Taking a Look at Climate Change

Global warming is hot topic nowadays. Alarmists and scientists fight to make their statements known, but while the alarmists avoid the scientist, non-governmental organizations pass themselves as scientist. They not only give out exaggerated data, they also have the nerve to accuse humans of being the cause of global warming. Also, we cannot be certain that we are being told the truth without knowing exactly what is really going on behind the scenes. We blindly trust those in authority because we think that they have our greater good in mind and that whatever they say must be the truth.

Climate change is one of the most talked-about topics since the past two decades. The planet and its habitants are suffering from this change and, at first sight, people think that they are the only affected by climate change, but this thought is incorrect. In fact, the fauna and flora, and of course the weather are also affected. To combat these problems, many scientists are trying to analyze the behavior of the animals and of the plants to see their reactions to its changes, 195 countries try to find solutions to slow down this phenomenon at the Conference of the Parties every year, awareness campaigns are launched so that citizens can contribute to this slowdown and many more. Many disasters are caused by global warming and this is likely

Climate change, global warming, greenhouse effect—even if you only watch the news periodically, these are phrases that you have most likely become aware of. In short, climate change is the change global and regional patterns regarding climate; this is due to possible changes in the Earth’s axis, human activity modifying the composition of the atmosphere, or geographical activity such as volcanic eruptions [1]. Many have speculated and argued whether climate change actually exists. Regardless of your opinion, a staggering amount of scientists have accepted climate change as a reality. In fact, the much-admired astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims that individuals denying scientific facts is the “beginning of the end of an informed democracy” [2]. The article Climate Change: No Hiding Place supports Neil deGrasse Tyson’s notion stating “those who doubt that greenhouse gases are quite the problem they have been cracked up to be by most of the world's climatologists” [3]. While it may be difficult to see climate change presently, there are many indicators of its existence with the higher temperatures and acidity levels in the ocean, the melting of Arctic ice caps,

Climate change is not something we think about everyday and can be a complex and confusing topic to research or understand. Many of us do not understand the daily implications of climate or what the future climate may look like. Regardless, most people have strong opinions on the climate change topic and many are adamant about their decisions. All across the world, people wonder, is global warming a threat to our lives as we know them? Is the majority of it caused by humans? While some sources say that 97 percent of climate change scientists agree, other sources say it’s more like 40 percent. That is a very large difference in statistics that ranges from almost 100 percent to well under 50.(percent quote) There is still a large amount of controversy

Climate change is defined as the increase of the average surface temperature on the earth. There is speculation that this climate change is due to human activity, but there are skeptics that say that it’s the earth’s natural variation of temperature. Even though natural variation is evident, data reveals that the extent of this climate change isn’t only effected by natural variation.

There is an issue on this planet that will define this generation. The issue is climate change. Global warming. A world on the collapse as our oceans are acidified, our air polluted, our forests disappearing, and human rights issues getting worse. It seems that people are not aware of how big climate change actually is. It’s not something that only takes place on the ice caps or in the forests on the far corners of the world. This is an issue that happens here, and now. It’s real. It’s happening.

The issue of anthropogenic climate change, more commonly identified as global warming, has become hotly debated in the media and political arenas. Critics argue that global warming does not exist and that it is merely a fiction created by the science community. Such critics argue further that what scientists are describing as global warming is either a transitory condition or part a cyclical situation that has occurred throughout history. As a result of this critical opposition the question becomes global warming is a problem that needs immediate and/or long term attention? What the critics of global warming are failing to consider is the mountains of evidence provide by the scientific community that supports the fact that global warming is a reality and that it is human behavior that has caused this condition and it is only human behavior that can remedy the situation. Within the scientific community there is little disagreement that global warming is a serious problem.

Global warming is an issue which many people, experts or not, have an opinion on and the controversy over its validity has led to two distinct factions: those who believe it is influenced by human actions and those who believe it arises from natural causes. One major consequence of disputing scientific evidence and research that supports anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change due to global warming is the slowing or halting of progress towards better environmental policies. Several special interest groups and leading politicians have created doubt among the public about the reality of global warming, and it is alarming that there are scientists who also support these views and

Take a deep breath and imagine it is Sunday morning. The birds are chirping, the air is crisp with freshness, and the sun is radiating at a perfect temperature of 62 degrees. The coast is a 6-minute drive away, and this is the perfect day to take a short journey to the rocky shore and splash in the water. However, there is one problem, an action such as driving to the beach front will almost certainly contribute to the destructive effects of climate change. Due to this claim, is it then morally obligatory to not go on this Sunday morning drive in an effort to prevent greenhouse gas emissions?

