Climate Change Questions?

Question

Hi everyone,

I should, but I have to say I don't know very much about what is happening to the earth and with climate change. I do plan to research more about this as it is very important, but in the meantime, I thought it would be a good question and could help others learn more as well. What are the main causes of climate change? What are the main things I can do to contribute? I would like to do my part.
Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

The main causes of climate change are beyond our control. The climate is always changing and has always been changing and always will be changing. "Warming" just happens to be the current phase. Our climate has been warming since around 1860, not because of industrialization but because we have been coming out of the "little ice age" since that time. The "little ice age" refers to the most recent period of cooling due to the shut down of the thermohaline conveyor. Prior to the "little ice age" the earth had been warming, allowing the human population to increase and expand. It was during this warm periord that the vikings occupied Greenland and Columbus made his voyage to the new world. This period was actually a bit warmer than today.

What happened was that the climate became so warm and so much of the polar ice melted, saturating the ocean with freshwater, that the thermohaline conveyor that kept the north atlantic area warm shut down, causing a sharp drop in climate. This was the beginning of the "little ice age." Eventually, the climate became cool enough to re-freeze the polar ice to a degree where the thermohaline conveyor could begin flowing once more and since that time we have been experiencing "global warming."

Most scientists agree that the current period of warming has been increased a small amount due to the gases our industrialized society has put into the air. But the effects of this are not nearly as significant as Al Gore and the like would lead you to believe. According to NASA:

"Humans are putting the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the air by burning fossil fuel or wood. We also add CFC (that is chlorofluorocarbons) compounds like Freon, used in refrigeration systems. CFC's are greenhouse gases as well as destroyers of ozone. We measure that carbon dioxide is currently increasing, and it seems to be getting warmer the last few decades. Although this suggests that increased greenhouse gases are causing the warming, it is not certain."

The thing to remember is that the climate situation does not warrant a crisis, but it does warrant some attention. If nothing else this can be the wake-up call we need to realize that we are making a mess of our home and if we wish to survive as a modern society we need to make a few changes. Human-induced global warming is not a proven theory, but it's pretty obvious that we are polluting and exhausting our resources.

Some important and simple steps you can take to improve our world are reducing your energy consumption through more energy efficient appliances (use a toaster oven instead of a large oven, use a microwave when you can, turn off appliances when not in use, plug items that use standby power into a power strip and switch it off when not in use, turn your thermostat up in summer and down in winter, CFL lightbulbs, more fuel efficient vehicle, public transportation, walking, biking, etc), and reducing your consumption of raw materials (taking your own bags to the supermarker is a big step). A major cause of pollution is factory farming of livestock, so adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet is a very big help to the planet as well. Forget about politicians because they only tell you what you want to hear so they can get elected. Kucinich is the only one who I think really believes in green living, so vote for him if it's important to you but the fat cats won't let him win. Your biggest vote where the environment is concerned is the money in your pocket. Support companies that are good for the environment by buying organic and locally where possibly and shunning big corporations.

If you are interested in researching this further, I would advise you to stay away from propagandists like Al Gore and get your information from credible sources like NASA and NOAA. Even the IPCC is biased, because this institution was created for the sole purpose of examining global warming, so if they disprove their own theory they are out of jobs. I would be wary of ".com" sites too, reputable sites will end in ".org" or ".gov"

This site: http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/land/global/climchng.html#humans explains things very simply and is a good place to begin. Good luck!

Answer 2

So you want to know what the main causes of climate change are, the main things you can do to contribute (to climate change) because you want to do your part? Start with practicing how to structure a question and make it ask what you want it to ask. Your heart is in the right place and you will find your answers as you research the subject. When I want to study a new subject I go to the library and find children's books on the subject. These are the easiest to understand in the shortest amount of time. Another good source is the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and they have a website on the Internet for adults and children who want to help. Climate change is a fascinating subject and I wish you the very best in your quest my friend.

Answer 3

Scientists have compared the rise in CO2 from fossil fuels to the increase of the temp averages world wide. CO2 traps the infa-red heat energy that the Sun radiates onto the surface of the Earth. When the heat energy increases, evaporation increases from the ocean water,that increases the power of storms,and changes the way the jet stream moves through the atmosphere. That change in the jet stream can lead to major fluctuations in the local day to day weather. There would be more severe droughts where droughts already occur,more wide spread flooding in areas prone to floods. Look at the changes already happening here in the US. We have more fires,more floods,more droughts, and the record high temps are being broken every year now. I have said for many years that weather is the most censored news ! Even though we get accurate forecasts,we never get the reasons why things are changing,or what it will mean to the planet. All the Oxygen was created by one-celled organisms ,millions of years ago. Once the levels got to what they are now, plants and animals came into existence to utilize the life giving gas.
So if a one-celled organism can create all the Oxygen,why is it so hard to see we are changing the balance of life giving gases?

