Climate Change and Global Warming

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Climate change and Global Warming are out of control. This means that, no matter what policies, processes or actions are implemented, the Earth as we know it will never be the same again. There is significant evidence to support this hypothesis. The dilemma becomes whether we can limit the damage and adapt to a new status quo or not. Rising sea levels and the damage caused by this phenomenon has irreversible impacts on coastlines worldwide. Damage to sensitive reef systems cannot be fixed. This also has permanent impacts of the ecology not just of those immediate areas but also the ocean as a whole.
Any discussion of the irreversibility of Climate Change needs to be briefly pre-empted by an explanation of the causes for Climate Change. (Newton G. 2009) ‘Australia's environmental climate change challenge’ states that “Anthropogenic warming of the global climate system is beyond doubt. Impacts from a changing climate are already occurring and the latest scientific research suggests that some aspects are locked in for centuries to come.” If climate change is a man-made phenomenon then it needs to be men (and women) who intervene to minimise the impacts of it on our environment and, eventually, our lifestyles.
Climate Change and Global Warming cause sea levels to rise. This increase in sea levels not only causes inundation of low lying and coastal areas but also irrevocable damage to coastal environments. Globally the ocean is predicted to rise nearly 140 cm on a global scale by the year 2100 (Cooper et al. 2013); therefore this has massive implications for countries all around the world with cities (settlements etc.) based near bodies of water. When compared to the last 80 years this is an acceleration of nearly twice the rate that ...

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...phic. 2014. Sea Level Rise. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/. [Accessed 25 April 14].
Sweatman, H, Delean, S, & Syms, C 2011, 'Assessing loss of coral cover on Australia's Great Barrier Reef over two decades, with implications for longer-term trends', Coral Reefs, 30, 2, p. 521-531, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 April 2014.
Responding to Climate Change. 2014. Long-term sea level rise will be much higher, but barely studied . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rtcc.org/2014/03/26/long-term-sea-level-rise-will-be-much-higher-but-barely-studied-ipcc/. [Accessed 25 April 14].
Osborne, K, Dolman, A, Burgess, S, & Johns, K 2011, 'Disturbance and the Dynamics of Coral Cover on the Great Barrier Reef (1995-2009)', Plos ONE, 6, 3, p. 1, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 April 2014.

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