September 29, 2010
Good Reasons For Climate Change
What are the reasons for climate change? This is still a hotly debated topic around the world. Some believe it is caused by CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, others say we just have a climate change hoax, that there is no scientific proof. There are many different arguments about the subject, from scientists, politicians and others. AND plenty of evidence that supports both sides.
Is big business formulating false reasons for climate change in order to keep us buying petroleum products? In the same token, are environmentalists doing the same in order to stop them?
Climate Change History
It is true that the Earth has gone through many different periods of warming and cooling over the last four and a half billion years; see the Ancient Climates page for more information. We have seen this climate change over time and time again, and will continue doing so.Does that mean that it doesn't matter what kind of toxins we let into the skies, it means nothing and we should just continue? No, we affect the climate just as much as volcanoes do, and we have to be aware of what kinds of effects we are not only having in the air, but around us as well.
There are many different reasons for climate change. When there is more sun hitting our planet, it tends to warm up. This is caused by a number of different factors, thinning of the atmosphere, holes in the ozone layer, etc. when the planet warms up we see a warming period when polar ice caps melt, seas and oceans rise, and low land areas start flooding.
Then there are periods of cooling, like when a lot of volcanoes erupt and cause particles to accumulate in our atmosphere, making it thicker, so not as much light gets through. Cooling periods cause colder and more severe winter weather, and more ice build up.
The question that many have on the mind is if we can stop climate change from happening, or slow down its progress. That would be like asking if we could stop the Earth from rotating, or revolving around the sun. We can't stop any of these processes from happening as they are natural causes of climate change.
Can we slow it down?
Well, even if everyone in the entire world stopped driving cars, using electricity where the energy is made from petroleum fuels, it wouldn't slow down the process. No matter how hard we would try, if we stopped all of this tomorrow, for example, Carbon dioxide would still be in our atmosphere. Even if there were still enough rainforests on Earth to filter it, the effects would still be there for generations. Some research indicates that CO2 concentrations LAG (not cause) temperature fluctuations.So can what can we do then? As mentioned earlier, do we still go on our merry way and not worry about reasons for climate change like so many have said? Look, while climate changes are inevitable, that doesn't mean that we should just go ahead and buy our big cars, use as much electricity as we want, and be damned with the consequences. Please leave any comments you have on the Cause of Global Warming web page.
Even scientists agree that our fossil fuels are not limitless, and that there are (maybe at the very most) another hundred years before they are depleted. We still need to be pursuing alternative solutions for a variety of reasons. No one can say that climate changes aren't happening; just look at the polar bears, or the freak changes in weather over the last few decades.