Abstract
Present day climatic change is the direct result of human influences, which have so far crossed the bounds of variations of natural. The true source of global climatic change is man-induced alteration in atmosphere’s composition. These issues result mainly from emissions associated with uses of energy resources, more or less due to local and regional scales. Urbanization and changes in land use are also an important aspect. Though progress has been made in techniques of monitoring and understanding climatic change, there are still quite a many scientific, technical and institutional obstacles for precise planning to adapt to and mitigate the effects of environmental change.
Article Reviews on Climate Change Issues
Introduction
Researchers and environmentalists all over the world work each day to act as whistle blowers for the numerous environmental aggressions that human beings commit, which eventually lead to changes in climatic patterns both on local ecosystems and global ecology levels. Following is a comprehensive review of some such articles.
Discussion
Article Number 1: “How Ocean Acidification harms sea life and worsens climate change” by Lindsay Abrams (26 August, 2013)
This article connects the link between how acidification of ocean water can harm sea life, which in turn can affect climate change for the worse. The article quotes studies that explain how sulfur compounds emitted by sea creatures bring a cooling effect to the atmosphere. Acidification would lead to loss of oceanic fauna and flora, which would decrease sulfur emissions increasing the amount of sunlight entering the atmosphere and hence causing Global warming and leading to climate changes. This article provides a unique approach to the climate change problem with the perspective of marine ecologists. This article is also suggestive of research and corrective measures that must be taken to reverse oceanic acidification and save marine life.
Article Number 2: “Seabirds are Indicator Species for Climate Change” by Allison Winter (30 August, 2013)
In this article the author discusses about how different species of birds can be indicators of climate changes. Population of birds is an indicator of the health of their food chain and ecology. If a particular bird species population seems to change rapidly, the reason can directly be pointed to climate variations. The author takes the example of emperor penguins of the Antarctic to explain the claims of the article. This article is very informative and is suggestive of a new line of research for environmental researchers.
Article Number 3: “Wildfires and Climate Change” by Kate Galbraith (4 September, 2013)
This is an article discussing the causes and effects of devastating forest fires, beginning from a recent incident of a destructive blaze in national parks in Yosemite. The author expresses worries on the ever changing and ever increasing incidents of forest fires. These fires, according to the author are frequently caused due to human activities, mistaken or intentional. The author also quotes examples from elsewhere in the world where forest fires have caused a lot of damage and how loss of greenery and tree cover causes climatic changes in fire ravaged regions, often culminating in a loss of ecosystems. The author quotes environmental expert Chris Field, director of the department of global ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science, who shows concerns over deforestation as another reason for increased number of forest fire incidents as lost trees creates vacuum in moisture cycle leading to dried vegetation. This dried vegetation could form peat lands which when burnt will contribute to green-house gas emissions. The article is an eye opener about the far reaching effects that cutting of trees can have on the environment and climatic changes
Article Number 4: “Climate change will 'exacerbate existing problems': Defence” by Graham Readfearn (11 September, 2013)
This article essays an Environmental Convention organized by the Australian Department of Defense. The article takes up the military and strategic perspective to measure the impact of climatic changes. It is an important documentation, a proof to the changing attitude of the defense departments of countries towards environmental issues, as it compares the stand of the department in the previous years and now. This comes in light to environmental and climate changes, as they have begun to impact geopolitics all over the world. The article is a fore warning of how strategically climate changes and environmental degradation can pose a threat to national security.
Article Number 5: “Climate change: IPCC issues stark warning over global warming” by Robin Mckie (21 September, 2013)
In this article, the author tries to send a warning to all the governments about the impending devastating effects fossil fuels will have on the environment. Fossil fuel overuse will lead to run away Greenhouse effect which would lead to further Global Warming. The article takes a formally informative yet warning tone, and is a call to all the governments to pay attention to the warnings of the IPCC reports. The article is suggestive of measures that need to be taken to decrease worldwide fossil fuel consumption and building low emission economies.
Conclusion
Climatic change involves serious ethical dilemmas, especially in its world-wide, ecological and intergenerational perspectives. Despite the setbacks that may be experienced due to theories and pragmatic issues improperly dealt with, there is a widespread consensus of the need and overall structural plan of serious action and relevance of crucial ethical apprehensions, like fairness and responsibility. Ethics related climatic issues is a field that is yet emerging and has much to offer, and definitely requires a lot of work to be done. However, it is certain that such changes will increasingly manifest in significantly perceptible ways, such as variations in the temperature extremes and amount of precipitation, decrease in seasonal and perennial snows and ice extent, and rise in the sea level. Man-made climatic changes are likely to manifest in many countries. Mankind is venturing into the unknown and dangerous of the climatic realm, and impacts associated with it could be highly disruptive.
Although there is a lot of articles both based on journalistic and research approaches are published every day. However, what is important to understand is whether such articles have any impact on the selfish activities of human beings that damage the environment and cause problems like climate changes.
References
Abrams, L.(2013). How ocean acidification harms sealife and worsens climate change. Salon.com. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2013/08/26/how_ocean_acidification_harms_sealife_and_worsenes_climate_change/
Galbraith, K. (2013). Wildfires and Climate Change. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/business/energy-environment/wildfires-and-climate-change.html?_r=1&
McKie, R. (2013). Climate change: IPCC issues stark warning over global warming – Call to 'stop dithering about fossil fuel cuts' as expert panel warns entire globe is affected. The Observer. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/21/climate-change-ipcc-global-warming
Winter, A. (2013). Seabirds are Indicator Species for Climate Change. ENN.com. Environmental News Network. Retrieved from http://www.enn.com/enn_original_news/ article/46374
