While mitigation might save the planet it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives.

While mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives. To what extent do you agree?

Harman (Year 9)

By way of introduction, mitigation is the action of searching for prevention methods to reduce emissions that cause climate change. On the other hand, adaptation is the action of trying to manage the risks of climate change impacts by implementing methods that will prevent detrimental damages of climate change from occurring on a global scale. For adaptation, the goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change (like sealevel encroachment, more intense extreme weather events or food insecurity). It also encompasses making the most of any potential beneficial opportunities associated with climate change (for example, longer growing seasons or increased yields in some regions). For mitigation, the goal is to avoid significant human interference with the climate system, and stabilize greenhouse gas levels in a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.

In some ways adaptation and preparing for climate shocks will save millions of lives even if it is mitigation that might save this planet. While much of the global attention at COP26 is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the crisis, these gases are already at dangerous levels in the atmosphere and will continue to influence the climate for decades to come. Historical measurements show that the current global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are unprecedented compared with the past 800,000 years, even after accounting for natural fluctuations.

From 1990 to 2019, the total warming effect from greenhouse gases added by humans to the Earth’s atmosphere increased by 45%

The warming effect associated with carbon dioxide alone increased by 36 percent.

The world needs a massive, unprecedented, and sustained shift in energy demand and supply, away from fossil fuels and towards low carbon, to get to net zero. However, some significant climate impacts such as the continuous rising sea levels are inevitable. If we fail to adapt to impacts such as the rise of sea levels, there will be a range of impacts for coastal areas, including increased flooding, increased erosion, ecosystems changes and increased salinization. As a world, we can successfully tackle the climate emergency if we do the right things, but if we continue the constant mitigation and grievously undercook adaptation strategies, we will run out of time to implement effective adaptation measures for our safety against some inevitable impacts of climate change. Adapting to the mounting floods, droughts and heatwaves is equally as important as mitigation. By doing so, it will help in increasing the resilience to the effects of violent weather the climate emergency is bringing. With the right approach it will be safer and more prosperous by creating defences for the places in which we live, work and travel.

For example, between the Monday 12 and Thursday 15 July 2021, heavy rain fell across the United Kingdom, western Germany, and neighbouring Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. A storm complexed moved east from France into Germany and stalled over the region for two days. On Friday 16 July at least 184 people were dead and 1,300 people had been initially reported as missing. Sky News states that these severe impacts were mostly due to the mobile networks being down in some regions which made it difficult to call people. Some 15,000 police, soldiers and emergency service workers were deployed in Germany to help with the search and rescue. Severe climate change impacts will soon happen on a global scale with much more violent climate emergencies due to the continuous rise in global temperatures that will have devastating effects for our climate. However, by adapting for future climate change impacts will make the places where we work, live and travel much more resilient to the climate emergencies, preventing many detrimental damages on a global scale, and as a result stopping high rate of deaths. For example, countries in South and Central Asia share some common areas for action to protect their agricultural system, including better droughttolerant seeds, expanded irrigation systems and improved access to seasonal weather forecasts, which on the whole will help protect the places in which their citizens work to get a source of income for their families.

In other ways it is better to strive forward with the continuous encouragement and enforcement of mitigation strategies to prevent the globe from getting to a stage where it is inevitable that we will have to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Mitigation will allow us to live in a world where we will not have to suffer from as many impacts of climate change if we try and reach a net zero world by:

• cutting down on deforestation • reducing the burning of fossil fuels • reducing the amount of waste • cutting down on oil drilling • cutting down on fishing • using more renewable energy sources • switching fuels • applying carbon sequestration • applying carbon offsets

https://climatechange.lta.org/wp-content/uploads/cct/2015/03/ MitigationBanner-e1429450975507.jpg

On a global scale, if all countries were to continue on reducing their carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions it would lead to much fewer devastating effects of climate change and global warming. This means the world would not have to suffer from the violent climate emergencies that would continuously be affecting people. By mitigating our planet, we will reduce the effects that climate change will have, and we will not have to worry on adapting to stabilize life with the continuous impacts of climate change. As a result, the planet will not get to a stage where adaptation will be the first option for preventing deaths due to the impacts of climate change.

For example, on a local scale by getting rid of the constant supply of single-use plastic items and instead using either different materials or biodegradable plastic will have somewhat of an effect on reducing the impacts of climate change. On a global scale, the conversion from primarily using oil and gas as sources of energy to adopting renewable energy sources such as: solar energy from the sun, hydropower from flowing water and geothermal energy from heat inside the earth will help reduce the impacts of climate change. Not only are fossil fuels and global warming damaging our wildlife and environment, but they are also having a seriously detrimental effect on our health. Climate change will of course cause more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in some regions and an increase in the number, duration, and intensity of tropical storms. However, serious health effects will also be caused by these disruptions, including increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease, injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events, changes in the prevalence and geographical distribution of food-and waterborne illnesses and other infectious diseases, and threats to mental health. Renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar panels, and hydroelectric energy, on the other hand, are much more natural, and therefore ensure cleaner air. Generating renewable energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces some types of air pollution will keep all living organisms on this world safe. Therefore, by focusing on mitigation rather than on adaptation can save both our planet and millions of lives, since if countries work together to reach a net zero goal, the impacts of climate change will not be as detrimental, and as a globe we will be more capable of dealing with the negative impacts caused by climate change that as a result will help prevent deaths. Countries such as Nepal are showing great strives forward in trying to reach a net zero goal:

Nepal only has 0.29 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per capita with a population of 27,263,433.

If all countries try to drastically reduce their carbon dioxide emissions per captia like Nepal, mitigation will be able to save both our planet and millions of lives.

In summation, to some extent I agree that “while mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives.” This is because mitigation is essential since it will be able to eliminate many negative impacts and limit changes in the climate system. If this is achieved adaptation will not need to be an option since the effects of climate change will be both limited and not as devastating, and as a result will not lead to many deaths around the globe. However, this will only be achieved if all countries are able to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach by accelerating the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles, encourage investment in renewables. On the other hand, as shown by COP26 the emissions of greenhouse gases have already led to detrimental damage for the future of the globe’s environment. This means some of the effects of climate change are inevitable and need to be delt with using adaptation strategies to prevent the deaths of people from different countries around the world. This can be resolved using adaptation strategies that will help save millions of lives. However, adaptation is a short-term method in terms of the cost-effectiveness to deal with the continuous risks that climate change will cause for a long time. On the other hand, mitigation will help reduce the risks caused by climate change and save millions of lives on a longer term but will require continuous effective planning before the risks of climate change will be much more catastrophic and will not be effective for saving lives. Thus, to some extent I agree that “while mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives,” since mitigation can save the planet and lives alone, but it is more likely that inputting effective adaptation methods will be a safer option in making sure more people survive.

There is a pattern to notice amongst the exports that countries trade. The discovery of oil reserves in Pennsylvania, USA was only the start of the country’s extreme wealth. USA has held the top percentage of the global GDP since the 1920s. For decades, crude oil was the most exported product globally, taking up the largest percentage of the world’s exports, however, in more recent decades the world’s top exports have become much more varied.