Potentially Positive Effects of Climate Change

Authors Avatar by frank_zhang (student)

Climate change is the change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. Base on a definition by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 1. Often, climate change is associated with the effects of global warming which causes the rising global temperature. With the continual focus by the media on the serious and potentially disastrous circumstances surrounding climate change, there is another side that rarely gets noticed by the public. There are possibilities and opportunities presented by these same circumstances – the other side of the climate change. The three new opportunities brought by climate change is definitely the opening of artic trade route, boost in the agriculture industry and fewer death rates caused by extreme cold weather.

Firstly, climate change often associates with the rise of temperatures which causes the melting of artic icebergs. One new opportunity created by the melting of icebergs is the opening of artic trade routes, enabling a faster route between the west and Asia. Once, the artic icebergs have melted, ships are able to simply through the arctic ocean, above Russia into the Asia, in a much faster route. Currently, Russian and other European shippers have to travel a very long way, through the Suez Canal in order to service Asia. Once the northern trade route is opened, it is one third shorter than the current route, saving both time and fuel for European shippers coming into Asia. This route will be much more safer for the shippers as they will be able to avoid pirates roaming in the East Africa Seas and also trouble triggered by Arab Spring Revolution in the area around the Egyptian waterway. Also, ships traveling through the new shorter route are able to use much less fuel, approximately only one-third of the fuel currently use. This helps to reduce the resources used and also decrease fuel discharge by the shippers, making the traveling more environmentally friendly and “greener”. This new trade route opening benefits a lot of countries’ economy such as Russia who mainly provide the ice breakers enabling ships travel through the arctic region. For example, Russia currently charge ships about US$200,000 for one of its nine atomic-powered ice-breakers to accompany ships in case it stuck in the icy artic region. Russia is definitely able to make a lot of profit through the opening of the new trade route created by the melting of artic icebergs.

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Secondly, the climate change is also able to bring about the agricultural business boost in several regions due to the rising temperatures. As global temperature start rising, there is definitely some agricultural industry that could benefit from rising temperatures. For several species of several crops such as watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, and European red wine grape varieties, they require a higher temperature of it to thrive in and produce better yield. Thus, with the global temperature rising, these species of agricultural products would be able to be grown and yield in much better quality and quantity than currently. These crops ...

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