Climate Change Project Nataly Mera, Vanessa Monsalve, Emilia Nieto 2B
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Section 2- Difference between Weather and Climate Throughout this section you find a way to creatively discuss the difference between weather and climate. Here you will need to explain how even though weather patterns change climate takes a lot more time to change. “The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time.” Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in a little bit of time and climate is how the atmosphere’s conditions have been over long time like the ice age. "Weather is not the same everywhere, "which is obvious because not every place on earth has the same amount of sun, for example summers in Norway don’t have night in difference of us since we are on the equator. “Every day, weather events are recorded and predicted by meteorologists worldwide." By: Vanessa Monsalve
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Section 3- Causes of Climate Change Climate change, or what we now call Global Warming is the effect of the greenhouse effect, trapping way much heat and gasses in the atmosphere, making the weather hotter and hotter. It has become a problem because the "behavior of the atmosphere" can cause changes in other weather elements like rain. Scientist have proved that because of the greenhouse effect there have been some gasses trapped inside like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide which haven't ever existed in the last 800,000 years, Co2 has raised a 40% since the industrial revolution, which also means that the climate is rising and will continue like that, 2012 was probably the hottest year seen in decades. Scientist also believe that human influence is the dominating reason for global warming since we cause deforestation, and we increase Co2 in our day to day life with transportation, constructions and the use of power plants with fossil fuels. Deforestation, which is our way of destroying nature, not only by the fact that we are destroying our way of getting oxygen but also because we change ecosystems and other creature behavior, as well as that is a way of increasing Co2 in the atmosphere making climate hotter which melts poles and increases the sea level which can later drown cities like Miami or London. Finally, the last cause of climate change is the manufacturing and construction of humans because of the way of producing non-natural gases created by fossil fuels used in power plants like the ones in Japan that create not only Co2 that will stay in the atmosphere but also other chemical gases that can be mortal. Scientists do believe that humans are not the original cause of climate change, because earth would have naturally heat but they are sure that humans have accelerated this situation, therefore they have become the dominating response for global warming. Consequences: 1. Decrease of fresh water resources 2. Polar melting 3. Human lung health 4. Season changes (shorter winters, longer summers) 5. Agriculture 6. Animal migration 7. Human Poverty 8. Dramatic changes in ecosystems 9. Sea level rise
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Based on the causes and effects we can see, scientists and even us, can briefly tell that climate change is happening.
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By: Vanessa Monsalve
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Section 4- Earth’s Climate History
The earth is about 4.5 billion years old, over that time it has change of climate several times. Experts know this because of evidence that the world has left behind for example sediments, fossil deposits, layers of mud and ancient air trapped in glaciers. Scientists are concerned of the recent changes climate because it is warming faster than ever, there is a possibility that the live May not have enough time to adapt to the changes. It is different from the past changes of climate because the natural causes are not fully responsible for the change, people are the main cause of the climate change happening and the Greenhouse gases are at record levels.; in the past years the co2 levels were between 200 and 300 ppm, now we are at 400 and rising.
The greenhouse earth is a time where there are no continental glaciers, the CO2 and other Greenhouse gases are really high and the sea surface temperature is in a range from 28 C, and in the tropics to 0 C in the Polar Regions. There are many theories about the greenhouse. There are studies, such as the geological records, that shows that the CO2 and other gases are abundant during this time period. There is a lot of tectonic movement, they are activated, for example 368 million years ago in the Paleozoic Era; j path at time the continental plates moved away from each other so the volcanic activities become more often producing more CO2 and heating up the arts atmosphere.
In the last 4 billion years the earth’s climate have change a lot of times, earth’s climate is unstable. With the pass of the years the earth has evolved but this does not mean that it has been stable. Some studies show that the tectonics plates are moving gradually but there's are moving much faster that they are expected to. In the mid Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago. The distribution of fossil plants and large herbivorous dinosaurs suggested subtropical conditions in Alaska and Antarctica and there were in polar ice caps. The planet, back then, was warmer that today. There has been an estimation of 6-8 C warmer. The carbon dioxide levels we're about 5 times higher that they are today; this conditions lasted for at least ten millions of years before the climate started cooling. There are Aldo some studies that show that one of the faster climate
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changes happened in an oceanographers call the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. 55 million years ago global temperature was at 6 C over a period of 20,000 years approximate. Scientists believe that the greenhouse gases are causing the rapid warming. The ice ages have left behind many animals and there have been similar patterns in the climate of now. The climate in the earth has changed a lot; the temperatures have gone up and down in all earths’ life. There has been some evidence that the world has left and to resume that here are some data tables that can show how it was back then and how it has changed until now.
