Climate Change: An Existential Crisis or a Hoax Research Paper

Siranush Mkhitatryan
ESL 151- Dr. Liddiard
January 21, 2021
Research Paper Outline  
Climate Change: An Existential Crisis or a Hoax
Where environmentalists and scientists continue with their never-ending tug war, the theory of environmental changes being an existential crisis keeps gaining strength. The world is standing on the verge of destruction due to global warming according to various social scientists. The rapid climate change is airing a serious threat the nature, human race and civilization. A great deal of BBC news updates is supporting the notion that the existential threat of climate change, which is different from weather changes, is getting stronger with more and more pieces of evidence from the world (Briggs 1). It can impact human health in two main ways as it changes the intensity or frequency of health issues and creates unprecedented health problems like heart disease and mental anxiety (Kessel). Climate change and global warming pose a significant health risk, according to various social science analysts like Butler and Logan. They consider it a risk to the human race and civilization. Also, terror management theories are a sign of the severity of its potential impacts on human mentality. On the contrary, there is a school of thought regarding social scientists with an identical notion that climate change poses no existential dread. Although some people are sure that climate change is not catastrophic, I strongly argue that it is an existential crisis.
           Anthropogenic global warming and climate change in collaboration with other social and ecological factors pose a significant health risk. Collin D Butler reviews the anthropogenic global warming and climate change as an existential threat in his report of an inclusive literature analysis covering 14 initial years when the topic emerged as a burning question in scientific journals (Butler 2212). Rising sea levels and episodic drought give rise to financial and relationship stress. Adepoju states that climate change challenges health. Rising sea levels, tsunamis, and volcanoes followed by the scary pandemic demand an environmental health approach to come to an end (Adepoju 1). Other critics opine that sea-level rise combined with other climate changes like episodic droughts will lead to civilization collapse (Butler). While talking about severe weather-related morbidity, a systematic study explores the connection between climate change and morbidity, which refers to mortality or diseases caused by this existential threat (Butler 2215). Ozymandias also highlights the danger of morbidity or mortality during extreme weather. Specifically, he refers to people in industrial areas or working outdoor for several hours as more prone to extreme heat strokes leading to morbidity (Ozymandias). Ozymandias further discusses climate change as an existential threat fearing that the Earth might become like ‘Venus’ as a result. He highlights five significant concerns, including ‘threatened systems,’ ‘extreme weather’ like heavy rain, heatwaves, and natural disasters, ‘distribution of impacts’ emphasizing the poor as more vulnerable to the damage, harm to the global economy, and ‘large-scale singular events’ like melting of the inland ice cap. He puts forth his philosophy of death, hunger, and sickness together with other climate change impacts in the future, which might lead to human distinction and the end of the civilization (Ozymandias). Climate change can also cause water and food-borne diseases like a considerable increase in chronic respiratory conditions. Adepoju throws light on the prevailing pandemic being vulnerable to more health crises due to climate change. His use of the phrase “threat-multiplier” signals an alarming human health condition due to Covid-19 in the future based on food and water-borne diseases created by climate change in the future (Adepoju). Many critics throw light on another significant risk for the coming generation, undernutrition, as a potential result of climate change. Adepoju is one of them who consider that changing climate is negatively affecting agriculture, particularly the production of soybean and maize. His research shows that land degradation is a possibility for the future of humankind. This considerable reduction in productivity may lead to various conflicts like migration. Also, land degradation can produce a sharply negative impact on human mentality, leaving them disappointed and apprehended for the future needs of food (Adepoju 1). Climate change poses a risk to respiratory health. It can directly aggravate respiratory problems. Also, it may lead to risk factors for health problems in terms of respiration. The most noteworthy disease include asthma, COPD, rhino-sinusitis, and RTI, which carbon emissions may produce in the population (D’Amato et al. 165). The danger of climate change as an existential threat is also evident by the suggestion of zero-emission industrialized system given by critics on the alarming situation to reduce the level of carbon in the air. (David & Ian 8). In a nutshell, the increasing amount of carbon in the atmosphere is threatening human health and civilization as the greatest cause of climate change. All in all, the primary challenges to human health by climate change, as shown by studies, involve extreme weather, sea-level rise, many diseases, and under-nutrition.
Carbon Emissions have an impact on population growth and intergovernmental actions. Carbon emissions cause global warming and, ultimately, climate change, according to many social scientists. Butler points out that many experts approve that coal-burning led to an increase in the Earth’s temperature at the beginning of the industrial revolution. It was a time when the Little Ice Age ended with a slow increase in greenhouses, emitting carbon, leading to climate change. The resulted global warming from that age to 2015 is 0.93 °C -1.12 °C as estimated by professionals (Butler 2216). Butler also takes the reader to ponder upon the other consequences of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the air. He states that it can have a considerably vast impact on agriculture, damaging crops, reducing iron, zinc, and protein. He takes evidence that greenhouses are discharging substantial quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. It can result in severe loss to agriculture. Moreover, the coming generation can experience deforestation and increased wildfire (Butler 2216). Myers also presents his apprehensions regarding greenhouse gases' impact on the planet. He mentions that the carbon levels have reached 400ppm, which is quite threatening. He considers it an existential threat as it can result in other global risks like “ocean acidification and the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history.” He also fears that humans of the future will have to adjust to the nonhuman world due to climate change subsequent to carbon emissions (Myers 36). Thereby, it comes up that carbon emissions are stemming up global warming subsequent to climate change, raising critical challenge according to many social scientists.
Another school of thought emphasizes the psychological aspect of climate change. They deliver the message of accepting the risk after understanding the severity of climate change as an existential threat and its potential impacts on human mentality. Emily Green conveys the message of getting prepared...