Climate change. The two letter word so feared by scientists, so ignored by the average human being. What is it that makes scientists fear this phrase so much? For the concept of “climate change” has been seen throughout the history of the earths existence. For centuries, our climate has fluctuated through increasing and decreasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and climatic cycles. So what is the big deal? The problem, and the reason why this concept instills fear directly into the core of scientists is the rate at which over the past 1,300 years atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen. This unnatural increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, due to the immense amount of anthropogenic burning of oil and coal, affects the transfer 61). Moreover, it can also be seen “as presenting us with the largest collective action problem that humanity has ever faced, one that has both intra- and inter-generational dimensions” (Jamieson pg. 61). Thus, climate change will not only affect us but our children, and their children’s children, for generations to come. So is this it? Have we as humans sold our souls to the climate change devil? Is this something that we will always have to deal with and if so then why should we even bother trying to prevent it? Dale Jamieson philosopher and author of the book, Reason in a Dark Time, argues that we have sold our souls to the climate change devil and will be stuck with this problem for eternity. However, just because we are stuck with climate change, Jamieson argues, we should not give up on trying to slow down its effects. In addition to Jamieson the Federal Republic of Germany also believes that we are stuck with climate change and have developed their own solutions to help mitigate the effects. Throughout this paper I will present a descriptive and normative analysis to help address the environmental justice claims that both entities are making. I will then go on to show the instability of Dale Jamieson’s argument in both his descriptive and normative analysis through the development of my own While Jamieson addresses many reasons why we are stuck with climate change his strongest argument is found in the fact that we as humans are not evolutionarily designed to process issues that occur on such a long time scale. Due to climate changes “gradual and uncertain rather than immediate and obvious” process we as humans cannot understand it (Jamieson, 102). In addition, climate changes effects have no geographical bounds and because very few people pay attention to events that occur beyond national boundaries most people are oblivious to its existence. Jamieson makes the point that climate change must be thought rather than sensed and we as humans are not very good at thinking (Jamieson, 103). On top of that even if we succeed in thinking that something is a threat, we are less reactive than if we sense that it is a threat. Since we cannot even comprehend climate changes presence in our world right now it also makes it extremely difficult for us to comprehend how our anthropogenic actions of today will affect future generations all over the world. Therefore, because climate change does not present itself visually to us, we as humans are not only unable to recognize the problem but would be unable to solve the problem as well. Resulting in the fact that we as humans are stuck with climate
Will this century mark the decline of society? Is the future safe from the mistakes of mankind? In “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene”, Roy Scranton suggests that the question we should be asking ourselves about global warming is not whether it exists or how it can be stopped, but rather how are we going to deal with it. The purpose of the article is to convince everyone that current life is unsustainable, and that nothing can be done to reverse the process; we must acknowledge that the future will be drastically different and plan in advance if civilization is to keep moving forward. Dr. Scranton develops a realistic tone that relies on logos, pathos, and ethos appeals to persuade readers of his claim. Scranton sufficiently backs up
For a majority of people, it isn’t new news that the Earth’s climate is changing and increasingly getting warmer. For quite some time now, people have been arguing about what the actual causes are and what role humans have played in the current condition of the earth. A good bit of people seem to be in agreement that due to the actions of humans, the earth’s climate is increasingly getting worse and that if things don’t change, than everyone living on earth will be facing the consequences. However, this is not entirely true. The fault of climate change does not fall solely on the shoulders of mankind, but on the earth as well.
Climate change has been nothing, but controversial in the last fifty years. Climate change is a change in the average weather of a region or city. Scientists have opted to use the term "climate change" instead of global warming because as the Earth's average temperature changes, winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that can cool some areas, as well as warm others. There is an ongoing dispute about the effects of humans on the global climate and about what policies should be implemented to avoid possible undesirable effects of climate change. Ninety-seven percent of published scientific research concluded that climate change is real, problematic for the planet, and has been exacerbated by human activity. But what about the three percent that contradicts that?
