Although there exists explicit evidence that justifies the contribution of human activity to climate change and the increased incidence of extreme weather events, the latter remains unavoidable even with no human intervention.
Indeed, according to some studies, the increase in the prevalence of extreme weather events is influenced directly by weather variability. For this reason, there is a need to develop an action framework for society to adapt to the inevitable weather pattern changes, namely:
- Minimization and possible elimination of the source of additional influence on weather patterns such as greenhouse gas emissions and pollution;
- Improvement of the existing forecasting and disaster response system to secure primary prevention of disasters;
- Protection of key strategic resources by engineering disaster-resistant tools such as drought-tolerant seeds;
- Establishment of a powerful disaster defense system such as levees and flood defense systems.
In such a way, the battle with extreme weather conditions will face both the natural and the human-made aspects of potential catastrophes. However, the initiatives of reducing human impacts on the ecosystem are vital because human activity accelerates the already-triggered weather conditions.
According to Hertwich, one of the most efficient approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in major cities’ manufacturing is the implementation of material efficiency strategies, including:
- The extension of material longevity;
- Product downsizing;
- Recycling and resource reusability;
- Choice of environmentally-friendly raw materials;
- Recycling of base metals;
- Collection and recovery of primary materials for the product.
By following these steps, it is likely for the ecosystem to be less impacted by the amount of waste and poisonous emissions, mitigating the scope of climate change acceleration and, hence, reducing the risks of natural disasters.