...3140: Environmental Ethics December 3, 2015 Anthropogenic Climate Change and Its Impacts The Earth’s climate is immensely susceptible to perturbations of natural systems. These fluctuations are incredibly cyclic, and have been studied to shift between periods of warm and cold temperature anomalies. Although the Earth cycles naturally on its own, it is evident that excessive emission production is enhancing the greenhouse effect, and therefore causing natural climatic shifts to happen at a faster rate. People are discernibly prone to assume that since Earth’s climate cycles naturally, that Global warming is autonomous of anthropogenic impact. Global warming is not the root of climate change, but instead the medium between anthropogenic intoxication of the atmosphere, and the response of Earth’s dynamic systems. It is not the actions of one individual that have an impact on the balance of Earth’s climate system; rather, it is the actions of many people, over a long period of time that will cause a chemical imbalance of the atmosphere, resulting in climate change. Nations that emit greenhouse gases at levels beyond their fair share of safe global emissions are obligated to aid in financing reasonable adaptation essentials and unavoidable damages of low-emitting countries and individuals that have done little to cause climate change. There is no one individual that can be held responsible for the damage associated with climate change. Instead of a single cause, millions of people...
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...Arguments against anthropogenic climate change. • The temperature recordings are unreliable. • Global warming or climate change has become politicized which has closed down the debate on whether or not climate change is anthropogenic, in other words it creates a wealth of money that forces scientists to conform or lose their jobs. Those who believe that the change within the climate has no correlation with human activity have an abundant supply of never ending answers as to why climate change is not induced by mankind. One such argument that skeptics propose is that the temperature recordings that have been collected over the past century and even longer are inaccurate due to 9 out of every 10 weather stations failing to comply to their own...
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...Methane and are created in one of two ways. The first way is, through natural cycles, for instance, CO2 is released through animal respiration or plant photosynthesis. The alternative greenhouse gas production comes from man’s use of different fuels and products; this can lead to anthropogenic climate changes. Anthropogenic Climate Changes are changes in the atmosphere brought on by human activity, and there is evidence of these kinds of changes all over. By studying the size of the polar ice caps we can see that they are shrinking and this may be due to a warmer atmosphere temperature brought on by none other than an anthropogenic climate change. An IPCC report from 2007 showing levels of some of the greenhouse gases also shows that the levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere has skyrocketed since the post-industrial era, this can only be attributed to man-made machines that have come to rise. So how does human activity attribute to the climate rise? Greenhouse gases are natural occurring gases that hold in some of the heat energy that comes from the sun and bounce off of the earths’ surface; it’s not that these gases are bad in nature, we actually depend on them to keep the climate of our earth at a sustainable temperature, with that being said though, they are only positive for our atmosphere in moderation. In nature the gases such as CO2, Nitrous Oxide and...
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...Essay: Climate Change ‘Up and down, up and down- that is how temperature and climate have always gone in the past and there is no proof they are not still doing exactly the same thing now. In other words, climate change is an entirely natural phenomenon, nothing to do with the burning of fossil fuels.’ (David Bellamy). Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. Climate can be described as the long term prevailing weather conditions of an area, the key words being ‘long term’. David Bellamy’s statement, suggests that those who disregard the ‘natural’ theory should study the data from thousands of years ago to see that a continuous pattern is shown. However, perhaps Bellamy needed to study the most recent cycle in the past 40 years in more detail to see that global temperature change is not following its usual course but has in fact been increasing at nearly four times the pace. Whether anthropogenic or natural, some factors must have changed in order to cause such a large difference. It would be foolish to believe climate change is one hundred percent natural or totally anthropogenic as it is evident that climate fluctuations have always been present, but have been amplified by recent anthropogenic changes. A natural theory is based on the amount of solar energy emitted to earth. In past cycles, the amount of solar input has fluctuated and was the cause of the Little Ice Age between 1600 and 1800 and glacial advancement in the Alps. However, since 1800, there...
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...would affect the global climate”. (1) As technology and scientific studies progressed throughout the 1900’s and into the 21st century, the effect of human civilizations on climate change was thrust into public spotlight. While fluctuations in the earth’s climate is a natural phenomenon, the vast amount of greenhouse gases expelled into the environment due to anthropogenic influence likely enhances, or acts as a catalyst, for overall climate change. Numerous studies exist that show increases in carbon dioxide levels throughout history via direct sampling as well as ice core analysis. In 1957, “Charles Keeling began measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide from an observatory on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. He soon identified what became known as the ‘Keeling Curve’ – a graph that showed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increasing year by year.” (2) A quick view of the Keeling Curve, even by the untrained eye, shows a strong correlation between human industrialization and the sudden increase in greenhouse gases, See Figure 1. While the increases in CO2 alone does not point to human intervention, the clearly recognizable rise in human industrialization gives legitimacy to the claim of anthropogenic induced global climate change. Figure 1. Keeling Curve, Courtesy: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/earth501/image/lesson4/maunaloa_co2.jpg Ice core analysis is another area of climate study that supports the notion of anthropogenic influence on global...
