The Effects Of Radicalization On A Hurting Earth

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.

Scientific research shows that climate change like this has happened before, so some people do not believe in global warming solely based on that research. I personally think that climate change is man made, but not to the point where it could be devastating. Research has also shown that if anything were to occur in a devastating manner, it would not be in our lifetime. According to NASA, this climate change has been on a roller coaster of increasing and decreasing, so the global warming does have the potential to slow

Shifts in temperature and precipitation will be a shock to fragile ecosystems which depend on specific climatic conditions. Many species will be unable to adapt as fast as their environment changes and face sharply reduced numbers or extinction. Scientists estimate that a warming of just 2 degree will put as many as 30% of the world's species at risk of extinction. Plants and animals aren’t the only ones feeling the pressure of changing ecosystems. Many regions will face severe water shortages in a warmer world, creating the potential for conflict. It is believed that the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region is at least in part a response to water shortages resulting from global warming.

"An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest are lost each year." (LiveScience).

Any policy concerning homegrown radicalization needs to be consistent with America’s unique set of constitutional, political, and social laws. The search for policies and solutions concerning domestic radicalization and terrorism has been ongoing for nearly two decades. Constitutional freedom to express radical or extremist views creates unintended consequences in homeland security policies. One policy passed into law weeks after 9/11 was the 2001 Patriot Act. Policy makers believed that the act would be use to break barriers created between terrorist and counterterrorism, and law enforcement provisions. However, it created several unintended consequences.

Climate change is happening – the extensive and critically accepted reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have removed any remaining doubt.

“Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority,” genius businessman and billionaire Bill Gates, once said (Brainy Quote). Although many doubt the severity and even possibility of climate change, there is no evidence contradicting the fact that the national average temperature has increased by more than 1.4 degrees over the last century (EPA). Additionally, record-breaking temperatures appear yearly, and the weather has become much more drastic and tumultuous in all regions across the globe. Sadly, the land is not the only part of Earth experiencing these changes. The planet’s oceans and glaciers are experiencing changes as well. For example, ice caps are melting, sea levels are

The definition of ''radicalization'' continues to be subject to much debates and controversy. Many have put forward their own understandings, providing different challenges in conceptualizing this term. As mentioned at the introduction, the term ''radicalization'' has many meanings and while it may not have an accepted definition some critics have voiced their concerns that the idea of radicalization could be used to ''criminalize protest, dishonor any form of radical thinking and label political disagreement as potentially dangerous'' (Neumann, 2008: 3). While it is an established concept, defining radicalization poses challenges of perception, ideology and religion.

Global warming projections have been proven wrong many times. The majority of predictions made by scientists were not true. Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States and an environmentalist, said in 2008 that the North Pole would have no ice in the next five years. “...Arctic sea ice coverage was nearly 9,000 cubic kilometers by the end of [2013] melting season, up from about 6,000 cubic kilometers during the same time last year.” The Arctic ice has not been decreasing, but increasing. Just like Al Gore, most of the other scientist that says global warming is an important issue, are

“Sociology had little to tell the world about the nature and causes of organized attacks by civilians against other civilians” (Roche, 2004), attacks such as the event that took place September 11th, 2001 caught the interest of sociologist and implored them to turn their attention to the subject of terrorism. “Terrorism is a form of collective violence”, against civilians, critical infrastructures, or natural resources, in an attempt to pursue a political agenda (Roche, 2004). The word terrorism Extremist and extremist groups are those that commit acts of violent extremism and have very different ideologies than those they have targeted. The definition of terrorism is broad and changes from agency to agency and even government. All terrorists

Polar bears are seen starving to death as they tread on the foreign iceless land. The earth’s ice, most commonly seen in Antarctica, begins to melt due to the rise in temperatures, rising sea levels as well. High temperatures affect the dry lands of California as deadly wildfires are produced throughout the North and South and have also taken the lives of people. All of these dire issues and more have gone viral through news broadcasting and the culprit of these devestations leads back to climate change. However, the source of climate change is ultimately the human race. After humans have been taking advantage of the earth for so long, depriving it of its natural and bountiful beauty, the side effects have been arising globally. Pope Francis

Recently, the idea of global warming has been under fire by people who claim it to be a hoax. Even “President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that “nobody really knows” whether climate change is real” (Eilperin). Even with skepticism, the largest problem facing the world in coming years will undoubtedly be environmental issues. All across the globe, millions of people and thousands of communities feel the effects of global warming and deforestation daily. Whether through a loss of water, rising sea levels, or even a decrease in agriculture, the world is changing and suffering as a result.

According to NASA climate change will keep happening in the future unless we do something. Also The US Department of the Interior claims that these changes are causing drastic challenges for animals and their surroundings Humans are proven to be the main cause of climate change. This is because when we cut down trees it’s causing the greenhouse effect. This is when the atmosphere is getting thicker and trapping the heat inside and around our Earth.

Global warming skeptics say that there is no evidence to prove that global warming is really happening. The warmest years on record occur within the last eighteen years. Glaciers all over the world are receding. Carbon dioxide emissions have grown by 90% since 1970. Species are going extinct due to habitat loss. Weather is becoming more extreme, such as more droughts and more hurricanes. Ocean levels are rising. Climate change is a common occurrence for earth, and I think it's safe to say there is definately a climate change occurring. What people have to consider now is whether or not we will be able to sustain life for hundreds of years to come or if we should all just pack up and move to mars before the earth extincts us itself.

Therefore, here it is defined as the process in which an individual or group adopt a set of extremist beliefs either political, social, or religious that can lead to a desire to use, support, or facilitate violence to bring about change. This is not a new concept. It can be seen in the propaganda of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Irish Republican Army (IRA), German Red Army Faction (RAF), and more. Many have been radicalized from issues such as race, religion, environment, and politics. Though there have been some individuals who have crossed the line into bombing buildings and intentionally targeting innocent civilians, as a means to justify their ends, being radical is not necessarily a negative thing. As Neumann (2013) points out its about context and “depending on what one considers mainstream or acceptable, the adoption of certain beliefs or behaviours may be seen as radicalization, ‘going progressive’, ‘becoming a born-again believer’ or ‘returning to the roots’.” Additionally, he makes the important point that like terrorism, the word radicalization can have a tendency to be overused and thus more politicized than useful. This is why it is vital to understand radicalization in the context of this paper as only one mechanism toward potential violence. Understanding radicalization in terms of why individuals decide to commit terrorism is an important step in understanding how they got involved in