The Issue Of The Environment And Globalisation

The majority of scientific evidence suggests that over the last century humans have begun to have a discernible influence on the world's climate, causing it to warm. There is substantial evidence to indicate that significant global warming will occur during the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to dramatize the impact climate change could have on Australian society if we are unprepared for it. In discussing the future of the planet, climate change, caused by increased abundances of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, has been a serious cause of concern. Several studies have suggested that climate change can lead to mass-fatality disasters, international migration leading to tensions and conflict, resource shortages, infectious disease, terrorism and rising-sea levels and drought causing immense economic nuisances, all of which have the potential to harm Australia’s national security.

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 a real problem facing our world with all of the progression of today’s society. The amount of Greenhouse Gas emissions has gone up drastically in the past one hundred years alone. The use of transportation, industry, electricity and the deprivation of the world's natural resources has increased the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency has shown an increase in the Earth's temperature by 0.8 degrees C in the past century alone. It is proven that humans are the cause of global warming but it is not too late to change how we are.

To meet the needs and demands of the ever rising human population, technology continues to advances and yet the bleak outlook for our future generations fails to push for a long term solution for our dying Earth. The excess greenhouse gases is an evident problems for our planet, it causes rapid climate change to adversely impacts Australia, resulting in fast increasing temperatures, jeopardizing the lives of Australians, and devastating the oceans and the ecosystems that rely upon it. Although the entire world is warming up due to climate change, Australia will suffer more severely – ensuing in a growing number of extreme weathers even with the slightest rise in average temperature (Milman, 2015). As this Oceanian country takes the blunt of

Anthropocene is a time period where the “effects of the humans on the global environment have escalated” (Crutzen 23). The Earth is no longer in its natural state but is “moving into a less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, and probably wetter and stormier state” (Steffen 614).

Climate change began in the 1820s with Joseph Fourier and in the 1860s with John Tyndall. Fourier put into motion the “greenhouse effect.” An effect where trapped gasses in the lower atmosphere absorb the sun’s heat. Tyndall found that “greenhouse gasses” cover the earth like a sheet. This is how the earth keeps cool and warm. Yet, too much greenhouse gasses can be futile. During this time, humans did not know that they were the ones causing implications. 100 years later, Svante Arrhenius proposed that “…doubling the CO2 content of the planet’s atmosphere would raise its temperature by 2.5 to 4.0 degrees Celsius” (Frank, para 7). Any slight change in temperature can offset the ecosystem. People began to act to save their planet, but there are still many in denial.

The idea of climate change, for many, is an opinionated subject with much discussion of whether it is a real issue or just a natural phenomenon. However in recent years it is clear to see that trends in the Earth’s climate and surface temperature has spiked to levels never seen before. Despite all the evidence of the high levels of greenhouses gases and the rise in temperature, many still believe that

According to scientific research, the average temperature of the earth has risen by between ten and twenty degrees Celsius (M.L. Weitzman, 2008). These high temperatures could well be described as a ‘recipe for disaster’, and could produce results that would be catastrophic on a global scale. What is more alarming however, is that there is already a lot of evidence of predicted results of climate change, for instance, in Australia especially, severe draughts have been common in farming areas in the last few decades, there has been an increase of intense and extreme weather events, for example floods, flash floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and tornados, almost all of the natural disasters listed have occurred for ‘unknown’ reasons in the past few years. Rises in sea water level and temperature due to higher acid levels caused by global warming, threaten the existence of species and in some areas, entire eco-systems resulting in the loss of natural biodiversity. ‘Climate change is pushing the world to the verge of environmental and economic collapse, whether global deniers want to believe it or not’ (N. Klein, 2011).

Climate change has been a topic of debate for decades. Scientists support climate change is happening with hard scientific evidence whereas the people who oppose climate change have evidence which is mainly opinion-based. This report will cover what climate change is, why climate change is happening, the science that supports climate change, the different views and opinions on climate change, the effects of climate change around the world and particularly the effects in New Zealand, my opinion on climate change and my conclusion on the issue.

Global warming is defined “as an increase in the average temperature of global surface air and oceans since about 1950” (White). The global warming controversy is an ongoing dispute with two main sides; one stating that the direct cause to global warming is through people’s daily activities and the burning of fossil fuels, while other people all around the world refuse to believe that human contributions are the main cause, saying that the earth is going through a natural stage of climatic change, thereby resulting in increasing temperatures in the earth’s atmosphere. Rising temperatures and in increase in greenhouse gases shown through the carbon cycle, demonstrate how the greenhouse effect is incorporated into both views on global warming. Over the past 50 years, experts in this field world-wide have been having an unaccountable amount of disputes over global warming, favoring in either of these positions of human causation or natural climatic change.

Global warming, along with all of its negative impacts, harms the populations living on the Earth. Whether it is direct harm to an individual or harm caused to something which then impacts an individual, the effects of global warming do not go unnoticed. Due to its level of impact, “[c]limate change is … the greatest threat facing humanity. It will lead to small island states disappearing from the face of the earth, serious global threats to our food and water supplies, and ultimately the death of hundreds of millions of the poorest people in the world over the course of this century” (Doebbler). The list of consequences associated with climate change is infinite. This list will only continue to grow if society does not make an effort to do anything about it. If people were to realize that they themselves are the ones posing a threat to humanity, the situation would be different. However, most humans fail to recognize that global warming even exists, let alone the environmental, social, and economic toll it takes on the world. Instead, society concerns itself with other conflicts which it views as more important, leaving no room to worry about climate change. Many controversial issues exist in today’s society. They all have their own degree of importance and numerous consequences associated with them, and most of these issues will in some way, shape, or form impact

In recent years, the controversial subject of global warming has been more predominantly brought to our attention. Is the threat of global warming real? Is it man-made or is this just a natural cycle of earth? Does it really affect earth’s inhabitants? Should action be taken against it? If so, what kind and to what extent? It cannot be only a coincidence that the alarmingly rapid climate change coincides perfectly with the increased amount of pollutants that humans release into the environment. The once stable climate has in recent years begun to skyrocket, thus altering the delicate structure of earthly life. This proves to be hazardous to the future of the planet; some people worry that many of the resources the environment provides that

The problem of climate change is a regular topic of debate. A debate that is rightfully being drilled into the forefront of everyone’s thoughts because the damage has started to become more apparent. The repercussion has started to manifest themselves through altered weather patterns, as the Earth’s temperate zone have become less, for lack of a better word temperate. Unless

Climate change. A phrase that encompasses a vast wealth of information, the totality of which is difficult to fathom let alone concisely elaborate upon in a condensed format such as a course or writing assignment. Through this course, the interconnectedness with which humans influence the balance of climate change is abundantly clear. Ecosystems plants and animals depend on are all connected and influencing one another but these scales are imbalanced, mostly as a result of human activities. The web of interconnectivity in climate change is complex, but there is a reemerging consensus at it’s core that human actions, such as global development, has major ramifications and the health and welfare of people and the environment are paying the price. Those daring enough to say they aren’t influencing climate change haven’t truly examined the many facets of their lives consuming energy and in turn increasing carbon emissions that alter climate. For most, transportation is a necessity. This usage requires energy consumption, most likely in the form of fossil fuel resource depletion and in turn the generation of carbon emissions. Transportation routes by land or sea may alter ecosystems that further elevate carbon emissions. With an understanding that the topic of climate change and carbon emissions is massive at best, the aim of this assignment will be to provide the reader with a basic understanding of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions and the relation to climate change. A

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