Answer 4

Global warming is one-half of the climatic cycle of warming and cooling.
The earth's mean temperature cycles around the freezing point of water.
This is a completely natural phenomenon which has been going on since there has been water on this planet. It is driven by the sun.
Our planet is currently emerging from a 'mini ice age', so is becoming warmer and may return to the point at which Greenland is again usable as farmland (as it has been in recorded history).
As the polar ice caps decrease, the amount of fresh water mixing with oceanic water will slow and perhaps stop the thermohaline cycle (the oceanic heat 'conveyor' which, among other things, keeps the U.S. east coast warm).
When this cycle slows/stops, the planet will cool again and begin to enter another ice age.
It's been happening for millions of years.
Humans did not cause it.
Humans cannot stop it.

Answer 5

I'll give you a short answer then direct you to a more detailed report I wrote a while back.

WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?
Both natural and human events. The climate of our planet has always changed, sometimes it gets warmer and other times it gets colder. This is because of a complicated series of cycles which both the Sun and Earth go through, these cycles interact and have knock on and compound effects. Depending just where we are in these cycles determines whether the planet will naturally warm up or cool down. Currently we're in a short term warming phase which is part of a much longer term cooling trend.

The human element of climate change is a consequence of increasing levels of certain gases in the atmosphere - the greenhouse gases. These gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane and nitrous oxide occur naturally, without them there would be no greenhouse effect at all and the planet would be so cold that life would never have evolved.

Since the onset of industrialisation we've added significantly to the atmospheric concentrations of many of these greenhouse gases, overall it's been about a 40% increase in volume. Quite simply, the more greenhouse gases there are the more heat is trapped within the atmosphere, this causes global warming which leads to climate change.

DOING YOUR PART
Greenhouse gases are emitted from a multitude of sources, you can help reduce emissions of these gases by making some simple changes. Look at ways to reuce your power and energy consumption by driving less and using less energy in the home. Wherever possible recycle products, it uses much less energy to transform recycled material into something new than it does to extract and process the raw materials in the first place.

FURTHER INFORMATION
The cuases of global warming and climate change - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/causes.html
The effects of GW and CC - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/effects.html
Effects in the future - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/future.html
Combatting GW and CC - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/combat.html

Answer 6

Here are a couple of charts showing the main human greenhouse gas (GHG) causes worldwide:

http://cait.wri.org/figures.php?page=World-FlowChart&view=100

and in the USA:

http://cait.wri.org/figures.php?page=US-FlowChart&view=100

Individually just reduce your energy consumption as much as possible. Use public transportation/bike/walk, get a fuel efficient car (hybrid if possible), get energy efficient appliances, replace your incandescent bulbs with CFLs, that sort of thing.

The most important thing is to support politicians who make global warming/climate change a top priority, because we need the government to take action if we're going to reduce our net greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid the worst effects of global warming. In the 2008 US presidential election John Edwards has the best plan (80% reduction by 2050) to deal with our contribution to global warming. The other Democrats are okay, but they don't seem to have specific plans like Edwards does.

Answer 7

shawna! -- depletion of the ozone layer has nothing to do with Global Warming'

The ozone layer lessens the amount of UV getting in. Too much UV causes skin to burn quicker and increases the number of cases of skin cancer.

Answer 8

Our ozone layer is getting thicker. our ozone layer is what allows the the heat of the sun to get in and only some to come out. Because our ozone layer is thicker than its suppose to be too much heat is getting trapped in. that causes the polar ice caps to melt therefor giving us more rain and floods. the heat getting trapped in also causes it to get warmer. The main reason the ozone layer is getting thicker is because of the gasses that our cars let out and because of our littering and our factories causing smog and more dangourous gasses.
The way that you can help is get a hybrid car. They use up less gas which will save you money, and they also put less dangourous gasses into the air. You can also recycle. You could try not going to stores that have big smog causing factorie, like walmart. THANKS FOR READING THIS now you can help save the enviroment.

Answer 9

There are so many web sites explaining the basics its difficult to know where to start

try http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/greenhouse_effect_img.shtml

Simple explaination here

You can reduce your personal damage by
1. only fill the kettle with the water you need
2. don't run the tap all the time when brushing your teeth
3. walk places
4. don't use or turn down heating and air conditioning
5. don't buy bottled water
6. use energy saving light bulbs and turn off unused lights
there are so many simple ways I may grow old writing them down.

try some of these links

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/commit/

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DMUK_en-GBGB228GB228&q=simple+ways+to+save+energy

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/08/20/gdn.m1a.020822.050.pdf

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4DMUK_en-GBGB228GB228&q=easy+ways+to+save+the+planet&btnG=Search&meta=

Enjoy and have good weekend