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Natalia Small

Professor K. Smith

ENGL 101 F15Z

March 22, 2019

Problems with Climate Change

The Earth's climate has been changing throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years,

there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice

age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era and of human

civilization (NASA). Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in

Earth’s orbit changing the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

The evidence of rapid climate change is warming oceans. The oceans have absorbed

much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4

degrees Fahrenheit since 1969 (NASA). This is causing Antarctica to lose its ice shelf with mass

loss and leading to the extinction in the animals that reside there such as polar bears and

penguins. Another piece of evidence would be the global sea level rising. In the last century, the

sea level has risen 8 inches. However, in the last two decades, the rate has nearly doubled that in

the last century and is accelerating slightly every year. Lastly, there are recent weather events

such as deadly heat waves and devastating floods have sparked popular interest in understanding

the role of global warming in driving extreme weather (Climate Communication).

Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is the

human expansion of the "greenhouse effect" warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat

radiating from Earth toward space (NASA). Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect are
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water vapor which helps in increasing as the Earth's atmosphere warms, but so does the

possibility of clouds and precipitation, carbon dioxide releases through natural processes such as

respiration and volcano eruptions, methane is a hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural

sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, nitrous oxide is

the use of commercial and organic fertilizers and chlorofluorocarbons release to the atmosphere

by international agreement for their ability to contribute to destruction of the ozone layer.

On average, Earth will become warmer. Warmer conditions will probably lead to more

evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming wetter

and others dryer. As the planet has warmed, the oceans have provided a critical buffer. They

have slowed the effects of climate change by absorbing 93 percent of the heat trapped by the

greenhouse gases humans pump into the atmosphere (The New York Times). It is important that

we protect and prevent the ocean from warming any further because the ocean and coasts

provide critical ecosystem services such as carbon storage, oxygen generation, food and income

generation (IUCN). Policies to prevent the conversion of these ecosystems to other land uses, for

example regulating coastal development, can ensure their protection.

Sea level has been rising over the past century, and the rate has increased in recent

decades. In 2017, global mean sea level was 3 inches (77 millimeters) above the 1993 average

the highest annual average in the satellite record (1993-present)(NOAA). Sea level is rising for

two main reasons, glaciers and ice sheets are melting and adding water to the ocean and the

volume of the ocean is expanding as the water warms. Sea level rising is caused by warming

oceans due to glaciers and ice sheets in the ocean melting and adding more water to the ocean at

a rapid pace.

In 2018, countless disasters stuck all around the world due to climate change Natural
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disasters cost the world $155 billion this year, and several of them struck the United States

particularly hard. Michael and Florence, the California wildfires and a volcanic eruption in

Hawaii are all on that list, according to the Zurich-based reinsurance company Swiss Re

(Washington Post). However it this past year didn’t compete with 2017 that was considered the

costliest weather year in U.S history with more than $300 billion in damage, Woods Hole

Research Center senior scientist Jennifer Francis said in an essay published by the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Climate change can be avoided if instead of using oil or digging into shale from the

middle of the Earth the plant started using more natural products that are biodegradable or

electric in our everyday lives. If this change happened we could save the Earth from total

extinction by 2030.

Works Cited

Lindsey, Rebecca. “Climate Change: Global Sea Level.” Climate Change: Global Sea Level |

NOAA Climate.gov, 1 Aug. 2018, www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-

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climate/climate-change-global-sea-level.

Overview.” Climate Communication, 2019,

www.climatecommunication.org/new/features/extreme-weather/overview/.

Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research

Finds.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Jan. 2019,

www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/climate/ocean-warming-climate-change.html.

Shaftel, Holly. “Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 18 Mar. 2019,

climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

“The Ocean and Climate Change.” IUCN, 5 Dec. 2018, www.iucn.org/resources/issues-

briefs/ocean-and-climate-change.