Climate Change: Do Human play a part in its Existance - Research Paper Example

?Pauline Bowman English 1020 Climate Change: Do Human Play A Part in Its Existence? Introduction Over the years, the world has seen a rise in the advocacies for “taking care of the Earth”, as a response to what people term as climate change. However, alongside these advocacies raised an opposite antagonism, claiming that the concept of “climate change” is just a black propaganda raised by capitalists and similar personalities hoping to cash in on the panic and subsequent responses to the scare of climate change. Indeed, a significant question then rises: Is climate change really happening or is it just a fraudulent fabrication of industrialists? The debates in response to this question have been numerous over the past years, and even since the nineteenth century. Many scientists and personalities have argued whether there are natural elements that caused the development of the climate change, or if humans have induced the changes in the environment with their unmitigated use of fossil-fuels that emit deadly emissions. Moreover, geologists have been studying marine sediments, ice cores, tree rings and rocks to find evidence that if the earth has been through cycles of warming and cooling before. Many other arguments have risen for and against climate change, some of which will be explored in this paper. However, most importantly, this paper will attempt to prove that it is fallacious to assume that climate change is caused by human activity, since the events related to climate change can be exclusively attributed to natural causes. In attempting to prove this claim, this paper will first present a background on climate change, followed by a presentation of various evidences supporting the natural causes of climate change. Finally, this paper will also present some counter-arguments against this claim, as well as a rebuttal of these counter-arguments. Reason and Evidence For purposes of clarity and consistency, climate change in the context of this paper will be viewed as significant and long-lasting variations in the distribution of climatic patterns and weather situations across the globe, the duration of which ranges from decades to millions of years (Maunder and Stockholm Environment Institute 34). More specifically, from here on, the term climate change will be used to refer to the global phenomenon of changes in weather patterns and conditions that have political, environmental, economic, and social effects on the inhabitants of the world, and which are due whether to natural variables or as a result of human activities (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] 1). Sources agree that the primary causes of climate change, specifically global warming, are natural events involving atmospheric gases, volcanoes and plate tectonics. The earth’s atmosphere has a layer of gases including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. These gases contribute to the temperature of the earth by trapping solar energy from the sun in the atmosphere. The solar energy is then absorbed into the earth or atmosphere and then reflected back into space, a phenomenon termed as the Greenhouse effect. This natural effect helps maintain or help reduce temperate extremes between night and day. When radiant energy reaches the top atmosphere, roughly 46% is absorbed by the earth. There are different variables to be considered that could change that rate: cloudiness, surface types and elevations, but one important determining factor for this is the earth’s orbit. The energy absorbed rises when closest to the sun and falls with a variation throughout the year. The percent not used scattered back into space generates activity in atmospheric wind, ocean currents and biospheric processes (Encyclopedia Britannic). Another natural cause that brings about climate change involves volcanic eruptions. Large volcanic eruptions are another factor because they emit ash, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, creating an aerosol. These aerosols are injected to into the air creating clouds and can lead to acid rain and/or air pollution. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air so the gas may collect into the soil. The high concentration of this mixture can be devastating to all people, animals, vegetation. Moreover, these volcanic eruptions not only cause human death, land devolvement setbacks and economic devastation but can also change the global temperature. As an example to this, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 injected around 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, and this increase of aerosols affected the reflection of radiation from the sun back into space cooling the earth’s atmosphere. These eruptions and others like Krakatau, Mount Agung and Mount Pele caused a decrease in the overall temperature of the world by a half degree for the next three years. Another theory explaining climate change is the Plate Tectonics theory, which postulates that earth’s plates are constantly in motion. This movement plays a significant role because billions of years ago there were land masses at both poles, which helped in keeping the earth in a stage of glaciation. As time moved on, the masses of ice were broken into smaller masses and shifted further from the poles, and their white surfaces reflected more sun light away from the earth, further expanding the ice sheets. This caused ocean currents to change and this generated more heat causing more ice to melt and water to rise. Indeed, from ice core samples and rocks, oceanographers were able to generate a chart that depicted variations in temperatures with oxygen and atmospheric CO2 levels over the last hundreds millions of years. The developed chart showed natural increase and decreases with human civilization being the last 200 years, indicating a direct relationship between carbon dioxide levels (generated by living things) and the increasing of the temperature of the earth. Indeed, these geological occurrences show that climate change can be caused by natural events. However, some skeptics argue towards the contrary. The following paragraphs will then discuss the