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Climate change is a complex issue. To understand it one must understand what climate is. Climate is what the atmosphere is like in a region for an extended period of time. This includes the average temperature, humidity, precipitation, and other factors. Some misconstrue weather for climate. Weather is the day-to-day conditions of a place and can change in minutes. Weather doesn’t factor in what the previous conditions in an area were, while climate does.
In 1938, Guy Callendar was the first scientist to accurately describe how the Earth was changing due to carbon dioxide and other similar gases. His discovery was that the fossil fuels that humans were burning were releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing a net increase in temperature for the planet. In the decades after that, research on the climate advanced dramatically. It is now known that due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, levels of gases such as carbon dioxide have increased dramatically in the Earth’s atmosphere. These gases are called “greenhouse gases” because of how they affect the Earth. The sun produces a tremendous amount of energy and not all of it stays on Earth. The gases that trap energy and keep it in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases because they keep the planet warm like a greenhouse. Without enough of these gases the earth would be frozen and no life would be able to live on it. Venus is an example of a planet with an atmosphere with too many greenhouse gases. Its atmosphere has a high composition of these gases and thus, it traps enormous amounts of heat. Despite being the second planet away from the sun, Venus is the hottest with temperatures reaching 462 degrees Celsius (864 degrees Fahrenheit) (“Why is Venus so Hot?”, n.d.).
The David Suzuki Foundation, a charity focused on increasing environmental protections, explains the three main greenhouse gases produced by humans. Carbon dioxide is the most common, being produced through the burning of fossil fuels. Methane is produced through the decomposition of vegetation, rice farming, and waste dumps. Most methane is released through drilling for oil and cattle farming. Nitrous oxide is another gas released through burning fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers (“What Are Greenhouse Gases?”, 2017). The more humans produce greenhouse gases, the more these gases build up in the atmosphere and increase the temperature of the earth. The greenhouse effect affects the earth and those effects are called “climate change,” or sometimes “global warming.”
There is some discourse because often the terms “climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably. An article by Karen Riddler details how a report by Wallace Broecker in 1975 was the first high-profile use of the phrase “global warming.” Another report released in 1979 laid solid definitions for these terms that are still used to this day by NASA. “Global warming” is used to refer to the average increase of temperatures across Earth’s surface. “Climate change,” however, refers to other effects caused by greenhouse gases that aren’t just warming. James Hansen, at the time a leading scientist at NASA, testified to Congress in 1988 about climate change, and from then on the issue was widely known by the public (Riddler, 2014). Both “climate change” and “global warming” are accurate phrases to describe the effect that greenhouse gases have on the environment. However, “climate change” is a more accurate description because it encompases many effects that can be caused through the greenhouse effect, not just warming. Some skeptics have argued that there has been a conspiracy, and the terminology has changed from “global warming” to “climate change,” when in fact both were always used. For example, current president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, tweeted in 2014, “Massive record setting snowstorm and freezing temperatures in U.S. Smart that GLOBAL WARMING hoaxsters changed name to CLIMATE CHANGE! $$$$” (Trump, 2014).
Despite some not believing in it, already the effects of climate change are taking place. In recent years record setting temperatures have been recorded.
This graph from NASA shows the average temperature of each year compared to the average temperatures of 1951-1980. 2016 has been the hottest year ever recorded. Eighteen of the warmest nineteen years have occurred since 2001 (NASA, 2019). This graph shows how during the past few decades the average temperature has been steadily climbing. This is due to the emission of greenhouse gases. Before the Industrial Revolution the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere averaged 280 ppm (parts per million). Today, it is well over 410 ppm. What that means is that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen over 33% than before the Industrial Revolution. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere isn’t a natural fluctuation either. With estimates taken from ice cores in Antarctica, the highest historical level was 300CO2ppm. In the past ten years alone there has been a 3 percent increase CO2
ppm. NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans stated,“The evidence is conclusive that the strong growth of global CO2 emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas is driving the acceleration [of CO2 ppm]” (2014).
Some doubt that the rising temperatures really are linked to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Some uninformed arguments against climate change are that it may be a normal fluctuation, or that something else entirely is increasing the temperatures. This however is not the case. The following graph shows how different gases absorb energy. This energy absorbed manifests itself by heat in the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide absorbs by far the most amount of energy in the atmosphere, and thus is the largest contributor to increasing temperatures around the globe (“How do we Know More CO2 is Causing Global Warming?”, 2015).
A direct result of global warming is rising sea levels. Since 1880, sea levels around the globe have risen by more than 200 millimeters. This equates to almost eight inches. Sea level continues to rise at a rate of an eight of an inch a year. (NASA, 2019)
Melting ice-caps and thermal expansion are the main factors linked to rising sea levels. Both factors are caused directly by global warming (NOAA, 2013). With carbon dioxide emissions causing the earth to warm, many disastrous effects can occur.
References
David Suzuki Foundation. (2017, October 12). What are greenhouse gases. David Suzuki Foundation. Retrieved from https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/greenhouse-gases/
“GPWayne” (n.d.) Skeptical science: how do we know more CO2 is causing global warming? Retrieved from https://skepticalscience.com/empirical-evidence-for-co2-enhanced-greenhouse-effect.htm
NASA. (2019). Global climate change: vital signs of the planet. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
NOAA Global Monitoring Division. (2013, May 10). CO2 at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory reaches new milestone: tops 400 ppm. Retrieved from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/news/7074.html
Riddler, K. (2014) Global warming vs. climate change: when did terminology change? Retrieved from Access World News.
Trump, D. J. [realDonaldTrump]. (2014, February 5). Massive record setting snowstorm and freezing temperatures in U.S. Smart that GLOBAL WARMING hoaxsters changed name to CLIMATE CHANGE! $$$$ [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/431018674695442432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E431018674695442432&ref_url=https%3A
(n.d.) Why is Venus so hot?. Cool Cosmos. Retrieved from http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/38-Why-is-Venus-so-hot-