Climate Change In America

Over the past several million years sea level has fluctuated considerably higher and lower than present levels. With these fluctuations the shoreline has shifted inland and further out, onto the continental shelf, than the present shorelines. The Northern Gulf of Mexico has followed the general path of global sea level during recent geologic time including the time since the last glacial maximum. During the last glacial maximum, 20,000 years ago, the sea level dropped approximately 100m below the present level and the shoreline extended 100km onto the shelf in some locations (Donoghue, 2011). Since the last glacial maximum the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico has seen a rise in sea level at a rate exceeding those seen at any other time. The rate of overall sea level rise since the last glacial maximum is 6mm a year with some periods of rise in excess of 40mm a year. The rate has slowed and stabilized over the last 6,000 years and this has allowed ecosystems and

The Main point of view in this article is how disasters like flooding and drought which are attributed to the changing climate are affecting some parts of the country. Weather forecasters issued flash flooding for the Deep South’s coastal areas while California is struggling with drought that has created trouble for the economy.

The intensity, frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the frequency of category 4 and 5 hurricanes, have all increased since the early 1980s (Bell 2012). The increase in hurricanes can be linked to higher sea surface temperatures caused by multiple outside sources. Human induced emissions of heat-trapping gases and particulate pollution are two of the possible sources that are affecting the sea surface temperature. Humans are the main contributor contributing to climate change and global warming, but most seem not to care. Not only is the amount of hurricanes increasing, but heat waves are increasing and intensifying in some western parts of the country. Heat waves have become more frequent across The United States in recent decades. Western regions are setting records for numbers of heat waves and droughts in the 2000s. Data collected suggests that the droughts over the last decade in the West represent the driest conditions in the last 800 years (Vose 2005). With varying weather all over the country, the real estate market is beginning to be affected as well. Popular ski capitals will no longer have their icy slopes and eventually the popular beaches will be too hot to visit or will not have any beach left, causing drops in vacation rentals and permanent housing

Climate change is a issue that widely talked today. As the National Weather Service reports, the hottest temperature records are extending all over the United States since year 2010 (Schlesinger, William H, 2014). It is obvious that our world is heating. Global warming become more and more seriously. With the increase of temperature, many environment problems occur to have huge impact on our urban life, including: the sea level rise, air pollution and drought. These environment problems also endanger our area in a large part.

From the shores of Easter Island all the way to the catastrophic world environmental events like Hurricane Katrina and extreme drought, the world and the environment has been facing unparalleled effects from climate change that have only continued to reach further extences. Climate change is rising up to be one of the key security threats in the 21st century for not only America but also all across the globe. Climate change threatens to go against

Over the years the droughts in North America have become worse. In 2012 80% of America was affected by very dry months and this is only by mid July. Climate change also has an effect on our health as humans. In 2012, at least 74 Americans were killed from extreme heat. This is nothing compared to 2011. During 2011 there were at least 206 people died from extreme heat.

Over the last several decades, global climate change has been scientifically proven to be a result of human activity (“Carbon Dioxide Emissions”). Industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use have altered the balance of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) in the Earth’s atmosphere. (City of New York et al. 2013) By increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide and other GHG’s in Earth’s atmosphere, our modern society is gradually warming the planet and altering its climate (“Carbon Dioxide Emissions”). Most recently, a March 2012 study found that climatic changes resulting from a warming planet have already increased the frequency of extreme weather events, “most notably heat waves and precipitation extremes” (“Carbon Dioxide Emissions”). As New York experienced not too long ago with Hurricane Sandy, the Earth’s climate and weather patterns have responded to such changes, with increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, loss of animal and plant species, impacts to human health, disruption of ecosystems, and other effects (City of New York et al. 2013) Such effects of human-induced climate change present potential threats to the infrastructure, economy, and health of not only New York City but the entire U.S.

Climate change is affecting humans every day, and yet most of us have found that every region of the globe is affected in some way or another. For us here in San Diego, California, in the Western Hemisphere, on the west coast, United States, North America, that impact is felt mostly with rising sea temperatures and rising sea levels. There are noticeable predictions that by 2050, rising sea levels here will rise as stated: “"At least a 16 inch sea level rise is expected in San Diego, Ca by 2050, with a projected rise of 50% by the turn of the century."

Climate change is a real issue that can lead to severe economic losses to the public and private sectors of the U.S., not mentioning human casualties. This report focuses on the general effects of the climate change in the economic sector affecting businesses specifically in the Southeastern region of the U.S. and Texas. Climate change will cost millions of dollars in labor productivity decline, energy demand will significantly increase, and the agricultural sector will suffer considerably losses.

The Sea Level has increased over the past 200 years as average global temperatures have increased. The rise is due to two factors, the freshwater being added to the oceans from ice melt in the cryosphere, and the thermal expansion of the oceans due to rises in sea temperature. The sea level has risen 6 to 8 inches in the past 100 years. It is predicted to rise another 50 to 90 centimeters in the next century. As the sea level rises it’s jeopardizing rapidly growing coastal communities, which causes evacuation in some areas causing people to lose their homes. Sea level is the effect

The combination of these and other trends was an estimated average sea-level increase of 1.5mm per year between 1961 and 2003, which reached 2.4mm per year in the decade from 1993 to 2003. The decades prior to this trend showed only minor fluctuations in sea-level, suggesting that the current rate exceeds what could be caused by natural cycles. While the exact impact of rising oceans is difficult to determine, it is certain that the consequences will include some degree of flooding, integration of salt water into water tables, and a loss of land due to coastal erosion and submersion.6

Throughout this article, most of it pertained to how the environmental community has shown that global warming is a social problem, while the public determined that global warming is a legitimate problem and supports policies that work against it. However, during the 1990s, the United State’s policies and beliefs on global warming were put into question. This is a result of the conservative movement challenging the notion whether or not climate change and global warming are social problems. The conservative movement pushes this further by using the media, creating policy forums, and sponsoring press conferences for policy makers in order to emphasize their point on how global warming is not a serious social issue.

In the years ahead, climate change will have a significant impact on every aspect of the daily lives of all human beings -- possibly greater even than war. Shifting precipitation patterns and ocean currents could change where and how food crops grow. If icecaps melt and low-lying areas are flooded, as is predicted, entire populations could be forced to move to higher ground. The tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, provided vivid examples of what large-scale climactic catastrophes entail.

The 21st century has begun with one of the most challenge security threats to the United States of America have had to face. The perils of climate change have the ability to impact the national interest concerning power, prosperity and peace. The continued challenges around the world, and domestically, it is critical the US implements a comprehensive grand strategy. Cooperative security gives the US the best possibility to achieve the goals that will lessen the effects and place the US ahead of the international agenda. Combating climate change will require successful policies such as international climate pacts, collective-action and cap and trade initiatives. In the past, we have seen the US shy away from such accords worried about the

Climate change in America is getting worse everyday and can destroy many of living organisms including humans; therefore, humans need to cut our greenhouse gas emissions fast or, oceans will be dramatically changed, the ice will melt causing floods, and the changing in weather causing severe damage. These are major issues that need to be resolved if we are planning on making a bright future on earth.