Download Climate Change Paper, Eng102 Spring `16, Zachery Berry

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Zachery Berry
Kate Copic
ENG102
25 Apr 2016
Climate Change: More than Just Hot or Cold
There needs to be an investment into restoring nature as the regulator, rather than
desperately trying to control it. As long as the world can change, the species that thrive within it
may impact how it does so. Some species, are far more resilient than others at dealing with such
changes. From the evergreen trees of the taigas or coniferous forests, to the skilled birds of prey
of the tropics all the way up to the apex of the earth’s human species. Each organism has a
different resilience and a separate weakness to equalize it. Weaknesses stem from an adapted
resilience. In the lives of other animals, predators determine the resiliency. While there is a
weakness for one, it is not always the same for the others. As a human being, there is a power in
being able to change so much. Agriculture has advanced alongside its ever evolving cousin,
industry. But there is no power, in not acknowledging that too much can cause corruption. After
that corruption, there needs to be a recognition, so it may be resolved. Climate change is an issue
right-able by understanding its underlying system, identifying its main causes of concern and
implementing natural cycles to set its planetary body back to equilibrium.
The scientific community has already reached a consensus. Global warming, a popular
example of climate change is caused by the buildup of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon
dioxide, methane or sulfur dioxide. These gases, trap heat inside Earth’s atmosphere and there
sure is a downside to having too much. Burning fuels makes energy, but it also releases these
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gases, much like a volcano, when plumes of smoke billow out and send heat and energy and
waste into the air. Automobiles and factories are common examples of the human impact.
However it is important to note that climate change is not limited to global warming. Any change
induced by human action constitutes as climate change. NASA describes possible results of these
changes as, “weather patterns could change”, “raise the sea level”, and of course “human disease
could spread, and crop yields could decline.” Currently, the 2016 popular choice for presidency
seems to be Donald Trump for the Republican Party. Regardless of whether he wins or not, his
opinion seems to reflect the common statements made by those more in favor of neglecting
climate change as an important issue. In September of 2015, he had been quoted saying this
about climate change, “Unless somebody can prove something to me. I believe there is weather, I
believe there is change” as well as, “I mean, Obama thinks it’s the number one problem of the
world today.” As Donald Trump has decided to take a larger stance on economic growth, he
refuses to witness the merit in the clean energy efforts about to be put into effect in this century.
President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, announced in the fall of 2015 aims at diminishing the
greenhouse gas emissions from the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency has set
regulations to establish goals of reduction for each state under this Clean Power Plan. Overall,
out of fear for the reduced jobs and increased energy costs, whether or not climate change is
dealt with, is currently a huge controversy. But environmental scientists have come to an
agreement and all of this research, at every level, has been published. The economy does need
fixing, but the severity of a nations important issues should not be solely self-concerned. There is
an addressed issue. A mechanism almost, in place to assist in fixing the damage that is already
done. All that is left is to explain how exactly it can end up causing some bad if we let it continue
its current trend.
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When all is said and done, the home is what one runs to. What if the home that has
always been known, for years, is entirely different than remembered? Kalokol, Kenya, is one
such a place. Once known as the “cradle of mankind”, it is suffering from increasing heat and a
lengthening drought. For those who call this lakeside town of Kalokol home, life becomes more
and more difficult each day. Even recently, in the modernized world of the 21st century,
sustainability for those in climates such as these become more difficult to manage. Sustainability
is in a nutshell, a region’s ability to sustain its population, from energy, to clean water, or from
agricultural crops. Rain fed crops provided roughly seventy percent of the nourishment in Africa.
Due to increasing temperatures, rainfall in these regions has also been decreasing from 1940
until now by as much as twenty-five percent (Higgins). The land that was once thriving with
lakes and rivers that are now going dry, forcing families to find other sources of food as
agriculture becomes more and more of a hassle with such little water. But this isn’t the only
home at stake, because do to the ecology of the world, there has to be more, than just a little bit
here and a little bit there. Biodiversity, is seen all over the planet. From the smallest fungi, to the
thousands of varieties of beetle, here are enormous quantities of possibility for advancement.
