Noah S. HES Learning Log: Global Climate Change Evidence and Causes

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A major political issue today is whether or not climate change is real. Before I go any further, I am going to define climate is patterns of precipitation, wind, and temperature. Climate change is when climate patterns change, an example of this would be if Whistler became a year round tropical paradise. Now, the reason why natural climate change happens is because of a change in the rate of which energy from the sun arrives and exits the earth.

Studying climate change is very important. 97% of scientists believe that climate change is real, while only 63% of Americans believe climate change is real. When 37% of Americans do not believe climate change is real, that makes studying it very difficult. This is not the only reason why studying climate change is difficult, climate change can occur in just a few years, or it can take place over millions of years(ex.Ice Age). Climate change also varies from being a small regional problem, to being a global problem.

We need to be interested in climate change and overcome the difficulties of studying it. Climate change will effect how we do our farming. Right now the three biggest crops grown in Pennsylvania are wheat, mushrooms, and tomatoes. If climate change patterns continue in the way that they currently are, our agricultural economy will be like Georgia’s, and consist primarily of cotton, peanuts, and tobacco. Now this might happens because high levels of carbon emissions move warmer biomes towards the poles.

I don’t know about you, but I think that water and air are the two most essential things in the world. Climate change causes the quantity and quality of water to change. Climate change also creates droughts, such as the current drought in California. Climate also determines the severity of storms and floods.

Temperatures around the world are rising because of climate change. From 1970 to 2000 the world’s surface temperatures increased 0.6°C, which is 0.02°C per year. 9700 years after an ice age the Vostok Ice Core of Antarctica increased 12°C, which is 0.0013°C per year. This means that temperatures are currently rising 15 times faster now than they were after an ice age.

Direct correlations between temperatures and CO₂ levels in the air exist. The direct correlations give us the ability to hypothesize that climate change is a result of CO₂ levels rising. I use the word hypothesize because while direct correlations do exist, this does not prove a direct causation.

The earth’s surface absorbs energy from the sun and uses it to create heat. When CO₂ and other greenhouse gasses are present it lowers the rate at which heat can be released into space. The more greenhouse gasses there are the lower the rate that heat can escape into space. So when we release CO₂ and other greenhouse gasses into the air it causes heat to be contained into the earth, which causes temperatures to rise. That is proof direct causation between CO₂ levels in the air and change in temperature. Scientist have known this for over one hundred years, yet presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz and Ben Carson still tell the American people that climate change is not real.The three major greenhouse gasses are CO₂(carbon dioxide), CH₄(Methane), and N₂O(Nitrous Oxide). The concentrations of all three of these greenhouse gases have increased rapidly in the last 200 years.

Humans, how exactly are we responsible for climate change. Agriculture, deforestation, coal mining, oil drilling, natural gas extracting, and cement production, is only part of the reason in how humans are affecting climate change. All of these activities release CO₂ and many other greenhouse gasses. Only 50% of the CO₂ released by humans stays in the atmosphere, because the other half go to oceans and other water sources. When CO₂ dissolves in the ocean it forms carbonic acids. The carbonic acids then lead to a decline in the oceans pH levels, making ocean water more acidic.

Now, humans are not the only factors in climate change. Other factors include changes in the input output rate of the sun’s energy, and dust and gasses from volcanic eruptions. Scientific models show that climate change is caused by both humans and nature, however, we can only fight the effects of climate change that we as humans caused.

It is our job and duty to fight climate change. We need to change the way we farm to lower to a way in which we release less greenhouse gasses. We need to reduce the amount of paper we use by technologically doing things such as: writing papers, reading books, sending out flyers, and reading newspapers. We need to support candidates who support renewable energy sources at both the state and federal level. We need to stand up to the oil companies such as ExxonMobil. We need to protest fracking of all kinds. We need to build environmentally sound factories. We need to start investing more in public transportation and start carpooling to work. We need to build cars that don’t run on gas or electricity, but rather cars that run on solar and wind. We need to start building our sidewalks using materials that don’t release greenhouse gasses. We need to start recycling our sewage water into water that can be used to bring water to the dessert.

Now that you have read my article please fill out this survey using the new information you have learned: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CSrcWIArqCNGe6ABDD9Tqr5amysJRkH4M64o_GhNzQc/viewform?usp=send_form

If you want to learn more here are some fun related videos: Note many of the videos are quite long so unless you have a lot of time on your hands I recommend only watching a few.

Debate on Climate Change-