The Effect in Influencing Climate Change - Research Paper Example

Possible Causes of Climate Change Introduction Climate change is the variation in the statistics that show the distribution of weather patterns when the weather change takes an abnormally long period ranging from decades to millions of years (Hajer et al. 9057). The present day scientists have been spending lots of time in trying to understand the history and the future of climate through the use of mere observations and theoretical models about weather and climate change. A statistical weather record has already been put in place based on information gathered from geological evidence. It is this climate change evidenced by a great difference in weather patterns over a long period that is also referred to as global warming (Erik & Ruijs 253). This paper attempts to find out what actually causes climate change and in the event that many causes are found, the paper will also try to identify the cause that has the biggest effect in influencing climate change. Possible Causes of Climate Change The climate of the planet earth and the equilibrium temperature experienced on the earth are all determined by rate at which the suns energy reaches the earth and also the rate at which the same energy is lost into the space. Once the energy reaches the earth, it is carried by wind and ocean currents among other possible mechanisms and is spread all over the world affecting the climates of different regions within the globe. The various factors that influence the climatic changes of particular regions within the globe are referred to as climate forcing or forcing mechanisms. Such factors may be related to radiations of the sun, change of the earths orbit as the earth revolves around the sun, and the possible reflectivity of the continents and the large water masses such as oceans within the continents (Preston 7). Some other factors that may participate in causing global warming may include mountain formations such as continental drifts and relative variations in the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Some aspects referred to as climate change feedbacks can affect the forcing by either amplifying it or on the other side by diminishing the initial forcing. While considering the submission of climatic systems to forcing mechanisms, some systems such as the oceans and ice caps are resistant or respond quite slowly to the forcing mechanisms but at the same time some other parts of the climate system respond very fast. For the forcing mechanism to affect the system of climate rapidly, it must be capable of breaking the threshold factors (Imtiaz, & Miller 530). The factors that cause global warming can be divided into either internal factors or external factors, although the response of the climate may still be fast or slow irrespective of whether the forcing is internal or external. A good example of a fast response is whereby there is a climatic change of sudden cooling which is caused by airborne volcanic ash reflecting the sunlight, while a slow climatic change may be the thermal expansion caused by warming of ocean water. Moreover, a combination of the two factors may occur like in a case whereby there is a sudden loss of Albedo in the Arctic Ocean, for instance when ice melts and then this is followed by a gradual thermal expansion of the water in the ocean. Consequently, it is possible that the climatic change or global warming may occur within a very short period of the forcing mechanism influences the change, while at the same time the change may take even up to decades or millions of years (Ludivine & Kulaçoglu 1123). The Internal Forcing Mechanisms These are processes that occur in nature within the climate system itself causing global warming or climate change, and a good example is thermohaline circulation. According to most scientific researchers, the climate system is made up of five components which include the atmosphere, the cryosphere, lithosphere, and the hydrosphere, which are all related to the soils on the surface, sediments and rocks (Hajer et al. 9061). The fifth climate system is the biosphere that consists of the living organisms such as the human beings, other animals and plants. The Internal forcing mechanisms that are actually natural causes of climate change in the climate systems are the real causes of internal climate variability, and these factors may include type of species and their distribution and also changes in the ocean currents (Hajer et al. 9062). The Variations in Ocean Currents The ocean is a very key aspect of the climate system, and some changes in it may occur after a very long time scale as compared to changes that occur within the atmosphere (Preston 6). The oceans are also characterised by quite high thermal inertias that are exemplified by the big depths that up to date still lag in temperature adjustments ever since the Little Ice Age. Some fluctuations that do not require a lot of time, for instance taking some few years to decades may not be referred to as climate change but may otherwise be referred to as climate variability. Examples of such climate variability in history are the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the famous Arctic Oscillation (Preston 8). Life Life is a key factor and is very crucial in influencing the climate change of a particular region, especially when its role in the carbon and water cycle is considered. Mechanisms that include albedo, the formation of clouds, evapotranspiration, and the process of weathering are all under the influence of living organisms, and it is obvious that such processes affect climate change and eventually may lead to global warming (Ludivine & Kulaçoglu 1122). For