By now, many people know about global warming and understand that it is caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon emissions. Further, a global movement has emerged to demand drastic reductions in carbon emissions in the most developed nations. It is no secret that the energy and auto industries of the industrialized capitalist countries are responsible for most of the emissions feeding the current climate crisis.
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The clouds are caused by a combination of tiny particles, ozone and other chemicals emitted by cars and coal-fired power plants as well as by people burning fields and using wood-burning stoves and cooking fires. These clouds are up to one mile thick and hang over much of Asia, the Middle East and the Amazon Basin. The clouds hide the sun, making the sky darker by as much as 25 percent in cities such as Karachi, New Delhi, Shanghai and Beijing.
According to a recent U.N. report, the sooty pollution in the clouds is responsible for crop failures and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, causing nearly 350,000 premature deaths in China and India every year.
Sooty pollution in 13 large cities in Asia and the Middle East has increased dramatically in recent years. While the brown clouds have been studied mostly in Asia, “hot spots” are also forming above parts of North America and Europe. The primary difference is that in the Eastern United States, the winter rains and snow help break up the clouds.
The clouds have been shown to be highly harmful to human health and the environment. They contribute to the “greenhouse effect” of pollution surrounding the earth, which is understood by the scientific community to cause global warming. On the other hand, because the clouds absorb sunlight and keep it from getting to the earth’s surface, the clouds may also offset some of the actual temperature increases caused by the climate change process.
The existence the brown clouds does not mean people no longer have to worry about global warming. According to Veerabhadran Ramanathan, of the University of California-San Diego, a lead researcher on the study, there needs to be an international response to deal with “the twin threats of greenhouse gases and brown clouds, and the unsustainable development that underpins both.”
Unsustainable development is a hallmark of the capitalist system. Since the motivation for all capitalist development is to increase profits in the short-run, little or no attention is paid to long-term sustainability by the capitalist class. Sustainable development requires that a country only use its fair share of global resources, so that the environment may be preserved and resources remain available for future generations.
Only socialist Cuba has fulfilled this benchmark, according to the World Wildlife Federation. Socialist economic development through central planning has allowed Cuba to become a leader in organic farming. Cuban leaders have adamantly opposed the conversion of the world’s food into biofuels. This has been possible only because the profit motive has been eradicated—a necessary prerequisite for giving the needs of people and the environment the priority they deserve.
