“Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us” (Bill Nye). Climate change is one of the most debated topics in history, many people believe fully in it while others are in denial that climate change is caused by humans. Could climate change be the end of this world we know? First, figure out what exactly climate change is. Then talk about how it will affect our everyday lives; what problems come of climate change and Finally what exactly can happen to slow down this climate change problem before it is too late. A brief description of how climate changes will affect us. Climate change will affect the world we live in immensely. Climate change is not in our control because it is not human caused. Both of these statements have supporters, let us figure out the truth in these statements.
When we think of climate change multiple things might come to mind, maybe we think of the temperature change from yesterday to today, maybe we think of Al Gore and his ideals on climate change being global warming that is a human caused problem in this world that needs to be fixed, or you might think of climate change as global warming. “Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.” This is google’s official definition of climate change.
We experience climate change everyday but we just do not notice it personally in a broader spectrum because we are living through climate change. One main side of the argument for climate change is that we, the humans living on the earth, are the reason for the climate change happening today. This man made climate change is claimed to be cause by all of the burning of fossil fuels and tearing down of trees in forests. What happens exactly when you release these carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, molecules into the air is that the molecules trap heat causing the “blanket” in earth’s atmosphere to become warmer which leads to climate change.
The problem that people in the second group have with climate change is how it is caused. Many people don’t think climate change is caused by humans, and humans cutting down trees in our forests or the burning of fossil fuels, instead they believe that climate change is a natural occurring thing that we can not stop. This argument isn’t based off of opinions either. “Temperatures stopped rising then,have fallen since 2012. The “pause” in warming, 212 months, is now longer than the warming trend was, 211 months.” What this quote is saying is that the trend of warming that we have noticed stopped in 1997 and has since then not gone lower or higher. Many scientists also refute the carbon dioxide argument too. They do not deny that carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere from 250 years ago to today, because through science you can see that carbon dioxide has increased from 280 parts per million then versus 380 parts per million today.
Well what’s the answer? Is climate change a human caused epidemic of is climate change inherently something that we cannot avoid? One thing is for certain. Humans are creating more and more carbon dioxide emissions from the fossil fuels we are burning doubled with the acres of forests that are being cut down. Burning fossil fuels is our main source of energy in the world today. If we did not burn fossil fuels for energy we would not have nearly enough energy production for humans to keep their everyday of lifestyle. Something we all need to come to terms with is that we, the humans of the place we call earth, are the problem to this climate change and global warming.
Another huge problem on the subject of climate change is our intelligence or knowledge of the subject. Two in three americans are interested in climate, no why is it that only 66% of americans are interested in the world we live in. Another interesting statistic about climate change is 70% of americans rarely discuss climate change with friends or families. Why is climate change seen as such a taboo subject in America today when if true is such an important topic to be discussing and learning about. We as Americans need to face this subject head on and learn about climate change. This is a pressing subject, one that every American needs to be comfortable discussing and learning about. One thing that you can conclude about climate change in today’s society is how little it is discussed. The only way for people to be informed and to care about what is happening in the world today is to inform others who are not as knowledgeable as you.
Although many people disagree on climate change there is one huge subject that everyone believes. The climate is in fact changing and it has been changing. You do not have to believe that climate change is a human caused problem to care about climate change. We can all agree that the ice caps are melting, when the ice caps melt this leads to a multitude of terrible things. When the ice caps melt the sea level rises; what this means is that places close to sea level in time will be completely submerged in water from the ice caps melting causing more water in the sea. “As seawater reaches farther inland, it can cause destructive erosion, flooding of wetlands, contamination of aquifers and agricultural soils, and lost habitat for fish, birds, and plants.”(National Geographic) Scientist estimate the the sea level can increase anywhere between 2.5 feet and 6.5 feet. Now you may be think that is only a matter of 6 feet but if there were to be an increase in the sea level by this much, about 6 feet, would be catastrophic to coastal cities that would end up being submerged by the ocean; this would in fact cause erosion, and detriment to the sea life on the coast. An even more catastrophic event that could happen would be the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet. If Greenland’s ice sheet were to melt the sea level would rise to 23 feet, this would be enough to submerge London in water.