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...Over the last few decades climate change have lead scientist to develop a theories that human beings are the major contributors to the global warming crisis. Many theories suggest that different types of issues contribute to the warming of the planet but the mitigation strategies to slow this process down vary as well. When speaking of this topic there are two basic types of climate change, natural and anthropogenic. Main contributor in the climate change or global warming can be referred to as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are derived from water vapor, Methane, Chlorofluorocarbons, and Carbon dioxide. Anthropogenic theory state that the development and consumption of fossil fuels for human life has generated and released a large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to this theory the excess carbon dioxide is the main cause of climate change around the world. This process prevents heat from earth to escape naturally into space and hence cool the earth. The theory known as the natural theory states that the earth is going through one of the many peaks and valleys of changes. This of course being a peak of warm temperatures, in the span of the earth’s life, could last for many years until the peak ends. Basically the natural climate change theory attempts to analyze questions such as “to what extent is the warming? Has this phenomena happened before? Could the excess in greenhouse gases simply be a symptom of climate change?” (Dr. Clarinn 2013). While...
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...assignment Professor Pavlov 06/07/2013 ------------------------------------------------- The role of anthropogenic climate changes is a climate change that refers to the production of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. By examining the polar ice cores, scientists are convinced that human activity has increased the proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; The Earth has a natural greenhouse effect where certain gases (known as greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere allow the sunlight to enter but absorb the heat radiation. Because these gases absorb the heat, they average the surface temperature on Earth around 14°C. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth’s average surface temperature would be around -19°C.which has skyrocketed over the past few hundred years. In other words this is anthropogenic climate change, and the significant increases in the atmosphere of these potent greenhouse gases are a result of human activity. The most potent of the greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20). Alarmingly, these are a result of anthropogenic climate change, and the gases are at the highest levels for over 650,000 years. Since 1750, it is estimated that about two thirds of anthropogenic climate change CO2 emissions have come from fossil fuel burning (coal and petroleum) and about one third from land use change (mainly deforestation and agricultural). About 45% of this CO2 has remained in the atmosphere, while about...
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...assignment Professor Pavlov 06/07/2013 ------------------------------------------------- The role of anthropogenic climate changes is a climate change that refers to the production of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. By examining the polar ice cores, scientists are convinced that human activity has increased the proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; The Earth has a natural greenhouse effect where certain gases (known as greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere allow the sunlight to enter but absorb the heat radiation. Because these gases absorb the heat, they average the surface temperature on Earth around 14°C. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth’s average surface temperature would be around -19°C.which has skyrocketed over the past few hundred years. In other words this is anthropogenic climate change, and the significant increases in the atmosphere of these potent greenhouse gases are a result of human activity. The most potent of the greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20). Alarmingly, these are a result of anthropogenic climate change, and the gases are at the highest levels for over 650,000 years. Since 1750, it is estimated that about two thirds of anthropogenic climate change CO2 emissions have come from fossil fuel burning (coal and petroleum) and about one third from land use change (mainly deforestation and agricultural). About 45% of this CO2 has remained in the atmosphere, while about...
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...Human activities affect the change of climate There have been various changes in the climate. Extreme events such as the Nashville flood which is described by officials as a once-in-a-millennium occurrence are happening more often than they used to be. Human-made shift in climate and purely natural factors may conspire those events. Whereas in the past, extreme events was a relatively rare occurrence, in recent times it has become quite commonplace. The anthropogenic factors may play a major role. Of most concern in these anthropogenic factors is the increase in CO2 levels due to emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by aerosols and cement manufacture. Other factors, including land use, ozone depletion, animal agriculture and deforestation, are also of concern in the roles they play - both separately and in conjunction with other factors - in affecting climate and measures of it variables. According to a number of surveys the Earth is becoming increasingly warm in past years. This is also expressed as global warming. The human activities such as burning fossil fuels have increased abundance of small particles in the atmosphere. These particles can change the amount of energy that they absorb and reflect (Hamburg et al. 2012). In consequence the concentration of particles makes it difficult for the reflected solar energy to radiate. Beyond that, the gas produced by burning fossil fuels such as carbon dioxide and methane is widely considered as the major factor...
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...be discussing different causes and effects of global warming. First we will look at comparing and contrasting natural versus anthropogenic climate changes and include examples of each type. We will then discuss which position I will take in wither global warming exists or not. After that we will I will assess two current mitigation strategies for global warming and analyze the effectiveness of the mitigation strategy. Lastly we will look at the policy changes that I would propose to help stabilize global climate, and what business sectors or nations would be held to stricter standards to my proposed policy. To start this paper off I will first look at comparing and contrasting natural versus anthropogenic climate changes and providing examples of both. But I think to start off we need to first know what natural climate change and anthropogenic climate change are. Natural climate changes are anything that effect the climate of the earth in natural ways, for example the sun, the moon, the atmosphere. But what is anthropogenic climate change? Anthropogenic climate change is defined as; “the production of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity” ("Anthropogenic Climate Change," n.d.). Let us first look at natural climate changes, and what causes these type of changes. There are many that point volcanic eruptions as one example of natural climate change. You may ask, how is this? When a volcano erupts it discharges carbon dioxide and many other aerosols. When these aerosols are...
