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Haley Murphy

Climate Change

Climate change is a topic that has been argued about amongst people for some time. The

argument is that some believe climate change is happening and having negative effects on the

planet, while others believe that climate change is a myth that is made up by scientist. With all

the advanced technology in today’s time it can be proven that climate change is real. Climate

change is noticeably affecting the Earth's environment as well as people at a steady rate. It is

affecting everyone, but not everyone knows what climate is.

According to Roger Pielke Jr. climate change is defined as, “any change in climate over

time whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” There is a natural rate of

climate change that occurs each year, but scientists are seeing a higher rate of change than

before. Though climate change may be heard by some people, not everyone cares about it, but

they should. If climate change is not taken into control than future generations will not be able to

adapt to the massive heat waves or the frigid nights. Roger Pielke Jr. found that there is an

“international stalemate on climate policy” because not everyone can agree on the correct

definition of climate change. Climate policy is needed to help prevent further change of the

natural course of Earth’s climate. Getting people more aware of what climate change is and what

they can do to help it would benefit every single person, but change needs to start somewhere

big, such as the use of greenhouse gases.

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The main cause of climate change is the usage of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse

effect. What exactly are greenhouse gases and how do they work? Greenhouse gases, according

to Susan Callery are, “Certain gases in the atmosphere that block heat from escaping. ​Long-lived

gases that remain semi-permanently in the atmosphere and do not respond physically or

chemically to changes in temperature are described as "forcing" climate change. Gases, such as

water vapor, which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen as

"feedbacks.” Modern civilization has fallen accustom to using greenhouse gases on a daily basis

and in a large quantity, for they are easy to use and can be broken down to what is needed.

Humans are putting more greenhouse gasses into the environment than 50 years ago and the

number keeps rising. Industries are the main culprit in the usage of greenhouse gases. There are

not a lot of policies in place as of right now that limit industries to the usage of greenhouse gases

and barely any policies to abide by when it comes to the overall environment. Big business

owners argue that being more environmental friendly would cost them a substantial amount of

money, therefore they argue that climate change is not threatening. Become eco-friendlier would

mean having to redo the infrastructure of the facilities and changing how each machine is ran and

operated. Climate change is threatening and is currently affecting the nature all around us. Coral

reefs are one ecosystem that climate change and the result of greenhouse gases is affecting the

most.

Coral reefs are an important ecosystem that has a large biodiversity and is home to many

species of animals. Coral reefs also provide income to countries that own them, for they attract

tourists which creates a large revenue. A good water temperature for coral reefs is anywhere

from 66° to 78°; although, coral reefs can withstand temperatures ranging outside of there but
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could result in side effects. The result of climate change is the rising of ocean temperatures.

Ocean temperatures are rising at a faster rate than coral reefs can adapt to. As Beddemeir et al.

states, “​Global climate change imposes interactive chronic and acute stresses, occurring at scales

ranging from global to local, on coral reef ecosystems…” which we see with coral bleaching.

Coral bleaching is when the algae on the coral die, for the algae are what gives the coral its color

and the coral depends on them. Once the coral die, what is left of them is the exoskeleton of the

animal, which is of a white pigment. The ocean acts as a big sink to all the harmful things

humans put in nature, which would include greenhouse gases, plastic, and biochemical. All the

unnatural things that humans put into the atmosphere change the processes of nature; Beddemeir

et al. offers an explanation between the ocean and the gases, “​The oceans currently absorb about

a third of the anthropogenic CO​2​ inputs to the atmosphere, resulting in significant changes in

seawater chemistry that affect the ability of reef organisms to calcify.​ Photosynthesis and

respiration by marine organisms also affect seawater CO​2​ concentration, but the overwhelming

driver of CO​2​ concentrations in shallow seawater is the concentration of CO​2​ in the overlying

atmosphere. Changes in the CO​2​ concentration of seawater through well-known processes of

air-sea gas exchange alter the pH (an index of acidity) and the concentrations of carbonate and

bicarbonate ions. Surface seawater chemistry adjusts to changes in atmospheric

CO​2​ concentrations on a time scale of about a year. Projected increases in atmospheric CO​2​may

drive a reduction in ocean pH to levels not seen for millions of years.” The dying of coral reefs is

not the only event that is influenced by climate change.

