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Linda T. Penrod

Professor Marcia Hughes

English 1201

7 April 2019

Climate Change

I cannot help but to think about what some people on social media say about global

warming. The people of the internet seem to be in disbelief because “it’s still cold outside”. Last

semester, I took a class called Physical Geography, and what I have learned, really puts into

perspective what is truly happening with the Earth’s climate. Scientists around the globe are

putting into perspective a terrifying thought. The thought of the entire population of the world,

gone. How could this be possible? The people of the Earth have created advanced technology so

great, the people of one hundred years ago could not comprehend. So how could this large

amount of time that humans have occupied this planet suddenly be over? Putting into perspective

a globally life-threatening risk, is not easy to hear. Climate change is real, and the United States

Government is failing to do anything about it.

Everyone lives on this tiny blue planet. One thing the people of the Earth can’t deny, is

that everyone is affected by the climate on this planet. If the planet truly is getting warmer, it’s

outcomes would affect everyone. Climate change is a life-threatening issue, and since it affects

everyone, everyone should be taking this possibility more seriously. When asked about climate

change, everyone, despite them believing in it or not, knows that it could be the end of life as we

know it. But who is to blame? The answer is everyone. The finger points at every single person.
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Every single person, despite the worst outcome, should take measures to prevent the spiraling

events to come in the near future. So, again; is this possible?

Is climate change real? Is it all just a hoax to persuade believers to vote for a specific

candidate? First, let’s specify the difference between weather and climate. Weather is the

temperature, precipitation, and humidity of a particular place on the map. Climate, in the terms

broadened on, is the temperature, precipitation, and humidity of the planet. Many people to this

day do not know the difference between climate, and weather, which may lead people to deny

that the planet is warming. Yes, it still gets cold, and yes, it still snows, but that’s not the big

picture. Considering the big picture, is the planet warming? Well, ask the scientists. “…the

hottest 11 years on record have all occurred in the past 13 years.”(Global Climate Change 3)

“…the average temperature of the entire planet having risen 1 degree.”( 3) For years, scientists

have been collecting data, and there seems to be a growing trend. The statistics do not lie. The

planet as a whole is getting warmer, so what? “Biblical scripture and other early documents refer

to droughts, floods, periods or severe cold, and other climatic events.”(Jackson 2) Doesn’t the

planet go through phases of warming and cooling? This amount of warming in this small amount

of time cannot just be another phase of the Earth’s atmosphere, it must be from something of

bigger concern.

So now that the reader can concur that climate change does have real research and

scientific evidence proving that climate change is happening now, why is it happening? Climate

change has many factors and reasons to it. What are aerosols? Aerosols are tiny particles in the

air that consist of many different types. Aerosols can be water vapor, methane, dust in the air,

emissions from cars (CO2 + others), chlorofluorocarbons produced by big factories, etc.

Advancing levels of CO2 have strong effects on the life of the planet, including marine life. But
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why is CO2 so bad? The plants breathe CO2, so won’t plants be able to thrive with more CO2?

That is not the issue with rising CO2 levels. The ocean is a great absorber, and absorbs a little

but of everything from the air. “When the oceans absorb CO2, the chemical reaction that takes

place produces carbonic acid (H2CO3), which increases the acidity (lowers the pH) of

seawater.”(Bradshaw 3) This threatens marine life. In these acidic conditions, coral is not able to

create it’s exoskeleton, and therefore not be able to settle, or reproduce. Coral is food for the

primary consumers of the ocean. Recall that primary consumers are organisms that eat only

plants. With less food for the primary consumers, their population will dwindle, along with the

secondary and tertiary consumers, leading to an all together less-populated ocean. Having less

fish in the ocean is the first sign to a failing ecosystem. But, this isn’t the only concern with

aerosols.

