Research Paper Example: Defining Climate Change

Climate change refers to a change in average weather patterns of a region or the entire globe over an extended period of time, such as decades or centuries (EPA n.p). Businesses are the major contributor to climate change, which is usually via greenhouse gas emissions, which subsequently cause global warming. Therefore, climate change is mainly caused by global warming. In fact, the industries are the primary cause of air pollution because the operation of factories and businesses leads to the emission of pollutants to the atmosphere, including water vapor, methane, ozone, nitrous dioxide, carbon dioxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Carbon dioxide is mainly released from businesses that burn fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as burning wood products, trees, and solid waste. Methane emanates from decaying organic wastes, and in particular, in solid waste landfills (U.S. DOC, Office of Security n.p). Nitrous oxides are mainly emitted during industrial and agricultural activities, as well as the combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels. On the other hand, fluorinated gasses, such as hydrofluorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons, are synthetic and powerful greenhouse gasses that are in most instances emitted from industrial processes, as well as buildings with HVAC systems (U.S. DOC, Office of Security n.p).

The sources of the greenhouse gasses are multiple, and federal agencies classify them as scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3. For scope 1, these include direct emissions from a variety of onsite sources, such as natural gas combustion in boilers, refrigerant equipment leaks, and combustion of fuel in fleet among other sources (U.S. DOC, Office of Security n.p). Scope 2 greenhouse sources comprise indirect emissions that are associated with the consumption of purchased electricity (U.S. DOC, Office of Security n.p). As the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Security (n.p) reports, scope three sources entail indirect emissions sources left out in Scope 2, including federal employee commuting and business travel.

In essence, from a scientific perspective, climate change is mainly caused by these heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere, and they usually come from the extraction and burning of massive amounts of oil, coal, as well as the annihilation of tropical forests. One way of measuring the contribution of a business to greenhouse gas emissions that subsequently cause climate change is the carbon footprint. The carbon footprint usually measures carbon dioxide emissions expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide per year (mt CO2). The USA has one of the largest carbon footprints. For instance, between 1940 and 2004, the U.S. was responsible for 28% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. However, the primary source of the carbon footprint is the combustion of fossil fuels to satisfy the growing needs of energy. These fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and gas, which are the primary energy sources for fuel in residential and commercial buildings, transportation, as well as industry, and these sectors are the most prominent contributors of greenhouse gas emission in the USA.

Also, it can be noted that the significant contributors of the climate change are businesses in the petroleum and gas sector, which produce 50% of the global greenhouse emissions. These include Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, Duke Energy, as well as the American Electric Power company. Also, businesses in the manufacturing sector also release greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change. Power plants are also a source of US greenhouse gas emissions, which together, account for about one-third of all domestic emissions. Even though the country as already set the limits for arsenic, lead, and mercury, there is no rule set by the federal government that can prevent power plants from making carbon emissions.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADVERSE EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEMS

It has various effects on the ecosystems and species directly, and also interacts with other stressors initiated by humans, for example, development. Climate change increases the stress on land. For instance, recently logged forested ecosystems become vulnerable to erosion if climate change leads to torrential rains. Also, as temperatures rise, habitat ranges of North American species are increasingly moving north, as well as to higher elevations (EPA n.p). While this means that some species will have a range expansion on their habitats, for others it means moving to less hospitable habitats, which may lead to increased competition and range reduction because some species will have nowhere to go. Due to climate change, some ecosystems are changing, and others are being invaded. For instance, boreal forests are invading tundra, thereby reducing the habitats for tundra species, including caribou, snowy owls, and arctic foxes. Climate change will also cause food web disruptions. Climate change, therefore, increases the risk of extinction of certain species if the ecosystems are destroyed (EPA n.p). For instance, rising temperatures have caused the reduction of sea algae, and since polar bears are on top of the food chain, their number may decrease (Derocher 163). Also, climate change will support the spread of diseases, pathogens, and parasites. Lastly, climate change destroys an ecosystems ability to act as a buffer against extreme events including drought and flooding.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GOVERNMENT