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
Climate change is a major issue that is only going to get worse. Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns. It has become more apparent since the mid to late 20th century onwards and is attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change has been an important issue for decades that has effects on the environment and people of the world with the end result potentially being catastrophic. Although many believe that prolific use of fossil fuels is the direct cause of climate change, there are many more underlying causes including population expansion as well as irresponsible consumption of natural resources that have
In the article “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math”, written by Bill Mckibben, he firstly opens up by saying that back in 2012, according to the statistics, we surpassed the global record high for climate temperature in our nation, destroying other previous records. Despite the research and the displaying of data, nobody is doing anything to adress the following issue. Mckibben outlines three distinctive numbers that outline the following issue., 2 degrees celsius, 565 gigations, and 2795 gigtons, which he uses to validitate and support his argument. Firstly, the ongoing problem of climate change in society is fundamentally a matter of individual moral responsibility that is inspired by the insight individuals are intentionally harming the environment. Secondly there is yet to be an effective collective state response to the issue of global warming, despite approaching two full decades of ongoing and reoccuring negotiations and the very near universal participation by states in the UNFCCC. Thirdly, because this issue has been put on hold for longer than it was innitially expected, greenhouse gases are being emitted into our atmosphere, polluting our environment. The South-North issue and an ongoing debate comes into effect as all the greenhouse gases that are created and used in the Northern hemisphere are being emmited into the southern hemisphere. Hence, my thesis is; despite the fact that global warming and climate change has been an ongoing problem globally for years, humanity has failed to resolve thiis issue as it quickly begins to escalate.
...rs. These factors include the effectiveness of a community's public health and safety systems to address or prepare for the risk and the behavior, age, gender, and economic status of individuals affected.” (Climate Impacts on Human Health) The major problem is we do not know what precautions to take when it comes to climate change, not many people take it seriously enough, because not enough people understand the risks. Climate change is clear and harmful and has been following us since the earliest days of earth. Before it was a distant threat, but it is now a present-day danger. Americans and others around the world are noticing changes all around them. Hotter, longer summers, heavy downpours of rain, and shorter warmer winters, are becoming normal to us. Whether it occurs naturally or whether it is caused because of global warming, it still needs to be addressed.
Our world is always changing, so is our climate. Some changes are apparent, others not so much. Climate change is an important issue of concern in the twenty-first century. Environment, if it changes at all, evolves so slowly that the difference cannot be seen in a human lifetime (Wearth, 2014). Mostly all scientists predicted that it would take thousands of years for the planet to warm up due to emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels called greenhouse gases. But in the past 200 years, things began to change. The rate and the amount of warming that is happening on this planet are unprecedented. Wearth says, “People did not grasp the prodigious fact that both population and industrialization were exploding in a pattern of exponential
The United States is the world’s top global warming polluter responsible for 80% of fossil fuel consumption every year. More than one million species have already perished due to global warming, and, with predictions indicating around 150,000 people will die due to heat related causes by the end of the century, the human race could very well endure a similar fate. With global warming manifesting as a significant calamity Michael Pollan, a journalist and activist, published an article entitled ‘Why Bother’ in the New York Times Magazine directly addressing the ignorant attitude of the human race for disregarding the seriousness of global warming. According to Pollan, the climate-change crisis is essentially a ‘crisis of lifestyle’ and in his article he urges people to make considerable changes to their lifestyles in order to avoid destructive consequences of global warming. But, is it realistic to expect others to change their ways in order to help prevent a disaster that has already been set in motion? Or are the reasons which prevent those from making changes too great a barrier for us to overcome?
Interesting fact: 86 percent of American adults drive cars and 72 percent believe that people need to limit emitting greenhouse gases (Winke). Where is the connection between American thought and action regarding climate change?
