Quantification of the contribution of human influences (HI) on regional climate change is a focus of climate change research (Dirmeyer et al., 2010; Kalnay and Cai 2003). Quantification of such influences can help us understand regional climate patterns and improve the accuracy and algorithms/mechanism of downscaling general circulation models (Lawrence and Chase, 2010; Li et al., 2012; Zhao and Pitman, 2002). The important human influences on regional climate are land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) (Pielke et al., 2002) as well as of human activities (such as greenhouse gases emission) (Fall et al., 2010; IPCC 2013), but their impacts are different (Mahmood et al., 2014). When notable LUCC occurs, the local radiative forcing change caused by surface albedo may actually be greater than that due to the collective, well-mixed human greenhouse gases (Pielke et al., 2002). So far, between one-third and one-half of the land surfaces of the world have been transformed by human development (Bettwy 2005). The human-made LUCC and the resulting alterations in surface features are major drivers of long-term global climate patterns (Pielke 2005). Moreover, a modeling result indicated that future LUCC will continue to play a major role affecting climate for the next century (Feddema et al., 2005).
Over the past century, conversion of natural landscapes to anthropogenic landscapes (such as agricultural land) have been the most prominent LUCC in many regions of the world
When an area of land is cleared it is quickly taken over by weeds. They compete for sunlight and represent an inefficient use of resources, changing the environment. This is called negentropy. The immature ecosystems evolve and develop and become highly complex. They become mature and efficient and reach a state of equilibrium from which there is little change. Clearing the land for agricultural use involves changing this climax system into a system for production of crops.
Global climate change and variability, particularly at regional levels, are not completely understood. Therefore, there are many significant
In recent years, global climate change due to global warming has been largely researched. The paper, “Global Climate Change Triggered by Global Warming,” offers compelling evidence from various scientific papers that the process of Earth’s climate undergoing significant change has already begun and requires our attention due to the probability that human-generated greenhouse gases are the primary cause. Major focal points are shifting towards determining the causes to mitigate the effects rather than establishing the existence as sufficient amount of evidence has proven that global warming is indisputable. During the final decade of the 20th century, climatologists have concluded that the past millennium to be the warmest, especially in the year of 2005. Solutions towards the cause would require assistance from the population as a whole.
I care deeply about the planet Earth, the home humans originate from, so it pains me to watch “modern” society devastate natural life across the board. I feel personally connected to the issue of how we use our land. Having lived in the Lee County area since birth, I have noticed just in our own little part of the world how much “development” can change things. There used to be so much more plant life: trees, grasses, flowers and a myriad of other greenery. What was once considered “empty” lots, by some, have been adapted to suit human desires be it additional roads, restaurants, shopping malls, and a continuing spread of “chain” corporate industries. Beyond human structures, huge amounts of land also are cultivated for industrial farming
The human race all around the world wonders if the climate is changing due to human activity or if it is just a natural occurrence. At certain parts of the Earth's surface, the climate can be observed much differently than other locations. As the years go by the average temperature of the Earth increases by little intervals. There are several different reasons why people believe the climate is changing every year. However, the increase of worldwide population and production of heat to the atmosphere is due to the increase of human activities that take place on a daily basis. Human activity is the main cause of the global climate change. The human impact on climate exceeds any known changes due to natural processes. The impact of this human activity is often misunderstood when looking at climate change.
Throughout history, land employed for agricultural production has caused greater environmental change to the biosphere than any other land use (Gliessman, 2010).
The first argument examined on the man-made global warning side is that increasing greenhouse gases caused by human activities is causing directly observed climate changes. The first resulting climate change discussed is warming global surface temperature. There has been an increase in global surface temperature of 0.74 degrees C since the late 19th century. In the last 50 years alone the temperature has increased by 0.13 degrees C per decade. North America and Eurasia have seen the largest increase in warmth. However, some areas of the earth have actually cooled some this past century (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para6). After the mid 20th century 70% of the global land mass saw reduced diurnal temperatures. From 1979 to 2005 the maximum and minimum temperatures have shown no change; both indicate warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para10). Furthermore, borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data all seem to agree with recent warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para11).
