Florence 1

Maren Florence

Ms. Layton

English 1010

28 April 2020

Climate Change

Topic Introduction
Climate change is steadily becoming one of the defining issues of the 21st century. At

first glance, climate change might seem like it may not be a big deal, or that it doesn’t affect the

community that much. There are many sides taken when discussing climate change beginning

with if one should believe in it or not, then continuing on to compare it to weather. With these

debates comes people taking sides which are more often that not, their political parties. But

beyond these discussions, there are topics that need more support and scrutiny, for instance how

diet can affect the climate. But this paper will dive into the history of global warming and further

discuss the debates surrounding the changing climate.

Now climate change has always existed and moved in cycles, and people have been

arguing for and against it since the 1800s. It was then that scientists discovered that burning

fossil fuels helped power engines and boilers, but it was also then that scientist Svante Arrhenius

proposed that the act of burning them would cause the temperature of the Earth to go up. Of

course no one listened to him. History.aip has an article called “The Discovery of Global

Warming” where they talk about how climate change became a pressing issue. Opinions were

forming and one of which was argued by saying that “Most people thought it was already

obvious that puny humanity could never affect the vast global climate cycles, which were

/
 Florence 2

governed by a benign "balance of nature."” (“The Discovery of Global Warming”) Society these

days still has trouble with the idea that humans have had a hand in warming up the Earth.

Since that time, scientists have tracked the pattern of Earth’s cooling and warming and

have decided that we do need to do something. The first record of a warming period happened in

the 1930s, and then over the next few decades the scientists honed their skills and started putting

together why there was a warming period. Humanity owes these scientists a great deal due to

their research and planning for the future.

It is important to understand the history of climate change and how it originated. Earth’s

climate has always been evolving as time moves forward. The planet goes through ice ages and

warm periods, with about seven of these cycles in the last couple hundred thousand years. When

the last ice age ended is when human civilization began. The causes of these climate changes can

be attributed to miniscule variations in the Earth’s orbit. These small changes adjust the amount

of solar radiation the planet receives.

Scientists are able to track when the Earth experienced climate changes by looking at ice

cores or tree rings, along with many other devices. The documentation of Earth’s history found

in these samples show that climate changes depending on the greenhouse gasses in the

atmosphere. Because there is the documentation, it also shows scientists that the planet’s climate

is warming up about ten times faster than ever before. NASA writes in their article “Climate

Change: How Do We Know?,” about how the scientific community attributes this increased rate

to be because of humans. Specifically, “The current warming trend is of particular significance

because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of

human activity since the mid-20th century.” (NASA). This means that since the time of the

/
 Florence 3

Industrial Revolution, humans have continued to hurt the Earth with activities whether they

meant to or not.

These activities that lead to drastic climate change can have unknown consequences that

extend beyond just rising temperature. Global warming puts everyone at risk of natural disasters

including flooding, storm surges, droughts, wildfires, and more. It is important for human beings

to realize the power they have over the warmth and safety of the planet. The impacts from

climate change are affecting things that people depend upon such as water, transportation, food,

and agriculture to name just a few.

In NOAA’s article “Climate Change Impacts,” they discuss how the different necessities

of food and water are affected by climate change. They explain “Rising sea levels due to thermal

expansion and melting land ice sheets and glaciers put coastal areas at greater risk of erosion and

storm surge.” (NOAA). Habitats and ecosystems are being disrupted with rising ocean levels as

coastal towns are flooded. That along with decreased snow accumulation in the mountains can

lead to problems with water and can cause droughts. The ocean also takes in a lot of the

greenhouse gasses which can cause the acidity level of the water to increase. The increase in

acidity creates a new environment where fish and other water creatures cannot live. The deaths

of these animals can cause food shortages in places that rely on seafood as a source of diet and

income.

People are arguing that governments around the world should pay attention to the

discoveries scientists are making, and act on them without hesitation. Scientists are realizing that

as humans keep putting out greenhouse gas emissions and burning fossil fuels, the faster the

Earth warms up, and the more danger all animals and humans are in. These discoveries are being

/
 Florence 4

published, distributed, and are begging to be understood. Scientists are also discovering ways

that people can help prevent further damage in their own small ways. This can range from setting

up a campaign to raise money for companies that are doing something to help, or just making

sure lights are turned off and families are cutting down on red meat consumption and focusing on

their diet.