Fig.1. This image illustrates the rising CO2 levels of the Earth (Maslin 42)
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Aerosols that are introduced to the atmosphere are not only creating a greenhouse effect,

they are destroying the ozone layer atomically. The ozone layer is composed of a gathering of

ozone molecules O3. The ozone molecule is everywhere in our atmosphere, but it tends to gather

near the ozone layer. The ozone layer’s purpose is to reflect some of the sun’s harmful

Ultraviolet radiation back into space. Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs break down the ozone layer

at a molecular level. CFCs come from air conditioning, refrigerators, packing materials, and

aerosol sprays. CFCs are very harmful to the atmosphere, in fact, they destroy part of it. When

chlorofluorocarbons are released into the air, they atomically destroy the ozone molecule (O3)

and turn it into a less desirable compound (O2 and O). Not only that, each CFC atom can destroy

a huge amount of ozone, about 1 to 100,000. The main concern of CFCs is their lifespan. The

lifespan on CFCs in the atmosphere can last up to 140 years. This is very bad for life on Earth.

This means that even if the people reduce the number of CFCs put into the atmosphere, the

ozone will still be affected by these CFCs up to over a century. When the ozone layer thins, it

allows more harmful rays to enter the atmosphere, thus creating a more harmful environment for

humans. Ultraviolet radiation, among hereditary traits are known to give humans melanoma,

which in other terms, is skin cancer. This is only one factor to climate change, but all these

factors combined, will exponentially create a snowball effect, and warm the planet even more.
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Fig.2. This image illustrates how the ozone, is indeed, depleting. (Newman)

Unfortunately, people did not have the technology to measure the ozone before the industrial

revolution, but as far as the reader can see, the depletion is significant when comparing the 1979

picture to the 2018 picture. This factor can lead to exponentially increasing temperatures.

Aerosols not only break down the ozone layer, but they also absorb the heat produced by

the Sun. This is the term called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect can be explained

simply by a car on a hot summer day. When the door is opened to the car, hot air, hotter than the

air in the surrounding air, billows out. Why is this? Well, when the sun’s rays penetrate through

the windows of the car, only a little bit of it is reflected back out of the car. As more and more of

the Sun’s rays penetrate through the windows, the inside of the car gets warmer and warmer.

This example directly explains what is happening with the atmosphere. When the Sun’s rays

enter the atmosphere a portion of them are reflected back into space by the land, and ocean, but

another portion is absorbed by the land and ocean, but more rapidly by the ocean. This is normal,
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but what is occurring today, is a little more than normal. While the Sun’s rays enter the

atmosphere, they can be absorbed by the air as well by aerosols, and can also be absorbed by

aerosols after the rays are reflected by the Earth. Now what does this mean? It means that more

rays are being trapped in the atmosphere, thus, warming it. What happens after that?

Now what happens when the Earth begins to warm? When the Earth begins to warm, thin

ice sheets will begin to melt. “…a 48 by 22 mile chunk of the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica

collapsed, and in subsequent years we have seen remarkable sizes of ice falling off.”( Global

Climate Change 3) When this happens, it will expose more surface area of the ocean. Recall,

darker colors absorb more heat than lighter colors. When going out into the summer heat wearing

a black shirt, you will be less comfortable than going out in a white shirt. The ocean, being dark,

will absorb more and more warmth. With more and more of the ocean’s surface being exposed,

will create even more warming to occur. This is the beginning of a vicious cycle.

Combining the two factors of the ozone thinning and aerosols, there is a bigger problem

on the hands of the people. Now that the ozone layer is thinning, this allows more rays to enter

into the atmosphere. When more rays enter the atmosphere, with the number of aerosols that are

present in the atmosphere, the planet will warm even faster. More warming, more melting, more

warming, more absorption, more warming, etc. But, by the chance that this isn’t happening,

would doing anything about it even benefit life on Earth?

What if these contributors aren’t actually warming the planet? Would putting so much

effort into reducing these “causes” really do any good for the atmosphere? “Ozone absorbs

harmful ultraviolet radiation in the wavelengths between 280 and 320 nm of the UV-B band

which can cause biological damage in plants and animals.”(Alexander 3) With reducing the

amount of CFCs in the atmosphere, it can reduce the effects it is having on the life of the planet
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today. So, by the possibility that CFCs are not making the planet warmer, they are indeed

exposing the life of the planet to the sun’s harmful radiation. So, even if the planet getting hotter

is not because of these contributions, reducing the amount of pollutants put into the air will make

the environment a safer place to live.