This is the potential that biodiversity provides.. Increasingly however, the habitats that allowed
residence for the many species of the world are being overtaken by one. Deforestation, although
necessary in the paper industry and for the manufacturing of furniture and other goods, does even
more to harm the value of nature. The Harpy Eagle, is one such creature at stake. Soaring
through the canopy, it is the largest eagle in the forest. Today, as it flies, it is seeing less trees to
call home. There is less prey in the jungle for them. More and more food items are dying out,
collapsing along with the forest. Genetic diversity within the species of Harpy Eagles alone has
diminished and is even listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
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(Banhos). Although conservation efforts protect what habitat is left, it is the original decimation
of the homeland of its inhabitants that display a sort of climate change that foregoes the laws of
nature. For in this, it abides by only the rules of man. Those rules of man help determine, the
rules of nature because at one point, it was almost fully agreed that consuming everything was
sort of destructive. This destruction however, provides a profit for those, especially in the case
with Exxon and the oil industry (Climate Science). Because if it was proven that humans were
the cause, it would require everything to change wouldn’t it?
As with every ecosystem, the animals evolve. There is an adaptation that stems from a
stimuli being presented. Organisms become more resilient and in many cases, even more wide
spread than expected. How this happens can be understood by describing the principle of
Trophic Ecology, otherwise known as the food chain (Sabo). In every environment there is an
animal on top of the food chain and there is one at the bottom. Although in any community, there
is much more than simply the top and the bottom, for all the pieces in between determine exactly
how these ecosystems recirculate. It is from the small microorganisms, the fungi, the plants and
all the way up to the human being that generate and cycle the energy required for another to live.
It is this balance of interactions between each living organisms that determines whether one
survives or does not (Choudhar). There is a waxing and waning that presents in the jungles,
caves and oceans of the world that displays a trend of various traits and abilities of endless
arrangement. Although perplexing in design, it is all fundamentally altered by its exposure to
specific chemicals or elements. This is the realm that causes the reaction between man and
nature. In the coming age of human induced climate change, these organisms are forced to adapt
in ways that before had never been presented (Liebergesell), others in the coming future may
unfortunately be forced to die off. Even though current research is being done to discover the
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issues and how to manage them, the uncertainty lies in the full diversity. Some species of plants
and animals were built to endure, while others are much less prepared to face such changes.
A long time ago, during the End-Permian extinction, much of life on Earth is believed to
have died out (Benton). Massive volcanic activity plumed greenhouse gases like methane, carbon
dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, clearing out much of life that once was.
Shockingly enough, the period after that was the age and the true dawn of the dinosaurs. It is
clear by this, which life recirculates. Even when 80% of animals die out, life can still prosper.
The reason this happened, is because of the system of Evolution, which must first be understood,
to recognize how the human hand plays true into the natural rhythm of change that the world
insists on having. As regions are altered by industrial encroachment, animals are forced to
evolve. Either they adapt to survive in anthropomorphic regions, or they die. The mosquito, quite
too resilient at survival could be considered the most successful human predator. As regions
become warmer water evaporates quicker, which increases humidity. If there are pockets of
water in these regions, there is certain to be mosquitos. They enjoy the blood of warm blooded
mammals and by default of character, they spread pathogens and disease like wildfire throughout
the world. Currently, a detrimental arbovirus known as Zika, plagues South American regions
with a fever that may lead to a reduction in infant head size while being transmitted sexually
through adults as well (Chouin-Carneiro). This is a perfectly natural change that is occurring. As
one species becomes too successful to where it is of detriment to the Earth or the environment it
thrives in, natural selection steps in, to ensure that biodiversity maintains. In this battle between
mankind and mosquito, one side manufactures a pesticide such as Pyriproxyfen to reduce larval
growth (Abad-Franch), while the other spawns a similar weapon. This similarity simply cannot
be looked over. One side, may be indirectly, or directly reacting to the other, as ever fire has its
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water and so forth. This is how life sustains, one organism does something and the other reacts.