Climate change is a topic that needs to be discussed and taught about, and action needs to

happen. This paper will also talk about ways that one singular person can make a difference,

which is important. These actions accumulate and if every person, family, and community in the

world did what they could, it adds up to help immensely. Versus if everyone adapts the same

mindset, thinking that what they do doesn’t matter or have any impact. This paper will cover

debates ranging from political action that is or is not happening along with how parties are

reacting to climate change, to climate protests, and even how technology can help with

preventing climate change. People can change the word.

Discussion of Major Commentary

It seems to be general knowledge that climate is different in different areas all over the

world. But what isn’t general knowledge is what exactly climate is. As a reminder from earlier,

climate change is specifically “Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate

patterns.” (National Geographic). In the National Geographic article from their Resource Library,

they give great definitions for climate change that explain it well. And people have the option, all

over the world, to discuss and argue difficult topics like climate change. The problem is,

everyone doesn’t have the exact same knowledge about it and so rumors and debates are spread.

This paper will attempt to discuss some of the most well known arguments and talk about the

/
 Florence 5

different sides that people tend to take. It will also examine how climate change is affected by

politics as well as what everyone as individuals can do to help.

Each of these main arguments have at least two sides to them. They are discussed by

people around the world who have different levels of concern. The best debate to start off with is

whether or not climate change is real, or if it is made up to scare people. Even with scientific

proof, some people have a hard time listening to different sides of this one. The next argument

surrounding climate change is if it is just weather, or something else entirely. When people hear

the words climate change, they also think of global warming. Global warming makes it sound

like it is just warm weather, but that is not the case.

Politics also comes up often when discussing global warming and climate change due to

the fact that opinions vary drastically between political parties. The different degrees of

Democrats and Republicans consider climate change differently; some see it as a hoax, and some

see it as the future of the Earth. But the views range from liberal Democrat to right wing

Republican and vary wildly in between. But some opinions can also be a surprise based on which

side of the argument they will take.

One of the main arguments about global warming is that it is a scam or it’s fake.

President Trump has succeeded in spreading the idea that it is an “an outright hoax” (Leber).

President Trump has continued to spread this argument throughout his presidency saying that

“it’s part of a natural cycle that will ‘go back like this,’ he said, making an ocean-wave gesture

with his hand.” (Leber). Now, many scientists have discussed climate change with the President

and his advisors, but he still continues to spread false news. There are hundreds of websites and

/
 Florence 6

articles available online and in libraries for people to educate themselves about the dangers of

climate change.

There is fact and fiction, and listening to the scientists and the facts will help the Earth

immensely. It is understandable though, that people convince themselves that it is all fake. It is a

scary possibility that the earth could heat up and cause the next big extinction. As Joe Romm

says in Think Progress, “In 2007, the IPCC warned that as global average temperature increase

exceeds about 3.5°C [relative to 1980 to 1999], model projections suggest significant extinctions

(40–70% of species assessed) around the globe.” (Romm). The increase of global temperature of

3.5°C may not seem like it’s that big of a deal, but that few degrees can cause major problems all

over the world. These statistics illustrate the severity of the problem, and it is important to pay

attention to that.

Which political party someone belongs to can greatly affect how concerned they are

about climate change. Statistics from the Pew Research Center show that between Republicans

and Democrats, Democrats trust scientists more than Republicans. PRC says “Across the board,

from possible causes to who should be the one to sort this all out, liberal Democrats and

conservative Republicans see climate-related matters through vastly different lenses.” This

illustrates how generally there is a huge gap between Republicans and Democrats on the idea of

climate change.

The difference of concern between the far right and far left is mainly due to the faith they

have in climate scientists. In the recent study by the PRC, it is concluded that Republicans don’t

have as much faith in the scientists as the Democrats and therefore they are less likely to believe

in climate change. The political parties also affect the way that people deal with knowledge.

