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Maria Agape GLOBAL WARMING

Introduction As described by Al‐Ghussain, (2019, p. 17), global warming entails the long-term heating of the surface of the earth. This phenomenon was noticed since between 1850 and 1900, the pre-industrial time. Global warming has been found to be caused by human activities and especially the burning of fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere trapping heat. While climate change and global warming cannot be used as interchangeable terms, global warming has been causing changes in the global climate over the years. As a result of prolonged warming of the earth's surface, the average temperature has increased over the past causing polar ice caps to melt which further results in the rising level of the sea surface. It is a major concern as the rising sea surface is likely to flood many areas. For instance, data published by the Met Office, UK suggests that even after reducing the emission of greenhouse gases at this point, sea level will continue to rise beyond 2100 flooding parts of the United Kingdom and especially the coastal areas (Met Office, 2022). The mean temperature of the earth has risen by over 1 degreeCelsius since 1850. Figure 1: Difference in global mean temperature from 1850 and 1900 Source: (Met Office, 2022) Rationale Global warming is a widely debated topic all around the world in recent years as people can notice prominent changes in the earth's climate. This phenomenon is relevant to business as it is likely to cause changes in the weather which is a significant factor in business operations (Al‐Ghussain, 2019, p. 14). Global warming has been resulting in more extreme weather conditions like floods, bushfires, and droughts. It is difficult for a company to carry out a sustainable business in such an area. Moreover, these climate conditions are likely to create constraints on water and disruption of the supply chain affecting businesses. Therefore, this topic is imperative to study in relation to management trends. Historical context A Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius in a seminal paper in 1896 first forecasted a substantial alteration in the surface temperature of the earth because of the atmospheric levels of CO2 via the greenhouse effect. Guy Callendar linked the rise of CO2 levels in the earth’s atmosphere to the phenomenon of global warming. A sharp rise in global temperatures was marked in the early 1980s and 1988 is considered to be a critical turning point in this context where global warming was highlighted in watershed events (NASA, 2022). Figure 2: CO2 levels in the 1950s and present Source: (NASA, 2022) Related Theory In this context, the most relevant business theory is the concept of corporate social responsibility or CSR. It explains the responsibility of a business organisation toward the environment along with its associated society and economy (Shodiq, 2020, p. 27). A key responsibility of corporate social responsibility is to reduce negative impacts on the environment by curtailing levels of carbon emission as well as preservation of natural resources by adopting sustainable alternative sources. Case scenario in relevance The world-renowned beverage brand Coca-Cola was accused of dehydrating its surrounding communities through extreme water consumption for its plants depriving the local agriculture and farmers’ wells of water. As a soft drinks company, the business relies heavily on water supply and it has been found that to produce 1 litre of Coca-Cola, around 3 litres of water is used (Carmichael and Moriarty, 2021). To address this issue, Coca-Cola announced a water stewardship platform across the system to achieve water neutrality by 2020 planning to return the amount of water they use to the communities. Conclusion To conclude, global warming is a crucial issue requiring serious attention from businesses in the modern environment. The above study has described the historical context and relevant case scenario of Coca-Cola in the context of CSR.