preview

Climate Change Is A Naturally Occurring Phenomenon

Best Essays

Eleni Trull
Sierra
SCI 101 Lisa Carloye
30 October 2015

Climate Change There is no doubt that the climate is changing, it is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Since climate change is naturally occurring, there is nothing we can do to completely eradicate the problem, but we have the ability to slow down the rate at which it is happening. Climate change is mostly anthropogenic and President Obama’s Clean Power Plan presents efficient policy options for helping prevent our climate issue from getting worse.
Section 1: How Climate Works

The climate of the Earth is affected by multiple factors, including greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse effects warm the planet and even though CO2 concentration is low, increasing amounts can …show more content…

The wobble of the Earth’s rotation also affects how directly solar energy hits Earth.
Albedo and global wind patterns are another two factors that influence climate. Albedo is the amount of solar power that arrives at a surface and then gets reflected back into space (Hewitt, 348). Dark surfaces absorb the solar energy and eventually the heat radiates back to space, but light surfaces immediately reflect the solar energy back into space. The total albedo differs depending on cloud coverage, snow, ice, forests, and human developments. Earth’s albedo decreases with the melting of ice caps and causes Earth’s temperature to rise (Hewitt, 349). Wind patterns are also a factor of climate. They re-distribute the heat from the equator to the poles.

Section 2: Evidence of a Changing Climate

There is no doubt that the climate is changing and humans are the cause of it. Since 2005, the 10 hottest years have occurred in the past 14 years (Gore, 2006). What this shows is that the average global temperature is gradually increasing, especially now. CO2 levels have been rising rapidly as well. According to the IPCC report, there has been a 40% increase of CO2 since pre industrial times and 30% has been absorbed into the oceans (IPCC, 2013). More evidence that shows that the climate is changing is that Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Greenland lost around 150-250 cubic kilometers of ice per year in a 4-year period and Antarctica

Get Access