Over the past few years, climate change has become a huge topic of discussion. Every year it gets more and more attention. A lot of people just look past it, but on the contrary, many people are genuinely concerned and have many questions regarding the topic. For example, what causes climate change, how does it affect us, how can we stop it, can we even stop it? Then you have the few individuals who think it’s a myth, but it was scientifically proven to exist. Is it a coincidence that the water levels are rising, or is it a coincidence that hurricanes are starting to become more common? How about going to the ski slopes and seeing that there is less and less snow every year. A lot of people want to ignore it because they think it is not affecting their generation but they have something coming to them. It is a huge issue and if we don’t act on it soon, it could drastically affect our lives in a negative way.
Change in weather from a day to day basis is totally normal, but when the annual change in temperatures around the world are increasing on a yearly basis it is starting to become a major issue. Often times people are aware that the earth is getting warmer by the decade but they just assume the sun is getting hotter. If that was the case then they would see the atmosphere getting warmer, but instead the atmosphere is getting cooler and the surface is getting warmer. The overall temperature of the Earth has been increasing over the years and people don’t shed any bit of attention to it. Richard J. Dolesh, the author of “Climate Is Changing the Face of Outdoor Recreation”, said “The last decade notched the highest annual temperatures in U.S, and the last three years were the highest annual temperatures ever recorded” (Dolesh, P1). That means that the United States has been steadily increasing its seasonal climate each and every year. Even if it’s only a couple of degrees per year, soon enough summers in Florida or Southern California would be unbearable. People don’t think of this as an important issue, meanwhile it just might be the most important issue that needs to be addressed and talked about every day so we can realize how much of an impact global warming can have. There are many causes of climate change, but human behavior is a huge part in why we are getting closer to global warming. For example, in the article “Dollars and Sense” the author states “Over the last couple of centuries, however, human activities–especially the burning of fossil fuels for heath, electricity, and transportation-have dramatically increased the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide” (Dollars and Sense p1). When we burn fossil fuels we join carbon with oxygen which created carbon dioxide, which is a part in why we have an issue such as global warming. The amount pollution that humans produce every day insane. The cars we drive on a day to day basis and the nasty pollution from factories all hindering the process of slowing down climate change. Countries such as China and the United States are hurting the Earth is ways that are unimaginable. “In 2014, the top carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters were China, the United States, the European Union, India, the Russian Federation, and Japan.” (EPA.GOV). China produces about 30% of the world’s carbon dioxide, and the next country up is the United States which only produces half of the amount of China (epa.gov). China is such a threat because of all the factories they have. Every one of those factories put out carbon dioxide, which puts them in first place with carbon dioxide emissions. People need to start realizing that we have such an issue with fossil fuels and act upon it.
Often times people acknowledge that there is an issue present, but they just have no idea on what to do and how they can help the Earth with such an issue. The vehicles we use to commute to work and back can play a huge role on preventing global warming and help slow the process down. Often times we don’t realize how much pollution cars can produce. “Transport accounts for 26% of global CO2 emissions and is one of the few industrial sectors where emissions are still growing.” (Chapman, P1) That means that buses, planes, trains, and cars make up for more than a quarter of the emission of greenhouse gases. For the most part, greenhouses gas emissions have been on a plateau, meaning they aren’t increasing but when it comes to transportation, it increases every year. It would take a really long time to reverse the effects that humans have made but what we could all do is prevent on making the Earth hotter. “Climate change that takes place due to increases in carbon dioxide concentration is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop.” (Solomon, P1) That means that if we cut greenhouse gas emissions completely, it would take 1,000 years for the Earth to go back to normal. What the world did to help stop global warming is they set up the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement where everyone tries to slow down of the releasing of greenhouse gases. Most countries pledged to decrease their emissions significantly by 2020, except China. “China hasn’t made any pledges to reduce its carbon emissions. As its economy grows, emissions will increase.” (NPR, P2) The country with the biggest issue has pledged not to cut their carbon emissions because they are a growing country. Now since the average citizen can’t really help with the Kyoto Protocol or Paris Agreement, we need to find ways we can help. For example speaking up. Talking about the issue with ur family, or posting about it on social media will make people think about the ongoing issue of the warming of the Earth. The word of mouth is one of the best ways you can solve an issue, because once enough people hear about the dangers of climate change, the more its going to catch the government’s eye. Another tip you could do is inflate your tires on your car. It may sound silly but it can save a lot of gas. Melissa Denchak stated that “If all Americans kept their tires properly inflated, we could say 1.2 billion gallons of gas each year.” (Denchak, P1) That means that in one year we could save over a billion gallons of gas just by making sure your tires are up to maintenance and filled with air. Also using better light bulbs can help too. “LED light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy than conventional incandescents.” Saving energy is directly correlated to saving the Earth from global warming. These are some quick and easy steps you could take to make the world a better place and if everybody followed these steps, we would be one step closer to solving the issue of climate change.