/
 Florence 7

“Thus, people’s political orientations also tend to influence how knowledge about science affects

their judgments and beliefs about climate matters and their trust in climate scientists.” (PRC). It

seems to show that Democrats use their knowledge of science to believe and support the climate

scientists, but Republicans with the same knowledge may be less likely to believe them.

Of course, as discussed in the last section of this paper, climate change does happen

naturally. As the scientists at NASA say “Most of these climate changes are attributed to very

small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.”

(NASA). It is a process that has happened since the beginning of time caused by the solar

energy that Earth gets. Climate change comes and goes over billions of years, but as scientists

study the Earth and this new wave of heat, they show that this is actually man made. And of

course many people all over the world don’t believe that they have had a hand in it, which makes

them also believe that it isn’t real.

It is also hard for people to understand where the climate change is coming from. Yes, it

is a naturally occurring event, but this round may be confusing. Since it is a regular cycle in

nature, society may argue that man made pollution isn’t affecting the warming period. But taking

a look at scientific results, and Zeke Hausfather’s explanation of Carbon Brief’s analysis, “Since

1850, almost all the long-term warming can be explained by greenhouse gas emissions and other

human activities.” (Hausfather). This extended warming period that is happening right now, can

be boiled down to the Industrial Revolution and everything that came after. The use of fossil

fuels, aerosols, and more causes the overall temperature of the Earth to slowly increase. But the

analysis also shows that “Natural variability in the Earth’s climate is unlikely to play a major

/
 Florence 8

role in long-term warming.” (Hausfather). Although climate change is a natural cycle, it doesn’t

play a huge part in the warming that is happening right now.

Another debate that is often misunderstood, is the idea of weather versus climate change.

The National Geographic Society (adapted by Newsela) explained it well by saying “Weather

refers to short-term conditions in the atmosphere in terms of humidity, precipitation, temperature,

wind velocity and atmospheric pressure. Climate, on the other hand, is a long-term average of

weather patterns.” (Newsela).Weather can be caused by climate change, but science has shown

that they are not the same thing. Climate change, as discussed before, is the overall heating of the

Earth while weather is the state of the atmosphere in a certain area.

Earth is currently dealing with an increase in dangerous weather due to climate change.

These new weather patterns can be categorized as droughts, storms, flooding, and more. There is

a range of outcomes but “it can be hard to pinpoint whether climate change intensified a

particular weather event, [but] the trajectory is clear — hotter heat waves, drier droughts, bigger

storm surges and greater snowfall.” (EDF). Both weather and climate change can cause drastic

heat and cold fronts, but it is important to know the difference because climate change can cause

extinctions and can change the Earth quite drastically.

These are the well known debates surrounding climate change that are often talked about

in discussions on social media and in the news. There are of course many opinions on climate

change and global warming and this paper attempted to cover most of them. Some opinions are

based on the fact that people are ignorant to what is happening around them while some are

frightened by the facts and simply refuse to believe it. On the other end of the spectrum are the

people who choose to believe the science and choose to do something about it.

/
 Florence 9

Areas of Further Inquiry

The last section of this paper covered common debates and arguments surrounding

climate change. Those are topics that have been deliberated over quite a lot, but there are topics

that should probably be discussed more when it comes to saving the world from climate change.

This next section will tackle some ideas that should be discussed and publicized just as much as

the past arguments. Technology can help with climate change with regulations of carbon

emissions and more. One of which is diet. What someone eats in a day may not seem important

but it can actually play a huge role in global warming. Both of these areas are suggested

solutions to counteract the recent warming period. And the one that is the easiest to incorporate

into daily life is paying attention to diet.

Now diet may not seem like it plays a huge part in climate change, but going vegetarian

or vegan, or simply eating less meat per week, can make a vast improvement on the effects of

climate change. Anuradha Varanasi wrote an article called “Should We All Go Vegetarian or

Vegan to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint?” and in the article, Maureen Raymo talks about how

veganism makes an impact in the world. Raymo states that “The point I want to make is that

cutting your beef consumption by half, by 90 percent, or even completely are all thoughtful,

scientifically informed, good-for-the-planet decisions that an individual can make” (Raymo and

Varanasi). She explains how when meat is cut out of a diet by some percentage, the CO2 and

methane emissions decrease. Raymo also discusses how beef production is one of the main

contributors to environmental problems due to the large amount of land and irrigation water

necessary to support beef production. Along with diet, technology is another piece that could

help with climate change.

