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Amariya Amerson

Casey Flores

English 1201

16 March 2022

Literature Review

The topic of climate change is important because it is prevalent in today’s time, and it is a

topic that is discussed by many people today. There is a concern with the rapid shift in weather

and temperature patterns across the globe. Human activity has increased the number of gas

emissions into the atmosphere and this has negatively impacted the environment. The main

concern with climate change is how this could affect future generations. The causes of climate

change are both natural and unnatural. This topic has been discussed by many including

politicians, and activists. The driving research question is, What is climate change, and how are

gas emissions impacting it?

Researchers have been discussing climate change for a long time now. Ever since the

industrial revolution, the number of greenhouse gases being distributed into the atmosphere has

increased dramatically. The burning of fossil fuels is responsible for the majority of greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere. Thomas Gries writes, “For hundreds of years, human activity has

modified the planet’s surface through land-use practices. Policies and decisions on how land is

managed and land-use changes due to replacement of forests by agricultural cropping and

grazing lands affect greenhouse gas emissions”(Thomas 1). The effects of climate have

worsened and the key factor has been the fossil fuel industry. This was a source written by

Thomas Gries, Margarete Redlin, and Juliette Ugarte, that discusses human-induced climate

change and the effects on the environment. As time goes on, more and more research is being
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done to review the effects of climate change on the environment. The burning of fossil fuels is

only one of the ways that climate change is being impacted. Other gases like methane, carbon

and other greenhouse gases are also being pushed into the atmosphere and it is affecting the

environment drastically. The purpose of this article is to include a background on land practices

and the use of greenhouse gases. The general audience could use this to aid their understanding

of the effects of climate change.

A common theme that is noticeable throughout each of the sources is that each of them

made a claim that supports the driving question. They answer what climate change is and how

gas emissions entering the atmosphere are increasing global warming. Mohsen writes, “An

increase in the atmospheric concentration of methane greenhouse gas results in an increase in

global warming, surface water evaporation, and amount of the solutes in relevant areas; besides,

it also causes climate change” (Mohsen Abstract). The author talks more in-depth about the

science of the actual gas and provides a real-life example of how climate change was affecting a

Salt lake in Iran. The purpose of this article was to describe the effects of climate change, and

how it is affecting the environment.

Another common theme seen throughout the sources is some of the ways that climate

change can be reduced. Throughout the articles, each one touches briefly on how the amount of

greenhouse gases can be reduced with the use of renewable energy. The key points that can be

made are that renewable energy could drastically reduce the number of greenhouse gases placed

into the atmosphere. An article writes, “Renewables generate electricity without producing

greenhouse gases—or producing very little when compared to traditional energy sources”(Center

for Climate and Energy Solutions). The article continues to discuss ways that the number of

gases can be reduced. This article would be a great resource to use when discussing potential
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solutions for the climate crisis. The audience that this article is specifically targeting is general,

and anyone w interested in doing their part to reduce the number of gas emissions in the

environment. The article listed things that average, everyday people could do to better the

outcome of climate change.

There are numerous negative impacts that climate change has on the environment, and

each source discusses how those negative effects impact the environment. Each summarizes how

the environment is impacted specifically, and how detrimental this can be for future generations.

An article states, “The effects of climate change are far-reaching and evident in the form of

increasing global temperatures, melting of glacial ice, rising sea levels, and other well-

documented negative impacts [1]”(Ronan Introduction). This article focuses more on the impacts

of gas emissions, which can be used to further the claim made on the driving question. An

example that was provided was due to the increasing levels of carbon in the atmosphere glaciers

have melted and impacted the lives of many animals. At the end of the article, the information

was correctly cited and presented with credits to all of the authors that contributed.

Many of the sources provide details on what climate change is. To discuss the effects that

climate change has on the environment, the definition needs to be explained and that is why the

question of climate change is incorporated into the driving question. All of the articles state what

is climate and what is driving the change. In a video, “So all of those gases are released into the

air, and when sunlight get’s into the Earth’s atmosphere, some of the heat get’s trapped and the

planet gets warmer”(Jazeera What is Climate Change). This information specifically was about

the greenhouse effect and the ways that it is affecting the planet. The sources that this video was

cited directly from the UN. The facts were displayed and properly cited at the end.
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To sum up the sources, each discusses the key factors in climate change and ways to

prevent or find the source of the gas emissions in the atmosphere. The sources provide examples

and evidence to support the claims made. For example, the article written by the Center for

Climate and Energy Solutions focused more on the ways to prevent the gases from entering the

atmosphere, but in Human Induced climate change it was more focused on the actual impact that

humans made on the environment. Each article focuses on climate change but the different

aspects of it. Each of these aspects can be used to further the claim to answer the research

question.

Some common misconception surrounding the topic of climate change is that this is a

completely natural phenomenon. Although it is natural for the Earth to heat up, there is a concern

for the pace that it is accelerating at. Jareeza mentioned in the video that the UN recorded the

temperature of the planet and how it has changed over time. Some possible answers to the

research question can be found in any of the articles that were cited. All of them touch on the

importance of climate change, and the research question can be answered accurately with that.

The video and articles discuss how specific greenhouse gases like methane or carbon are

furthering the impact of climate change. The solution that would be useful to explore further

would be a concrete example of how the greenhouse effect is affecting countries now and in the

future.
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Works Cited

Abazari, Mohsen, et al. “Isolation of Methylococcus Strain Resistant to Abnormal Climate

Change to Reduce Methane Emissions from the Iranian Salt Lake.” Geomicrobiology

Journal, vol. 37, no. 7, July 2020, pp. 610–17. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2020.1750740. Accessed 16 March 2022.

Al Jazeera. Al jazeera English.“What is Climate Change?”. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcBXmj1nMTQ

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, “What We Can Do.” 26 Mar. 2020,

https://www.c2es.org/content/what-we-can-do/. Accessed 16 March 2022.

Gideon Wolfaardt. Otini Kroukamp, Patrick Ronan, Steven N. Liss. “Interaction between

CO.sub.2-consuming autotrophy and CO.sub.2-producing heterotrophy in non-axenic

phototrophic biofilms. Gale In Context. Public Library of Science. June 15, 2021. Date

Accessed 6 March 2022. https://go-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/ps/retrieve.do?

tabID=Journals&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&hitCount

=9&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE

%7CA665292645&docType=Report&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-

MOD1&prodId=OVIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE

%7CA665292645&searchId=R11&userGroupName=dayt30401&inPS=true
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Gries, Thomas, et al. “Human-Induced Climate Change: The Impact of Land-Use

Change.” Theoretical & Applied Climatology, vol. 135, no. 3/4, Feb. 2019, pp. 1031–44.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2422-8. Date Accessed 16 March

2022.

Alejandra Borunda. ‘The Most Consequential Impact of Trump’s Climate Policies? Wasted

Time’. National Geograpghic. Published 11 December 2020.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/most-consequential-impact-of-trumps-

climate-policies-wasted-time. Date Accessed 27 March 2022.

Congressional Research Service. ‘US Climate Change Policy’. Published 28 October 2021.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46947#:~:text=Examples%20of%20enacted

%20legislation%20involving,carbon%20capture%20and%20sequestration

%20efforts.&text=President%20Biden%20announced%20a%20new,below%202005%20levels

%20by%202030. Accessed 27 March 2022.