During the past several hundred years, civilization has made rapid progress in industries like air travel, automobiles, and energy production. These developments were made without consideration of the long-term effects that their emissions may have on the planet. Changing weather patterns are now wreaking havoc around the world, and scientists attribute this to human-caused climate change. During President Obama’s State of the Union address in 2015, he stated that, “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” (“Remarks by the President”). Warming temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change have disastrous consequences that pose a threat to humanity and the environment. Scientists have given numerous warnings that human-caused, or anthropogenic, climate change is not only occurring now, but accelerating more quickly than predicted (Maibach, Myers, and Leiserowitz 295). Global warming contributes to climate change as a result of the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (“Global Warming”). The level of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has increased significantly over the years. Patterns of warming are sufficient to conclude that this increase has coincided with the start of the Industrial Revolution (“Global Warming”). By analyzing carbon dioxide pockets that have been trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists can assuredly confirm the correlation between recent warming
Increasing scientific confidence in estimates of the effects of climate change has recently been catapulted into mainstream media which has forced many to confront the subject of global warming and climate change. A decade ago the subject of global warming was not as widely accepted by the scientific community as it is today. Now, due to recent advances in technology, most scientists agree that climate change and the effects humans are having on it is indeed scientific fact. A different approach has been used, compared to the past, to investigate the small differences in land and sea temperatures. The results have led most scientists to conclude that climate change has significantly increased over the past 200 years. This conclusion was reached based on data collected over 10,000+ years and comparing it to the average normal temperature rise and fall between the centuries and millenniums.
Global warming is defined as the recent increase in the world 's temperature that is believed to be caused by the increase of certain gases (such as carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. There are many different theories on whether global warming is similar or not to climate change. Simplistically, climate change is different because climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns or, in particular, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels, having been measured over long periods of time, due to the changes in Earth’s orbit and organic carbon which reflect sunlight. Global warming and climate change are not to be confused because global warming is caused mainly by anthropogenic factors like the emission of carbon dioxide gas and use of fossil fuels whereas climate change is completely natural, however, according to Milan Radovanovic, “it is clear that the anthropogenic factors dominate the increasing temperature and the natural ones have the maximum influence…” (Radovanovic). Therefore, “the contribution to global warming from natural forcings and from natural internal variability is in the range between -0.2 to 0.2 [degrees] celsius over the period 1951-2010…” (Radovanovic). Natural factors have had the most effect on global temperature in the past 59 years totaling a 0.4 degrees celsius increase in
How does the rising use of fossil fuels impact the earth? The simple answer is that the earth’s temperature rises, otherwise known as global warming. Global warming then devolves into climate change. Global warming has been “proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia” (“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?”) because of the world’s increasing reliance on fossil fuels. World-wide natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey, may be correlated to an increased risk in extreme weather events due to climate change. There has been efforts to curb climate change, such as pieces of legislation like the Paris Climate Accord, but beliefs of individual leaders such as Donald Trump, who “claims to think that links between carbon emissions and climate change are ‘a hoax’” (Steadman 19), has halted the fulfillment of such agreements between states. If there is not effective efforts to slow the emission rate, the earth will face devastating consequences. Therefore, the leaders of countries across the world must work together to develop a solution to slow climate change, or else the future will be disastrous.
Look around. Every day, everyone will witness some sort of carbonic emission in some form dispersing into the atmosphere. You hear enough about it on the news, whether you care or not. However, the question lingers: is it even that big of a deal? Most likely, if you are a Republican, you will say that Democrats are blowing the whole climate change situation out of the water, or that the warming of our earth is completely natural. Notice how they switched it from global warming to climate change; that is because their previous assumptions and models have not been completely accurate, right? On the other hand, if you are a Democrat, you are most likely seething over the statements you just read and want to do anything you can to prevent this possible catastrophic disaster. 97% percent of climate scientists agree that Climate Change is here and now, caused by all of us… right? Democrats are also more likely to target and blame carbon emissions on the rising temperatures. Nevertheless, William McDonough, a famous urban planner, says that targeting carbon is a purely political move. Further, carbon should be a useful resource for humans, and an imbalanced carbon cycle is to blame. In fact, McDonough claims this imbalance is the result of poor and inadequate urban designing. Are any climate change believers right? Or are Donald Trump and friends correct in pointing the finger at the problem and saying, “wrong!” First and foremost, let us explore the partisan views on the issue.
Climate change and Global Warming are out of control. This means that, no matter what policies, processes or actions are implemented, the Earth as we know it will never be the same again. There is significant evidence to support this hypothesis. The dilemma becomes whether we can limit the damage and adapt to a new status quo or not. Rising sea levels and the damage caused by this phenomenon has irreversible impacts on coastlines worldwide. Damage to sensitive reef systems cannot be fixed. This also has permanent impacts of the ecology not just of those immediate areas but also the ocean as a whole.
