Climate change, in contrast to what a surprisingly large segment of the public thinks, does indeed pose a significant threat to the way that we live. What makes a thorough understanding of the dangers of climate change is the fact that its effects are rarely large, one-time calamitous events, such as a terrorist attack; but rather slow persistent changes, like a small leak in a boat that, while dangerous, lull people into the belief that nothing is happening or that the situation is manageable. In addition, as Newton theorized in his third law, for every action there is an equal, an opposite reaction. Accordingly, while one group of scientists can point to clear evidence of climate change and its effects; another group of fringe-scientists, or scientists that believed in unfounded or less accepted scientific methods, have argued that the evidence used is not persuasive and that there might be other factors that are creating the conditions is claimed to be climate change.
Consequently, in order to truly understand the reality of climate change, as opposed to the politically expedient arguments or plain untruths of people that choose not to belief the evidence; one must comprehend what it is exactly. Climate change, in essence, refers to the change in temperatures of the Earth over the course of its existence (NASA, 2016). These changes are natural and are caused by the amount of solar energy that is trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. The more solar energy that remains in the atmosphere the warmer the Earth becomes. Conversely, the less solar energy in the atmosphere, the colder the Earth becomes. Since the formation of the Earth, the solar energy in the atmosphere has oscillated between high and low amounts. One of the key pieces of evidence illustrating this is the numerous ice ages that the Earth has experienced (NASA, 2016).
The current concerns about climate change are, therefore, not on the natural warming and cooling of the Earth’s atmosphere but rather the human induced warming of the atmosphere. To be sure, scientist have shown that the current warming of the Earth’s atmosphere is largely the result of human activity, especially human activities over the last 100-200 years (NASA, 2016). There are two main human activities that have increased warming, namely the increased production of carbon dioxide, and the elimination of carbon dioxide filtering elements in the environment. Carbon dioxide is a gas that has the tendency to reflect and insulate solar energy. The more carbon dioxide that is introduced into the atmosphere creates, in essence, a greenhouse effect where solar energy is allowed in but not allowed to escape (EPA, 2016). The result is an abnormal warming of the Earth. What makes it abnormal is that carbon dioxide is natural in the atmosphere, but human activities have increased the amount to unnatural heights.
The main human activities that has contributed to this are, on the one hand, the widespread used and combustion of fossil fuels. On the other hand, there is the massive elimination of natural carbon dioxide filters such as the cutting down of forests, jungles, and wetlands (EPA, 2016). Taken together, these activities have increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to historic heights, thereby increasing the solar energy trapped in the atmosphere that the resulting warming of the Earth. As the Earth has become warmer, it has experienced a range of climatic changes including rising sea levels brought on by melting ice caps, as well as extreme weather events. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the experience of extreme weather and other climatic events such as excessive rainfall and droughts has increased significantly over the last four decades (NOAA, n.d.). Houston, for example, has most recently commonly experienced heavy rainfall, flooding, and occasionally tornadoes (NOAA, n.d.).
References
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2016, Jun. 23). Climate Change: How do we know? Retrieved from. http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (n.d.). U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI): Introduction. Retrieved from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/cei/index.html
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2016, May 27). Overview of Greenhouse Gases. Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html
