In the 21st Century, global warming and the alarmingly rising sea levels pose serious threatens to the humanity. While these phenomena are problematic due to their adverse impacts on overall individuals’ well-being and the economy, viable solutions such as shifting to more sustainable public transportation and constructing more sea walls can be taken to tackle these issues.
There are two obvious problems associated with global warming and the dramatic increase in sea levels. Regarding the former, once the Earth’s temperature rises drastically, the weather will become either unbearably hot or freezing cold, which is conducive to the growth of bacteria and the decline in humans’ immunity to infection, leading to individuals being more prone to diseases. For example, during prolonged heatwaves, high temperatures can create favourable conditions for bacteria to grow rapidly, while extreme heat can also weaken the human immune system, making people more vulnerable to food poisoning and other infectious diseases. In addition to the wane in humans’ tolerance towards illnesses, if the sea levels continue to rise, it will take a heavy toll on government coffers. For example, flooding, prompted by a surge in sea levels, will catastrophically exacerbate the economic growth of the nations that have a large number of coastal cities, since these cities, for the most part, have to suffer first, hence not only the cities’ financial losses but also the nations’ state funding to compensate for the damage done to these cities.
However, viable solutions can be taken to address these problems by both the official state and ordinary citizens. As for the latter, most commuters still prefer driving their own vehicles, many of which are fuel-powered and emit considerable amounts of exhaust fumes into the atmosphere, contributing to intensely increased global temperatures. In that sense, if individuals shift to other means of public transportation, they can in turn significantly reduce the growing number of cars on the road, effectively cutting back on the large amount of exhaust emissions released into the air. On the government level, instead of subsidizing government funding to address the consequences of rising sea levels, the government should sensibly allocate money to protect coastal cities in their countries by building sea walls. This manifests itself starkly in Japan, where its citizens often suffer serious natural disasters, such as tsunamis, typhoons, and tornadoes, but thanks to the construction of sea walls in advance, they can avoid serious damage these disasters could give rise to, saving a whole lot of money to tackle other pressing issues.
In conclusion, although the negative impacts of global warming and the increase in sea levels on humans’ well-being and countries’ economic growth, constructing more sea walls and individual awareness of shifting to public transportation could alleviate the repercussions of these phenomena.