What Causes Climate Change - Essay Example

Research Project Proposal on Climate Change Introduction Climate change is a wide-scale change in average weather over at least 30 years whereas weather is what we see on a day-to-day basis.(Alberta's Climate Change, 2006). There has been speculation that the climate change are caused by the greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, methane and others. Some believe that it is cause by human. Several studies are now on its way to create a cure for this scare. Greenhouse gases are normal in the air the excess production of it is the main focus in study that causes this climate change. This research project proposal will include the study done on the possible cause of climate change. The effects on human and on earth will be also included. What causes this change will also be include in the research. A methodology will be presented to further support the studies done on this research. The focus of this research would be the cause and effect of climate change in human and in earth. This research proposal will introduce the tool to be use which is the Climate Analysis Indicator Tool. The features as well as the data and the spreadsheet included in this tool are discuss briefly below. Literature Review What causes climate change Climate change are caused by the increasing human activities significantly the concentrations of some gases in the atmosphere such as greenhouse gases (GHG) mainly CO2 and anthropogenic aerosols. The GHG usually causes the earth to warm the surfaces and the anthropogenic aerosols tend to cool it. Several studies have been done to solve the problem about the greenhouse gases emission which is the main cause of climate change. Based on the Ecological Society of America (1997), the earth's atmosphere is a natural greenhouse that keeps the average global temperature around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other trace gases in our atmosphere trap the sun's heat as it is radiated from the Earth back into space. Does Greenhouse Gas (GHG) really cause climate change Several studies have been done but there is no distinct work correlating GHG as the main cause of climate change. As an example a study done in Cyprus by cypernv.org Cyprus has a hotter, drier climate than it had a century ago. Even if the situation is not proven to be cause by man it is still serious since it may means changes in our nature. There is no such proof that the climate change is caused by human. Although, there are some studies linking human as a cause of climate change. How do climate change affects us in the near future Diseases such as malaria and dengue two vector borne infections are caused by climate change. Currently 40 - 50 % of the world population has been suffering from infectious diseases because of the climate change. Based on the present ranges, these and many other infectious diseases would tend to increase in incidence and seasonality-although regional decreases would occur in some infectious diseases. Climate change varies, every country has its own study regarding climate change and the result would be different depending on their location. For example, most Asian countries only have 2 climate (the wet and dry), their study would focus only on that 2 season. Middle East country has only 1 season and the focus of the study would be on that climate only. What will be the effects of climate change on hydrology and water resources The effects on hydrology and water resources depend on the location. The effect of climate change on streamflow and groundwater recharge varies regionally and between climate scenarios, largely following projected changes in precipitation A consistent projection across most climate change scenarios is for increases in annual mean streamflow in high latitudes and southeast Asia, and decreases in central Asia, the area around the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and Australia the amount of change, however, varies between scenarios(Climate change and Global Warming, 2007). The relevance of this study would help the people concern as to what to do to prevent or to stop the climate change which is believe to be the cause of human and greenhouse gases. Methods and Materials Choosing of an accurate data base and tools will be the first step in analyzing the greenhouse effects and human cause of climate change. To do this a thorough analysis of several data results are done to evaluate which study has the most accurate result. Based on my research the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool or CAIT would be a useful tool in the study of climate change. CAIT is an interactive information and analysis tool on global climate change developed by World Resources Institute. It provides comprehensive and comparable database of greenhouse gas emissions data and other climate-relevant indicators for all countries of the world. CAIT can be used for analyzing a wide variety of climate policy questions and for building capacity to improve policy decisions made under the UN Climate Convention and in other forums (http://cait.wri.org/.). CAIT provides spreadsheet in excel in calculating the CO2 emission released in electricity, air travel and employee commuting. CAIT will present 3 worksheets that contain information on our activity data, emissions factors and sources. The Electricity spreadsheet includes details on how we estimate the electricity use. This would be useful especially in household and offices since the most use of electricity comes from these sources. The air travel spreadsheet provides methodology used for further categorizing air miles travelled into short, medium and long flights for greater calculation accuracy. The employee commuting spreadsheet shows how we collected data through a staff survey. This method is chosen since it provides a comprehensive study on the environmental earth trends. It provides detailed information on how fast is the emission of CO2 in different countries. This database also includes useful tools such as maps, data tables, country profiles and other stories related in the study. CAIT was chosen since it can be access thru the internet anytime as long as you register. Based on the results presented on its websites it seems to have an easy to understand results that can be explainable upon questioning. Results and other studies will be included upon the completion of the research. This can be helpful in analyzing the condition of climate change in our region. CAIT sources of data include the United Nation, International Energy Agency, and World Bank. For greenhouse gas emissions, data for a single country may be drawn from as many as seven sources. Data quality varies significantly. Generally, data in CAIT is drawn from reputable national and international sources. However, some of the data has inherent weaknesses, including significant uncertainties. For CO2 emissions from land-use changes, for example, the estimates provided are subject to high levels of uncertainty. Any inquiry about this tool can be seen on their website at http://cait.wri.org/. Research Procedure To evaluate the effect of climate change it is best to first know the reasons or causes of this climate change. Since the climate varies depending on what region you belong it is best to consult or gather data from a source that are conducting studies worldwide such as the United Nation and other International independent group. CAIT resources include the historical greenhouse emissions of regions. These are computed base on the data gathered from other sources. Data gathered by CAIT are usually accessible online. After the data has been gathered the input will done in excel and further analysis will be given by CAIT. The results are presented in a way that can easily be interpreted and analyzed. The results will be shown on an excel spreadsheet. Results The result of the study will includes data, tables, spreadsheet and drawings taken from collected. Observation of the result will be included in the results. Analysis of the results will be also included as well as questions which are not answered in this section. Discussion and Conclusions The discussions and conclusion of the research work will include interpretation of results, discussing how the result that you obtained where derived. Additional questions will be answered briefly using the results obtained. Suggestions will be included in the conclusion for further investigation. The research work usually takes a couple of weeks depending on the data used and sources needed. Reference Alberta's Government, What is Climate Change Albertan's Climate Change, Environment , 2006, Updated March 8, 2007 , http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/climate/what.html, April 21,2007 Climate Analysis Indicator Tools http://cait.wri.org/links.php Climate Change 2004/2007 http://www.cypenv.org/worldenv/files/climate_change.htm#Probable%20causes globalclimatechange.pdf World Resources Institute. EarthTrends Environmental Information Portal (WRI, Washington DC, 2002). Available online at: http://earthtrends.wri.org/ Read More