A meeting discussing global warming and the ongoing climate change (and the impact CO2 emissions have on the growing problem) has been in session in Peru for the past few days. Dozens of world leaders are gathering to discuss possible changes that can be implemented to halt the increase in temperature seen around the globe. However, many prominent scientists have stated that it may be too late for these world leaders to make any significant impacts (Associated). These scientists, and many other people around the world, believe that humans have contributed significantly to global warming, and as a result mankind needs to do whatever it can to combat this ongoing crisis. Nearly 3,500 miles away from Peru, United States Senator James Inhofe is in Washington D.C., representing Oklahoma in the United States Senate. Senator Inhofe is one of the loudest preachers of the belief that global warming is not the dire threat that so many scientists make it out to be. Inhofe has claimed that it is “arrogant for people to believe human beings are able to change what He (God) is doing in the climate” (Tashman). The Senator believes that only God controls the climate and the environment, and to even think that humans are impacting the earth’s climate is misguided (Tashman). These two opposing viewpoints bring with them questions of religion, politics, human responsibility, and ultimately the fate of the planet. On one side, there are those who say that the science is so concrete, and the
Global climate has been changing throughout history; just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advances and retreats. The abrupt end of the last ice age, about 7,000 years ago, marked the beginning of the modern climate era and of human civilization. Global warming has gradually increased the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. There is compelling evidence of rapid climate change because of different sea levels rising, glacial retreat, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, extreme weather, ocean acidification and decreased snow cover.
has rose about 6.7 inches in the past 100 years- this rate is almost double
Increased carbon dioxide emissions have played a massive role in the increased rate of climate changes. Though the Industrial Revolution or “Great Transformation” during the late 1700s appears to be the start of the trend. With the Technological advances of their century, these creators did not foresee the severe environmental outcomes that would come of it all, resulting in future centuries of unrest. “Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30 percent, methane concentrations have more than doubled, and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen by
While the authorities, organizations and governments are working to control global warming and climate changes, human activities that create changes is increasing day by day. A change or rise is the average temperature on the surface of the earth is called climate change or global warming. Agriculture has always been extremely depended on climate variations; reason, the crop growth is fair temperature, solar radiations, and precipitation. Typically the period after the industrial revolution, humans has been changing the worldwide climate. The burning of the fossil fuel, increasing greenhouse gases is the main reason for the global climate change and warming. Deforestation and unusual agriculture are another kind of the human activities
Throughout the earth’s history, global climate patterns have fluctuated, with these climate patterns going through glacial retreat and advance (NASA 2014). Currently the earth is experiencing a retreat, this significant trend single handily points to human influence being the dominant cause of the observed temperature rise in global climate patterns since the mid-century (NASA 2014). The warming of global climate systems is undisputable supported by unprecedented observations, based upon direct measurements and remote sensing from satellites and other platforms (IPCC 2013, pg.2). The IPCC (2013) outlines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere”.
The greater Himalayas hold the largest mass of ice outside Polar Regions and are the source of the ten largest rivers in Asia. Rapid reduction in the volume of Himalayan glaciers due to climate change is occurring, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). With a highly heterogeneous geography, the region has a great climatic variability and forms a barrier to atmospheric circulation for the summer monsoon and winter westerlies. The regions climatic zones contain a rich diversity of species and ecosystems that exist along a pronounced humidity gradient, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). Vegetation changes from subtropical semi desert and thorn steppe formation in the northwest to tropical evergreen rainforests in the southeastern Himalayas, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). Climate change impacts are already occurring in the Greater Himalayas, the most widely reported effect is the rapid reduction of glaciers, which has implications of future downstream water supplies, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). The Himalayas as a whole are very sensitive to global climate change. Progressive increases in warming at high elevations are occurring at approximately three times the global average, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that average annual mean warming will be about three degrees warmer by 2050 and about five degrees warmer in 2080 over the Asian land mass, (Wilkes & Eriksson, 2009). Given that current discussions about dangerous climate change are
A lot of attention has been focused on the impacts of climate change and global warming
Global warming/climate change has been a big issue of discussion in my generation. Global warming is talked about on the news, in the newspapers, in magazines, and every other kind of social media. Today’s generation heard about global warming right out of the womb all the way to present day. I personally do believe in global warming. Is that because of the fact I was brought up in the time of the world where you hear about it basically everyday, I don’t know; it’s a good possibility. During the 19 years that I have been on Earth I have experience all time record heat waves to all time record cold temperatures. I have seen some of the world’s worst earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms, and tsunami. When watching the news I see towns/cities underwater from storms and houses demolished by storms. I grew up on the coast down the street from Plum Island, which is located in Massachusetts and every year the oceans take at least one house. The little island is slowly disappearing and sometime in the near future is most likely wont be there anymore. Global warming/ climate change must be the cause for this extreme weather that has been hitting the world for the 19 years that I have been alive.
The Average temperature of the Earth have increased by 1.4 °F over the past 100 years, and it is expected to increase approximately another 2 to 11.5 °F over the next century. Little changes in the average temperature of the Earth can result into big and possibly to dangerous shifts in climate and weather. Rising temperatures around the world have been accompanied by differences in weather and climate. A lot of places have already seen changes in rainfall which resulted in an increase in floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more continual and dangerous heat waves. The Earth’s oceans and glaciers have also experienced some great changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these and other changes become more pronounced in the coming decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and our environment.