Ashley Ellis ENG 112 —IssueReport Feb. 24, 2019 ‘The Effects OF Climate Change and Global Warming The entire dimate change of the worldis changingon a regular basis because of the increasing global warmingbythe natural means and human activities. Allof these changeshavesuch abigimpact on ecosystems and people's lives. Global warmingis an increasein thetemperature of the surface of the Earth. The Earth’s surfaceismade up of water and landwhich meansthat not only is temperature ofthe land increasing but the water temperatureisincreasingas well. This heat creates numerous problems for all ivingthings such asplants, animals andhumans. There are threemain factorsthat scientists have identified that could push the planet dloserto global warming, These factors are the reflectivity of the Earth's atmosphere, the greenhouseeffect, and radiation fromthe sun that is reachingEarth. The first factor is that sunlight can eitherbe absorbed or reflected when it reaches Earth depending on different factors. Lighter colored areastendtoreflectthe sun's rays while darker surfaces are more likely to absorbtheserays. Anotherfactoristhe greenhouse effect. Thehuman activity that isinfluen cing dimate change isthe greenhouse gas emissions from burningfossilfuels andthis what helps causethe greenhouse effect. Things like burningfossil fuels, deforestation, andtechn ological inventions are also addingmoretoxicgreenhouse gasestothe atmosphere andmakingit alot warmerthat it shouldbe. The last factor is that Global warmingcan bea result of shiftsin how much solar energy reaches Earth, One of the major consequences of climate changeisits effects on agriculture. “Climate change has been describedasthe biggest global health threat of the 2ist century” (S pringmann par.1). TheseEllis2 effects from climate change could eventually reduce the amount of foodthatis beingharvested, This will also affect people's diets and can have bad consequences ortheirhealth.Itisimportant because so many people can be affected by this. The effects on thefood supply will leadtohigherfoodpricesthen the amount of food consumedwill bereduced which willleadto an increased amount of malnourished people. Otherthan disturbingthe balance of the global ecosystem climate change can increase health risks and heat related injuries or deaths, Global warming couldbethrowingoffthe seasonal pattems. AngelaLedford Anderson stated that "The scienceis clear: global warmingisn't offin the distant future or happening somewhere else, it's happeningacrossthenation andit's causing our seasons to creep out of balance” (US Fed News Service par. 2). Studies have shown thatthe rhythm of some species of plants andtrees are being thrown off to because of global warming, A few examples arehoneysuckles andlilacsthat are blooming earlierthan they should. Things likerobins and Canadian geeseare coming earlier. tisthrowing everythingout of sync, andit ishappeningall overthenation. Global warminghas also affected ectotherms globally. Studies were doneto show how it affectsthem in th eir early lifestages. They changedthetemperature and studied how longit took forthem to hatch. Thewarmertemperatures decreasedthe development of the egewith all of the species they studied. They also examined dragonflies and condudedthat the warmertemperatures resultedin smallerhatchlings that hada higher mortality ratethan the ones that were not exposed. ‘There are afew prevention steps that peoplecan take liketheplantingof trees, decreasingthe uuse of hazardous chemicals, using publictransport, usingwind and solar energy, that can reducethe effect of global warmingto an extent. There are also somekey approaches to determinethe effects of climate change for different ecosystems. Peoplein the scientific community have been working hard so that they can provide some insight on thefate of the species andtheir ecosystems. They areusingcolorEllis3 coded mapsto help with this process by showingthe current and future predictions of dimate change. “Understandingthe impacts of these top-down processes on ecosystems is critical for determining large-scale ecosystem responseto climate change” (Schmitz par. 1). A large level of climate change can attract people's attention very easily. Studies have been conductedthat shows when people are educated about climate change, they feellikethey can have more of an influence with the outcomes. ‘Therewasa specificstudy done where avideo about climate change was shown to agroup of people and it was meantto play on theiremotions. This study showed that the participants alsofelt encouraged totalkto other people about dimate change and what they can do to help. All of thefindings of this study showedthat if you can target people's emotionsit will be more effective for climate change. Allofthe greenhouse gases makethetemperature of the earth increase at higherrates which is not in the favor of life of human beings, animals, and plants. Global warmingisnota problemthat hasa direct answer. People cannot stop global warmingentirely but there are things that can slow is down. One of the main solutions is reducingthe abundance of greenhouse gasses that is releasedintothe atmosphere. fthe human race wantsto survive peoplemay needto start changingtheirways. “Thereal action will have totake place on a national and global level” (Portland Press Herald par. 17). The human race must work togetherto savetheplanet.