I really appreciate all of the work you're doing spreading awareness about climate change while doing your own part to combat it. In this day and age, our work to change the course of our currently unsustainable civilization is more important than ever. That's why we must be very careful when discussing the changing climate and the repercussions that spring from it. Most conversations about climate change focus on the major problems that are going to occur in the future as a result of current human practices. Yet, it is evident that these changes are wreaking havoc in the present world that we all inhabit. That is why the narrative on climate change must change. Not only is climate change real, but it is impacting the earth in devastating ways at this very moment. Climate change should be treated as the atrocity of today, not the possible problem of the future. As a kid who has cared about nature his entire life, and an avid modern environmentalist for four years and counting, this issue has been at the center of my psyche for quite some time. I have seen public perspective on this issue change before my eyes. From the original rejection of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth movie on “global warming” to personally marching alongside 300,000 people in our nation's capital to raise awareness on climate change. However, despite all of these avenues the issue is still spoken about as this distant idea that eventually will be a disaster. Many politicians and news networks speak of the need for slow implementation of policies and programs to right our environmental wrongs. The best way to paraphrase the common narrative of this issue would be to say, climate change is going to happen down the road, it will probably be bad and trying to fix it in the near future would be a good idea. That weak call to action shoves climate change onto the long to-do list of the leaders of our world. Not only does it not create the urgency needed to actually curb the effects of our environmental ignorance, but it does not accurately describe the threat of a changing climate. Treating this like a political issue will not allow for the rigorous changes needed to address such a problem in the timely manner that is required. Any logical
Prior to watching Chasing Ice, I felt like I was well informed on the issue of climate change as well as itʻs ecological effects. Although, I also cannot recall actually spending time to understand the severity of the issue or learning of decisions that I could make as an individual that would alleviate it. After watching Chasing Ice, I realized that ignorance and the general unawareness of the public is the first component of the issue that must be addressed in order to combat it. When facts and warnings of climate change are communicated through articles and other media outlets, people are often inclined to avoid the issue. As a result, the issue does not seem as urgent as it actually is and does not receive the attention it deserves. It
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 an issue that affects all, and yet some do not even accept that it exists. Climate change is causing glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, more droughts and heat waves to occur, and even more intense tropical storms. These are just a few examples of the effects of climate change, but there are even more devastating effects such as polar bears having to search for new food sources, on land, because of the sea ice they rely on for hunting melting at a more rapid pace. Climate change enthusiasts have even said, “The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies”(“Al”). The effects of climate change are indeed devastating, but the question I want to find an answer to is how do we lessen the effects of these effects that climate change causes? The reason I want to find a solution to my question is that I believe that the Earth is counting down towards catastrophe, and a solution must be found to save it. To find an answer to this question I explored five sources, all of which are articles.
Climate change has been a subject of discussion in the media for many years, supported with the use of arguments against oil polluting the environment and extreme scare tactics of Polar ice caps flooding civilians backyards. The issue has been ignored by the majority of lay people as seeming too complicated, and with all the conflicting information in the media in the past, who can blame them? However, scientifically, climate change and what perpetrates it is fairly simple to understand and society as a whole is beginning to come to a clear consensus on climate change. Thanks in part to more readily available forms of media and information, people have become cognizant of the fact that climate change is a legitimate problem which requires immediate amelioration. While this may seem melodramatic, society is realizing that climate change is an issue which can no longer be denied if the human race wishes to continue.
addressing climate change. Global climate change means it is a global problem, so one nation or
Throughout the years climate change has been a controversial issue affecting individuals worldwide; climate change has been debated by scientists including the rest of the world. Many factors can affect climate change such as biological factors and human actions. The intricate details are what go unnoticed and unmanaged, people may be greatly against this claim. However, it is underlying factors, like landfills and driving cars, that help maintain the increasing temperature of the earth thus, climate change has become a controversial topic. There have been concerns that climate change does not exist but there is reliable proof that it does even if many scientists do not agree on the existence of climate change.
concerned of the effects climate change could have on the world. There is so much evidence that climate change exist so we need to find a way to stop climate change so the effects of climate change won’t happen. We soon learned that the cause of climate change could have been through greenhouse gases. There are different types of greenhouse gases, but the one we’re going to talk about is carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases (which are located below the atmosphere) are gases that allow light from the sun to pass through the gases and some light/heat back out into space, but a certain amount of light gets trapped on the earth. This is called the greenhouse effect.
