3.2.

5 – Social
debates on
environmental
issues:
Climate Change
 From the Study Design…
Key Knowledge:
The influence of social debates on
relationships with outdoor
environments, including one of:
• climate change
• renewable energy
• water management

Key Skills:
Analyse the influence of social
debates about environment issues on
relationships with outdoor
environments
 What is climate change?
 The level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere
has been rising steadily since the Industrial Revolution.
 Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) produces CO 2, which is
released into the atmosphere.
• We are only beginning to find out how these changes in
climate will affect humans and the planet. Our understanding
of the climate is only basic, due to the many variables
involved.
 We know that increased CO2 holds in more of the heat
radiated from the Earth’s surface (the greenhouse effect) and
that the resulting average global temperature is seeing sea
levels rising due to the melting of polar ice and an increase in
extreme weather events.
 What is the greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect has been around since the formation of the planet.
 Naturally occurring greenhouse gases – such as methane and carbon dioxide – form a blanket around
the Earth, trapping heat from the sun in our atmosphere and keeping the Earth at a steady temperature
where life
can thrive.
 Human activity, such as burning
fossil fuels and deforestation,
have seen an increase in the
amounts of these heat trapping
gases.
 This has meant more heat being
trapped in our atmosphere –
this is the greenhouse effect.
 As more heat is trapped, the
earth’s temperature rises – this is
global warming.
Climate change – in Australia
Our Australian climate is changing. Temperatures have risen over the
past 100 years and have now reached unprecedented levels, which is
consistent with global findings that recent years have been warmer
than any multi-year period for at least 2000 years.

Australian greenhouse gas emissions have dropped since 2007,

although the rate of change has decreased since 2013 (except for large
falls in 2020 that are partly due to reductions resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic, but this is likely to be temporary).

We have already observed major changes to climate in Australia that are

well outside the range of historical records, including:
 So…? CASE STUDY: KOALA
We tend to think CO2 is good for trees- but more and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
aside from driving climate change, can lead to starving and eventually dying koalas. How?

 IUCN studies show that atmospheric CO 2 reduces the protein content of eucalyptus leaves, the sole
food of koalas.
 Less nutritional leaves results in malnutrition and starvation among koalas.
 Intense drought, one of the effects of climate change, dries up forests forcing koalas to leave their
trees in search of water (they normally address their water requirements through the leaves they
eat). This exposes them to the risk of predators or of becoming
road kill, one of the major causes of koala population decline.
 Changes to climate are resulting in more frequent, and
intense, bushfires due to dryer forests – this also destroys
koala habitats.
 The climate change DEBATE
Despite the changes observed around the planet, there is still debate over the validity of the theories that
support global warming and associated climate changes.
Debate often centres on whether humans have a major influence on the climate. It also questions the
importance of the changes we are seeing and whether we need to do anything about them.
Opinions around this debate are shaped by:

First-hand
Skeptics The Media experiences

Climate Indigenous
Scientists Peoples’
 Skeptics
Climate sceptics believe that:
 CO2 is an inert gas and not a pollutant
 the Earth’s atmosphere has warmed and cooled naturally over
thousands of years and what is occurring now is another natural
change
 warming is not caused by increased CO2 levels through human
activities like burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) for energy
production
 the climate is too complex to predict
 humans are powerless to do anything about climate change
 CO2 is actually good as it assists in greening the planet
 it is a waste of money to act on climate change.
 vs.
Climate scientists and the media
The Science: The views held by the majority of climate scientists is that if we fail to
reduce carbon pollution caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels,
climate change will have profound impacts on our planet.

The Media: Debates about climate

change have been greatly distorted by
media reports that suggest a relatively
even split in scientific opinion about
human influence on climate change.

For example: 
“The climate change debate” Last Week Tonight wit
h John Oliver (May 12
th
, 2014)

Yep! 10 years old and still relevant…

 Indigenous Peoples’
 Australia’s climatic changes influence the way Indigenous peoples use traditional
knowledge to read the natural variations of the outdoor environments in their Country.

 Rising temperatures and

sea levels, ocean
warming and shifting
rainfall patterns –
traditional seasons are
changing and affecting
the practices that
indigenous peoples use to
help care for Country,
such as cultural burning.
 First-hand experience
Farmers:
• Seeing weather changes and experiencing
seasonal variance – ie: crops can be sown
earlier
• Pest species are spreading to new areas due to
favourable climate conditions
• Some crops are no longer viable in their
traditional growing regions.
Recreational users:
• Noticing changes to the outdoor environments
they spend their leisure time in.
• Skiers experiencing poor snow seasons
• Surfers noticing beaches change due to storm
surge and erosion
• Bird watchers noticing new species and changes to
migration patterns
 What to do about it?
How we should respond to climate change is also a subject of debate.
 Humans have been able to adapt to environmental pressures throughout history and we need to be
prepared for climatic changes in the future. A range of responses are possible:
o Adapting
o Mitigating the extent of climate change
o Introducing economic incentives to modify human practices that contribute to climate
change.
 Some sceptics are reluctant to respond at all to the threat of
climate change. They argue that we do not need to take any
action, as balance will be naturally restored over time.

 While most people believe some combination of each type of

response will need to occur, there is debate about what we do and
how much to do.
Case Study: Pacific Islands Climate Change
Adapting refers to changing the way we live so we can acclimatise to the effects on our environments.
IE: Building a sea wall to protect property threatened by sea-level rise.

Watch and respond to the

following:

1. What has been the

result of sea level rise on
the Solomon Islands?

2. Do you think
something needs to be done
to adapt to this? What
could be done?
 Mitigation debates
-to attempt to slow, reduce or reverse the severity of something
 Creating cleaner fossil fuel use or renewable energy alternatives to fossil fuels all together are the
most significant opportunities to mitigate climate change. Methods of achieving this include
renewable energy production (solar, wind and biofuels), nuclear energy, clean coal technologies,
carbon capture and storage and greater use of less carbon-intensive fossil fuels (e.g. natural gas).
 Energy-saving techniques include improved building techniques (insulation and passive solar
design), consuming less (buying fewer goods that require energy and natural resources to be made),
and being more efficient in our behaviour (turning off and unplugging appliances).
 And, of course, we can try to protect our forests that remain massive storage houses of carbon.
 New industries will appear and develop in response to these techniques, and some existing industries
may decline (e.g. brown coal power generation). This is the source of debate as to whether we
should undertake such mitigation methods. Some people see the economic and social impact of the
changes outweighing the threats posed by climate change.
 Economic debates
One of the key hurdles to addressing climate change is the cost…
o Adaptation, particularly infrastructure, is expensive
o Mitigation methods are expensive

What about the cost of inaction?

TASK:
1. Research and describe the following:
 Carbon tax
 Emissions trading scheme
2. Explain how they would work to address climate change.
3. Outline who would be for and against these methods and why?
 Influence on ‘relationships’…
A persons position on an environmental issue, like Positive feedback loop – a process where
climate change, can have a profound influence on : the end products of an action cause more
• How they perceive outdoor environments of that action to occur in an ongoing cycle
• How they interact with them
• The impact they have on them
OE
Increased perceived
Read Table 8.11 (pg.440) and make a note of the fear of OE to be more
dangerous
following:
• How someone who believes climate change is
caused by human activity may have their
Less
relationships with OE influenced understanding
Reduced
visitation to
and care for
• How someone who believes climate change is OE
OE

naturally occurring may have their relationships

Reduced
with OE influenced relationship
with OE