idea that in addition to natural events, human activities cause solely the changes in the earth’s climate. Counter-Argument: Human Activities and Climate Change Despite these natural reasons for climate change, some critics claim that certain relationships exist between human activities and the increase in the temperature of the earth. Indeed, people claim that although the previous rise in the earth’s temperatures were related to natural causes, an IPCC study found that the current rise in the earth’s temperatures is due primarily to the by-products of human activities (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5). In addition to this, the Global State of the Climate Report generated monthly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claimed that they observed an anomalous spike in the earth’s temperature – one that is very much higher than the other global climate changes experienced by the previous generations. Indeed, critics attempted to relate these temperature changes to climate change by saying that the increase in the world’s temperature was most observed during the 1970’s onward, with 20 of the hottest years occurring from 1981 onwards, and with all of the ten hottest years having taken place in the last 12 years (Peterson, et.al. S18). Ironically, this increase in the world’s temperature occurred despite the fact that the 21st century experienced a decline in the heat output from the sun. Another evidence claimed by supporters of climate change state that the world has observed among the most destructive and ferocious adverse environmental events in the latest centuries. These people claim that in addition to the observed increase in temperatures all around the world, nations have also recorded a continuous increase in the numbers of intense and long rainfall occurrences related to changes in the concentration of gases in the atmosphere brought about by human activities (Gleason, Lawrimore and Levinson 2124). In addition, supporters of the relationship between climate change and human activity claim that several sources and publications during 2005 and 2006 have recorded that the intensities of hurricanes throughout the globe may have increased, along with the increase in the global temperature and human population (Cicerone). Ironically, even the American Medical Association (AMA) supported the effect of human activities on climate change, noting that the changes in the environment have also caused changes in the health situation of the world. In their Policy Statement, the AMA (cited by Palmer n.p.) stated that with the advent of climate change, healthcare providers need to be well-prepared in addressing the negative environmental effects of climate change on public health, such as unhealthy water supplies, vector-borne diseases, infectious or communicable diseases, flooding, and population displacement. In addition to health effects, other supporters of climate change also said that changes in the environment have also caused adverse effects on the economies of the world. According to Global Humanitarian Forum, the costs of climate change, both economic and in human lives, already appear significant: disasters tied to climate change kill around 300,000 people a year and cause roughly $125 billion in economic losses (Schmidt). With these counter-arguments, some rebuttal statements will then be provided in the following paragraphs. Counter-argument Although it may seem that the evidences supporting the effect of human activity on climate change are rather convincing (in fact, it was so convincing that large number of people around the globe believe it), there are those who are still skeptical about climate change and natural causes that lead to it. According to skeptics of climate change, the trend around the globe is to agree that the climate is changing, but they also argue that the information being given to people are misleading, since fossil fuel industries fund these misleading information. Indeed, large companies seem to have the idea of climate change to be rather lucrative, since as an effect of the panic generated by the issue of climate change, companies can then market “eco-friendly” products at a greater speed and quantity (Baliunas). Skeptics of climate change also claim that factors other than human activities should be considered, such as the solar cycles, and other natural phenomenon beyond the control of human beings. The solar cycle involves variations in the number of sunspots that affect the magnetic poles. Although the solar cycle is not understood, data from researches prove that previous cycles have cooled the temperature of the earth, and that similar occurrences to the one occurring in the world right now has already been experienced by the world before (Schmidt). In addition, in a poll taken by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 2010 aimed at getting an idea on the public’s views on climate change, researchers found that when asked “Do you think that global warming is happening?”, 57% of the respondents answered yes. This was a decline from the 2008 response of 71%, reflecting the possibility that the issue of climate change may have only been overblown. This decrease in the number of people believing in Climate Change was explained by what Nicholas Pidgeon, a British professor, terms as “issue fatigue”: people have either become less gullible, having grown tired of the issue of climate change, or they have already focused their attentions on the problem of the global financial crisis (Schmidt). This only goes to show that the over-blown effect of climate change among people has began to dwindle, and that people are beginning to see that it was just the politics that played a part in it all. In fact, Pappas claimed that today, climate change is not really about climate anymore but rather, about the policy concerning the power and role of the government in policy making. Indeed, in an opinion blog by Slojkowski (n.p.), he noted that the advocacy on climate change is just an exaggeration, since according to him, there have been no reputable” recorded “increase in the global temperature. Slojkowski (n.p.) also claimed that whatever rise in sea level that may have been