This is especially the case with invasive species.
Animals move all too often, sometimes, with help from another. For example when an
animal from domestication escapes, it becomes in an almost wild state, otherwise known as feral.
If it is too successful and out competes the natives, it is invasive. In regions all over the world
there are invasive species, all of which use climate change to their advantage and overtake
resources from other populations (Rahel). In the ocean, warmer temperatures and shifting
currents from ships and human activity causes organisms to move quickly. The conservation of
each species, becomes more difficult to manage as even biodiversity of regions begins to change.
Biodiversity is the density of the populations in a community. In human concern, biodiversity is
what provides the richness of variables in nourishment and medicines. In regions such as the
forests of Bhutan, South Asia (Banarhee), the massive amounts of variability are present and
with this there is a clear evident threat. If these regions were lost, much of the diversity would go
with it. The oxygen production would decline. Leading to then an absolute horror for future
generations, if industry failed to match the recirculation that the forests provide. It is selfish of an
apex being of thoughts and expression to neglect nature in a fashion that may decline quality or
lead to detriment. As the most successful invasive species display, the human being is one of
great convenience to the planet. A human being can adapt anything it sees to do just about
anything it wants. A butterfly effect, as each action has a benefit to another. These are traits that
make up one organisms superpower in an ecosystemic spectrum, as there are always important
roles that components are required to fill. This is to assume, that this mechanism, recognizes
humans, as part of nature.
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If a man was nature he would already hold a functional niche in the system, there would
be no controversy. Climate change is not an issue, because of course, there is weather, and
subsequently, change will follow. The species in areas will survive, at least if they can adapt
along with it. Some are resilient enough and will be of no concern or threat to our own survival if
they do, because we adapt as well. Some species are versatile in the growth within human
civilization, such as the Great Tailed Grackle prancing around the parking lot. Clicking and
clacking away, in slick black or drab brown, crow-like flocks pecking for popcorn scattered in
the parking lot. Even the dog, with its domesticated behavior, allowing security and comfort of
nature within one’s own home. This would be the counter argument against climate change,
because yes, the ecosystem can evolve around civilization, despite the harm that may come to it.
This is because of the Darwinian Theory of Natural Selection, “Survival of the Fittest.” Quality
is the controversy. Because without the concern for the wild at the rim, it is more difficult to
notice that some are already meshing within. Ignorance is ignoring what equity means in the
scope of a circle of life. The result may be less than bitter to taste, but sometimes, that taste is
still required to make much of what we see here today. Those organisms within, around, among
human civilization, are what make the food we enjoy taste like foods. They provide nutrition that
cultivated a rich, biodiverse climate on Earth.
Climate change, is an impending issue. One wherein which the root of its causes could be
categorized by following the regime of industrial human settlement and development. Much in
the same way as upgrading a home to contain a regulated climate of its own, the factors that
determine the weather and composition of the ecosystem can be controlled as well. It is all about
how the environment itself is treated. How many animals are killed by the incidence of a human
being lazy? How can this population of people balance these acts? Then the human race can
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finally be the regulator species that it seemingly had been designed to be. These are the questions
that should be asked. Not, whether or not climate change is an issue, or is effected by people.
The human being created the atomic bomb. With what audacity, can one say that a human being
cannot change the world? It’s time for an evolution of development. It is time to focus on clean
energy while actually trying not to decimate any population by simple carelessness. It isn’t so
easy bringing animals from the brink of extinction, when they’re gone, they’re gone. This planet
is a lifeboat, filled with all of the organisms, minerals, gases and nutrients that mesh together to
form one distinct whole. The Earth is its own net weight of value in this context. Instead of
draining its supply, the focus should be sustaining it, for biodiversity’s sake.
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