The effects of climate change are much more complex then a simple rise in temperature. Habitats and the species that rely on them are disappearing, in what I view as a ‘snowball effect’ of biodiversity loss. A reduction in a species habitat will have dire consequences for them as well as other species that co-exist with them, over time every aspect of that environment is affected. In the Artic, sea ice is melting at a faster then it has in centuries. According to an article published by Aarhus University "Climate change is by far the worst threat to Arctic biodiversity. Temperatures are expected to increase more in the Arctic compared to the global average, resulting in severe disruptions to Arctic biodiversity some of which are already visible” (Aarhus University, 2013). Among the many species being affected, the polar bear population has already experienced serious decline because of its reliance on sea ice. Polar bears rely on the sea ice to hunt, breed, and, in some cases, den. Changes in their population and distribution are starting to become noticeable within the Arctic ecosystem. There are social, environmental and economic effects associated with the negative effects climate change has on the polar bear population. Because of these dire consequences related to climate change, swift action must be taken in order to help protect this species and its environment.

The idea that the earths climate is consistently changing is widely accepted by nearly every scientist around the world due to sufficient evidence and long term weather trends backing this conclusion. Climate change can be noted by the several juristic changes that are currently occurring within nature. It is causing an intensification of natural disasters-such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and many more-due to warmer temperatures allowing for more moisture to be held within the air. It also causes a decrease in biodiversity within nature, causing several species of animals to become endangered or even extinct due to habitat loss. Both of these are just some of the many ways climate change is negatively impacting nature and ultimately us as a human race. Despite all of this evidence, there is still a sizeable group of people that do not believe in such climate change. Some, on the other hand, may believe in the issue, but ignorantly assume that it is not of any importance to them. They are wrong. There is more than an ample amount of evidence to prove that climate change is occurring now more than ever across the world, effecting ourselves as well as ecosystems more than we know. There are several organizations that meet to address and solve the global issue of climate change. Still, a wide majority of nations around the world choose not to become involved in these foundations, making them just as large of a problem, as they feed off of others contributions.

These three studies investigated the effects of climate change, and in particular increased temperatures in intertidal zones. The study conducted by Bertness et al worked to quantify thermal stresses on rocky intertidal organisms. The species that was focused on was Semibalanus balanoides at sites north and south of Cape Cod. The team analyzed the relationship between thermal stress, population density and individual organism survival rates. While the study conducted by Bertness focused on increases in environmental temperatures, the study conducted by Helmuth and his team investigated the effect of increased global temperatures on the body temperatures of organisms, which is ultimately capable of altering their physiological activities and functioning. The team used a heat budget model to collect data in relation to mussel body temperature at three different tidal elevations along the coast of California, all of which are also exposed to different ambient temperatures, light intensity, wind patterns, waves, and tide timing. The study conducted by Barry et al also investigated intertidal communities, but focused on the range shifts of intertidal species between 1931 and 1933, as well as 1993 and 1994. It was noted that species shifted their ranges northward, which is consistent with global warming models and other studies that have observed range shifts in recent years. Forty-five species were investigated within California intertidal communities. Along with this presented

According to Johnson (2010), the issue of climate change has been hotly debated from two main viewpoints: that global warming has resulted from human activity on the one hand; and that it is a myth resulting from flawed research and unverified scientific findings. Those who hold the former view accuse those of the latter persuasion that they are concerned more with perpetuating the fossil fuel industry than creating a safe environment for future human generations. The other side, in turn, are of the opinion that the public is far too susceptible to believe whatever they are told as soon as the scientific label is placed on it. Because of these two widely divergent opinions, the issue has been shrouded in uncertainty for many, with a third group believing that global warming does exist, but that human activity is not necessarily the main culprit. This opinion holds that natural events such as volcanic activity creates far more heat and greenhouse effects than human activity could hope to achieve. Hence, this group holds that there is little that can be done about what is essentially a natural process.

Let’s first look at why global warming has even occurred. Energy technologies and civilization have developed side by side ever since the Lower Paleolithic era. For millenniums, humans have been searching for energy sources to fuel their lives. It was about one million years ago when humans first figured out how to control and use fire (Miller). Now, people rely on fossil fuels – mainly coal and oil – to supply our energy. What affect does coil and oil play on global warming? The combustion of these fuels – mainly from automobiles and power plants –highly alters a process known as the greenhouse effect. Similar to that of a greenhouse, solar energy enters through Earth’s atmosphere and is either reflected by clouds, snow and ice, or absorbed by water, land, buildings and other objects. As they do so, certain atmospheric gases – greenhouse gases – reradiate this heat again and again, keeping our planet warm enough to make life possible. However, the burning of fossil fuels release multiple of these greenhouse gases; with one in particular being the most important and abundant gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). The more greenhouse gases Earth’s atmosphere contains, the more heat it traps. This means rising average global surface temperature, or global warming.

So what actually is global warming? Obviously the name explains it; the globe becoming warmer. But what does it mean “to become warmer”? The sun isn’t getting hotter; the world isn’t traveling closer to the sun. Global warming is when rapid moving particles collide more and more with other rapid moving particles and are trapped by the atmosphere’s thick layer of gas molecules. As more heat is trapped, particles that are in earth’s atmosphere collide with each other. As more collisions are present, the average kinetic energy which is the average speed at which the particles collide with one another increases therefore the temperature increases which affects many aspects of life.