Explain climate change and discuss three strategies that countries are Essay

Explain climate change and discuss three strategies that countries are using to help the prevention of global warming and say whether you agree or disagree with the effectiveness of each strategy - Essay Example However, this understanding has not resulted in any significant reduction in the rate of Global Warming, with the 20th Century’s last two decades being the hottest in 400 years (National Geographic 2007). Global Warming is seen as a threat to human health (Hambling et al., 2011 p. 2) with other concerns such as food security issues also expected in the future. Due to the growing awareness about this issue along with pressure-groups in the form of environmental NGOs, countries have been forced to take action in order to prevent further damage to the ecology. Initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol have been welcomed by most of the world, which promise to reduce carbon emissions to a suitable level by a certain date. This essay will look at 3 of the many strategies that countries adopt in order to prevent global warming on a national scale, which may be due to their participation in international agreements/conventions like Kyoto Protocol or due to a national agenda of their own. Investment in renewable energy is a preferred strategy for most industrialized countries that aim to reduce their carbon emissions. $173 billion were invested into developing sustainable energy in 2009, a figure that fell after the global recession affected the financial situation of most of the involved countries (UNEP 2010 p 11-13). Some countries, like Iceland produce electricity using entirely from renewable resources, thereby leaving a minimal carbon imprint. Most countries, developed and developing possess the environmental conditions required to produce such energy; however, in the case of the latter, they do not possess the financial resources to exploit these conditions. The Kyoto Protocol aims to rectify that by encouraging developed countries to invest in reducing the carbon emission of developing countries, through such projects (UNFCC, n.d.).