Topic > The role of geography in addressing global environmental risks

The Earth is dynamic by nature and is made up of a series of constantly changing processes and interactions. Recently humans have begun to change the dynamics of these processes. Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our world today. We hear about climate change every day in our schools, from the media and from our colleagues, but we only hear about climate change getting worse and never better. Climate change also affects various parts of the environment that we rely on to survive. Climate change therefore manifests itself in various ways around the world. Each of these manifestations presents a unique risk on a global scale. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe article titled “Sleepwalking into catastrophe” gives us an indication of a report that cites the top 10 global risks in terms of probability and potential impact. Five of these risks are directly linked to the environment, while the remainder have indirect environmental links. This essay warns the world that we are getting ever closer to these global risks and that it will be increasingly difficult to mitigate them in the future. While this seems to suggest imminent danger, scientific research could still provide a solution. The holistic discipline of geography is the study of the physical characteristics of the land, atmosphere, oceans, and human activity. This may further include the distribution of populations, resources, political and economic activities. Geographers have studied the world using different techniques and methods to find solutions to environmental risks. This essay will provide information on some of these risks and how geography can be used as an effective tool to find solutions to mitigate them. Risks Faced by the World Several environmental risks are listed in the top 10 global risk reports that pose a serious threat to global stability. Extreme weather conditions and natural disasters occur in a variety of ways, such as floods, storms, and droughts. All of these have increased under the influence of human-induced climate change. This can cause serious damage to the environment, society and the economy. This can affect an area with unique wildlife as resources and climatic conditions vital to their survival become scarce. The animals will not have a source of water and may die of dehydration and starvation as their food chain may be disrupted. Lack of water will also have similar consequences on society. People need water to survive, without water there will be a risk of dehydration and a greater incidence of disease, civil conflict and disease as people seek water from unhygienic sources. Drought also affects our economy. Economic development in the affected area will begin to stagnate and people will begin to migrate from the affected area to seek water and other resources elsewhere. Floods are another natural disaster that causes serious damage to the environment. Chemicals and other hazards are released into the water that are fatal to wildlife and plants. Animals that cannot swim drown and the land floods, destroying food supplies for people and animals. Many in society remain destitute as floods destroy homes, municipal infrastructure and families. This has a negative impact on the economy as governments have to pay large costs to rebuild municipal infrastructure. Even skilled workers are difficult toreplace if they were killed by such disasters. This further increases the economic burden. Man-made environmental disasters are unpredictable disasters and happen suddenly. There is no way to prevent these disasters from happening, but there are ways to prevent them from happening. An example of man-made environmental disasters are oil spills. These oil spills tend to affect marine life. Marine animals are poisoned by the chemical constituents through ingestion or irritation of the skin and eyes. Economies are hit when oil spills destroy pristine coastal environments. This drives away tourists and costs governments a large sum of money to clean up. Society is affected regarding one's health when one inhales the air, touches a product, or eats contaminated seafood that contains oil. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse refer to the death of ecosystems caused by humans or natural disasters. This includes deforestation by humans cutting down forest trees and using the timber or claiming the land where the trees were for agricultural purposes. Another factor that is causing the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems naturally and through humans is climate change. The pace of climate change means that it is happening too quickly and that species cannot adapt fast enough and are becoming extinct to the point that they may even become extinct soon. Keystone species are particularly important in this regard as their extinction could shatter an area's entire food chain. Not all risks are isolated, many are interconnected and each can have a potential effect on one another. For example, extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones could surge and inundate coastal cities due to our inability to mitigate climate change and adapt cities to such events. Coastal habitats could be permanently destroyed and resources could become scarce in such areas, resulting in the loss of coastal species. Failure to mitigate and adapt is one of the most likely events to occur due to extreme weather conditions and large-scale involuntary migration. Events such as floods, droughts and sea level rise, which are all extreme weather events, could result in large-scale migrations of climate refugees. Another example of interconnected risks are extreme weather events and the food crisis; if frequent extreme weather events occur, this makes farming difficult and crop yields unpredictable. Storms and tornadoes cause a lot of damage to farmland, and farmers are unable to produce high yields. The growing number of events makes it more difficult to rely on a constant supply of food. Floods reduce the amount of land available for agriculture, as the land loses valuable organic topsoil due to overflowing water. Drought also diminishes the livestock raising process through dehydration and lack of animal feed. How can geography address global risks Geography is holistic, encompassing chemistry, physics, geology, atmospheric science, public health, political science, mathematics and oceanography. Global risks are complex and require an approach that evaluates each unique risk in a multifaceted way. This makes geography the perfect tool to do so as, across its underlying disciplines, scientists create various solutions that address these risks in multiple ways. For example, people in the.