The issue of global warning has recently become a very polarizing and contentious issues within the overall discourse of society. For one, this issue has become highly politicized creating a much more antagonistic view of global warming and its impact on the lives of civilization. Within the United States, some political parties outright deny the existence of global warning, often calling it a Chinese Hoax. Those on the opposite end of the political spectrum are actively pursing avenues in which to limit the overall impact of global warming on the lives of others. This includes heavy tax incentives of innovations in renewable energy, gas emission requirements for vehicles, and even a carbon tax. All of these elements are designed to help protect citizens but often come with unintended consequences for society at large. It is this push and pull related to global warming, the facts that substantiate it, and the best manner in which to deal with it, that has created the combative discourse. Even more alarming, the casualties from an incorrect decision from humanity can be cataclysmic. For one, changing weather patterns can create an adverse impact on wildlife and the surrounding ecosystems. The melting of glaciers in the northern hemisphere can have a very large impact on land masses located at or near sea level. States along the eastern coast of the United States, such as Florida, could be adversely affected by rising sea levels. Beach homes and businesses alongside these areas could all be destroyed causing large amounts of economic demand to the state and surrounding communities. In other countries such as China, air quality has deteriorated to such an extent that smog can permeates the sky harming the ability of residents to even see the sun. The consequences of global warming are vast. To properly combat these issues, it is important for society to have cooperative and collaborative working relationship with one another.

The science behind global warming is nearly universal. Here the scientific consensus is that the earths climate is warming. Chart 1 below indicates the degree to which the earth is warming. The data is from NASA, and indicates that the Earth is currently the warmest it has been since 1880. Multiple peer-reviewed studies show that roughly 97% of climate scientists believe the global warming trends are likely attributed to the economic activities of mankind (Cook, 2016).

Chart 1

To begin human decisions have had a profound impact on environmental systems. This has created both positive and negative attributes related to global warming. A positive development has been the creative of entirely new industries related to global warming. These industries not only help to mitigate the influence of global warming on society, but they have also enabled a large amount of job creation within society itself. These businesses which were once fledging and often insignificant, have now become very viable and self-sustaining industries. By leveraging capitalism and the profit incentive, humans contributions have developed businesses designed to lower carbon emission while also improving society. Tesla has been a very well documented result of human ingenuity as it relates to combating global warming. Here, the company manufactures electric vehicles that not only limit carbon emissions but also provide high quality vehicles to consumers. These vehicles heavily reduce carbon emissions while also provide a much safer riding experience for consumers. Leveraging its technology, the company has also diversified its product offering to harness renewable energy sources such as solar panels and battery storage capabilities. Here, not only can consumers power their homes through solar energy, they can also store this energy for use once the sun is not shinning....

…have been impacted due to drought as nearly 20% of Chinas, soybean crop was damaged or destroyed last year. Even marine life has suffered as the south china sea is currently experiencing a lack of diversity within its fishing industry. Here, coral reefs in the South China see are dying, fisheries cannot catch the amount of fish they have historically, thus impacted the economic production of the industry (Abraham, 2013).

To summarize, human contributions towards global warming have been varied. From a positive perspective, governments and communities around the world have recognized its importance to civilization. The positive human contributions have been related to development of government standards to address greenhouse gas emissions. These standards include regulations related to automobiles, carbon taxes, and renewable energy legislations. Likewise, the capital markets have recognized the severity of this issue and have generated large amounts of capital that have been used to fund efforts to lower the prevalence of global warming around the world. Unfortunately, many of these initiatives have been counteracted by the negative elements of human contribution to global warming. For one, economic development, particularly in third world countries have increased their dependency on fossil fuels. Coal in particularly, is heavily utilized in China which contributes nearly 30% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Elements such as deforestation in Brazil has also created large environmental consequences due to expanding capitalistic systems. The consequences of such human behavior are far reaching. For example, in many areas around the world, there is a higher degree of drought and natural disasters. Marine life has been threatened impacting the environment ecosystem and economic development tied to them (Abelmann, 2006). Land due to ice caps melting may also be impacted. All of these negative influences can adversely impact society. Hopefully these positive influences can overwhelm the negative elements…