Some people believe it is imperative for individuals living in developed nations to reduce their energy consumption and lead a more sustainable lifestyle, given the evidence for global climate change. Others believe that such drastic lifestyle changes are unwarranted, based on the existing evidence for global climate change.
Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.
Class Example
The prompt states that some people believe it is imperative for individuals living in developed nations to reduce their energy consumption and lead a more sustainable lifestyle. This statement has some truth due to the recent evidence demonstrating climate change at a global level. This topic has received a great amount of attention and has had articles written about it and is constantly on the news. Therefore, it is important to consider this issue at hand and explore the way individuals living in developed nations, and around the world, may take steps to live a greener and more sustainable life.
First of all, the news has demonstrated the way the polar ice caps are melting. This event has affected various species including the polar bears. The polar ice caps are melting as a result of human action. In fact, humans, especially those in developed countries, rely heavily on cars, electricity, and other factors that are affecting our environment. For example, the emissions from cars affect the carbon dioxide output, which is one of the factors currently affecting the current climate changes. Other environmental changes include rising sea levels, increased land surface temperatures, and ocean temperatures. To help with these environmental and climate shifts, humans should be accountable for their actions.
On the other hand, the argument could be made that drastic lifestyle changes are unwarranted. This argument makes a good point because data can easily be falsified and exaggerated. Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence demonstrating the way individual changes and human actions may lead to better climate levels at a global level. In fact, this would be assuming that individual human behaviors are directly causing these climate changes, which would be a difficult assumption to make. Other factors may be playing a role and should be taken into consideration rather than dedicating a large amount of attention on human action and lifestyle changes.
In conclusion, individuals living in developed nations as humans as a whole should take action to reduce their energy consumption and lead a more sustainable lifestyle in order to minimize global climate change. While the lacking evidence may support the idea that drastic lifestyle changes are unwarranted, the fact of the matter is that global climate change exists and action must be taken by mankind in order for Earth to persist.
Sample Essay from Kaplan
Climate change – and what should be done about it – has received a great deal of media attention, especially within the last decade. Environmental activists believe changing weather patterns provide irrefutable evidence for climate change (or global warming), with potentially dire consequences for the planet and for humanity. Some argue that individuals living in developed nations must make major changes to their way of living before it is too late; indeed, some claim that we have already delayed such changes so long that the crisis is inevitable. Others claim that the evidence for climate change has been greatly exaggerated, or that climate change is occurring but is unrelated to (and therefore cannot be mitigated by) human activity. Thus, the latter groups do not think drastic lifestyle changes are warranted.
The first view aligns most closely with my position. The evidence for climate change is substantial. NASA has documented various phenomena attributed to increasing carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere, including rising sea levels, increased land surface temperatures and ocean temperatures, and decreasing ice near the Earth’s poles. If unchecked, this geologically rapid shift in temperatures could drastically reduce the global supply of potable water and the amount of land usable for agriculture, thus leading to mass starvation, along with an increase in the frequency of extreme, destructive weather events such as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
Scientific experts and government authorities have addressed this grave issue reportedly – for instance, in extensive reports by the National Academy of Sciences and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was part of the agenda at the 2010 G8 and G20 summits. According to environmental activists, making individual lifestyle changes – such as biking to work instead of driving a car, or turning on the air-conditioning in one’s home only when absolutely necessary – is an important step in reducing our collective “carbon footprint.” These changes not only reduce overall energy consumption, but also set an example for others to follow.
However, individual lifestyle changes will not be enough to solve this global problem. Large-scale social changes, such as reducing factory pollution, are also necessary. Furthermore, infrastructure development and policy changes at the municipal, state, and national level would help make it possible to individuals to adjust to a “greener” lifestyle. Compared to develop nations, such as France and Japan, public transportation in the United States is woefully inadequate, making it difficult for individuals to reduce their dependence on cars and their consumption of gasoline. Many major roads do not have adequate bike paths, making it difficult to for people to choose this greener form of transportation. Given what is at stake, people should still take steps to reduce their individual energy consumption – while also working to bring about these larger social changes.
It is important to address claims from the other side of the debate – specifically, that the climate change is being exaggerated or cannot be affected by human actions. It is true that, like any other major social movement, this one is sometimes associated with factual errors or distortions. For instance, a recent report from a United Nations panel apparently exaggerated the possibility that glaciers in the Himalayas would soon disappear; quickly rising temperatures in the 1990s led some activists to speculate (incorrectly) that the rate of temperature increase was accelerating. These distortions are unfortunate, but they are the exception and not the rule, and as such they should not be taken as grounds for dismissing the problem entirely. Internationally, the vast majority of our scientists and world leaders agree that climate change is a pressing problem that requires us to take action, individually and collectively.