instance, about 2.3 billion years ago the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis is believed to have caused the glaciation that occurred during that time. Another incident occurred about 300 million years ago which involved a lot of glaciations caused by the long term burial of detritus of vascular land plants that were resistant to decomposition and instead only formed coal (Meier et al. 568). Moreover, the end of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, which occurred about 55 million years ago, is believed to have been caused by the existence of many phytoplankton in the ocean (Ludivine & Kulaçoglu 1123). External Forcing Mechanisms External forcing mechanisms are bound to be either natural mechanism, such as variations on the earth’s orbit as the earth revolves around the sun, or they can also be anthropogenic, causing increased emission of greenhouse gases (Ludivine & Kulaçoglu 1124). All the possible external forcing mechanisms are discussed below. Variations of the Orbit Once there are changes in the orbit as the earth revolves around the sun, it is possible that the amount of sunlight received in different regions of the earth will differ, and hence sunlight will be distributed differently around the globe (Boyacioglu et al. 980). In as much as the average amount of sunlight received on the earth per year will not differ so much in the entire globe, it is also wrong to underestimate the huge changes in the geographical and seasonal distribution. There are three changes in the earths orbit as the earth revolves around the sun, and these are the differences in the earths eccentricity, the precession of the earths axis, and finally the tilt angle that results from the rotation of the earth. The three variations of the earths orbit handle the production of Milankovitch cycles that are greatly associated with climate change in terms of their correlation with glacial and interglacial periods (Boyacioglu et al. 981). Moreover, they are similarly associated with either the advance or the retreat of the Sahara, including their appearance in the records of stratigraphy. These Milankovitch cycles may have driven the ice age cycles, accompanied by a high concentration of carbon dioxide, which caused a huge temperature change that caused a lag of many hundreds of years that amplified the temperature changes (Boyacioglu et al. 983). The depth factor of most oceans also plays a role in the temperature change due to thermal inertia. In the event that the temperatures of waters in the seas and oceans change, the ability of the waters to dissolve also changes, including other factors that affect the exchange of carbon dioxide between the air and the sea or ocean (Boyacioglu et al. 984). Solar Output The sun is the most predominant energy source on the surface of the earth, and in the event that there are solar output variations, then it is likely that there would be long term or short term climate change. A comparative analysis of the suns solar output intensity shows that the sun was only able to emit 70% of power about 4 billion years ago as compared to the amount of power it emits today. In fact, if the present conditions of the atmosphere would have been there during those years, the liquid water that we see today would be no more, but there exists evidence that there was water in those days, leading to the faint young sun paradox (Meier et al. 570). All in all, the hypothetical solution for this paradox is a totally different atmosphere filled with lots of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide as characterized by the present conditions of the atmosphere. There has been a gradual increase in the solar output over the years also, to great changes in the composition of the atmosphere, which differs from the conditions that existed many years ago (Meier et al. 572). For instance, the most notable observation in the alterations of the atmospheric contents was the Great Oxygenation Event, which occurred about 2.4 billion years ago. It is expected that within the next five billion years the sun may be an absolute cause of human deaths since the sun will have become a red giant and then a possible white dwarf that will greatly impact the climate change and be a sole cause of global warming (Boyacioglu et al. 989). The output of the sun is also bound to vary on short time scales as illustrated in the eleven-year solar cycle, but at the same time the solar output can vary on longer-term modulations (Hajer et al. 9058). A good example that shows that the intensity of the solar output may be responsible for climate change and global warming is the occurrence of the Little Ice Age which was associated with the Wolf, Spörer, and Maunder Minimum, which occurred between 1645 and 1715 A.D in addition to the global warming that occurred between 1900 and 1950. The Little Ice Age of 1550 to 1850 A.D, was marked by a huge decrease in temperatures and increased glaciation that had never happened before neither was it to be expected. All in all, the climate change or global warming may be caused by a combination of the variations in solar output and anthropogenic radiation forcing mechanisms among other factors (David & Kaufmann 262). Volcanism The changes in the atmospheric temperatures that were experienced between 1979 and 2010 are a true reflection of the effects of aerosols that were released from major volcanic eruptions that occurred during that time frame, implying that volcanic activity can take part in the cause of climate change. Definitely, the El Nino seems to have been a separate event that occurred as a result of ocean variability and not volcanic activity as some people would confuse it (Boyacioglu et al. 985). Volcanic