Now let’s dive into what America has to say about this increasing threat. Climate change

is a hot topic when it comes to politics. Some people believe this is a scare factor to get people to

vote for a specific candidate. But why is this matter thrown into politics in the first place? Well,

the American government has the direct authority when it comes to pollution being put into the

air. Recall the Paris Agreement. Recently, President Donald Trump withdrew from this

agreement. When Barrack Obama agreed to this agreement, he had done it unconstitutionally.

This is the wrong way to go about such an issue.“…the President’s Pledge creates an

international agreement that binds the United States for decades to come, but lacks constitutional

legitimacy, since it has not been ratified by the Senate.”(Paris Climate 5) Many believe that this

is one of the main reasons that contributed to this issue being a political one. Let’s look at this

issue from an economy’s standpoint. America is the leading country. It has advanced technology,

it is making products faster than ever, it is heading into the right direction from economy’s

standpoint. Introducing the threat that the Earth has brought to the attention of the people,

threatens the growth of this economy that America is so proud of. According to Earth, America

has been doing it wrong this whole time. The Earth provides it’s own energy, and with today’s

technology, the people have the power to harvest this said energy. Unfortunately, this comes at a

price. Green energy is said to be too expensive, and not reliable. But, there are so many options.

Technology has brought solar, wind, water, geothermal, and the more controversial, nuclear

energy.
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Now let’s say that we do invest in this arising topic, will one country doing something

about this really impact the world’s atmosphere? This is yet another reason why American

politics are hesitant to going forward with this issue. America is the second top producer of

carbon dioxide. So there is no doubt that will at least have some impact. But why should

America invest so much money, if no one else is doing anything about it? The climate change

isn’t just America’s fault, so why should America be the only ones taking this issue seriously?

Well, pointing fingers at this point isn’t going to do anything about the arising issue. There is not

a single nation to blame these chains of events on. At this time, each nation blames the other, so

now we are at a standstill, trying to force the blame upon someone else, but this, unfortunately,

does not solve the issue.

Maybe investing so much money into this problem as a nation isn’t the most efficient

way of doing it from a nation’s standpoint. But, so far, individuals and certain cities are trying to

do their part. “Cleveland, Ohio… has become the latest major city to announce plans to shift to

100 percent renewable energy sources for electricity.”(Gearino 1) Since America’s government

fails to enforce any new regulations of a cleaner planet, the people of America have taken this

issue into their own hands. Maybe making this transition slowly would be the most cost-effective

way. If certain cities start pledging to create a cleaner environment, there will be one less city

that needs to make a drastic change. But this issue shouldn’t just be put into the hands of the

government, individuals can play a part in making this tiny planet healthy again. When shopping

for cars, pick one with the highest miles to the gallon. When leaving a room, turn the light off.

When brushing your teeth, turn off the water as you brush. Not only will these actions lessen the

pollution we put into the atmosphere, it will leave the reader with a fatter wallet as well. These

little things can leave the reader with hundreds of extra dollars by the end of the month. Who
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would’ve thought saving on gas money, the reader’s electric and water bill would be so helpful

to our planet?

So, where should the cutting back start taking place? In the United States, each industrial

sector wants the cutbacks to come from somewhere else. Each sector is pointing the finger at

some other sector, to save themselves from cutbacks. Businesses have worked so hard for the

places they reside in now. Big businesses do not want to be told to produce less, or cut back on

their effective means of creating a profit. Not only that, if someone wanted to start a smaller

business that would require them to have to, in some way pollute the air, they would be

discouraged, and afraid that the government would enforce laws that would maybe force them to

go bankrupt, or sell off their assets before even making a profit. The consequences for drastically

changing the way by which the economy is fueled, are a factor in how careful the government

must be about this issue. Drastic changes are definitely not in the economy’s interest. The main

concern with strong believers, is they believe that peril is coming sooner than later, and drastic

changes must be put into effect in order to avoid this epidemic. But, there is no true way of

knowing how soon, or late this might happen. “EPA’s own data shows that this regulation would

reduce sea level rise by only one one-hundredth of an inch, the thickness of three sheets of

paper.”(5) This data pertains to what will happen within the next 85 years if America was still

affiliated with the Paris Agreement. Yes, what America can do as an individual country will only

put a small dent in counteracting the spiraling effects of the globe warming. Is putting all of this

effort really worth the cost? Well at least it is known that it will have some impact. The problem

with this specific issue, is that the effort we will put into today, will not instantly spring back the

atmosphere to where it was once before. Due to the chlorofluorocarbons, it might be decades till

we see the ozone layer start to heal itself.