Climatic changes and global warming are hot topics currently. In fact, there has been a global warming debate about climate change not only in the U.S. but also globally. It is an issue that the government should tackle. However, not all politicians consider climate change as a threat. While a few politicians consider it the biggest challenge of all times, including Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton, others, such as Donald Trump, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, and Mike Pence consider it a hoax. The opponents of the notion that climate change is not real argue that there are no significant temperature changes since 1997. They point out that the upsurge of temperature commenced in 1975 until 1997 and the temperature has remained significantly flat since then, as there are no prolonged temperature variations (Conserve Energy Future n.p). They also posit that no historical data is available, and thus, there is no consensus whether global warming is real among various scientists (Conserve Energy Future n.p). Besides, they point out that Arctic ice instead of decreasing owing to climate change, it has increased by 50% in 2012 alone. Also, the predictions were wrong, for example, Al Gore predicted that the Arctic ice caps would be gone by 2013 when in 2012 they increased (Kjeldsen 425; Radovanovic 64). They also allude to the unreliability of climate models, which have been proven to be flawed as long-term predictions are meaningless, and thus, the increasing temperatures could signify a natural shift in climatic conditions (Conserve Energy Future n.p).

WHY CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL

The arguments presented by the politicians, as well as the opponents of climate change can easily be disapproved. For instance, there has been a rise in sea levels globally, which is attributed to the melting of glaciers and ice caps. In fact, the whole of the 20th century, sea level rose by a total of 6.7 inches, but in this century, there is an approximated increase of 1.6 mm annually (Conserve Energy Future n.p). Besides, there has been an increase in the average temperature of the earth since 1800, with a steady rise in the 1970s, a lull in the 1990s, and returned to rising temperatures in 2000s (Conserve Energy Future n.p). Besides, due to climate change, there have been changes in global weather patterns, with an increase in hurricanes, cyclones, famines, and heat waves, which when coupled together lead to higher death rates. Also, there has been an increase in ocean acidification, which is attributed to the emission of greenhouse gasses that are later absorbed by the oceans, causing an increase in temperatures in oceans, and this results in algae blooms and massive fish deaths. In effect, it leads to the destruction of ecosystems (Conserve Energy Future n.p). There has been dirtier air due to the release of these gasses owing to air pollution. Lastly, there has been a shrinkage of glaciers. For instance, NASA highlighted that Greenland lost 36-60 cubic miles between 200 and 2006 (Conserve Energy Future n.p; Bakshi, 33).

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that in fact, climate change is real. Therefore, Trump along with his cabinet appointments should advocate the message that climate change is real and not a hoax, as Trump previously posited. They should also realize that its effects remain longer if businesses do not take action, which should be spearheaded by corporate social responsibility (CSR), a voluntary action businesses should take in combatting climate change. From taking CSR initiatives, businesses get a social license to operate as they have a better image compared to those businesses that have not taken such steps. For instance, to eliminate the greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector, businesses need to adopt the use of electric cars and vehicles instead of the conventional ones which use fossil and petroleum fuels. This means that adoption of better practices, such as the use of electric cars is inevitable.

Works Cited

Bakshi, Arun. "Who Lives if Earth Dies." Global Journal of Enterprise Information System 8.3 (2017): 33-40. Conserve Energy Future, Is global warming real? N.d. Web. 21 Nov, 2017.

Derocher, Andrew E., Nicholas J. Lunn, and Ian Stirling. "Polar bears in a warming climate." Integrative and Comparative Biology 44.2 (2004): 163-176.

Kjeldsen, Jens E. "Strategies of visual argumentation in slideshow presentations: the role of the visuals in an Al Gore presentation on climate change." Argumentation 27.4 (2013): 425-443.

Radovanovic, Milan. "The increasing of the ice surface in the arctic-is this also the consequence of global warming?." Journal of the Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic (2014): 64-73.

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Climate Impacts on Ecosystems. N.d. Web. 21 Nov, 2017.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Security. Greenhouse gas emissions & reduction strategies. 2012. Web. 21 Nov, 2017.