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...Running Head: Anthropogenic Climate Change Anthropogenic Climate Change Name: Course Name: Informal Logic Presented To: December 13, 2011 Anthropogenic Climate Change 2 Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................... 3 1. Part 1- Argument ................................................................................................... 4 Global warming caused by the man- made gases. The advancement of industries and factories should be halted in order to control global warming. Emission of the CO2 gases by the industries is polluting the air that is ultimately leading to global warming. According to the US Climate Change Science Program “Global warming is a real and manmade issue and immediate actions are mandatory to save the environment”. (Deepte, 2011)....................................................................................4 Why it is considered as a man made issue? .........................................................4 a. Green house gases emitted by the industries/ Factories:...................................5 2. Part 2 - Counter Arguments ................................................................................... 6 A. Solar Variations:................................................................................................. 6 b. Green House gas is natural Process:..................................................................6 c....
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...and even the creation of environment oriented groups that look to impact the modern industrial world with their views and protest driven rallies in an effort to spread awareness about climate change. Cause and Mitigation Climate change has certainly been a bigger topic of discussion now than it has ever been in the past 10 years. While "some people speculate that the current global warming trend is part of the natural cycle"(Hilderman, 2011, para. 1), there is no denying that the human carbon footprint has had its effect in recent years. The Sun initiates global warming through its natural cycle of orbital variations, these variations are due to the Milankovitch Cycles and the presence of sunspots during these cycles. This initial global warming effect triggers the release of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Earth has a natural greenhouse effect which means that when carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere these gases absorb radiation heat from the Sun and keep the average surface temperature on Earth higher, around 14°C, by amplifying the orbital warming. "Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth’s average surface temperature would be around -19°C'("Causes", n.d., para. 2). The natural climate cycle is nothing more than the combination of orbital changes and the natural release of greenhouse gases, this process has been occurring for millions of years long before the existence of humans. The scientific consensus is that humans are responsible...
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...Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average .In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate. It may be qualified as anthropogenic climate change, more generally known as "global warming" or "anthropogenic global warming" (AGW).In short climate change or global warming is defined as changes in climatic patterns by the increase of the average temperature of the earth. The New Zealand Wine Company is an integrated wine company involved in growing grapes, winemaking, bottling, and marketing and sales of premium quality wines in New Zealand and to export markets under a number of owned and contracted brands. Climate change and global warming are the environmental change which has both significant business opportunities and business risk as well.The CEO of the New Zealand Wine Company Rob White says the company has invested significantly in sustainability which is not only for encompasses the environmental aspect,but social cocerns aswell.He says in his views sustainability means “being able to do tomorrow, what we do today”. If the rate of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions continues as predicted by many observers we will struggle to grow grapes of the quality that Marlborough has become famous...
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...Elizabeth Brabson | Global Warming: Cause and mitigation | Introduction To Physical Science | | Joshua Kyle | 3/3/2016 | The difference between natural climate change and anthropogenic can be summed up in relation with greenhouse gasses and how they are introduced into the Earth’s atmosphere. With the natural greenhouse effect, gasses such as methane and carbon dioxide are introduced naturally through such events as volcanic activity. In the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, those gasses are introduced by burning fossil fuels and from the intestines of livestock animals among other means. Also, due to deforestation and tillage of the ground, the Earth’s natural ability to store carbon is hindered. The Earth naturally maintains a level of homeostasis, when anthropogenic forms of greenhouse gases are introduced, it is too much for the planet to naturally maintain control of. Personally, I believe it as a slap in the face to the scientific community as a whole to deny climate change when there is a large amount of evidence to back up what 97% of scientist have pretty much agreed on. There are mountains of evidence, but I will present three. First and foremost, carbon dioxide levels are increasing substantially. Scientist have tested air bubbles in ancient ice from Antarctica and Greenland, and have determined that CO2 levels for the past 650,000 years or so have stayed between 180 and 300 parts per million. However, since the industrial revolution, that...
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...take to rectify the problem. Does global warming exist and what can we do about it? Global warming is caused by natural and human interference. Some global warming differences with natural and anthropogenic climates changes are, natural climate changes include volcanic activity and anthropogenic changes are caused by human influences such as burning coal oil. I believe that global warming is taking place; climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers are shrinking, ice on rivers and lakes are breaking up earlier, plants and trees are flowering sooner. The changes in the weather is one indication, many places have been experiencing more floods, droughts and more severe heat waves. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average surface temperature across the contiguous 48 states has risen at an average rate of 0.13°F per decade. Average temperatures have risen more quickly since the late 1970s and seven of the top 10 warmest years on record for the United States have occurred since 1998, with 2012 being the warmest year on record. A second indicator is the change in the sea level. After a period of approximately 2,000 years of little change, sea level averages has rose throughout the 20th century, and the rate of change has accelerated in recent years. When averaged over all the world’s oceans, total sea level increased at an average rate of 0.06 inches per year from 1880 to 2013. However since 1993 average sea level...
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