Climate change is a rising issue of importance in our day and age, and one that is threatening our global society on many levels. In the past few decades, scientists have discovered that our planet’s climate has been changing at an alarming rate. The way in which we have changed the land to
When you hear the words “climate change” what comes to mind? Probably weather and the changes. Many of us watch the news or use an app on our cellphones/electronic devices to keep an eye on the weather for the day, week, or even the month. But, there is actually a difference between weather and climate. Weather is actually “the changes we see and feel outside from day to day. It might rain one day and be sunny the next. Weather also changes from place to place” (Dunbar, 2014). Whereas “climate is the usual weather of a place. Climate can be different for different seasons. Different places can have different climates” (Dunbar, 2014). This paper will focus on the ins and outs of climate change, specifically focusing on what climate change
Most of the blame for climate change over the years especially after the 1850’s has been placed on humans. As long as modern humans have roamed the earth, they have been upsetting the natural balance of the earth. People have did this by clearing areas of land, killing animals, polluting water, etc. Before the “modern human”, people like the Native Americans cared for the earth. They respected the land and the people that cared for it. Unfortunately, people don’t care anymore. Until recently, people did not care for the earth. People did not realize the harm they were causing it. Now we know how detrimental things are that we continue to do and used to do.
Throughout the history of Earth, the climate has changed to varying degrees by natural causes. When the world first began, the climate was unstable and devoid of the atmosphere that we know of today. It was not until bacteria were able to fix nitrogen did the Earth begin to develop its nitrogen and eventually nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere allowing modern hominids to advance. Earth was cooler after the chaotic activity of its early days subsided, experiencing multiple Ice Ages and periods of severe warming. The last major Ice Age occurred around one-hundred thousand years ago, and profoundly impacted life on Earth. Although Earth continued to go through periodic changes in global temperatures, these changes were eventually relatively minor and life adapted to this climate.
The report concludes, again with “high confidence”, that anthropogenic (human caused) warming has had a discernible influence on many of our planets physical and biological systems. While there are limitations and gaps in the knowledge available, particularly from undeveloped countries, the knowledge available allowed the group to attribute most of the observed increase in the globally averaged temperature since the mid-20th century to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. The analysis was necessarily limited in the number of systems and locations considered. In addition, natural temperature variability is larger at the regional than at the global scale, thus affecting identification of changes due to external forcing and at the regional scale other factors such as land-use change and pollution, are an environmental
Over the years there has been a lot of controversy on if climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed and solved. There is a constant debate among scientist on if human actions are contributing the changing of earth’s climates. Climate change is defined as the change in average weather patterns for a specific region or Earth as a whole. This could include the change in an average temperature for a city or the amount a rainfall it receives (Dunbar, 2015). The main difference between weather and climate is the period of time specific patterns are recorded. Weather patterns are looked at over a much shorter period of time, meaning that these patterns are going to be more sporadic and change more frequently. Climate on the other had is recorded over a much longer period of time and usually show less drastic changes in patterns when compared to weather. Some people may argue that climate change is not an issue because Earth’s temperature is always changing do to natural effects. What people don’t realize is that human activity has effected the rate that earth’s temperature is changing, and just the smallest changes can lead to drastic consequences (Dunbar, 2015).
Deforestation for agricultural purposes and the expansion of human habitats is happening around the world. This
The debate on global climate change argues that human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are too small to substantially change the earth’s climate and that the planet is capable of absorbing those increases. It is contended that warming over the 20th century resulted primarily from natural processes such as fluctuations in the sun 's heat and ocean currents. But the theory of human-caused global climate change is based on questionable measurements, faulty climate models, and misleading science. In the first half of twentieth century it was found that the human influenced the daily cold extremes followed by warm nights. Through the global optimal fingerprinting analysis performed by Christidis et al., concluded that there was anthropogenic influence in regional distributions which lead to the extreme warmer days which were expected to become more severe. According to Leopoldian rationale, geoengineering gives an opportunity to eradicate the problem of global warming or at least a solution for the problem. The increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which in fact leads to gain in crop yields which are likely to be offset by damage to plants from higher temperatures, faster drying soils, lower rainfall leading to extreme droughts and floods. The high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to changes like increased rainfall which lasts for decades.