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Another problem with convincing the public that this is an issue, is that it is hard to not

use scare tactics when explaining the issue. The people will not be convinced if they keep being

told that this is a life or death situation. “There is no shortage of emotional rhetoric on either side

of this debate. For some global climate change is a coming apocalypse that will forever change

and perhaps end life as we know it on this planet.”(Global Climate Change 6) This example

taken directly from the hearing before the committee on commerce and the United States Senate.

They too realize that the most effective ways or persuasion will not work for this issue. They

believe that throwing real statistics, and real data taken from real scientists might get more and

more heads to turn. “Measurements taken in La Jolla, California, at Scripps, at the Institute of

Oceanography, since 1925 and in San Francisco show a rise in the sea level of 9 inches over the

last 75 to 100 years at both locations.”(7) The research is out there, but the only way for the

public to start believing in this real life issue is either to do the research themselves, or see it to

believe it. Unfortunately, if they wait to see it till they believe it, it may be too late.

Climate change is real, and the United States Government is failing to do anything about it.

But that doesn’t mean that the people of America can’t take matters into their own hands. “…we

can act now to counter food shortages associated with drought, slow down the destruction of the

great coral, maintain habitat of endangered species, find solutions to temperature increases in

places already dreadfully hot, and work to protect those whose homes and livelihoods are close

to the shorelines.”(DiMento 314) The world is facing a great problem. We, the people that live

on this Earth, should treat it more like our home, and less like our trash can.
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Works Cited

Alexander, David E. “ESRL Global Monitoring Division - Halocarbons and Other Atmospheric

Trace Species.” Earth System Research Labratory, The Chapman & Hall Encyclopedia of

Environmental Science, 1 Oct. 2005,

www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/hats/publictn/elkins/cfcs.html.

Bradshaw, Kate. “Discovering the Effects of CO2Levels on Marine Life and Global Climate.”

Discovering the Effects of Carbon Dioxide Levels on Marine Life and Global Climate,

USGS, 2007, soundwaves.usgs.gov/2007/01/.

DiMento, Joseph F. Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our

Grandchildren. 2nd ed., The MIT Press, 2014.

Gearino, Dan. “100% Renewable Energy: Cleveland Sets a Big Goal as It Sheds Its Fossil Fuel

Past”. Inside Climate News. 22 Sept. 2018.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21092018/cleveland-100-percent-renewable-energy-

cities-map-climate-change-plan-industrial-history. Accessed 13 Feb. 2019

Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1989--S. 1610 : Hearing before the Committee on

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress,

First Session, on S. 1610 ... November 6, 1989. Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the

Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, U.S. G.P.O., 1991, 1991.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-106shrg85521/pdf/CHRG-

106shrg85521.pdf#?.

Jackson, Stephen T. “Climate Change”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 February 2019.

https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-change. Accessed 3 March 2019.

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MacMillan, Amanda. “Global warming 101.” NDRC. 11 March 2016.

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-

101?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpuWyw_LQ4AIVMCCtBh227wAWEAAYAiAAEgL79PD_B

wE. Accessed 3 March 2019.

Maslin, Mark. Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction. 3rd ed., Oxford University Press,

October 2014.

Newman, Paul A. “NASA Ozone Watch.” NASA, NASA,

ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/monthly/climatology_09_SH.html.

Paris Climate Promise : A Bad Deal for America : Hearing before the Committee on Science,

Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress,

Second Session, February 2, 2016. 2017. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-

114hhrg20827/pdf/CHRG-114hhrg20827.pdf#?