As Earths average temperature increases every year, the discussion of climate change has become a significant topic in the scientific community. Human activities such as powering factories, running automobiles or something as simple as burning wood for heat, emit dangerous greenhouse gases. What makes these greenhouse gases so detrimental is that they absorb the heat radiating off of Earth and keep it in the lower atmosphere creating a “blanket” of warmth around the Earth’s surface. This causes a drastic increase in the Earths average temperature. Due to the rise in temperature, the polar caps have been melting faster than ever, this is dangerous not only because of the risk of floods and sea level increase but ocean water will become less saline and ecosystems will be destroyed, impacting humans just as much as marine life. In the article, Understand faulty thinking to tackle climate change by George Marshall, Marshall states that most people in our world today do not care about climate change because it will not affect them, “Which points to the real problem: climate change is exceptionally amorphous, … no deadlines, no geographic location, no single cause or solution.” (Marshall 2014). Because the author makes it clear that climate change is indeed a great plight, and fails to be acknowledged by people, it is a significant matter that should be discussed
Climate change has always been an ominous, impending thought in the back of my mind. Every day, I try to be more cognizant of my ecological footprint, a mindset which had spurred me into becoming more environmentally cautious over the years. The crux of the matter was undoubtedly discussed by Mr. Bardecki over the dramatic changes concerning the Colorado River. Our earth relies heavily on water as a source of life— from humanity's perspective alone, we use it for hydration, agriculture, and sanitation. That being said, it is equally as essential that we take care of our planet and water sources. It is said that "we're failing as stewards of God’s creation, but these changes we're seeing, that's not God punishing us -we're destroying ourselves." In full confidence, I agree with this statement; if we drive our planet and our resources into ruin, we have but ourselves to blame. We cannot let this be our legacy. The Colorado River, known as one of the most endangered rivers in the continental US, is being threatened by a drought, one brought by the rising changes in climate, and greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that the risk factor is increased because of direct human activity such as leisurely boating, agricultural irrigation, and the import/export business, which studies will prove to be a correct assumption. It is indisputable that humans largely take part in the latter, and so, with all of the warning signs in place and alarms ringing, we must act quickly.
With the rise of calamitous news regarding extremists groups taking over certain states, countries threatening to go to war, and viruses spreading throughout the world; the outlook of humanity does not look good. In addition to these dire headlines is the matter of climate change, which, unfortunately, is not as alarming to the public eye. Nonetheless, climate change is a pressing matter as it will impact every facet of society from economy to even human survival. Perhaps the general public find climate change as a vapid subject because of its nature to react belatedly to human activity, and how it is often represented with numbers, graphs, and projections; things that are not compelling to those that do not understand its importance. Even
Michael Pollan author of “Why Bother?” (an article from The New York Times) was very clear on delivering his message on climate change. Throughout his article he uses many different sources and reasons to explain, not only what is happening, but things we should be doing to create solutions to the problems we created. Micheal directs us to think about his thoughts about how climate change is a real problem, and demonstrates with examples from other authors, consequences that we could very soon be facing, and what we can do to evade these problems that are coming our way. With the few solutions we are presented with it is unrealistic to try to solve the climate change problem we have arrived to.
The coasts are flooded, heatwaves beat down on the land and violent storms destroy cities. This isn’t an action movie this is a reality if nothing is done about climate change and global warming. I’m talking to you, United States Legislators, Something must be done about this crisis in the making, now before it gets out of hand. The United states is a world leader and if we implement strong climate change legislation and regulations it will start to make the US a safer and healthier place to live then the world will follow. Though many may say there is no scientific proof of climate change and global warming and try to discredit even its existence, this is flatly not true. The scientific consensus on climate change, is resounding agreement that climate change is real and that something needs to be done fast. The evidence is overwhelming and the effects on our country is already showing. This is a wake up call to the US legislators. Something must be done to help preserve our great nation and keep it from going to ruin.
Did you know that the United States is the second largest contributor of CO2, and the less concerned about it? Climate change has been a problem for decades, but just recently we start to see how big of a problem climate change is, and can be. Climate change is one of the biggest problems that we are facing right now, even if keep trying to act like is nothing. Everybody, the people, the government, and big companies are a big contributor of this phenomenon. The more we keep denying its effects, the more we are going to regret it later, and going to wish that we could go back and try to fix the issue. You going to know one day, and its going to be late. Climate change should be the U.S government main focus this decade and the ones to come. Climate change can affect a country in every way economically, destroyed …., cause a lot of deaths.
Global Climate change in a phrase that’s very popular in the news media and our political world. For some, this is a just a phrase they hear and move on from, as others live their lives to educate and make known the risks and realities of this scary reality we face. The fate of our planet lies in the hands of those who govern the nations of this world and leaves the people of these nations to fight to save our Earth. This leaves us to wonder what kind of world are we leaving for our children and grandchildren?
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