French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a two-day conference on climate change labeled as the One Planet Summit. It is an invitation-only event to focus on various aspects of climate change which is a significant worry for the whole world. Global warming is the result of CO2 emission and is believed to be responsible for many of the ills that plague the world. The erratic behavior of the climate leads to disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires etcetera.

Time reports that there is a need to explore avenues of generating finance to move away from fossil fuels and embrace alternative fuels to tackle the menace of global warming.

The United States has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris accord on climate change even though nearly 200 countries have joined the crusade.

Problems to be resolved

In the opinion of experts, global warming is a problem that has to be addressed. It is a result of CO2 emission which is generated by fossil fuels. Therefore, alternates must be promoted, and people must realize that the solution lies in harnessing wind turbines or solar panels. The 2015 Paris accord had decided that the developed world will provide necessary finance for the switchover but, the turbines and panels must be built. Hence, countries that join the crusade of climate change will stand to gain economically through additional employment opportunities.

To encourage people, President Emmanuel Macron announced funding of a bill that would provide grants to American scientists who will do research related to climate change in France. Another proposal on the anvil is to tackle emissions from the shipping industry. Observers feel that the present meeting will help to build necessary momentum before the next one scheduled in Poland next year.

Evils of global warming

One of the first casualties of global warming is the melting of glaciers evidence of which is captured by weather satellites. Glaciers are blocks of ice, and they do melt, but the rate of melting is a matter of concern. These lead to consequential damages elsewhere like rise in sea levels, and the environment also takes a beating as do wildlife.

Some of the species have to struggle for survival.

The irregular pattern of the weather that is seen nowadays is a fallout of climate change, and the 2015 Paris accord was drawn up to counter this. Lack of rainfall and sudden dry spells lead to drought conditions while hurricanes and floods leave behind trails of destruction and deaths. The only way to prevent these is to discard fossil fuels. Those who depend on these for their livelihood must understand that CO2 emission affects everybody and leads to health issues.

The electric car is an option that is being considered by some countries who have decided to ban vehicles powered by fossil fuels. Incidentally, in spite of the US withdrawal from the Paris accord, a firm like Tesla based in California, and its CEO Elon Musk have developed electric cars to fight global warming.