Faith Brings

1/23/2014
Climate Change
Climate change is something you see and interact with every day. Its something to be
wary of and be warned, there's always negative sides of things. We have global warming and
with global warming, there are tons of problems that come with it.
"What is climate change?" Thats not something you ask yourself any day of the week
or even at all because you already think you already know the whole gist of it, but youre wrong.
Its way more than knowing why it rains or that the atmosphere blocks most of the Sun's rays so
our planet is heated perfectly. For starters, the Sun's energy of 340 watts per square meters of
incident solar radiation that is absorbed drives the planets whole system such as ocean currents,
photosynthesis, evaporation, and, to put it plainly, the weather. The energy from the Sun has to
equal the amount that went to Earth to the energy going back into space or else the energy going
into Earth's radiative equilibrium ceases to work right and global temperatures rise and fall in
riposte. I doubt you have that info shoved somewhere in your brain, but you should because
climate change is something to be aware of because its not just there, its part of our daily lives
and affects us. You may ask, What's the point in knowing about climate change? That point is
if something happened to knock Earths equilibrium off -- I dont know -- maybe there becomes
a tear in the atmosphere. Will you regret knowing what will happen when this happens, when
you hear that theres a tear in the atmosphere on your local news station? I know I would and so
should you because that happening is kinda horrifying.
Before I took this seminar on climate change I didn't think much about global warming. It
was just something I mentally shied away from, and now I know its an elephant in the room,
which I can't just ignore anymore. To tell you about global warming is that it all comes down to
is natural greenhouse gasses. They are when the atmosphere is made up of gasses of mostly
nitrogen and oxygen, which are not legitimately greenhouse gasses. The ones that are greenhouse
gasses are water vapor, which is a greenhouse gas, as well as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, ozone and several other gasses. These gasses allow some solar radiation to reach the
planet but also absorb some of the heat radiating from the planet, trapping it and radiating it back
downward to the surface. Then a number of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere affects the
strength of the greenhouse effect, and that is the very heart of our dilemma. Greenhouse gasses
raise the planet's temperature, but now we went and added extra carbon dioxide from our fuel
emissions, so from 1880 to now the global temperature has risen. Its not just the temperature
being risen, but the use of carbon from fossil fuels and whatnot in our air is making the air more
poisonous. The level of carbon in our air has risen from 1900 to now above 30,000 teragrams of
carbon dioxide. Global warming is a scary phenomenon that's getting worse and worse, even
though plants are reducing some of the greenhouse effects by absorbing carbon dioxide from the
air. Its not enough to balance what we're putting out, though, and this problem all started

because of the usage of fossil fuels we use on a daily basis. I know there are people out there
who dont believe we actually make this big of an impact on Earth, and I can understand
believing why you wouldn't believe we caused global warming because you want to stay
optimistic and don't want to condemn the human race, and also you may think its warming up
because of the fluctuations from the ice ages to now and that eventually the Earth will start
cooling down again and go into the next ice age. You nonbelievers just think If the carbon
dioxide is hurting the Earth, then why don't we all stop breathing? .....You may be-be right, but
you could also be wrong and global warming could be happening because of the humans races
waste. It doesn't sound as far-fetched as if we don't have anything to do with global warming at
all. We as humans just don't seem to care that trash is everywhere, and we just keep throwing
garbage all over the place. Tools are given at our disposal to recycling, and yet we are either just
too lazy to use them or we don't care. Although we have many resources available to us we just
seem to go on about our lives thinking that someone else will do it. Instead of walking or riding a
bike, we drive or take the bus, in turn polluting the air. Factories continue to let off gasses into
the atmosphere instead of doing something that's earth friendly because it would cost them
money. Global warming is all happening because of the humans waste, and I totally get why
nobody really does anything. How can we change if our whole economy's foundation is based
off of products factories make?
A man by the name of James Balog did something that will forever change the minds of
the people who thought the overall temperature only rising a few degrees is nothing to worry
about. What he did was get a video on the impact of the Ilulissat Glacier calving in Greenland.
(Calving is when great piles of ice start breaking up and falling apart.) This was huge! Nobody
had ever captured a calving incident this big on camera. It was 300-400 feet, and to put it to
scale it would be like New York crumbling into the vast ocean. Another thing James Balog did
was catch over long periods of time the degradation of the Columbia Glacier in Alaska. What
happened was that over 2.5 miles degraded in 3 years, and watching the movie Chasing Ice you
could really see the big impact global warming had on nature. For starters, the Federal Advisory
Committee Assessment states that the flooding and the drowning of crops are because of the
heavy and heavier precipitation from the warmer air containing more water vapor than cooler air.
Warmer air containing more water vapor than cooler air transfigures the dynamical aspects. The
atmosphere messes with the weather patterns and storms. Temperatures have been rising, and
from the 1950s the record highs are more than record lows. Also, we have a lot more level 4 and
5 hurricanes, and to put it into numbers, roughly 110. Just imagine what it would be like in 20
years! More weather problems such as drought are hammering down across the U.S., and we
depend on the crops that farmers grow; it is just plain frightening! All of this is practically
happening because of that few degrees difference. All of this makes me wonder.did those of
you who think those few degrees make no difference, did you check your facts?
Ever wonder why Earth is why it is? Why are we all able to live on it? Its from our
position away from the Sun, yes, but also from climate change. Its something to be wary of and

be warned, there's always negative sides of things. We have global warming and with global
warming, there are tons of problems that come with it. And now you know what roles climate
change play in our lives by changing the weather and keeping us safe from the Sun. That and that
global warming has a real impact on our lives and with CO2 being produced by us its even
scarier. So now that you are aware, just keep in mind how much waste you produce on a daily
basis.