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| The Results of the poll. |
After spending the last few weeks exploring the dangers (and some positives) or long range pollution I find it boggling that NO-ONE voted for long range pollution, people don't seem to be aware of how damaging they can be! This is feel is reflected in the policies (as a mentioned in an earlier post!) as despite being present, long range pollution policies are often swamped by their cousins Green House Gases. I feel the media also has an influence (as it always does!) by focusing reports on the effects of Carbon Dioxide. “It is thought a natural warming and cooling cycle could be responsible for up to 30% of the melting - but the rest is the result of human activity releasing greenhouse gases” NOT TRUE!
Well I believe it is time Carbon Dioxide moved over! One of the main aims of my blog was to open your eyes to some other pollutants who threaten the future of the Arctic. In my next post, in which I will be concluding this blog and expressing my final opinion on the subject. In the meantime let me know your opinion by commenting! Has it changed throughout the course of the blog?
Thanks for blogging Charlie! I've definitely learnt a lot about a whole scope of different pollutants. While my blog focuses entirely on carbon dioxide (sorry!), I completely agree that more attention needs to be on the many other factors that contribute to pollution and warming.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am glad you have learnt a lot! Yes I have greatly enjoyed keeping up with your blog about carbon dioxide!
DeleteI think the reason that most people voted for climate change is heavily linked to perceptions of the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhilst long-range pollutants definitely will have an irreversible impact on the poles, arguably these pale in significant when put next to global warming, which threatens to decimate the poles in terms of size and snow-cover. Taking this into account, and also when considering the nature of climate change, that makes it far harder to mitigate than pollutants, it definitely seems like the biggest threat.
Hi Joe thanks for the comment! I do agree with you that climate change is a massive threat to the Arctic. However it is important to remember long range pollutants are also contributing to climate change. What i have been arguing, throughout the blog, is that GHGs are not the only cause of climate change and other factors are influencing this too. As a result of this i feel is it important to address the issue of long range pollutants on par with GHGs.
DeleteAlso in further response to you comment concerning it is easy to mitigate pollutants. Many GHGs causing global warming and climate change are considered as "pollutants". eg "Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is the main pollutant that is warming Earth" i got this from the natural geographic website! So if your argument were to stand it would be easy to mitigate GHGs as well as long range pollutants. This doesn't stand inline with the central arguments in my blog as much but i just wanted to draw your attention to the contradiction in your statement.
DeleteQuote sourced from: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution-overview/
Hi Charlie, firstly, I've loved reading your blogs and have learnt so much about long-range pollution, it has been really interesting! Secondly, I think my opinion has changed in that I now view long-range pollution as more of a threat than I did initially. I think people voted mostly for global warming (myself included) because that term encompasses a range of factors. Although I still recognise that anthropogenic climate change is a huge threat to the Arctic, I would now also argue that aerosols such as black carbon are an underestimated threat which warrant more research into!
ReplyDelete