Some believe climate change is catastrophic, a slow moving killer hiding in the shadows. Others do not even think twice about it as they race by in a Hummer. Global warming is the gradual increase of temperature throughout different climates. It is caused by the greenhouse gas effect in which greenhouse gases, like methane and carbon dioxide, reflect sunlight back and forth. This reflected ultraviolet light bounces between the earth and the ozone layer and becomes trapped, resulting in a gradual rise of temperature. Over time, the slow rise of temperature causes new climates throughout the globe. The article “What Megablazes Tell Us About the Fiery Future of Climate Change” by Tim Dickinson shows how global warming is scorching the west coast …show more content…
Tim Dickinson paints this image into one’s head by the end of his article. Looking at global warming as a crisis, he argues that the continuously heating world is intensifying drought and setting the stage for mega fires, even in unlikely places like Alaska. According to Dickinson, humans are the main cause of global warming. This creates a dramatic problem, Dickinson explains, because Alaska has a large tundra that is drying out. The tundra is an important biome; it can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide in the ground. When these areas burn because of drought, they release huge amounts of carbon dioxide that is normally hidden under snow (Dickinson). On the other hand, Peter Minorsky writes that global warming can lead to more plant growth. Minorsky’s evidence complicates Dickinson’s ideas. There is even an indication of growth increases in Alaska from aerial photos dating back from 50 years ago to now in his article. He writes that there is already “evidence that many plant species are beginning to invade formerly colder climes as the world’s temperature begun to rise” (Minorsky). This pole ward invasion of plant life, according to Minorsky, obscures Dickinson’s Alaskan example. If there is growth happening, the fiery images seem to burn out, or at least appear as an
It is an unquestioned fact that the climate is changing. There is abundant evidence that the world is becoming warmer and warmer. The temperature of the global land average temperature has increased by about 8.5 degrees centigrade from 1880 to 2012 (Karr, et al 406). The one or two degrees increase in temperature can cause dramatic and serious consequences to the earth as well as humans. More extreme weather occurs, such as heat waves and droughts. The Arctic Region is especially sensitive to global climate change. According to the data in recent decades, the temperature in the Arctic has increased by more than 2 degrees centigrade in the recent half century (Przybylak 316). Climate change has led to a series of environmental and ecological negative
Climate change is no doubt one of the greatest threats to this planet today. Coastal cities flooding due to melting ice caps and rising water levels, cities experiencing extreme weather, and ocean life dying because of warmer water temperatures, it is not wonder why so many scientist and country leaders are worried about the safety and future of their country. The U.S. is just one of these countries where climate change endangers 333 million people. That is why the U.S. must take action to assure the future of their residents and safety of their numerous coastal cities. Due to the rising coastal water levels, previous legislative mistakes, and the risk of further climate change consequences, President Trump should acknowledge the need for the
Don’t listen to these dangerous Greenie environmentalists that want to control our everyday lives at our own expense, thus endangering our own individual independence and national prosperity! Global Cooling is a much more formidable potential disaster than Global Warming (coastal flooding) will ever be!
People are responsible for higher carbon dioxide atmosphere emissions, while the Earth is now into the Little Ice Age, or just behind it. These factors together cause many years discussions of the main sources of climate changes and the temperature increasing as a result of human been or natural changes and its consequences; even if its lead to the global warming, or to the Earth’s cooling. In their articles, “Global Warming Is Eroding Glacial Ice” by Andrew C. Revkin and “Global Warming Is Not a Threat to Polar Ice” by Philip Stott, both authors discuss these two theories (Revkin 340; Stott 344). Revkin is right that global warming is taking place. Significant increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to human activities combined with natural factors such as volcanic emissions and solar radiation – all together they lead to climate changes and temperatures rising. At the same time, other factors such as deforestation contribute to environmental changes for some glaciers not less than air pollution. However, during global warming not all regions of the planet are affected in the same way, local warming and cooling are both possible during these changes.
By using the information found in this book, I will be able to write about the severity of the ongoing issue of climate change. With all the dangerous effects of climate change Kahrl and Roland-Holst point out on just a single state, it becomes clear that other places around the world are experiencing the same. In fact, since Cali...
Tim Dickinson paints this image into one’s head by the end of his article. Looking at global warming as a crisis, he argues that the continuously heating world is intensifying drought and setting the stage for mega fires, even in places like Alaska. According to Dickinson, humans are the main cause of global warming. This creates a dramatic problem, Dickinson explains, because Alaska has a large tundra that is drying out. The tundra is an important biome; it can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide in the ground. When these areas burn because of drought, they release huge amounts of carbon dioxide that is normally hidden under snow (Dickinson). On the other hand, Peter Minorsky writes that global warming can lead to more plant growth. Minorsky’s evidence complicates Dickinson’s ideas. There is even an indication of growth increases in Alaska from aerial photos dating back from 50 years ago to now in his article. He writes that there is already “evidence that many plant species are beginning to invade formerly colder climes as the world’s temperature begun to rise” (Minorsky). This pole ward invasion of plant life, according to Minorsky, obscures Dickinson’s Alaskan example. If there is growth happening, the fiery images seem to burn out, or at least appear as an
Global warming has been going on for one to two centuries now. It has affected the earth a lot and not only that , it has also affected the air. Global warming has consequences as stated before , and it usually happens with solar and terrestrial radiation. Even though people believe that all of this is caused by humans. Scientists believe that global warming was going to be caused by sickness or in other words by diseases but it turns out that they were wrong. Not everyone believes that global weather is a bad thing but they just haven’t realized how bad it has affected us. As long as global warming is around the temperatures will keep on rising, animals will keep on decreasing, and the atmosphere will keep on trapping heat. That’s what global warming is all about. It’s all about warming up the atmosphere and affecting those around them.
