Earth&Us Climate Change
• DIFFERNCE BETWEEN CLIMATE AND WEATHER • CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE • EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY • IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE • ARE HUMANS CAUSING CLIMATE CHANGE? • WHAT CAN WE DO?
Isabel Maria Mora & Carlos Bucheli
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Differences Between Climate & Weather Why is climate important? Climate is important because the events from the past can show us how much weather and climate can affect our lives. Also because it can help us predict how climate can change over the next years and how we can make it change in a positive or negative way. It is important for our society and economy to know what precautions to have when a harmful event happens.
Climate
Weather
Determined over long periods of time Climate is the average of: sunshine, rain, cloud cover, winds, hail, snow, sleet, freezing rain, flooding, blizzards, ice storms, thunderstorms Climate is the study of climatology Components are precipitation, fog,frost, temperature, humidity and wind velocity.
Determined over short periods of time Includes sunshine, rain, cloud cover, winds, hail, snow, sleet, freezing rain, flooding, blizzards, ice storms, thunderstorms etc.
Weather is the study of meteorology Components are thunderstorms, blizzards, snow, freezing rain and flooding.
Climate is how the atmosphere is or behaves during long periods of time and it is the average weather pattern during many years. Weather, is what the conditions of the atmosphere are over short periods of time including temperature, humidity and rainfall. 2
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Causes of Climate Change Climate change can be caused naturally and by humans. Any factor that causes a constant change to the amount of incoming or outgoing energy can lead to climate change. This is called the greenhouse effect. Humans are contributing to climate change by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and agricultural activities. This increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causing the greenhouse effect to trap more gases in the Earth instead of letting them out. By cutting down trees, the amount of oxygen decreases increasing the amount of Co2 in the air. The natural causes are changes in volcanic activities; solar output and the Earths orbit around the sun. Some factors that affect the greenhouse effect too are: rotting plant, which releases methane, tropical forests give off nitrogen oxide. 3
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How do we know climate change is occurring today? We know climate change is occurring today because of many factors. For example, the sea level raises, global temperature rise, warming oceans, shrinking ocean, declining artic sea ice, glacial retreat, extreme events and ocean acidification. The factors that affect us most are the sea level rise, which has rose about 17 cm. in the last century. Also the global temperature rise and the shrinking ice sheets are factors that will affect us in a negative way in the future. These factors are the evidence that proofs that climate change is occurring today and that we have to act now to stop this.
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History of Climate Change Snowball Earth: it describes a theory that for millions of years, the Earth was almost entirely covered in ice, stretching from the poles to the tropics. This freezing happened over 650 million years in the PreCambrian though it is now thought that there may have been more than one of this global glaciations. They varied in duration and extent, but during a full-on snowball event, life could only exist on ice-free refuges, or where sunlight managed to penetrate through the ice to allow
Timelineà
The Earth's climate has changed drastically in the past millions of years. It changed from being ice cold to being very hot. Also, in a time period, the Earth was entirely covered with ice and there weren’t much possibilities of life, this was called the Snow Ball Earth, but just after that, the Green House Earth came. This was a time period in which the all the ice in Earth melted and an explosion of life came to Earth. This heating and icing process is normal, but the rate at which it is happening now, it is what worries us.
Greenhouse Earth: It describes a theory where Earth has experienced a warming period, where the ice caps shrunk or completely disappeared. One stage of this occurred after the Snow-Ball Earth, which resulted in an explosion of life known as the Cambrian Explosion. This time period is where most of the fossil fuels of Earth are derived.
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Impacts of Climate Change Climate change has many negative impacts on the world and the environment. For example, climate change leads to chaos in the oceans. It raises sea level and this causes flooding of low-lying lands. Also deserts become drier meaning they loose more water than they gain. This causes lands that were not deserts to become deserts. Climate change also causes animal and plant extinction in a huge rate. The weather changes drastically, this causes heat waves and catastrophic storms. Global warming also causes agricultural production to decrease; this can cause food scarcity in the future. Also there is water scarcity because of climate change. This can lead to war for food and water.
Climate change also has lead to positive effects and impacts in the Earth. First, areas such as Antartica, Siberia, Poles, and frozen regions that have never been able to produce plant growth, thanks to climate change, they can be able to. This might help increase some food production in certain areas that suffer from food scarcity. Also since the climate is getting warmer, there is less need of energy for heating cold places. There might be fewer deaths and fewer diseases due to cold weather. The future ice age may be prevented thanks to the warmer climate increase. The melting of certain poles can allow more trading and travelling through ships to happen.
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Are Humans Causing Climate Change? I believe humans are the causers of most of climate change. First because today there are more and more people, and we need to produce more goods and benefits for daily life living. Owners of factories to have to produce more things and this cause the air to contaminate more. Also rich people, who own patrollers, agricultural activities, and fabrics that contaminate, don’t care about contamination because they rather have money than a clean planet. All the emissions that these factories and activities make, accumulate in the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect becomes less resistant, and instead of holding some air in the Earth and sending other to outer space, the greenhouse layer keeps most of the gases and this heats up the planet. Also people are cutting many trees and this causes deforestation. By cutting trees we produce less oxygen in the planet, and without oxygen we cannot live. People should start taking conscious and save the planet, for us, our future and to make a better world! Isabel Maria Mora
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Are Humans Causing Climate Change? In my opinion, humans are causing global warming. For example, people are contributing to climate change by the burning of fossil fuels and by deforestation. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of the atmospheric carbon dioxide. This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. "To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases,"(A blanket around the Earth). Also, when humans cut down trees, there are less producers of oxygen, therefore, the carbon dioxide concentrates in the atmosphere causing it to retain heat. When the carbon dioxide is released, it causes the greenhouse effect, and when we cut trees there is no way to take the carbon dioxide away. "The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years," (A blanket around the Earth). It is also concluded there's a better than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earth's temperatures over the past 50 years. In conclusion, humans are causing global warming and we have to act now to stop the negative consequences that are going to happen in the future.
