Climate Change

Dominick Purvis

American National Government

Cheryl Stropko

15 September 2017

Climate Change

The Earth's climate has changed multiple times throughout history. There seems to be a good number of normal citizens that don’t believe or even know about the dangers of manmade climate change. The topic is very controversial, skeptics of manmade climate change typically listen to media or people who have money into businesses that deal with releasing more carbon dioxide into the air. The typical response is that climate always changes and humans aren’t affecting it.

In the late 1800s coal burning became very popular and ever since the human population has been raising the amount of carbon dioxide that our atmosphere holds. Since the mid-20th century the CO2 proceeding rate is rising at a rate that is unprecedented from over decades to millennia. According to NASA, there is greater than 95 percent probability our warming climate is the result of human activity.

Earth’s atmosphere prevents infrared rays from the sun to be as damaging and allows us to be able to live on the Earth. Carbon Dioxide being burned is added to our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide naturally traps heat and so when the sun’s rays are hitting the atmosphere with the aid of CO2 it’s like putting more insulation in your walls. It ensures more rays are absorbed and stored as heat instead of seeping out of our atmosphere. Earth-orbiting satellites allow scientists to collect information about our planet and its climate on a global scale.

Current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming. Earth goes through cycles variations in the intensity and timing of heat from the sun. Therefore, Earth goes through ice age cycles and our rate of warming after the latest ice age is off the charts compared to all our other ice age recoveries in the past. The issue involving us, with this happening is our future. With great warming our oceans are rising and will encase much more land, our temperatures will continue to rise and make places inhospitable, we will lose seasons, the heat and water will cause much more and stronger natural disasters, and our oceans are becoming more acidic with raising temperatures killing sea life.

“The Clexit Coalition claims to be: "A new international organization is trying to prevent ratification of the costly and dangerous Paris global warming treaty". It has members in 26 countries. Per The Guardian newspaper: "Clexit leaders are heavily involved in tobacco and fossil fuel-funded organizations".” The Carbon War Room is a supporting non-profit in North America for climate change.  They were founded by Richard Branson and now led by Jigar Shah.  The Carbon War Room is attempting to “harness the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change.” Green for All, founded by Van Jones in 2007, are trying to influence public policy by their greentheblock initiative to help “low-income communities of color become driving forces of the clean-energy economy.” Climate Solutions NGO are trying to focus on accelerating practical and profitable solutions to global warming.

From Heat Waves to Hurricanes What We Know About Extreme Weather and Climate Change. Nadja Popovich, opinion in this article seems to be that climate change aren’t affecting our hurricanes yet statistically but that doesn’t mean they won’t in the near future. This affects not only Americans on every level but all humans. The climate raising can lead to human extinction. My stance didn’t change while reading and researching this issue. I believe this should be a priority for not just the U.S. but the entire world. I know China along with many other countries have been making the shift to using more renewable energy but the U.S. needs to greatly shift its focus. We just pulled out of the Paris climate treaty and we are headed in the wrong direction. The U.S. is so influential to the world and is a super power, we need to be heading in the right direction.

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