on most global communities and the effects have been critically devastating. The damaging effect of Tsunami off the coast of America and in Asia is no longer news. Businesses and infrastructure that took several years to build were destroyed overnight. People became refugees in their own land, lives were lost and the fears of epidemic outbreaks were imminent. The cost of reconstruction in some instances is astonishing and emergency and rescue service was inadequate as a result of the colossal damage that was wrecked.
Also, in Europe, daytime temperatures have gone too high especially during summer. The incidence of heat wave that was hitherto not known or important has assumed unprecedented dimensions in the recent past. There have been instances where the temperature was so much that people died as a result of excessive heat. This has in some instances been attributed to the effects of green house gases which are produced from diverse human activities especially combustion of fuels and which tend to bring about an abnormal increase in atmospheric temperatures as a result of their ability to absorb ultra violet light from the sun.
In addition, Asia has had its own share of devastation as a result of global climate and weather changes. There have been incessant cases of different environmental degradation and damages. Flooding has been prominent among all of these relentless environmental problems in Asia and the worst affected are rural poverty stricken communities. It is obvious that the effects of these floods especially on the poor rural dwellers will be very detrimental.
Africa on the other hand has not been left out on these problems associated with global climatic and weather changes. There have been unparalleled levels of desert encroachments in countries surrounded by deserts (Sahara desert in North Africa and Kalahari Desert in South Africa). Also, flooding is quite common feature in most African communities especially in West Africa. This has been explained that probably an abnormal increase or rise in sea levels could be responsible for this. It has displaced several communities and businesses worth millions of dollars have been lost; and even human lives have not been exempted. Displaced people especially communities that are sheltered refugee camps are made vulnerable to epidemic outbreaks. In an attempt to manage this difficult situation, it has further worsened the financial burden of some `of these countries since they had been already struggling with very bad economic situations. Another feature of global climatic change in Africa recently has been the frequent cases of adverse drought conditions experienced especially by communities in arid and semi-arid areas. The results of this also are seriously damaging especially for the agricultural sector; it causes almost a total collapse in agriculture especially in arable farming.
In as much as these disasters are natural, most of them are caused or triggered by human activities. Some of these activities either economic or otherwise cause insults to the environment that have brought about the change in global climatic and weather conditions. For instance, lumbering, and other activities that destroy vegetation generally without replacing it bring about an increase in green house effect. Moreover, other activities in oil and gas sector like gas flaring, oil spills, gas emissions etc also tend to release green house gases into the atmosphere which cause a sequence of changes or reactions that tend to destroy the ozone layer and other undesirable adverse environmental conditions. Activities in the mining and construction sectors have not really been friendly to the environment either. Mining sites are most times left in very bad conditions after the exploitation has been completed.
By and large, all activities of man in one way or the other has an adverse consequence on the environment, and most of these activities if not all are really important for the survival of man. What should be most important here is moderation and environmental conservation. International conventions on environmental conservation and renewal should be adopted by various countries and if possibly enforced by the implementing agencies. Also, most governments have a huge task of doing enlightenment and education campaign programs about the importance of environmental conservation, renewal and the consequences of environmental neglect and devastation. Also, the United Nations should encourage member states to work on improving their environments as part of the millennium development goals.