The Effects Of Climate Change On The Environment

Climate change is not a new concept. It has been mostly referred to as global warming in the past. As much as people would like to file this issue away as something to deal with at a later date, it simply cannot wait. This problem we face is costing us billions of dollars, forests and wildlife are being eliminated, and people are dying. Starting to sound like a big deal, right? Future generations will be affected the most. People who do not even exist will have to pay for what we, all people, have done to this earth. To begin to make changes, one must realize the severity of the issue. Bill Mckibben, author of “Recalculating the Climate Math,” conveys that “We’ve already raised the world’s temperature by one degree—enough to melt almost half the ice in the Arctic, kill off huge swaths of the world’s coral, and unleash lethal floods and drought. July and August tied for the hottest months ever recorded on our planet, and scientists think they were almost certainly the hottest in the history of human civilization” (Page 3 of 5). Global climate change is a serious problem because it increases natural disasters and is the cause of extreme weather.

Climate change is the most serious issue humankind is facing in the 21th century. Future generations depend on our ability to make the necessary social changes, before reaching the tipping point of irreversibility, which will lead the planet into a catastrophe incompatible with life.

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.

“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate.” - Barack Obama. Climate change has been a popular topic of discussion for years now, because of the threat to our environment. The world will forever be changed if climate change isn’t taken into serious consideration and not in a good way. Climate change has had many negative effects, for example, damage to coral reefs, the increase of wildfires, and most importantly rising sea levels. Climate change is happening now and action should be taken now to stop it. The damage to our earth cannot always be undone as well as making some places disappear forever.

The scientific consensus on global warming is sobering: Its real, it’s happening now and carbon dioxide emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels are almost certainly responsible. Predicting what the exact effects will be on humanity and the planet’s living resources is trickier, but a growing body of evidence suggests they will be profound…, and most wealthy industrial nations have adopted mandatory limits on carbon emissions under the 2005 Kyoto Protocol. (Woodard, 2007, p.27).

In “ Think Again: Climate change,” Bill Mckibben addresses the climate change catastrophe. The damage has already begun and it may be too late to save the planet. There has been many debates and controversies on climate change, but that is about to change, and scientists have accepted the fact that humans are warming the planet. In 2007, the Arctic Ocean melted more ice than ever before. Again in 2008, more ice was melted and the Arctic is now open water. In addition, other regions will eventually suffer from crop loss and food shortages. Eventually, climate change will force states to start conflicts and wars over resources.

"The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are approaching a tipping point beyond which the opportunity to reverse the damage of CO2 emissions will disappear."

Climate change is one of the most crucial issues in the twentieth century. There is much evidence to show fluctuations in weather occurring on the earth. Scientists found that the period of global warming is occurring more frequently than the previous time and rapidly increasing temperature globally. The statistic records on the nineteenth century, calculated that the surface of earth throughout the 100 years ago that had average increase of approximately 0.8C. However, during the period thirteen years ago, the average temperature increase around 0.6C and continually warming with an upward trend in the shortest period. These events cause drastic changes which affect human life such as extreme weather (hotter and colder), food and fresh water shortages and higher levels of the ocean. It is important for people to being concern what happens now. This essay will focus on the main cause of anthropogenic changing climate, in order to evaluate and link the outcome of activity.

It cannot be denied that humans are both the greatest contributors to climate change and the most affected by it. Approaching the issue of climate change from an anthropocentric lens breaks down the issue and makes it much easier to understand and combat. Given that climate change is our fault and our problem, it is clear that we are also the only ones who can reverse or mitigate its effects. Through personal actions, education, and institutional restructuring we can lessen the impact of climate change and find hope in the

[1] Over the last century, the Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 °F. Over the next century, that average is expected to rise an additional 2-11.5 °F. This change has shown a strong correlation with the increase of greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation. In fact, every year, human activity releases over

Climate is the weather conditions over a long term. For millions of years, the earth kept changing between hot and cold, and wet and dry. As the earth warmed and cooled, plants and animals appeared and disappeared. People have had to change their way of life many times as plant and animal life changed. Since the industrial revolution, the humans built many factories and invented lots of electronic devices. They emit harmful gases called greenhouse gases like carbon dioxides and ozone, which affects our planet. However, it is difficult for people to recognize the effects because the process of climate change takes a long time. Furthermore, people think it is so far away. For example, as in Antarctica, all the icebergs are melting, which is

The effects of climate change have become more apparent than ever within the last 100 years. Increasing climates have been proven; with the warmest temperatures in 30 years being recorded (Houghton, 1994). Suggested cause of this increase is population change, the ever increasing demand for natural resources to sustain economic growth has resulted in exploitation of ecological systems at a rate never recorded before. These huge changes to the planet will have a knock on effect to individual and global ecosystems resulting in varying levels of positive feedback. Throughout this essay I will be discussing on various ways climate change effects the ecology of the planet.

Climate change otherwise known as global warming has been an ongoing issue for decades. Beginning in the 19th century, climate change has increasingly affected Earth and its atmosphere. Rising levels of carbon dioxide are warming the Earth’s atmosphere, causing rising sea-levels, melting snow and ice, extreme fires and droughts, and intense rainfall and floods. Climate change has and will continue to affect food production, availability of water, and can add to many health risks in humans and animals. In fact, in an article by Justin Gillis titled, “Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries” he focuses on a paper written by a former NASA climate scientist, James E. Hansen, explaining the effects of climate change on Earth today. Although many believe Hansen’s theories in the paper are quite far-fetched, the author mentions, “Despite any reservations they might have about the new paper, virtually all climate scientists agree with Dr. Hansen’s group that society is not moving fast enough to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, posing grave risks” (Gillis). Gillis validates the fact that climate change has been rapidly expanding throughout Earth and society has not been able to reduce it fast enough. Many negative risks are being posed and will continue to mount if the issue of climate change is not taken seriously. Although climate change negatively affects nearly all aspects of Earth, it poses a big

Due to recent climate change the environment has been impacted in many ways. Climate Change is a change in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels (Oxford Dictionary). Scientists have studied the impacts it 's having on the environment such as temperature rising, sea level rising, and increase in natural disasters. Climate change has only affected us in the 20 years due to the increase in factories cars, and CO2 we produce.

The past two decades has see the largest push for the creation renewable energy technologies in order to reduce the anthropogenic carbon emissions, that have risen so quickly since the industrial revolution began in the early 19th century. The common use of cars, the expansion of commercial farming and the large use of everyday use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas have all contributed to the rising levels of green house gasses. Carbon dioxide levels have increased by around 38% and methane levels have increased by 148% (Earthobservatory.nasa.gov, n.d.) both carbon dioxide and methane are considered to be green house gasses. The warming of the earth’s climate has gone hand in hand with the rising green house gas