Another event that is affected by climate change is forests. Climate change is affecting

the little things in a forest, such as insects, and big things such as fires. As a climate policy
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analyst at the Department of Environmental Conversation, Suzanne Hagell has researched this

topic and states, “One of the most severe-and least predictable- aspects of climate change is the

reorganization of species that make up our local environment. Invasive species like the Southern

Pine Beetle are finding it easier to move into our region.” Insects rely on the climate to survive

and breed, so when the climate is rising in temperature it is making forests more susceptible to

insect outbreaks. Virginia Dale et. al found that, “Indirect consequences of disturbances from

herbivores and pathogens include elimination of nesting trees for birds and negative effects on

fungi… Most tree species support a community of other organisms, so the loss of “Indirect

consequences of disturbances from herbivores and pathogens include elimination of nesting trees

for birds and negative effects on fungi… Most tree species support a community of other

organisms, so the loss of any tree species can significantly reduce overall biodiversity” (Dale et

al. 5). Insects are only a small part of larger ecosystem that is being affected by climate change.

Humans need to get climate change under control before it gets out of hand and destroys

ecosystems.

Getting climate change under control is not as hard as it sounds. There are solutions to

the problem at hand. The first solution would be to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that

are being put into the atmosphere; for they are the leading cause of climate change. To reduce the

greenhouse gases leaders will have to implement reforms and laws on industrial businesses;

however, business leaders would put up a fight because their capital could deplete and

production could lower. Another solution would be the reduce of pollution and plastic waste.

Plastic is not biodegradable and stays in our environment for over 500 years and harms the

environment. There are alternative to plastics, such as bamboo. ​A professor at the Anhui
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University of Science and Technology in China named Shibin Nie and others provide the

advantages of bamboo stating, “bamboo ​fiber​ has numerous advantages, such as low cost, low

density, high toughness, acceptable specific strength properties, ease of separation, and

biodegradability​… ​bamboo growth cycle is short (about 2-3 years), and bamboo resources are

relatively abundant. Furthermore, bamboo does not cause food crisis, and has natural

anti-bacterial function​” (Nie et al.). With knowing about the advantages of bamboo, it makes it

an obvious choice over plastic. The third solution would be to make more people informed on

what exactly climate change is. People have their ideas on what they believe climate change to

be, but if they were able to be informed on the severity of climate change then action could

take place. The responsibility is not one person’s but everyone’s to change what is happening

with our environment.

Climate change is at an all-time high right now and will continue to rise until something

is done about it. The world we live in is being negatively affected by our actions. Diverse

ecosystems are dying faster than they can be replenished as a result of climate change; with

this in mind, the population should come together and work hard to change future events.

There are solutions to climate change that are reasonable and reachable in the near future. The

earth will not forever be ours, for we will pass it on to future generations; therefore, it should

be our duty to make this planet better than when we inherited it.
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Works Cited

1. Buddemeir, Robert W. et al., “The Coral Reef Crisis: Climatic Change Stresses to Coral

Reefs: Coral Bleaching, Global Warming and Reef Distribution, Reduced Calcification

Potential, and Sea Level (Excerpt).” ​Coral Reefs and Global Climate Change​, Feb.

2004. ​Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources,​

find.galegroup.com.butlerlib.butlercc.edu/grnr/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=be77

9ce2ed6906e69077c74a34c39e28&prodId=GRNR&userGroupName=klnb_bucc&tabID

=T016&docId=CP3208540023&type=retrieve&contentSet=GREF&version=1.0.

Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.

2. Callery, Susan. “Climate Change Causes: A Blanket around the Earth.” ​NASA,​ NASA, 10

Aug. 2017, climate.nasa.gov/causes/.

3. Dale, Virginia H., et al. "Climate Change and Forest Disturbances. (Cover Story)." ​Bioscience​,

vol. 51, no. 9, Sept. 2001, p. 723. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5172283&site=ehost-live.
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4. Hagell, Suzanne. "Climate Change: A Culprit?." ​New York State Conservationist​, vol. 71, no.

3, Dec. 2016, p. 17. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=120291732&site=ehost-live.

5. ​Nie, Shibin, et al. "Intumescent flame retardation of polypropylene/bamboo fiber

semi-biocomposites: flame retardancy and thermal degradation." ​Journal of Thermal

Analysis and Calorimetry,​ vol. 111, no. 1, 2013, p. 425+. ​Academic OneFile,​

http://link.galegroup.com.butlerlib.butlercc.edu/apps/doc/A336489560/AONE?u=klnb_b

ucc&sid=AONE&xid=a9346a83. Accessed 18 Apr. 2018.

6. Pielke, Roger A., Jr. "What is climate change? Incompatibility between the definitions used by

science and policy organizations is an obstacle to effective action." ​Issues in Science and

Technology​, vol. 20, no. 4, 2004, p. 31+. ​Academic OneFile,​

http://link.galegroup.com.butlerlib.butlercc.edu/apps/doc/A120251189/AONE?u=klnb_b

ucc&sid=AONE&xid=2a9d3143. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.