occurring has also stopped, and that the increase in Carbon dioxide around the world is actually negligible. In an article by the ABC News, they revealed that studies revealed that for the past fourteen years, there have been no significant changes in the levels of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. In fact, several other sources say that changes in the earth’s climate are actually due more to natural causes, rather than human activities. Indeed, if we look at the changes causing climate change, most of this can be attributed to changes occurring in the ocean. For example, these occurrences include ocean acidification, receding arctic sea ice, melting ice caps, warming oceans, and a supposedly drastic rise in the sea level around the globe. All of these oceanic events are actually related to each other, and can all be related to natural events within the earth’s layers: the natural warming of the sea causes the melting of ice caps, which then leads to the increase in the sea level and ocean acidification. Various sources, such as the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) Carbon Program, claimed that the acidic level of the ocean experienced an increase almost at the same time as the industrial revolution wherein the more humans emitted carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, then the more the acid absorbed by the oceans (Sabine, et.al. 369). Indeed, the Copenhagen Diagnosis estimated that the carbon dioxide in the top layers of the earth increase by around 2billion tons every year (Allison, Bindoff and Bindschadler 24). As for the Arctic sea ice, Levitan and Lavrus?in (210) stated that both the coverage and thickness of the ice caps in the Arctic Sea have decreased in the last years. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA n.p.) stated that according to their findings, the ice caps in Greenland decreased by 150 to 250 cubic kilometers: a large decrease for such a short period of time (2002 to 2005). Furthermore, global sea level has supposedly been recorded to have risen around 30 centimeters within only the last century (Church and White 602). C. Rogers agreed with this fact, wherein he described that the coastal shorelines of the United States corrode at a rate of around four feet every year. However, all of these arguments can be considered as fallacious especially since S. Rogers noted that various studies around the globe, especially those independent of large international companies, have revealed again and again that changes in the ocean levels and temperature are related to natural causes. Indeed, the warming of the earth’s core actually inevitably affects the warming of the ocean, as well as the melting of the ice caps. Conclusion Certainly, the world has seen an increase in the advocacies for taking care of the Earth, as well as antagonism against it. However, this author believes that it is wrong to overblow the issue on the possibility of the existence Climate Change and the role of human activities in it. Indeed, the evidences presented in this paper prove that it is fallacious to assume that climate change is caused by human activity, since the events related to climate change can be exclusively attributed to natural causes. References ABC News. "US Congress told 'climate change is not real'." 26 March 2009. 28 July 2011 . Allison, Ian, et al. The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Climate Science Report. Sydney, Australia: The University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC), 2009. Baliunas, Sallie. "Warming Up to the Truth: The Real Story About Climate Change." 22 August 2002. Heritage Foundation. 28 July 2011 . Church, J. A. and N.J. White. "A 20th century acceleration in global sea level rise." Geophysical Research Letters 33 (2006): l01602. Cicerone, Ralph J. "Climate Cheng: Evidence and Projections." 109th Congress (Second Session). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 2006. Ecyclop?dia Britannica. "Encyclop?dia Britannica Online: Global Warming." 2011. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. 20 July 2001. Gleason, Karin L., et al. "A Revised U.S. Climate Extremes Index." Journal of Climate 21 (2008): 2124–2137. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. Synthesis Report. Geneva: IPCC, 2007. Levitan, Michail A. and Jurij A Lavrus?in. Sedimentation history in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas for the last 130 kyr. Berlin: Heidelberg Springer, 2009. Maunder, WJ; Stockholm Environment Institute. Dictionary of global climate change. New York: Chapman & Hall, 1992. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). "Climate change: How do we know?" 2011. Global Climate Change. 25 July 2011 . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "Global Surface Temperature Anomalies." 2011. NOAA. 25 July 2011 . Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) Carbon Program. "Ocean Acidification: The Other Carbon Dioxide Problem." 2011. NOAA. 25 July 2011 . Palmer, Lisa. "Medical Community Calls for Action on Climate." 7 June 2011. Policy Innovations. 25 July 2011 . Pappas, Stephanie. "Climate Change Debunked?" 2011. Space.com. 28 July 2011 . Peterson, T.C.; et.al. "State of the Climate in 2008." Special Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 90.8 (2009): S17-S18. Rogers, Chris Dinesen. "Evidence of Global Warming: Facts Supporting the Existence of Climate Change." 9 March 2010. Suite 101: Environmentalism. 25 July 2011 . Rogers, Stephanie. "Climate change is not real." 2010. 28 July 2011 . Sabine, C. L.; et.al. "The Oceanic Sink for Anthropogenic CO2." Science 305 (2004): 367-371. Schmidt, Charles W. "Carbon Offsets: Growing Pains in a Growing Market." Environ Health Perspect 117.2 (2009): A62–A68. Sharp, Jonathon H. "Atmospheric CO2." 13 February 2007. College of Marine & Earth Studies. 21 July 2010 . Slojkowski, F. E. "Evidence does not support climate change theory." 13 July 2011. Daily Record. 25 July 2011 . Tamiotti, L.; United Nations Environment Programme; World Trade Organization; et al. Trade and climate change: a report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Trade Organization. Geneva: WTO Publications, 2009. Read More