Climate Change Issues in Environmental Studies - Assignment Example

Environmental study – Climate Summary The assignment is regarding the issue of the climate change or global warming that is main concern in environmental studies. The main inspiration of this assignment is an article that was published in Environment 360 at Yale website. This article was written by Michael Mann, one of the most prominent climates Scientist. He wrote and published this article on 12 April 2012 in opinion section. The main theme of this article is to offer detailed information regarding the harassment of the weather scientific community by various section of society, especially the fossil fuel industry. Since the scientific community has identified exploitation of fossil fuel as the main reason for global warming, this section has been prosecuting them on various levels, in spite of mounting evidence. Introduction This essay discusses one of the most urgent issues in environment study that is climate change or global warming in every context with its definition and various controversies are raging in this area of the studies. Defining Climate change The climate change can be broadly defined as the long-term time period shift in the weather statistics including the average climate (NOAA, 2007). One of main concerns in the environmental study is the global warming with the continuous increase in the temperature all over the world. It is also one of the topics that are hotly debated between various sections of the modern society (US National Academy of Sciences & the Royal Society, 2008). Global warming The weather scientists who are working in this area are gathering mounting evidences regarding the increasing of the surface warming all over the world. One of such sources is the thermometers that are monitoring the changes in hundreds and thousands of the locations all over the world and recording those changes at a permanent location. The scientists are also getting indirect estimates from such sources as the ice cores as well as tree rings for calculation of change in temperature during past years (US National Academy of Sciences & the Royal Society, 2008). Some theories regarding global warming Since, last few decades, there are many theories that seek to explain the reason of the global warming such as the cycle of the sun spots and changes in earth climate, natural variability of the climate or changes due to human activity. Sun Spots and Sun cycle As per some people, the main source of the global warming is the sun spots and 11 years Sun – cycle. The energy output of the Sun varies considerably depending upon the abundance of some isotopes of beryllium or carbon atoms and number of the sunspots. But, as per the evidence that is available, there are no long-term changes in output of the Sun’s energy in the past century (US National Academy of Sciences & the Royal Society, 2008). Natural variability As per the other section, the climate change is a continuous part of the Earth’s natural variability. This variability is related to continuous interaction between the land, ocean and the atmosphere. It also includes the constantly changing amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth (NOAA, 2007). Changes due to human activities With the mounting evidence, more and more scientists who are studying the global warming effect are asserting that the industrial revolution and its effects are the main reasons behind the accelerated global warming. It is a matter of public record that in past 650,000 years, the level of greenhouse gases is the highest and the main reason behind the global warming (NOAA, 2007). Some gases including carbon dioxide, when trapped in air with water in the atmosphere creates the greenhouse effect by trapping heat in the atmosphere. The burning of various fossil fuels such as the natural gas, coal and oil adds the levels of Co2 in the atmosphere (NOAA, 2007). Some implications of global warming As per the scientists, who have studied the implications of global warming phenomenon, people all over the world will face lot of issues in future, if this phenomenon is not stopped (Houghton, 2011). Rise in sea level As the ice melts at increasing rate on the polar ice caps as well as the glaciers, there will be continuous rise in sea level and will cause lot of issues for human communities that live in low-lying areas. These places will be flooded and most of them will become impossible to protect and cause the displacement of the population (Houghton, 2011). Extreme events The extreme events such as unusual high temperatures will become commonplace all over the world and cause further human casualties (Houghton, 2011). Scarcity of the drinkable water With continuously high temperature, there will be more evaporation of drinkable water and will lead to the scarcity in many areas (Houghton, 2011). Harassment of the weather scientists and scientific community Although, there is mounting evidence that points towards the validity of the culpability of the human activities, there are many sections who are questioning these conclusions. The main skeptics regarding these issues are fossil fuel industry. The scientific community and the weather scientists who are working in this field are facing various types of harassment such as the violation of their privacy regarding their communication (Mann, 2012). They are also accused regarding their bias against the fossil fuel industry while studying the climate change. But, the evidence gathered by the scientific community all over the world points towards the same conclusion. One of such authoritative work is produced by IPCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Since 1988, this panel has produced 4 assessments that covered 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2007 years and covered various impacts, scientific theories and analysis of the policy options (US National Academy of Sciences & The Royal Society, 2008). Conclusion Global warming is one of the major concerns in environmental study. Although, there are many theories in vogue regarding this issue, the most prevalent theory that is supported by strong evidence is the change due to human activity. Despite the continued harassment of the scientific community in various forms, this is one truth that cannot be obliterated by any section of the modern society. References Houghton, J, (2011), Global Warming, Climate Change and Sustainability— Challenge to Scientists, Policymakers and Christians, Briefing Paper 14, fourth edition 2011, The John Ray Initiative, Connecting environment, science and Christianity, [ONLINE], Available at: http://www.jri.org.uk/brief/BriefingNo14_4thEdition_July.pdf [ Accessed 14 June 2015]. Mann, M.E. (2012), Besieged by Climate Deniers, A Scientist Decides to Fight Back [ Online], Available at: Http://e360.yale.edu/feature/climate_scientist_michael_mann_fights_back_against_skeptics/2516/, (Accessed on 14 June 2015). NOAA, (2007), Climate Change, National Weather Service[ Online], Available at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/climate/Climatechange.pdf, (Accessed on 14 June 2015). US National Academy of Sciences & The Royal Society, (2008), Climate Change Evidence & Causes, An overview from the Royal Society and theUS National Academy of Sciences[Online], Available at: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/exec-office-other/climate-change-full.pdf, ( Accessed on 14 June 2015). Read More