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By: Emilia Nieto
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Section 5- Impacts of Climate Change Positive Effects: 1. Polar Melting: With the polar melting a new passage was created in the Arctic connecting
the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean which is a very positive impact. This shortcut can open new routes to trading and this route is faster than any other route. Since this route is faster ships would use less fuel and the transportation of products will also be easier and faster.
2. Climate getting warmer: With the climate of Earth getting warmer there will be zones
that are affected in a positive way. For example cold places like Antarctica and Siberia could become fertile and people could live in these places. Humans can develop in this areas and create cities that don’t exist because these places are too cold in the present.
3. People Dying: With the climate changing there will be expected to be floods and warmer
temperatures and many people will die but this can also be viewed as a positive impact. The Earth has an overpopulation of humans, there is no jobs and people are fighting for resources. With less humans the competition for resources will decrease and also life will be better. Jobs will increase, economy will increase, humans would have a chance to develop and everyone would have a better life. Additionally, with less humans there is less contamination because of them.
Negative Effects: 1. Extinction of Species: Climate change affects animals in a very negative way, many
scientist say that by 2050 one fourth of the world’s species will be extinct or very near extinction because of many causes. Climate change is happening too fast and most species don’t have time to adapt to the new climate. With the climate changing the vegetation and environment changes and animals are not able to migrate to cooler
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places fast enough. With the melting in the Artic and polar bears are losing their habitat and headed for extinction. In Brazil, the rising sea levels are affecting the sea turtles because they lay their eggs in the beach. The change of environment because of climate change is affecting the elephants, tigers and the orangutans. Finally, in warmer waters there is less plankton which causes whales to have less food. The first animal to be extinct in effect of climate change was the golden toad in 1999. In conclusion, climate change has a very negative effect on animals all around the world and most of them are headed for extinction.
2. Rising sea levels: Sea levels are rising because of two reasons and both reasons are
cause of climate change. First of all, glaciers are melting and all that water goes to the ocean and second, the water is becoming warmer and because of thermal expansion the ocean has more water. With the sea levels rising means that there will be a lot of floods all over the world especially in the coastlines. 100 million people live in the coastline worldwide and they will all be affected. Sea levels could rise “between 4 inches and 36 inches” in the next 100 years. This will mean that cities like London, Boston, New York and Los Angeles will be completely lost. Finally, sea levels rising will affect millions of people and cities would be covered in water all because of climate change.
3. Diseases: Climate change affects illnesses and diseases that have to do with heat.
Heat waves caused by climate change can cause many diseases and also help spread faster and easier various diseases. Mosquitoes, bacteria and animals can spread diseases more easily if the climate is warm. In the year 2003 in Europe there were 20,000 deaths because of a heat wave and climate change will cause many heat waves like this previous one. Also, these diseases will most probably affect poor people that don’t live in very healthy conditions and many of them will die. Finally, heat waves caused by climate change will increase the diseases and the speed in which these diseases are spread which will cause a lot of deaths.