According to Erik Conway of NASA, “Global warming refers to surface temperature increases, while climate change includes global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gas amounts will affect” (Conway). Recently the United States has experienced a drop in temperature. This past weekend I was walking with a friend. With nothing to talk about, the awkward silence was finally filled with a comment on the weather. He said, “It’s so incredibly cold! So much for global warming!!” What my friend, nor I at the beginning of the semester, did not understand was that “temperature change itself isn’t the most severe effect of changing climate. Changes to precipitation patterns and sea level are likely to have much greater human impact than the higher temperatures alone” (Conway). Thankfully the national media has begun to increasingly reference the more scientifically significant term: climate change.
Climate change is a term used to describe the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface and has been a major problem recently. Our world is constantly changing and therefore so is our climate, as our country industrializes we create more greenhouse gases from the immense human activity being produced. “These gases get into the atmosphere when coal, natural gas and oil is burned for energy and over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide… the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.”(NASA 1). Climate change is causing global warming that causes the earth to heat up rather than
Thesis statement: The global warming and the resultant climatic change is due to uncontrolled human exploitation of earth and its resources thereby emitting large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Global warming and climate change have been frequent topics of discussion over the past several years. Although people tend to focus on the politics, it is time to look past the media aspects of it and into the cold hard facts of what our Earth is currently experiencing, and what caused it in the first place. The cause of climate change includes natural causes, but human causes are what is generating such a rapid global change. It’s time that the ways in which humanity affects the Earth’s climate, how scientists record and measure the climate change, and what can be done in everyday life to slow it down and/or stop global warming, are recognized.
Our planet has managed to survive and thrive for about 4.54 billion years. In the last 2 million years we have caused enough damage and destruction to make our world “broken” beyond repair. We will not be able to get back the world we once had. The reason behind this is global warming, specifically, the increase of the global temperature due to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. If we do not make the issue of global warming a priority in today`s society, our entire way of life will be at risk. There are many reasons why so many people believe global warming should be a concern. Thoroughly examined points include: scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations. Though there are several points arguing how global warming should not be a concern, the reality of the matter is that it needs to be taken into consideration on a global scale before it is too late, as to do nothing would have devastating implications on humankind.
As Robert Frost once said, “ Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.” This excerpt can relate to the idea of global warming. Global warming can be defined as an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect. During the past 10,000 years the earth has been in an ever-growing cycle that has significantly changed the climate. These changes are becoming more prevalent in our world today in the past 150 years. Scientists have been analyzing the causes and effects of the greenhouse effect and many other issues that global warming has presented. As John Houghton states in his book, Global Warming the Complete Briefing, on page 2 “ The 1980s and 1990s were unusually warm. Globally speaking, the decades have been the warmest since accurate records began somewhat over a hundred years ago and these unusually warm years are continuing into the twenty-first century.” There are countless records that show that our world as a whole is getting warmer, and the facts cannot be disputed. Everyone in the world today is experiencing the effects of global warming. These effects might be small now, but if we don’t protect our planet now then the consequences will greatly be increased.
Global heating and cooling has occurred on a cycle for millennia, however in the past thirty years the increased use of energy and fuels by humans has drastically changed this natural occurrence (Juerg, 2007). The largest cause of this warming is the release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide levels are twenty-five percent higher than they were in 1957 (UCS, 2013). This seemingly insignificant change has caused a myriad of negative effects. The endangerment of species, rising sea levels, and increased natural disasters are just a few examples of change brought about by global warming (Juerg, 2007).
The earth is a complex system, which continues to evolve and change. Climate change and global warming are currently popular in the political agenda. But what does “climate” really mean? The difference between weather and climate can be conveyed in a single sentence: “Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.” Based on research of the geologic record, we know that climate change has happened throughout Earth's history and at present, ever-increasing evidence points to the roles that humans play in altering Earth systems. The Earth and its atmosphere receive heat energy from the sun; the atmospheric heat budget of the Earth depends on the balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation from the planet; which has been constant over the last few thousand years. However present evidence seems to suggest that the recent increase in temperature has been brought about by pollution of the atmosphere, in particular the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide, mostly through Anthropogenic Forcing (human activity) and other various internal and external factors. I...