One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society is facing today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been slowest” (geocraft). There are no known solutions yet to reverse these effects in the environment, however there are many things people can do to prevent it from increasing. By implementing a carbon tax the government can tax corporations on how much carbon they emit into the atmosphere. With the extra money from the tax, scientist can invest in alternative ways to reduce how much carbon is emitted. Reducing climate change is going to take years and so nothing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but meanwhile we can use that extra money to begin cleaning up the atmosphere. There are many ways to explain climate change, some say its due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, others say it is the burning of the fossils fuels, some even say it’s the greenhouse gases. All of these sayings mean the exact same thing, no matter how one says it. I believe there are more convenient ways to solve climate change; and if the government would to implement a carbon tax on companies they will then be forced to re-evaluate all the carbon they emit to the environment and red... ... middle of paper ... ....p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Chaszeyka, Michael A. "Objections On Climate." Mechanical Engineering 130.2 (2008): 6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. "CO2 vs Temperature: Last 100 Years." CO2 vs Temperature: Last 100 Years. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. “Global Warming Facts." ConserveEnergyFuture. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. "Effects of Global Warming." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. Hirsch, Sven, and Cornelia Daheim. "The Meaning Of Clean Electricity." World Future Review (World Future Society) 4.2 (2012): 96-101. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. "Is Climate Change a Problem?" Chasing Ice. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. "U.S. and Global Temperature." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2014. Weltman, Barbara. "Tax Incentives for Going Green." NY Report. N.p., 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
6. Scheueneman, Tom. "A Carbon Tax is More Viable than Cap and Trade." RSS. 26 July 2012. The Energy Collective. 11 Mar. 2014 .
[9]Repetto, R. (2013, May). Cap and Trade is Better Climate Policy than a Carbon Tax. United Nations Foundation .
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"The Causes of Global Warming." The Causes of Global Warming. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. .
"Arguments Against Global Warming, Evidence Against Global Warming - The Public Square." Arguments Against Global Warming, Evidence Against Global Warming - The Public Square. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
"Causes." Global Climate Change. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory / California Institute of Technology, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
“At present, the global system for carbon emissions trading is embodied in the Kyoto Treaty,” said Al Gore, which points out that Global Warming is not a national problem, but global problem. The Kyoto Treaty states that parties involved will reduce greenhouse emissions in their nation (United Nations). These facts introduce the idea of transforming this perilous world into an innocuous one. It supports his claim for having a preferable future for all, where there will be no droughts, devastations, deaths, or poverties due to global warming. His repetition of the word “reduce” engages the audience of having a solution to climate change. Mr. Gore continues with his ideas to reduce Global Warming by saying, “...Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS)...will play a significant...role as one of the major blocks of a solution to climate crisis.” This fact is an example of a paradox as before this statement he mentioned that CSS, a method to capture the CO2 burned from the burning coal, is an expensive method which most companies resist from using. His use of paradoxes throughout his speech makes the audience rethink their opinions. These statistics are part of many other logically statements that Mr. Gore used to support his claim. Some of these logical procedures include; electronic cars, reduction of renewable
In addition to lowering greenhouse gas levels and using cleaner energy sources, there are things we can do as people to stop climate change. We could reduce our use of electricity at our homes by turning off the lights when we leave the room, turning down/up the heating/ac when it is unnecessary, and using less water. Also, we could install solar panels in our homes and donate money to environmental protection agencies. Hopefully, the people of our world will soon realize climate change is a pressing issue that must be solved as soon as
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, we have been using fossil fuels to power our lives, and factories. Little did we know that our miracle energy producer was destroying our planet. The burning of fossil fuels produces a byproduct called carbon dioxide. This natural occurring gas does not harm the planet in any way when released in small quantities, but at the rate we have released it, there is nowhere for it to go so it becomes trapped in the atmosphere. When the gas becomes trapped in the atmosphere, it creates a “Green House” effect. This effect causes the surface temperature to rise, which has adverse effects on the planet. A number of bills to regulate carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere have been proposed and even accepted,
Earth’s carbon levels have followed a natural cycle throughout the past 800,000 years where the carbon dioxide concentration varied from 180 ppm (parts per million) and 280 ppm which resulted in several changes in the environment.. In the grand scheme of Earth, these changes are miniscule and have stayed within the natural cycle. But when looking through the eyes of humans, these changes are drastic causing ice ages, draughts, and rain for years (Goldstein 6). During the last century carbon dioxides levels in the atmosphere have become significantly larger than they ever have in the past 800,000 years. Today these levels are at 390 ppm and show no signs of stopping which will cause temperatures to rise because carbon is a greenhouse gas. When a greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor are present in the atmosphere, they absorb the heat that the Earth is giving off, creating a thermal blanket over Earth trapping in heat (Houghton 20).
... middle of paper ... ... The "News" - "The News" Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web.
“An introduction to climate change.” Natural Resource Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council 8 November 2015 n. pag. Web. 28 November 2015.
Have you seen the effects of climate change yet? Climate change is the transformation of our weather and global patterns. Climate change doesn’t happen overnight; in fact, the change of the climate takes years to see. Fossil fuels are one reason our climate is changing for the worst because fossil fuels create Carbon Dioxide. Deforestation is a cause of climate change because we have less trees to produce oxygen. Increasing our waste is destroying most of our forestland. Climate change is causing our Arctic animals to go extinct. The amount of water we use is causing droughts. There are many causes and effects of climate change; however, there are many solutions we can fix today.
While this may contain some truth, most believe that the causes of aerosol, fossil fuels, and the greenhouse effect are the reasons for global warming. These causes can easily be reduced if we take the time and effort to halt the action. Simple actions can be made that will not have a severe effect on our everyday lives. Al Gore once said, "The good news is, we have everything we need now to respond to the challenge of global warming. " We have all the technologies we need, more are being developed but we should not wait, we cannot wait, we must not wait.”
Climate change can be solved once we are willing to adopt certain changes to our everyday lives. In our society, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the nations decaying infrastructure, are all reasons as to why climate change has become such a subject of great importance. If we are able to change these three parts of our society we can help the environment and slow down the gradual changes of our climates.