Trends, Networks, and Critical

Thinking in the 21st Century

Senior High School Grade 11
Unit 4
PLANETARY NETWORKS: CLIMATE CHANGE
4.1 The effects of consumption
and production patterns to
climate change
4.2 The effects of climate change
4.3 Steps to address the problems
of climate change
Change is inevitable. The era of globalization
certainly contributed in changing the landscape
of the world and its inhabitants. Amid this
growth and advancement in technology, the
environment seems to bear and suffer the
consequences. Every day, we are confronted
with issues and problems related to the
environment. The issue on climate change is
one concrete manifestation and realization that
the age of globalization and the rapid industrial
and technological advancement has taken its
toll on the natural environment.
Climate Change
- also called global warming, refers to the rise in
average surface temperatures on Earth. An
overwhelming scientific consensus maintains
that climate change is due primarily to the
human use of fossil fuels, which releases carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air.
- is "a change of climate which is attributed
directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global
atmosphere" (United Nations Forum
Convention on Climate Change)
Greenhouse Effect- the trapping of the sun's
warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to
the greater transparency of the atmosphere to
visible radiation from the sun than to infrared
radiation emitted from the planet's surface.
7 EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE YOU’RE
ALREADY SEEING
Climate change isn’t something that’s
happening in 10 or 20 years. It’s happening
now. Here are seven effects of climate change
you’ve already seen.
 
1) LONGER, MORE INTENSE ALLERGY
SEASONS.
Warming temperatures in some areas, like the
northern United States, are extending the
periods when plants release pollen. This
affects not only people who already have
allergies, but those who don’t. This means
that people who have pollen allergies might
experience more intense symptoms, and
people who don’t normally have allergies
might begin to experience them. This pollen
can induce allergic asthma.
2) FOODS YOU LOVE ARE BECOMING LESS
NUTRITIOUS AND COST MORE AT THE
GROCERY STORE.
The same CO2 accumulating in our
atmosphere thanks to fossil fuels is actually
changing the composition of fruits and
vegetables that we eat, making them less
nutritious. Extra CO2 is speeding up
photosynthesis and causing plants to grow
with more sugar and less calcium, protein,
zinc, and important vitamins.
Not only is food becoming less nutritious, but
it could soon cost more too. Beginning in 2006,
drought in major wheat-producing countries
was a key factor in a dramatic spike in food
prices around the globe. And as the world
keeps getting hotter, we can expect to see this
kind of drought more and more often.
3) MORE COMMON, MORE SEVERE, AND
MORE LONG-LASTING HEAT WAVES.
Extreme heat and heat waves have happened
since the beginning of time. But across the
board, climate change is making heat waves
more common, severe, and long-lasting. Heat
waves can become so intense that our roads
actually melt.
4) WILDFIRES CAUSING DAMAGE TO OUR
LANDSCAPES AND OUR COMMUNITIES – AS
WELL AS OUR HEALTH.
Wildfires are devastating communities around
the world. From the billion-dollar destruction
they cause to the costs of lost plant, animal,
and even human life, these devastating natural
disasters are scarring our landscapes.
5) HURRICANES ARE BECOMING MORE LIKELY
AND MORE DANGEROUS.
Around the world, average sea surface
temperatures are rising. As seas get warmer,
they add more water vapor and heat energy
into the atmosphere. This extra heat and
water, just happens to be the perfect fuel for
hurricanes and in the right conditions, can
make dangerous storms even more powerful.
6) MORE CLIMATE-RELATED MASS
MIGRATION.
Climate change is already prompting an
increase in migration, with people being forced
to leave their homes because of drought,
flooding, and other climate-related disasters.
7) DISEASES ARE SPREADING MORE EASILY.
Disease-carrying insects thrive with warmer-
than-average temperatures, extreme heat
waves, and heavy rains. These vectors live
longer lives in extended periods of warm
weather. Fly into new areas that were
previously too cold. And reproduce in water
deposits left by the rain.
Climate change is also creating ideal conditions
for waterborne pathogens like bacteria, viruses,
and protozoa, which flourish in warmer waters.
Solutions: 
 What to do: 
 Reduce energy consumption
 Travel Green
 Watch your Water Use
 Reduce Waste
 Plant a Tree
Climate Change Solutions
In order to avoid the most serious impacts of
climate change, humans will have to
significantly reduce the amount of
greenhouse gas emissions being put into the
atmosphere. There are different approaches
to make these decreases, including optimizing
vehicles proficiency, expanding access to and
utilization of open travel, overhauling building
protection, supplanting fossils with renewable
energy, and diminishing deforestation.
Numerous legislatures, organizations, and
people are starting to execute some of these
techniques and hence gradually decreasing
emissions. The use of cleaner production
technologies and change of lifestyle are
desired to impact a change in climate.
•Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century Culture.
Leander P. Marquez
•http://darrentnct.blogspot.com/
•http://kimberly08.simplesite.com/