/
 Florence 10

As technology has become smarter and smarter, why couldn’t it do it’s part to hamper the

effects of climate change? In David Biello’s article “How Far Can Technology Go to Stave Off

Climate Change?” He tackles the question of if technology can help slow down climate change.

As he directly expresses it “Already, technological advances are making clean energy sources

such as solar and wind more efficient and cheaper, leading to steady growth in their deployment”

(Biello). Humans have created these inventions as a way to use clean energy instead of fossil

fuels and they work very well, most of the time.

Unfortunately, Biello goes on to explain that the renewable energy sources are not

making enough progress and is being out run by the production of fossil fuels. Biello later

expresses the scary thought that “Some of these technologies may not even be on the horizon,”

(Biello) which means that the technology that could help doesn’t even exist yet. Solutions are

still being created and worked on in the lab, but while that happens, plants are continuing to do

their part of sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere.

There are ways to potentially help reduce the effects of climate change that happen on a

much smaller level than what is thought. When each person does a little bit to help, it adds up

and can make a huge difference. These smaller things that can be done must be talked about

more. Varied opinions are mostly welcomed by society because it means people are thinking by

themselves, but when it comes to climate change, some opinions are not helpful because they

aren’t based on science. The community as a whole does not receive the right kind of education

needed for counteracting the damage done to the Earth. Meetings need to be held around the

world to teach and discuss the importance of small changes to everyday life. Education in this

area may be the key to saving Earth. Together, as one, humankind can change the world.

/
 Florence 11

Works Cited

“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 30 Dec. 2019,

climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

“Climate Change Impacts.” Climate Change Impacts | National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration,

www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate-education-resources/climate-chang

e-impacts

“Climate Change Could Make Blizzards More Intense, Scientists Say.” Newsela,

newsela.com/read/natgeo-maybe-its-cold-outside-blizzards/id/2000002645/?collection_id

=339&search_id=b3026616-5802-40a6-8c9b-b75c5b3cd1ee.

“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 30 Dec. 2019,

climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

David Biello, David. “How Far Can Technology Go to Stave Off Climate Change?” Yale E360,

18 Jan. 2017,

e360.yale.edu/features/how_far_can_technology_go_to_stave_off_climate_change.

“The Discovery of Global Warming.” Introduction - Summary,

history.aip.org/climate/summary.htm.

/
 Florence 12

“Extreme Weather Gets a Boost from Climate Change.” Environmental Defense Fund,

www.edf.org/climate/climate-change-and-extreme-weather.

Hausfather, Zeke. “Analysis: Why Scientists Think 100% of Global Warming Is Due to

Humans.” Carbon Brief, 13 Dec. 2017, 4:59,

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-scientists-think-100-of-global-warming-is-due-to-hu

mans.

Leber, Rebecca. “Trump's Biggest Vulnerability Is His Climate Change Denial.” Grist, Grist, 15

Feb. 2020, grist.org/politics/trumps-biggest-vulnerability-is-his-climate-change-denial/.

National Geographic Society. “Climate Change.” National Geographic Society, 27 Mar. 2019,

www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/climate-change/.

Romm, Joe. “Time Magazine: How Climate Change Is Causing a New Age of Extinction.”

ThinkProgress, 9 Apr. 2009,

thinkprogress.org/time-magazine-how-climate-change-is-causing-a-new-age-of-extinctio

n-b369a3ec7277/.

“The Politics of Climate Change in the United States.” Pew Research Center Science & Society,

Pew Research Center, 30 Dec. 2019,

www.pewresearch.org/science/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-climate/.

/
 Florence 13

Varanasi, Anuradha, and Maureen Raymo. “You Asked: Should We All Go Vegetarian or Vegan

to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint?” State of the Planet, 26 Sept. 2019,

blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/09/26/vegetarian-vegan-diets-climate-change/.