Carlos Bucheli
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What Can We Do? The Earth is getting damaged and getting weaker, but we can help stop this chaos by making some things. First, we need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emissions produced by humans. We can stop this by changing our energy to renewable sources; this will reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce it. Also people can use hybrid or electric cars, so smoke is not thrown into the air. Another way, in which we can help our world, is by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide we take out from the atmosphere, for example, by planting trees. The trees absorb the carbon dioxide and clean the air. Also, Humans can also stop contaminating by reducing the amount of energy we use. For example by start using a compact fluorescent light bulb. This type of light bulb uses a 60% less carbon dioxide than the normal light bulb. Another way to help climate change is by using less hot water and taking a shower instead of a bath. By using less hot water, the amount of energy needed to heat the water decreases, therefore, by taking a shower and not a bath, you save more energy than before. One important way in which we can save the atmosphere is by making the companies use the process of carbon capture and storages. This process consists of catching the carbon dioxide the companies throw to the air, and then storing it deep down from where they once took it. Many companies aren’t doing this
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RESEARCH/MLA: "How To Stop Global Warming - Articles." Global Warming Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips/>. This webpage talks about solutions for global warming. It says what things humans can do in order to help global warming and climate change stop more. This webpage gives 50 Tips humans can do to help with this chaos. For example, its says that humans can prevent global warming by changing to renewable energy sources. Also by reusing, reducing and recycling. Also by using less hot water and less electricity. "Causes." Global Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://climate.nasa.gov/causes>. This webpage shows the causes of climate change. It is very good because it shows the causes humans make. Also it shows nature events that cause this tremendous chaos. It tells that agricultural activities, fabrics and deforestation which are all human causes, make climate change. It says that some plants produce greenhouse gases such as methane. Also water vapor causes climate change. "Global Warming Solutions, Stop Global Warming - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com>. This article from National Geographic, is a very good source that tells all about solutions for climate change. It gives good advice on what humans can do to reduce the amount of gases thrown in the atmosphere, that later this decreases the amount of changes in the climate. Dunbar, Brian. "What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?" NASA. NASA, 27 Apr. 2005. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://www.nasa.gov/>. This article of the NASA, tells the difference between weather and climate. Climate is the average weather pattern during many years. Weather, in the other hand is the conditions of the atmosphere over a short period of time. Climate is the study of Climatology and weather is the study of Meteorology. "Effects." Global Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014. <http://climate.nasa.gov/effects>. This is a very good source from the NASA. It shows both sides of the story meaning it shows the negative effects and the positive effects of climate change. Positively it says that a new ice age is prevented from happening, since the climate is getting warmer and warmer. In the other hand, it says that climate change is very bad because it melts the poles, it rises sea level and in the future, sea level places such as Miami, might disappear.
"Causes of Climate Change." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html>. This article comes from a webpage owned by the government so it is very trustful. It talks about climate change and what causes it and some of the history of climate change. It talks a lot about the greenhouse effect and it tells us that instead of keeping some Air and sending most of it out in space, it is holding most of the air and this heats the planet a lot.
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"Advantages and Disadvantages of Global Warming." About.com Geography. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://geography.about.com/>. This webpage article is about the advantages and disadvantages of global warming. It says positive things like the world is heating so diseases caused by coolness are prevented. Also that lands that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t produce agriculture because of freezing are going to be able to produce food. Negative it says that desserts become drier and they loose more water than what they gain. This webpage was very good.
"How Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming?" Environmental Defense Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2014. <http://www.edf.org/climate/human-activity-is-causing-global-warming>. This is a webpage, which talks about how humans are responsible for global warming. It says all the emissions humans throw emissions in the atmosphere. We contaminate the world a lot by using cars and trucks. It also says that we contaminate the most by making deforestation, agricultural activities and mostly because of factories. Desonie, Dana. Climate: Causes and Effects of Climate Change. New York, NY: Chelsea House, 2008. Print. This book is a resource which was very useful for our research. It talks about the causes and effects of climate change. In causes it says that humans and nature, both cause climate change. Also in effects it said both negative and positive effects of climate change. It was a book that said both sides of the story and it was not biased so it was a very good source to make research. Baker, Brandon. "Scientists Say Climate Change Could Produce 'Irreversibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Effects on Earth." Transforming Green. N.p., 20 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 May 2014. <http://ecowatch.com/>. This article talks about the effects of climate change. It only says the negative impacts of climate change. It says how the poles melt and how this increases the sea level. It also says that it causes a lot of air, water and land pollution. Climate change also might cause a 3rd world war for water or food. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/weather_climate.html http://m.search.eb.com/topic/121632/climate-change