Climate Change

In the past decade, it has been called everything from the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind to the greatest challenge to face man. There have been conventions, coalitions, and conferences held in its name. Hundreds of politicians have discussed, debated and even come to agree on possible solutions armed with which we might stand and face its impending challenge. Thousands of scientists have released studies, statements, and reports documenting its harmful and possibly even apocalyptic consequences for all of the worlds biodiversity. Millions of people have individually altered their own lifestyles and together they have walked and run and biked in fierce protest. The issue at hand is climate change, and it has literally and figuratively taken every corner of our world by storm. People are increasingly aware that this environmental threat could be the defining issue of our time. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place over a short period of time For example, on a particular day in Singapore, the weather is warm in the afternoon. But later in the day, when there are clouds blocking Sun's rays, the weather would become cooler. While weather describes the condition of the atmosphere at a particular time, climate refers to the weather pattern of a place over a long period, usually thirty years and more. For example, although the weather in Singapore may be cool and dry today, Singapore's climate is hot and wet. There are several elements that make up the weather and climate of a place. These elements are temperature, rainfall and rain.

Climate is a large, complex system which, like any system, can be affected by different things. By pushing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and so trapping heat which would otherwise escape into space, by doing this, we are pushing more energy into the system, and our climate produces weather patterns according to how much energy is in the system. This disturbs weather patterns, meaning we get hotter, drier, wetter, windier weather in different places at different times to usual. In general the cause of global warming can be sum up into 2 Natural Causes Natural causes are causes created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years. However this are just assumptions.

Man-made Causes Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well.

Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation, right? That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now your probably thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car.

Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.

The more greenhouse gases, the more the climate and the weather are affected. Human systems rely on the stability of natural systems in order for civilization to function. To grow food, for one thing. When we disturb the climate and the weather, we risk disturbing our ability to eat. Greenhouse gases can be both natural and man-made, and include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor and hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs). They can be released in various ways, either through industrial or natural processes. Land-use change, such as deforestation, is a big contributor because trees are essentially wet sticks of carbon, and so burning them both releases CO2 and prevents the trees from absorbing CO2 through photosynthesis, their method of turning sunlight, nutrients and water into energy to grow.

Burning fossil fuels for energy coal, oil and gas is a major contributor, as is industrial agriculture, from use of carbon-based pesticides and fertilizers, and fuel for tractors etc. These inputs are avoided in organic agriculture. So, many human processes increase the amount of greenhouse gases discharged into the atmosphere, and many others remove the earths natural ability to absorb them. This double process is further increased and accelerated by positive feedbacks in nature, such as in the Arctic. Here, the loss of ice and snow also removes its ability to reflect heat. Absorbing heat means more melting, which means more heat is absorbed and so on. There are many more examples of this, from deforestation in the tropics especially, to the release of methane in peat bogs. All of these things are happening today, and accelerating. Furthermore we can see the effects of global warming as with the following: Sea level rise Global sea level rose about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century. The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century. Global temperature rise All three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since 1880. Most of this warming has occurred since the 1970s, with the 20 warmest years having occurred since 1981 and with all 10 of the warmest years occurring in the past 12 years. Even though the 2000s witnessed a solar output decline resulting in an unusually deep solar minimum in 2007-2009, surface temperatures continue to increase. Warming oceans The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969. Shrinking ice sheets The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometers (36 to 60 cubic miles) of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about 152 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of ice between 2002 and 2005. Declining Arctic sea ice Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades. Glacial retreat Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

Extreme events The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events. Ocean acidification Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent. This increase is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year. The solution is to increase the earths capacity to absorb and store carbon. This is called biological carbon sequestration, or bio sequestration. It can be done through forest protection, reforestation on land, and enhancement of carbon-absorbing plants such as sea grasses in marine ecosystems. Arguments over climate change being man-made or otherwise are not as complex as they seem.