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5. Polar Melting
6. Extinction of plants
Climate Change and Humans Climate change has affected the way humans live in several different ways. Over the past years humans have had to change their lifestyles because the climate on Earth is warmer now. Especially in the last ten year some people have finally realized that climate change is going to have terrible effects and many people are trying to stop it. To stop it we are recycling, contaminating less, using products that don’t affect the earth and many other things. Additionally, now there are more diseases caused by climate change and that’s why people have to be more careful and also can’t go out as much. Also, climate change has caused floods in various places all over the world and several people have lost their homes and even people have died. This effects are only the start of what is coming next and what climate change can cause. By: Nataly Mera
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Section 6- Are Humans Causing Climate Change? Humans are responsible for the climate change, we have done many things in a daily life that cause to the world to change. Deforestation and fossil fuels are some examples that show how we have been affecting the global climates change. Scientists haves agreed between each other's that humans are causing the climate change, there is a low percentage that have not agreed that this is happening. When the fossil fuels go into the air the greenhouse gas traps that air and cause the earth to get hotter. In the past 800,000 years the ppm have not go higher than 200-300 and now we are at 400 there is a pattern that has been repeating. There could be a severe climate change and a really drastic one that is not going to give species time to adapt. By: Emilia Nieto
I believe humans are the ones causing this climate situation, although scientists can prove that the earth would have naturally heated but human speed this effect. Whether or not the earth has its natural changes even scientists believe that humans are the dominating reason for this heat increase in the atmosphere. And there are many reasons why they might be right, first of all because of the way we pollute the world with Co2 without transportation and with the power plants. Then we have accelerated the rate of speed of the heat and melting if poles, melting poles causes the water levels to rise, the rise of levels in waters increases the volcanic activity which causes more Co2. Humans are now the dominating cause of the responses for this climate change. By: Vanessa Monsalve
In my opinion, humans are responsible for climate change because we burn fossil fuels and cut trees which lets out a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By burning fossil fuels to create gasoline and other forms of energy the amount of CO2 that is led into the atmosphere is
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so much and we have to realize that. Also, trees help us take away some of the carbon dioxide and let out oxygen instead. However, we have a big problem regarding deforestation and because of this reason we are making climate change worse. We humans are responsible for this two reasons and there are many more reasons to mention. Additionally, the world does heat up because and it is natural but it is not natural that the temperature goes up so much in just a few years and the only ones causing this are humans. Finally I think that humans are the ones causing climate change because even though other factors do contribute to climate change we are able to make a choice and we choose to let our world become a Greenhouse. By: Nataly Mera
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Section 7- What can we do? Humans are causing climate change in several different ways however, we can take action in the things we do, cur climate change by changing many of our life for better and stop the world from getting warmer. Humans cause climate change mainly because of the co2 emissions that make the Earth warmer and create something known as the Greenhouse effect. Humans emit co2 gases in almost all of the activities they do daily like for example riding a car, using electronic devices, working in factories, using electricity and any kind of transportation emits CO2 gases to the atmosphere. All of these things mentioned before are causing CO2 gases because they are all made with the burning of fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels is one of the main problems in the world because of two main reasons, the first one is that fossil fuels are a nonrenewable source which means that these fuels will take thousands of years to decompose and once they are used they won’t appear again. The second problem is that people use it a lot because it’s the easiest way to get energy. However, there are various ways to get energy that can work as alternatives in order to reduce the amount of CO2 that humans produce and also stop the burning of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are burned in order to create energy and also they are used for one main reason and this reason is to create gas. Gas is used for transportation and everywhere in the world you have some form of transportation. One transportation that is used all over the world are cars. Cars work with gasoline that is made by the burning of fossil fuels. Cars let a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere and people don’t even notice this. People can’t stop using cars but they can buy cars that don’t use gasoline but instead solar panels. Cars with solar panels are a very good alternative, even though these cars are not very cheap they don’t let out any CO2 into the atmosphere. These cars use the energy of the sun captured by solar panels and then convert it into energy that makes the car work. Additionally, you can charge the battery of the car using the sun and then when night comes you can still use the car. Solar panel cars are very ecofriendly, these cars can become the cars of the future and this is the best alternative to reduce the Greenhouse effect and eventually make climate change stop.
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Electricity is something that has become vital for humans, people use electricity for everything and the problem with electricity is where we get it from. There are many ways to get electricity and energy but the cheapest one is burning fossil fuels and that’s why almost everyone in the world uses them. But of course, this is not the only way to get energy and instead of letting so much CO2 into the atmosphere people all over the world should start using other alternatives like using renewable sources. Renewable sources are sources that will never run out and don’t contaminate, that is the main reason why we should use them. People don’t use them because these alternatives cost more but in the end it all comes down to paying more or confronting the effects of climate change which are much worst. Renewable sources that provide energy include the sun, tides, wind, geothermal energy and hydropower energy. All these alternatives are very good and depending on the place located people can find the one that serves them best.
Alternative energy works using basically the sun and the best characteristic about these ways of providing energy is that they don’t contribute to the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. Solar energy works using solar panels that heat up because of the sun and then create energy. Wind energy functions by building big mills that move with wind and this movement creates energy. Another alternative is using water either from the ocean using the tides or using the movement of water. Tidal energy work by putting turbines underwater that move with the tides and create energy, hydro energy works almost the same but it uses the force of the water. All these alternatives are very ecofriendly and they don’t contaminate at all.
