Impact Of Climate Change On The Environment

What is climate change exactly? Climate change happens when long-term weather problems occur. For example: global warming can be a part of climate change because the weather changes and the heat increase very slowly. Climate change is becoming a huge problem and is affecting the world's ecosystems and communities. The world could become one huge oven or it won't. Nobody knows.

Three ways through which the environment is affecting climate change: (1) ocean temperatures are getting warmer and the oceans and seas are rising. A warmer atmosphere causes the earth’s snow packs, glaciers, sea and freshwater ice to melt rapidly. The oceans absorb more sunlight than ice – thus heating the ocean more and enabling a relentless cycle of melting and heating; (2) the increased evaporation of water is fuel for storms such as hurricanes. The rising sea levels make storm surges capable of greater damage. In addition, in the more drier areas, droughts and wildfires multiply and intensify due to the climate change; (3) the warmer atmosphere increases the formation of ground level ozone, i.e., smog, in polluted areas. Asthma attacks are increased due to the smog. Wildfires also pollute the air

Climate change has taken its toll on our planet. Record heat, fires, drought and snowstorms have all become the norm in our worldwide weather patterns. The city of Charlotte has also suffered from the consequences of climate change with extreme temperatures, record snowstorms and ice storms. It is apparent that action must be taken immediately to stop climate change (Sargent). How can a small city attempt to solve a global issue such as climate change? Can climate change be solved on an individual level? The answer is yes; a small city can greatly reduce carbon emissions by each individual’s choice of clean energy.

Is it too late to go back? Can we leave our plan in sustainable place for future generations? Climate change is happening weather we like it or not, what are we going to do? Mahtma Ghandi once said “ you need to be the change you wish to see in the world”. Climate change is causing unbelievably high levels of carbon dioxide , the global economy is estimated to drop by 23 percent by 2100. Our glaciers are melting at an unbelievable pace, Zacharie Isstrom is melting at a pace of 5 billion tons per year.

The amount of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that are produced and released in the atmosphere from Canada, the United States (U.S), and many other countries, is a big issue for the planet’s health since it causes climate change. Climate change has various damaging effects on the earth. It can cause severe weather such as floods, droughts, etc. Some political parties agree that a carbon pricing policy should be implemented, like the Green party, New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Liberals, while other parties think that it isn’t worth implementing, like the Conservatives. Implementing a carbon policy will take a lot of time, effort, and money, and might unfairly target those who are at a disadvantage, like low income people or those living in remote areas, making them pay more taxes. But to avoid the harmful effects of climate change, Canada needs to implement a carbon pricing policy—a method that has made a significant change in many countries that decided to tax or cap carbon emissions.

In another matter, this is not the first time that climate change has affected the planet in the past there were many problems to the earth millions of years ago. There were five major ice ages from the longest and first scientists believe occurred was two point four to two point one billion years ago during the early Proterozoic Eon there was an ice age formed and it was the Huronian. The second ice age was the cryogenian and it has been known that it produced a snowball earth in which permanent sea ice extended to or very near the earth's equator; this period occurred from eight hundred and fifty to six hundred and thirty million years ago. The third ice age that occurred was the Andean-Saharan it occurred during the Paleozoic from fout

The studies of Earth have showed that in the last hundred years, the temperature has gone up one degree Fahrenheit. Even just one degree can make a big difference to the Earth’s natural form. The warming of the Earth has caused the snow and ice to melt much faster and the ocean levels to rise. In the next hundred years the effects will be more severe.

The global climate is changing. It is most likely that it will continue changing throughout the century. It is the greatest challenge today in the 21st century. Climate change puts more stress on the survival of the poor developing countries. There is nowhere does climate change impact more than on the Africa’s fragile ecosystems. The scope and severity of the impacts of the change in the global climate have made the international community to galvanize into action in an attempt to reverse the trend.

There have been various scientific studies into the effects climate change is having on the planet and how there is a decline in the amount of available non-renewable resources. In a report made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), it was noted that, "Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of hum activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values".

In my opinion, it is evident by now that the climate is changing. There will always be disputants for everything, but the only questions are what will be the overall effects on the planet, how these effects will impact the ability of man and all life on the planet to survive, and the speed at which these changes will occur. It can also be challenged as to how much of the change is naturally occurring and how much of the change is caused by the activity of man. It is difficult to achieve action on any problem that is perceived as an issue in the future because our political systems are set-up to put off confronting difficult issues. Politicians want to be re-elected and making minor changes now to avoid major consequences later is not a

Climate can be defined as the mean of temperature, wind patterns, quantity of water vapor in the air, which is humidity and rainfall that has continued from the past up until the present. The cause of climate change was expected to be through natural phenomena’s, for example volcanic eruptions and solar activity. However, the change in climate is not due to the natural effects but solely through human activities. From generation to generation the human race has immeasurably impacted the earth’s environment through farming of land and animals, building cities, and establishing factories and power plants. Each factor has contributed to the negative impact of the earth’s environment in many different ways. The temperature is beginning to increase; glaciers and polar ice caps are melting, carbon dioxide levels are rising, causing the ozone layer to deplete. As of today, one of the biggest problems not only for human beings but also for this planet is known to be climate change. When greenhouse gases are increased, it causes the increase in sea levels and an increase in global temperatures. As a result, serious weather patterns are advancing. All of these changes will destroy houses, land, and foundation. Therefore, climate change is another significant environmental, social, and economic threat facing this planet.

There is no denying that the effects of climate change are here. The cause of climate change, however, is often a debatable topic. The livestock industry is expanding at an alarming rate to meet the needs of an increasing population. Throughout the world, between the years 1971 and 2012, meat production has tripled, to 600 billion pounds a year, while the population only grew by 81%. This generation is currently eating meat on a much larger scale than their parents and grandparents ever did, just a few decades ago (Scheer). Climate change can be referred to as “any long-term change in Earth 's climate, or in the climate of a region or city. This includes warming, cooling and changes besides temperature.” according to NASA (Dunbar). To combat these undesirable, extreme temperatures, everyone has been told before to turn off the lights when leaving a room or to plant a tree, but rarely does one hear the suggestion to eat less or no meat. With an increasing threat of global warming largely due to the livestock industry, it is imperative that Americans start practicing vegetarianism to decrease methane produced by farm animals, carbon dioxide from transporting meat and by eliminating the deforestation required to make farmland for the livestock industry.

Over the past few decades, the world has rapidly deteriorated in terms of the environment. There are numerous factors that contribute to the deterioration of the earth and one significant factor is due to the issues of climate change. Majority of environmental as well as social scientist that cares about the world defines climate change as the primary source of global risk since it could have severe impacts on the future generations. In addition, the general meaning of the term ‘climate change’ is defined as the change in regional or global climate patterns and it is mainly caused by human activities such as deforestation and emission of harmful gases that pollutes the environment. The future generations are affected in a way that survivability in the world would be tougher and lifestyle would be different compared to the present. In the following essay, climate change will be discussed by relating it to the issue of sustainable development as well as identifying several implications of a continued “Business as Usual” approach and concluding by providing several objectives and alternatives to improve sustainability of the world.

Ice melting at the earths poles, sea levels rising at increasing rates, increased precipitation, and the vast migrations of millions of animals to cooler climates all are impacts of increasing temperatures that are happening right now. Within the next century, sea levels will rise 7 - 23 inches, Storms will become much stronger, floods/droughts will become more common, and many, many other negative environmental changes (Cook). These changes in the environment have been the topic of debate for decades, but has become more and more common over the past few years.

This paper reviews Daniel Scott's article in the Journal of Sustainable Times "Why sustainable tourism must address climate change."