Climate Change
Climate change has always been debated because some argue it is not happening right now, or is thought to be a hoax. Of course, there will always be people who deny that the world is changing. They have many arguments, though none of them really work.
Argument 1:"The climate's changed before."
Yes, that's true, but the climate has never changed so rapidly or quickly. According to NASA, carbon dioxide is up to 400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide has never risen above 300 ppm for millions of years. And this is all human work. It's not a "natural change in the climate that humans totally don't play a role in."
Argument 2:"In the 1970's, scientists predicted cooling. Why can't they just say they don't know what they're talking about?"
Yes, there were a few papers in the 1970's predicting cooling. But there are 6 times as many papers predicting warming in that same time period.
Argument 3: "But the globe isn't warming".
Since when? The Earth's temperatures have risen 1.7 F (about 0.95 C) since 1880. Sure, that may not seem like a lot to you, but it's enough to make Arctic species dye every year. And enough to make 0.79 BILLION tons of ice melt per day. That's right. 0.79 BILLION. TONS. Sixteen of the seventeen hottest years on record have occurred in the 21st century. The sea level is rising at more than 3 millimeters a year because of melting ice. Why else would the sea rise? This sea level rise
Argument 4: "Well, the sun is just getting brighter. That's causing the warming."
Actually, the sun is getting dimmer. It was brighter in the 1930's, and we got slightly warmer. But how can you explain the heat if you have the sun that is getting dimmer, except for humans?
"But what does this mean for anyone? Who cares if the globe is getting slightly warmer? We don't have to care about it."
True, the problems will not be severe for some time. Of course, the sea level is going to cause some migration inland. By 2100, more than a million people from Florida and 4 million from the United States of America could be affected. This is also if the oceans only rise 3 feet. If the oceans rose 6 feet by 2100, this could displace more than 13 million people. Metropolitan areas and places with a lot of people by the coast would be in trouble. Heat waves would be common, forest fires would get worse, and natural disasters would be more disastrous.
Also, under the Trump administration, this is going to get worse as he starts passing pro-fossil fuel laws. It would be all better if we just reversed this. However, our future generations and even we will face lots of consequences - climate change and global warming contribute to air pollution. Why? Well, climate change creates conditions which increase the risk of unhealthful ozone levels. Ground-level ozone, which is commonly known as smog, forms in the atmosphere when gases emitted from smokestacks and tailpipes mix in the air. Hotter climate and stagnant air create conditions that make smog more likely to form. Hotter temperatures and less rainfall increase the risk of drought and wildfires, both of which cause particle pollution.
After reading this article, I hope you will understand that Climate Change is an urgent problem and people need to be more educated and informed about it. Still, not everyone believes in Climate Change. One way you can help is by educating other people. After all, our own president, Donald Trump, has called Climate Change a hoax created by the Chinese to reduce competition with the US in industries and economics. If we don't do something about this soon, the whole world will be a mess. An abandoned ghost planet covered with thick smog. The fate of our planets is in your hands.
For more info and cool animations, visit this site on national geographic.
-ETS&Owen
Argument 1:"The climate's changed before."
Yes, that's true, but the climate has never changed so rapidly or quickly. According to NASA, carbon dioxide is up to 400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide has never risen above 300 ppm for millions of years. And this is all human work. It's not a "natural change in the climate that humans totally don't play a role in."
Argument 2:"In the 1970's, scientists predicted cooling. Why can't they just say they don't know what they're talking about?"
Yes, there were a few papers in the 1970's predicting cooling. But there are 6 times as many papers predicting warming in that same time period.
Argument 3: "But the globe isn't warming".
Since when? The Earth's temperatures have risen 1.7 F (about 0.95 C) since 1880. Sure, that may not seem like a lot to you, but it's enough to make Arctic species dye every year. And enough to make 0.79 BILLION tons of ice melt per day. That's right. 0.79 BILLION. TONS. Sixteen of the seventeen hottest years on record have occurred in the 21st century. The sea level is rising at more than 3 millimeters a year because of melting ice. Why else would the sea rise? This sea level rise
Argument 4: "Well, the sun is just getting brighter. That's causing the warming."
Actually, the sun is getting dimmer. It was brighter in the 1930's, and we got slightly warmer. But how can you explain the heat if you have the sun that is getting dimmer, except for humans?
"But what does this mean for anyone? Who cares if the globe is getting slightly warmer? We don't have to care about it."
True, the problems will not be severe for some time. Of course, the sea level is going to cause some migration inland. By 2100, more than a million people from Florida and 4 million from the United States of America could be affected. This is also if the oceans only rise 3 feet. If the oceans rose 6 feet by 2100, this could displace more than 13 million people. Metropolitan areas and places with a lot of people by the coast would be in trouble. Heat waves would be common, forest fires would get worse, and natural disasters would be more disastrous.
Also, under the Trump administration, this is going to get worse as he starts passing pro-fossil fuel laws. It would be all better if we just reversed this. However, our future generations and even we will face lots of consequences - climate change and global warming contribute to air pollution. Why? Well, climate change creates conditions which increase the risk of unhealthful ozone levels. Ground-level ozone, which is commonly known as smog, forms in the atmosphere when gases emitted from smokestacks and tailpipes mix in the air. Hotter climate and stagnant air create conditions that make smog more likely to form. Hotter temperatures and less rainfall increase the risk of drought and wildfires, both of which cause particle pollution.
After reading this article, I hope you will understand that Climate Change is an urgent problem and people need to be more educated and informed about it. Still, not everyone believes in Climate Change. One way you can help is by educating other people. After all, our own president, Donald Trump, has called Climate Change a hoax created by the Chinese to reduce competition with the US in industries and economics. If we don't do something about this soon, the whole world will be a mess. An abandoned ghost planet covered with thick smog. The fate of our planets is in your hands.
For more info and cool animations, visit this site on national geographic.
-ETS&Owen
Such useful information! Thank you! My colleague advised using nexter.org for the same type of content.
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