Finally, humans normally look for the easier and cheapest way to do things without realizing the consequences these actions have. We have been contaminating for hundreds of years and especially in the last 50 years the world has become a Greenhouse. The ones that cause this are humans and that is why the only ones that can change this are humans. People have to clean up the mess they made and now it’s a really good place to start. Additionally if humans don’t start soon then the world is going to suffer really bad consequences. The levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are really alarming and this is why people have to realize that climate change is happening and everyday it is becoming worse. Finally, people have to start using alternatives
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instead of contaminating more. In conclusion, climate change is happening fast and some of the effects are already notable and it’s only a matter of years for the world to get to a point where humans won’t be able to go back, so humans have to stop contaminating so much and they have to change this Greenhouse we live in to a world where people can go outside and breathe fresh air, where people can stop worrying about the future and a world where people take care of their home. By: Nataly Mera
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MLA: "What Causes Climate Change?" WWF. WWF, n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. •
From this webpage I got information about in what ways carbon dioxide contaminates. It gave me real life examples and also facts based on numbers. It also gave me various different causes for climate change. It has the different ways that carbon dioxide is used all over the world which also helped me a lot. Additionally, this webpage has maps and pictures that also helped me in the understanding of the information.
Sierra Nevada Solar. "What Causes Global Warming & Climate Change, and What Can We Do to Stop It?" YouTube. YouTube,27 Aug 2013. Web. 29 May 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/ >. •
This YouTube video gave me clear ideas of how humans cause global warming. It explains everything in four minutes. It explains briefly causes and effects. And it contains images that help the understanding of visual learners understand the information better.
Casineau, Laurent. "Climate Change Causes." YouTube. YouTube, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/>. •
This other video was more of images and explanations, It was shorter but it had many causes of why humans can be responsible for this climate change. It includes music and everything that gives it a better mood.
EPA Said to Give Power Companies Options to Delay Pollution Rule." Ohio Citizen Action. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://ohiocitizen.org/>.
Ronca, Debra. "How Deforestation Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 10 June 2008. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/>.
AviciiOfficialVEVO. "Avicii - You Make Me (Official Video HD)." MetaTube. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://www.metatube.com/>.
"Greenhouse and Icehouse Earth." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014.
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This webpage was really useful because it had all the things I needed and the information in here was reliable because I checked in different websites and it said the same. This cite was really helpful in my work and it was the source from which I took more information.
"Climate Change in the past." Natural History Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. •
This web site was also really useful, while I was looking for the history this cite was the best it hadn't that much of information but it had just enough for my research.
"How Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming?" Environmental Defense Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. •
For the last part I used this web site and it help me like a guide to write the section 6 and it was the part that I have a lot of trouble so with this source it helped me to write the last part.
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. •
This was the most helpful webpage because I got a lot of information about how to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. Also this webpage is very trustworthy because it is from the USA government. Also, this webpage had graphs that I used in order to write part 7. I also got information on what we can do worldwide and also at home.
"Climate Change & Global Warming." The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy, n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. •
This webpage provided me information about the effects of climate change. The effects were summarized but it gave me the main idea of the effects I needed. All of the effects were negative and it also had pictures that helped me.
Cook, John. "Positives and Negatives of Global Warming." Skeptical Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2014. •
This website gave me the positive effects of global warming. It compared the positive and negative effects of global warming and also was very specific in the information. The website made me see another perspective of climate change and how it can be viewed as a good thing.
Dunbar, Brian. "What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?" NASA. NASA, 27 Apr. 2005. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://www.nasa.gov/>.
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This was the NASA’s webpage. Therefor it was a super reliable resource. It explained what was climate and why it was different to climate. Also it helped me do in-textcitations because of it’s reliability.
"Weather and Climate Basics." Weather and Climate Basics. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. http://www.eo.ucar.edu/basics/>. •
This webpage was made for students. It had a super described explanation of what was climate and what was weather. Then it had an explanation of the difference between climate and weather.
SciShow. "5 Things We Learned About Climate Change." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 May 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/>. •
This Youtube video by the SciShow was helpful. It explained 5 causes that were good arguments in my paragraph. It explained briefly the greenhouse effect. As well as the gases in the atmosphere that cause what is happening.
"Brent Cornell." 5.2 The Greenhouse Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://www.ib.bioninja.com.au/ >. •
This webpage made me fully understand the greenhouse effect. This page also had the picture that represents the greenhouse effect. Which is like a graph but is a descriptive image.