Climate Change And Human Causation

The ocean is two-thirds of our planet a vast blue landscape home to many biomes which according to Boyce Thorne-Miller “(ecosystem types) corresponding to sets of environmental conditions that vary with depth, latitude, and longitude” (16). However, the ocean and its biomes is under attack from the changing environment. We can see this through coral reef biomes as they make their home near the shores. Through coral reefs we can view the effects that these changes have on the ocean through how the coral reef biome is affected. Humans are a danger to the coral reefs and the wildlife that resides in the biome. The pollution being released into the environment is poisoning the coral and causes death and malformation to the wildlife. The ocean is changing due to global warming which is causing a change in the temperature and rising water levels leading to a change in the stabile areas coral can survive. The increasing acidification of the ocean is causing the coral reefs to die. I will be looking at the effects these issues cause to coral reefs biomes and the ocean to see the similarities in how they affect both.

"Coral reefs… are fragile structures living within a narrow range of temperature, clarity, salinity and chemistry. Even a slight increase in ocean temperature, or increased CO2… can cause stresses such as bleaching… These stresses slow the rate of growth of the corrals… With some 60 percent of the world’s coral reefs now losing productivity, it’s becoming a global crisis and a scientific mystery."

Consisting of less than 1% of the world oceans, the coral reefs are ancient animals comprising of thin calcium carbonate deposits within the photic layer. Aside from its biologically diverse ecosystems, coral reefs are major source of food for millions and provides habitats and nursery areas for many marine organisms. Coral reefs also act as a physical buffer to protect the coastlines from tropical storms and erosion. In addition, many local communities rely on coral reefs to generate an income through activities such as fishing and diving. However, 75% of the coral reefs are under threat from induced impacts of humans and climate change (Burke, et al., 2011). This essay looks at the human impacts constantly being inflicted on coral reefs.

The human race all around the world wonders if the climate is changing due to human activity or if it is just a natural occurrence. At certain parts of the Earth's surface, the climate can be observed much differently than other locations. As the years go by the average temperature of the Earth increases by little intervals. There are several different reasons why people believe the climate is changing every year. However, the increase of worldwide population and production of heat to the atmosphere is due to the increase of human activities that take place on a daily basis. Human activity is the main cause of the global climate change. The human impact on climate exceeds any known changes due to natural processes. The impact of this human activity is often misunderstood when looking at climate change.

In order to understand the issue of global warming (also referred to as climate change), you must first understand what it means and how it happens. Global warming is a result of a process known as the greenhouse effect, in which the light and heat from the sun are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases; which subsequently raises the average temperature on Earth. The greenhouse gases responsible for this process are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone, all of which are released into the atmosphere through naturally occurring processes (Warrick, R. & Farmer, G., 1990).

Have you ever imagined a world almost completely engulfed in water? Well, if we keep up our way of living all the ice will melt, getting rid of major places on Earth. This ice will melt due to something called climate change. Humans cause climate change because an overwhelming scientific consensus thinks this way, the specific form of carbon dioxide is increasing due to human activity, more greenhouse gases are being released, and the average temperature of Earth is increasing.

Coral reef ecosystems around the globe are threatened by human interferences and climate change. This has led to many scientists conducting studies on global coral reef ecosystems to gain a better understanding of the cause and effects of coral reef damage. In both Hodgson’s (1999) and Carpenter et al.’s (2008) studies, they are aware of the continuous degradation of global coral reef ecosystems. Hodgson's study involved conducting a survey on global coral reef ecosystems to see whether human actions were affecting the health of supposed pristine Coral reefs. Carpenter et al. incorporated Hodgson’s study into a compiled study about the possible extinction of reef building corals due to climate change and anthropogenic effects. Carpenter’s

Some people believe that climate change is nit caused by humans, but by natural causes. While others believe that humans are the cause of climate change. People that believe that climate change is due to humans believe that humans have caused climate change by the things we do everyday. Climate change is a very popular topic of discussion among people and what they can do to change it. Humans are mostly responsible for climate change because of burning fossil fuels, the industrial revolution, and deforestation.

Climate change is a key debate not only in geography but in society as a whole; as the population increases, the depletion of natural resources is increasing at a exponential rate. All the energy that is consumed by our population of more than 7 billion endangers our planet to the point where we are causing irreversible damage. All sources have there on way of providing information which has its own disadvantages and advantages (table I.) and with this variety some may deem to be more successful in addressing the issue.

There are many human and natural drivers of climate change, cities and buildings in particular are increasingly affected by risks linked to rapid environmental changes and their impact themselves on the atmosphere however architect 's can help limit many contributing factors. This paper examines the role of this profession, architecture 's contribution to climate change mitigation/adaption and how architect 's can assist in limiting the threat of global warming thus enforcing sustainability.

The effects of global warming touch every human, animal, plant, ocean, landmass, and atmosphere level on this planet. The numerous effects of global warming are mixes of "good" and "bad" results, depending on how your definition of "good" results and "bad" results are. A "good" effect, a person could say, would be for regions with normally cold temperatures to receive warmer temperatures for their normal. Yet, there are more "bad" effects that seem to out weight the "good" effects. Some of the effects would include increases of flooding, severe storm systems, and rising sea-levels. One major consequence would be an increase of temperature globally. This would

The issue is simple and rather obvious; climate change is real and a problem. With a changing climate comes rising sea levels, hotter days, and stronger and wilder storms, and long painful droughts. What most people can’t seem to agree on is whether or not human activity is playing some role in it. From media outlets to internet forums, the debate is being fought on all fronts. Most of these arguments, however, are just personal opinions and poorly-made observations from the comfort of a gas-guzzling SUV. Honestly, it doesn’t take a genius to look up a legitimate scientific paper and see the data for yourself. Human activity is influencing the global climate in a negative way, with plenty of evidence to prove it and very little disagreement in the scientific community.

Todays coral reefs are easily overlooked going unnoticed by many of people around the world .What many of people fail to relize though is how much of an important role they play in todays society. For centuries are oceans have adapted to climate change along with the many organisms that inhabit them. But with in the last century our oceans have experienced climate change on scale like no other. With the oceans temperature and pollution levels rising the National oceanic atmospheric association (NOAA)predicted that by the year 2050 nearly 90% of earths coral reefs will be dead and dying . In a recent news article called Intervention the author stated that “Scientist are now scrambling to ensure that at least a fraction of these unique ecosystem survives beyond the next three decades. The health of the planet depends on it: Coral reefs support a quarter of all marine species, as well as half a billion people around the world. “

They are home to a quarter of all marine species, yet occupy only 0.2% of the ocean. Coral reefs thrive in warm, shallow waters that provide shelter for many different forms of bacteria, fungi, seaweeds, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans and over 4,000 species of fish. According to the ecologist Renee Cho, “The reefs hold an annual global economic value of $375 billion, providing food and resources for over 500 million people in 94 countries and territories” (Cho). However, the reefs are in a detrimental crisis that could end in chaos. Coral bleaching is occurring around the world. Heat stress from global warming triggers the symbiotic relationship between polyps and zooxanthellae to collapse. This results in the expel of photosynthetic algae, leaving them bleached white. The coral reefs are in great danger and humanity is the one to blame. The best way to save what is left of the reefs is to reduce our man-made contributions to global warming and reconstruct new reefs before it is too late.

Global warming can be defined as; “An increase in the earth’s atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2008). According to University of Phoenix Global Warming (2008), the data accumulated from daily measurements indicate that the Earth’s average surface temperature in 2005 was the third highest since the mid-1800s. Apparently the last two decades of the 20th century were its warmest.