GP essay question guide
Can science solve the problems it creates?
Pick problems science helped create, then ask whether a scientific fix exists and whether people adopt it. The best answers show that solutions depend on prices, laws and habits too.
Unpack this question first: 'Solve' is a strong word: does science end a problem or only reduce it? 'It creates' asks you to choose problems science helped cause, such as pollution or new risks. Lesson: Reading an essay question: terms and scope
Use this question in writing - Sign in, check the question, then write your response.
Topics: Science and Technology, Environment and Climate, Economics
Three argument directions
Science supplies fixes
New materials and methods can replace harmful ones.
Qualification: A fix that costs more may not be used.
Fixes create new risks
Each new technology can bring problems of its own.
Qualification: That is a reason for careful testing, not for stopping.
People decide
Laws, prices and habits decide whether a solution is used.
Qualification: Science can shape those choices by making the cost of harm clear.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
Science can often reduce the problems it creates, but it cannot solve them alone, because people must choose to use its answers. Chemists invented CFCs for fridges and spray cans, and other scientists later showed that these chemicals were damaging the ozone layer. Safer substitutes then made it possible for countries to phase them out. Plastic follows a harder pattern. Scientists have developed plastics that break down more easily and ways to recycle more types, yet millions of tonnes of plastic still enter the oceans every year, because cheap single-use plastic suits both producers and shoppers. Science can supply a solution, then, but whether the problem is solved depends on prices, laws and habits.
How it is built
- Stand: reduce, not solve alone.
- Contrast: the CFC fix that was adopted against plastics that were not.
- Judgement: prices, laws and habits decide.
Six examples to compare
Nuclear Power: Climate Fix or Risky Bet?
Renewed interest in nuclear power for low-carbon energy faces old fears of safety and waste, despite new tech like SMRs.
Possible essay use
The IEA's 2023 Net Zero Roadmap update has nuclear capacity roughly doubling by 2050 on the path to net zero.
Limitation
Pledges are not plans: new reactors often run years late and over budget, and several countries, such as Germany, have moved away from nuclear power.
Case or source date: 2023-12-02
Source: World Nuclear News
Oceans Overwhelmed by Plastic Waste
Plastic waste reaches the oceans from poorly managed land waste, harming marine life. Estimates of how much vary widely, and fixing waste systems on land is the main solution.
Possible essay use
A 2015 Science study estimated that 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic entered the oceans in 2010.
Limitation
Estimates of ocean plastic vary several-fold between studies and years; quote a range and its source rather than one precise number.
Case or source date: 2022-02-22
Source: University of Georgia
Green Hydrogen: Future's Clean Fuel?
Examines green hydrogen's promise as a clean energy source, its production challenges, and its potential to decarbonize industries worldwide. Global efforts are underway.
Possible essay use
Under REPowerEU the EU aims to produce 10 million tonnes and import 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year by 2030.
Limitation
The auditors judged progress up to 2024; hydrogen costs and projects change fast, so the gap between target and delivery should be rechecked.
Case or source date: 2024-07-17
Source: European Court of Auditors
Future Foods: Lab Meat, Vertical Farms, GM Crops
Food innovations like lab-grown meat and GM crops aim to make food supplies more secure and less damaging, but face doubts on cost, scale and safety.
Possible essay use
On 2 December 2020 the Singapore Food Agency became the first regulator to approve cultivated meat for sale.
Limitation
Approval is not adoption: cultivated meat is still sold in tiny volumes at high cost, and the Kenyan cassava still needed trials before farmers could plant it.
Case or source date: 2020-12-02
Source: Food Safety News
WMO Confirms 2024 as the Warmest Year on Record
WMO's State of the Global Climate 2024 report identified 2024 as the warmest year in the observational record.
Possible essay use
WMO's State of the Global Climate 2024 report identified 2024 as the warmest year in the observational record.
Limitation
One record year is part of a longer trend, while policy choices also depend on costs, institutions, and distributional conflict.
Case or source date: 2025-03-19
NIST Finalises Its First Post-Quantum Encryption Standards
NIST finalised three post-quantum cryptography standards in 2024 and encouraged organisations to begin migration planning.
Possible essay use
NIST finalised three post-quantum cryptography standards in 2024 and encouraged organisations to begin migration planning.
Limitation
Early migration reduces future exposure but is costly, technically complex, and may reveal implementation weaknesses.
Case or source date: 2024-08-13