Bill Mckibben On Climate Change

Climate change is not a new concept. It has been mostly referred to as global warming in the past. As much as people would like to file this issue away as something to deal with at a later date, it simply cannot wait. This problem we face is costing us billions of dollars, forests and wildlife are being eliminated, and people are dying. Starting to sound like a big deal, right? Future generations will be affected the most. People who do not even exist will have to pay for what we, all people, have done to this earth. To begin to make changes, one must realize the severity of the issue. Bill Mckibben, author of “Recalculating the Climate Math,” conveys that “We’ve already raised the world’s temperature by one degree—enough to melt almost half the ice in the Arctic, kill off huge swaths of the world’s coral, and unleash lethal floods and drought. July and August tied for the hottest months ever recorded on our planet, and scientists think they were almost certainly the hottest in the history of human civilization” (Page 3 of 5). Global climate change is a serious problem because it increases natural disasters and is the cause of extreme weather.

While a good portion of his work covers the damage that has already surfaced Earth, he proposes a plethora of theories regarding what the future may look like. Although the element of terror is part of his technique in persuading his audience into caring about the pressing issue of climate change, it is not scientifically accurate—nobody can predict future events with complete assurance. In addition to this, if there is one thing to take away from this book, it is that Bill McKibben eats, sleeps, and breathes the project of decreasing the carbon dioxide molecules to 350 parts per million—a safe ratio. While it is true that at the beginning of civilization, our atmosphere contained only 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which is a lot lower than it is now, McKibben is the founder of 350.org. This environmental organization is his personal project which aims to equalize the unsafe ratio that currently exists. Due to his personal investment in the organization, it seems as though McKibben is biased towards this movement which is why it is so prioritized in his

Climate change is one of today’s most hotly debated topic. Scientists for many decades have made supposed claims that current energy creation and reliance on fossil fuels will lead to inevitable changes to the planet. Today, climate change denial is still a popular to most of the world despite the mounds of evidence to support that it exists. The climate change issue suffers from being mismanaged by various parties through focusing on the wrong issues and the lack of true commitment from the general public, according to Sandra Steingraber.

Since being on the “green” side seems to make the politicians popular, many of them “stand up” to global warming. So environmentalists, among of whom are some politicians, hide or just ignore the facts regarding global warming and its true aspects.

McKibben implicitly states that humans have “killed off nature,” (pg. 82) and details that we stand at a cusp ushering in a new era of change. McKibben expresses uncertainty in the accurate reading from the changes soon to come, and implies that developments will happen in eventually. Regarding the considerable concern for rising sea levels, McKibben refers to his previously mentioned gases found in the atmosphere and correlates them to the an increase in sea levels in the future. (pg. 94) Arguably, there is no obsolete notion that this will happen, but McKibben’s statement of confidence persuades readers effectively. Furthermore, McKibben frequently visits back to topics he mentioned before and addresses in which specific fashion this will affect the environment. (ie. DDT-pg. 126, Artic ice pg. 84) In a sense, McKibben makes sure that readers remain focused and understands the true outcome of both laziness and action.

The essay “The Climate emergency” is based on a speech made by Al Gore at Yale University in April 2004 to a room full of students. Al Gore is the former Vice President of the United States under President Bill Clinton. He is also an environmental rights activist. In the beginning of the speech the former vice president shares a story about his trip to a Shoneys Restaurant with his wife Tipper to draw the audience in. (300-301). Once he captures their attention he is able to focus them on his real message.

The essay opens up with McKibben talking about how the political campaign against global warming is flawed because at our current point there is nothing much that can be done to fix it.(Mckibben,1) He then goes to state that humans are the biggest culprit behind global warming and supports this by giving examples such as SUVs and American ignorance.(2,9) He concludes by saying that if ten percent of America were to go green, it still would not save the planet, but ten percent could get the government’s attention to pass laws making everyone go green. (11)

Climate change, or global warming, is a reality plaguing us, and if we work together, we can prevent it. Our planet is changing. It always is, always has been, and always will be, yet it doesn't have to be for the worse. Our planet’s heat, light, and some of its energy is

Earth is an immeasurably complex planet, and the processes that make it so are equally as intricate. It is this same intricacy, however, that makes the Earth so vulnerable to even the slightest variation in overall temperature or change within the gases that which compose the atmosphere. What We Know About Climate Change by Kerry Emanuel aims to address this issue of Earth’s vulnerability head-on as it suggests the plausible causes for the undeniable planetary warming observed in the last century all the while proposing pragmatic solutions to discontinue the unnatural processes credited with the abnormal warming.

Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make

Even if we stopped all of these gasses emitted into the atmosphere tomorrow, we would still see a rise in planetary temperatures of 1.1 degrees Celsius, which is twice the warming experienced over the past century. (Marshall, 2) The IPCC predicts a global temperature rise of between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees by 2100. A global warming episode 250 million years ago wiped out 95 percent of all species on earth. It took a rise in average global temperature of only 6 degrees to trigger this catastrophe. The IPCC?s current worst-case scenario is 5.8 degrees. One can scarcely imagine a more somber warning. (Marshall, 2) If we do not take immediate action to cut down on emissions of greenhouse gasses, we will in effect condemn our children and grandchildren and all other generations to follow to a permanently impoverished and more threatening world dominated by extreme weather and ecological collapse. But who cares about the generations to follow us? One may ask. Well, it has been speculated that low concentrations of toxins into the atmosphere may be the cause for some learning disabilities among children in America. How would you feel if your family was know for being stupid and all generations that follow even dumber, and the reason for such stupidity rested on your shoulders, because you were too lazy and ignorant to realize the

The lecture I attended was called “Love and Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle to Stop Climate Change Failed and What it Means for our Future”. The lecture was given by Dale Jamieson. He teaches at New York University and has been funded by many big environmental agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency. In his lecture, Dr. Jamieson wanted to answer the question, “Why have we failed to take evidence-based action when it comes to climate change?”. It is especially astonishing the stance that some of our country’s major leaders have on the topic. For example, Donald Trump has tweeted that climate change is a “Chinese hoax”. Even though he claims that he was joking when he said this, climate change is not a joking matter. Scientists continuously warn the government and the public about how much carbon is being released into the atmosphere due to

In this article, Riebeek views climate change as a serious issue that will end in serious ongoing consequences.

Climate change otherwise known as global warming has been an ongoing issue for decades. Beginning in the 19th century, climate change has increasingly affected Earth and its atmosphere. Rising levels of carbon dioxide are warming the Earth’s atmosphere, causing rising sea-levels, melting snow and ice, extreme fires and droughts, and intense rainfall and floods. Climate change has and will continue to affect food production, availability of water, and can add to many health risks in humans and animals. In fact, in an article by Justin Gillis titled, “Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries” he focuses on a paper written by a former NASA climate scientist, James E. Hansen, explaining the effects of climate change on Earth today. Although many believe Hansen’s theories in the paper are quite far-fetched, the author mentions, “Despite any reservations they might have about the new paper, virtually all climate scientists agree with Dr. Hansen’s group that society is not moving fast enough to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, posing grave risks” (Gillis). Gillis validates the fact that climate change has been rapidly expanding throughout Earth and society has not been able to reduce it fast enough. Many negative risks are being posed and will continue to mount if the issue of climate change is not taken seriously. Although climate change negatively affects nearly all aspects of Earth, it poses a big

The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,