Some people think that instead of preventing climate change, we need to find a way to live with it. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some suggest that we adapt to

climate

change

rather than try to prevent it. I take issue with

this

assertion for two main reasons, which will be explained below.

To begin

with, adapting to

climate

change

is a short-term solution.

This

is because the Earth’s

climate

is largely unpredictable and still poorly understood despite the advances in

climate

prediction technologies.

Thus

,

adaptation

measures that seem effective for today’s

climate

may fail to address the long-term effects of

climate

change

.

For instance

, city planners can relocate cities

further

inland in response to rising sea levels, but these cities may eventually suffer from low precipitation and water shortage

due to

a sudden

change

in cloud formation. In

this

sense,

adaptation

proves a short-sighted measure to a phenomenon yet to be fully understood.

Furthermore

, preventing

climate

change

would be a more sensible course of action.

This

is because

while

adaptation

deals with the effects of

climate

change

to some degree, preventative measures tend to target the root causes of

climate

change

. One prime example of a prevention strategy would be switching to renewable energy in order to curb human carbon output - a primary contributor to global warming.

This

measure serves humankind longer than

adaptation

measures like large-scale installation of air-conditioning in cities to bring down temperature levels. In conclusion, I am adamantly opposed to the idea of adapting to

climate

change

not only because it is a half measure but

also

because its alternative – prevention – is far more practical from a long-term future perspective.