According survey by Pew Research Center, Political beliefs on climate issues extend far beyond beliefs about whether climate change is occurring and if humans are playing a role in it. (Funk and Kennedy, 2016) For example, Democrats with high science knowledge are especially likely to believe the Earth is warming due to human activity. The 36% of Americans who are more personally concerned about the issue of global climate change, whether they are Republican or Democrat, are much more likely to see climate science as settled, to believe that humans are playing a role in causing the Earth to warm, and to put great faith in climate scientists. People’s views on this are strongly linked with political divides; 72% of conservative Republicans say the media exaggerates the threat of climate change, while 64% of liberal Democrats say the media does not take the threat of climate chang e seriously enough. The Republicans who believe the Earth is warming are much less likely than Democrats to expect severe harms to the Earth’s ecosystem and to believe that any of six individual and policy actions asked about can make a big difference in addressing climate change. Liberal Democrats place more faith in the work of climate scientists and their understanding of the subject. 55% say climate research reflects the best available evidence most of the time. 68% say climate scientists understand very well whether or not climate change is occurring. (Funk and Kennedy 2016)
The stakes in climate debates seem particularly high to liberal Democrats because they are especially likely to believe that climate change will bring harms to the environment.
This goes to show that climate change is in fact very much real issue and is not something that was just made up out of the blue. There is real proof and a boat load of scientific studies to show that it’s real. It is a big threat to everyone living on this planet, and it will get worse as time goes on. That is why we have act now and get the attention of all the people around the world to change the way we do thing. Once the people understand the danger and the results of it they would want to change the way they do everyday activities and they will want to help out by driving fuel efficient cars and making sure their tires are pumped. Now is the time to act on global warming and fix the problem, if we wait any longer it will be too late.
Work Cited:
Funk, Cary, and Brian Kennedy. “The Politics of Climate.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 4 Oct. 2016, www.pewinternet.org/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-climate/.
July 17, 2017 Melissa Denchak. “How You Can Stop Global Warming.” NRDC, Melissa Denchak, 29 Sept. 2017, www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming.
REUSS, ALEJANDRO. “Climate Change: What Is It? What Causes It? What Can We Do about It?.” Dollars & Sense, no. 317, Mar/Apr2015, pp. 34-38. EBSCOhost,
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Hualong, Yang, et al. “Trends in CO2 Emissions from China-Oriented International Marine Transportation Activities and Policy Implications.” Energies (19961073), vol. 10, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 1-17. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/en10070980.
“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Apr. 2017, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data.
Staff, NPR News. “What Countries Are Doing To Tackle Climate Change.” NPR, NPR, 9 Dec. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/12/07/143302823/what-countries-are-doing-to-tackle-climate-change
Chapman “Transport and climate change: a review.” Journal of Transport Geography, Pergamon, 12 Feb. 2007, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692306001207.
Solomona1, Susan, et al. “Susan Solomon.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, National Acad Sciences, www.pnas.org/content/106/6/1704.abstract.
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