eruptions that are capable of injecting more than 0.1 Mt of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere are big enough to affect the climate of the earth for even more than one year. This is explained by the optical characteristics of sulphur dioxide and the consequent aerosols from sulphates, which are well known for scattering the radiations from the sun or at the same time absorbing them to produce a global layer of sulphuric acid haze (Boyacioglu et al. 986). Eruptions of this kind can occur several times within a century, causing a reduction in temperatures for a period of a few years as a result of partial blockage of the suns rays from ever reaching the earths surface (Minhong, et al. 653). A good example of such an eruption is the one that occurred in 1991 on Mount Pinatubo, which caused a great change in the climate. This eruption was one of the greatest eruptions in the world and led to a decrease in the global temperatures by about 0.5 degrees Celsius, and the situation went on for about three years (Minhong, et al. 655). The surface temperatures in the entire globe remained low, and the earth remained cool between 1991 through the better part of 1993, and the reduction was equivalent to about four Watts per square meter. Since temperature changes are comparable to natural variability, on a small impact of reduction in temperatures will be felt on the earths surface if very small eruptions that inject less than 0.1 Mt of Sulphur Dioxide into the stratosphere will occur. But again, these small eruptions occur at a high frequency and for this reason they should be able to cause a significant effect on the temperature conditions of the earths atmosphere, hence they should not be under-estimated (Minhong, et al. 655). Plate Tectonics Plate tectonics motions over the years have posed a significant influence on topography since they re-shape the land globally together with ocean areas, and for this reason, such tectonic movements handle climate change. It is the position of the continent which determines the geometrical positions of the oceans within the continent, hence this greatly affects the mechanisms of ocean circulation (Hajer et al. 9058). Where the oceans are geographically located influences the movement of heat and moisture all over the globe, and this implies that the location of the oceans can be used to determine the global climate. The best example here is the formation of Isthmus of Panama, which occurred 5 million years ago and interrupted the mixing of Atlantic Ocean with Pacific Ocean. This had an impact on the ocean dynamics of the present day Gulf Stream and perhaps may be the probable cause of the ice that covers the Northern Hemisphere (Hajer et al. 9060). Influence of Humans Humans play the role of anthropogenic factors that include the human activities that greatly affect the climate causing climate change or global warming. Most scientists believe that the greatest changes in the climatic conditions are caused by human beings and the change caused in this way is most of the time irreversible. The biggest of the effects of human activities on the climate change is the emission of carbon dioxide into the environment from the combustion of fossil fuels (Christina et al. 199). The release of carbon dioxide into the environment is followed by the release of aerosols that are particulate in nature also to the carbon dioxide that is released into the environment from cement manufacturing industries. Other chemicals used by the human race in agriculture such as chemical fertilizers used as sprays destroy the ozone layer, causing the surface of the earth to receive direct deadly solar radiations. Such solar radiations are capable of causing recent diseases such as cancer of the skin and many other melanin-related disease conditions (Christina et al. 201). Moreover, the use of land for agriculture leads to deforestation doing away with vegetation that would otherwise use the released carbon dioxide gas for their photosynthesis, and the risk of this gas forming a blanket in the atmosphere would be mitigated (Hajer et al. 9062). It is this blanket formed in the atmosphere that hinders rays of the sun from reaching the earth, but at the same time it restrains heat from going back into the atmosphere. In the long run what results from this is global warming, and due to increases in temperatures, there is a great risk of ice melting from hemispheres. Once the ice melts into the oceans, the water levels will increase, and tsunamis may result leading to floods along the beaches (Hajer et al. 9064). Conclusion All the factors discussed above handle the change in that is experienced in the current world. Some changes in the climate that are being experienced presently may be as a result of forcing mechanism that occurred millions or billions of years ago, yet the effect of such factors are just being experienced in the 21st century. Out of all the factors, the human activities seem to be the most significant in causing major climate changes and great impacts of global warming. According to the research, also, it is quite impossible to reverse the effects of human activities so as to mitigate the impact of climate change. However, if the human beings learn to avoid practices that destroy the protective ozone layer, perhaps the world would be a safer place to live in with minimum risks of dying of global warming. Works Cited Ansink, Erik, and ArjanRuijs. "Climate Change and the Stability of Water Allocation Agreements." Environmental and Resource Economics 41.2 (2008): 249-66. Boyacioglu, H., et al. "Modeling the Impacts of Climate Change on Nitrogen Retention in a 4th Order Stream." 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