Another huge problem that will emerge from the melted sea levels has to do with the eco systems in the ocean. Right now there are these “dead zones” in the ocean, mainly close to chores, where fish do not live; but with these rises in temperature we have seen the dead zones expanding at an alarming rate. If these dead zones increase the sea life will be forced to move upward which would cause deep ocean life to suffer immensely. These exact circumstances parallel a lot of what had happened around 250 years ago called the “Great Dying”. During this “Great Dying” around 90% of the ocean species died from carbon dioxide and methane emissions. The “Great Dying” 250 years took thousands of years to develop into such a catastrophic event. Scientist today believe this same exact event could happen within the next 100 years because of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions humans are creating. Humans thrive off of sea life in the world. Not only are they a source of nutrients in the world but their extinction would affect future generations to come immensely. “Looking forward for my kid, people in the future are not going to have the same ocean that I have today,”(Sarah Moffitt, University of California-Davis). This could definitely be seen as an exaggeration on Moffitt’s part but what she is trying to say is that climate change is a real problem NOW not something we need to think about and deal with further down the road.
What can we do now? How will we stop what seems to be this inevitable catastrophic event that is going to plague the world? Since we can all agree with the fact that humans are producing too much carbon dioxide, as you can see from scientists experiments, we need to figure out a way to stop, to stop producing so much carbon dioxide. The main point of origin from the release of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels that humans have caused over the years of technology and advances. Well, what is a good alternative to the burning of fossil fuels? These other energy sources are most commonly referred to as alternative energy. Alternative energy is a renewable source of energy that has much less carbon dioxide production. One main source of alternative energy is solar power. Solar energy is created from the sun which is a renewable resource. “A 1.5 kilowatt PV system will keep more than 110,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere over the next 25 years. The same solar system will also prevent the need to burn 60,000 pounds of coal.”(AlternativeEnergy) This would be a spectacular improvement to see in the world but unfortunately solar power panels do not pay for themselves in cost. These alternative energies doubled with laws such as Assembly Bill 32 are great first steps to slowing down the climate change. Assembly Bill 32 is a bill from California forcing California to lower their carbon emissions by 15%. If every state in the United States passed a bill to reduce carbon emission we would have a huge first step to stopping climate change. We would be a great first example to other countries to follow out lead in stopping the climate change.
When driving around California have you ever seen those monstrous white “fans” on the side of the highway? Those are wind turbines used to create wind power. Wind power over the years has become more and more affordable while being more and more efficient. Wind power is another source of energy that could be used to replace fossil fuels. As of now the wind power in the United States creates enough energy to power 5 major cities. Although this is not enough to fully take over fossil fuels it is definitely a step in the right direction to convert.
These two alternative energies, solar and wind power, are definitely the most sustainable and renewable sources of energy that could replace the burning of fossil fuels in the world to lower the amount of carbon dioxide that is being emitted into the air. Another solution to help assist the problem is to drive electric cars. Tesla cars are the leaders in this movement to become more eco friendly being solely electric. These cars do not burn any fossil fuels at all. The problem is that these cars are just too expensive to rely on people to switch to an electric alternative such as Tesla. Although very ugly and not “fashionable”, in my opinion, the hybrid prius is a very good alternative to having an eco friendly car that is not overtly expensive but still suitable.
The debate: is climate change caused by the mother, us humans, or by the nature. Climate change is definitely an outcome from all of our carbon emissions through generation of advances in technology, to automobiles, to factory working and also the cutting down of huge forests in the world. This is a very pressing subject that everyone can see is a big deal. You do not have to agree with the basis of why climate change is happening to understand that in fact climate change is happening and we are doing nothing about it. I am very afraid that everyone will release way too late the real catastrophic problems that occur from the climate change that humans have created. It is not too late to try and reverse the process of climate change that has been happening for the past 200 years if we want to stay and live on this earth as long as possible. This means converting our fossil fuel energy in to solar power energy or wind power energy; and then researching these types of energy to make them more affordable to the common man. We do not have to give up on society to change and instead we need to realize the mistakes we made to then fix these mistakes that we have made. I know that I personally do not want to see this great world that has thrived for so long be destroyed because we want to be oblivious to what is going on in the world today with climate change.