“The worst threat to man is man himself.” These words, from the recent publication The Great Pearl of Wisdom, are from the open mind of Bangambiki Habyarimana, a man known for his work in the fight against HIV and AIDS. His blatant, cut and dry point of view is a very simple way of stating that humanity has the power to destroy itself, whether directly or indirectly. Indirectly, the human race may bring upon its own doom through the destruction and degradation of its caregiver, provider, and home: the Earth. One of the biggest issues in the modern world is climate change, which is directly related to carbon dioxide emissions and the greenhouse effect. The greatest contributor of CO₂ emissions is the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and
We often hear the words “global warming” and “climate change” on the news and in politics, but no one seems to explain what they really are and the major effects they are having on the world. We just know that they are “bad” and needs to be “stopped”. What really is climate change and how has it come to be such a major problem in today’s world?
Some unenlightened individuals insist global warming does not exist because recent winters have reached record-breaking temperatures; however, global warming does not pertain strictly to heat. It relates to the extremes in temperature differences, both hot and cold, proving the issue does exist. With the temperature anomaly significantly increasing from a steady 0.0 in 1940-1980s to 0.7 in 2016, “97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities”(NASA) To clarify, weather is the “conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time”(NASA). Others simply claim there is not enough evidence proving climate change, therefore reject the problem. A study done on “Singapore Students’ Misconception of Climate Change” by Chew-Hung Chang explores the concepts and processes of climate change. Although they had an idea of what it was, their knowledge “was composed of incomplete and incorrect elements.” (Chang). Improving this problem requires taking care of the environment, which most humans take for granted and are too lazy to care and/or try. There are arguments which state climate change is not a priority compared to other issues. However, ignoring climate change can lead to the death of our earth, and without it, there would be no additional issues because all of humanity will have been wiped
Many people dedicate their lives to spread the message about climate change being real. Even though some change in the climate is natural, many events that have happened cannot be explained away by nature. Climate change is causing damage to the world that is completely irreversible. Nasa says, “Most scientists say it 's very likely that most of the warming since the mid-1900s is due to the burning of coal, oil and gas. Burning these fuels is how we produce most of the energy that we use every day” (nasa). The energy that we use daily makes our life easier, but it hurts the earth. Why does the government still allow us to use these things? Science has shown us that sea levels are rising in many parts of the world. Warm weather is causing glaciers to melt which results in the sea level rising. Earth 's average temperature has been rising for the last century in a half; and there has also been a steady rise in ocean temperature since 1969. It is said that climate control is man made and it is dangerous. On the other side of the argument, many people do not believe that climate change is real. They argue that their has not been a big temperature change in almost two decades. They also bring up the point of there not being enough data in the climate history to draw the conclusion of what is happening in the climate now is abnormal. Scientist started to record climate change around the 1800’s which many people believe is not enough data to do a comparison. Another reason some believe that climate change is not real is because of some instances where a scientist predicts a date of a significant climate change never happens. Rinkesh writes, “ For example:- Al Gore predicted that all Arctic ice would be gone by 2013. But, on contrary Arctic ice is up by 50% since 2012” (conserve-energy-future). Many people find that these reasons are why climate change is not
Climate change has been an extremely controversial topic in recent history and continues to create much debate today. Many questions concerning climate change’s origins and its potential affect on the globe are not fully understood and remain unanswered. What is climate change? Is climate change happening? Is it a natural cycle of the world or are there other catalysts involved such as human activity? What proof is there? What data correlations show climate change is accelerated by humans? How serious is climate change and how will it affect the future of our globe? What are we doing to address climate change? Should we really be concerned about climate change? Questions such as these have made climate change a very serious issue in today’s world and created the ideology of climatism. The issue of climate change has affected many different aspects of our lives and the world we live in. Policymaking, human activism, technologies, emission control, global warming, alternative energy sources and many other things have been greatly affected by the mania of climate change. This research report will present climate change in a light of common sense and rationality that will take a grounded discussion of the science behind climate change, global warming, human activity, and how the ideology of climatism has corrupted and driven the actions to combat climate change.