Dear Future Student,
As of now, 2016, Earth is us humans only inhabitable planet and while that may change by your time, right now its the only place we can live which is why we need to protect it. While climate change has been affecting our planet for a long time, it isn't until recently that we have noticed that humans have a major role in the process. Despite being a major issue, having played a role in various events, climate change is still affecting the earth greatly, while not receiving the attention it deserves.
The
first mention of human's having an effect on climate change(3) was written in 1957, it was an article saying that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had increased due to people and the industrial revolution. While 1957 seems like a long time ago, it truly wasn't compared to climate change existing much longer than humans have. The article written by Hans Suess and Roger Revelle received some attention and some saying it wasn't true, until scientist Charles David Kelly backed it up with atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements. While the theory was proved true, it got little attention and no major following action taken. 7 years later in 1964 the National Academy of science conducted a study to see if it was possible to change the weather for things such as farming or military, only to come to the conclusion that it was possible to change the climate without meaning to, called "inadvertent modifications of weather and climate" and carbon dioxide was the main factor. In 1979 the National academy of science released another statement saying that "climate changes will result from man's combustion of fossil fuels and changes in land use." The topic still had little attention, that was due to the environmentalist movement of the time focusing on other issues such as water pollution, air quality, and wildlife. Rachel Carson's Novel
Silent Spring, which warned about synthetic pesticides was one the main contributors to the movement.
The Marshall institute(3) was a conservative free marked research company working mainly for the government, with the end of the cold war in 1989 the company had less to do, prompting them to challenge research connecting humans to global warming, the same strategy used by some tobacco companies which challenged doctors. That action formed 2 sides, some saying humans caused climate change, the other saying it was all natural, making climate change a debate, rather than a issue.
Prior to this project i had thought little about the roles climate has played in history, but after thinking about it and a little research, i found many times when something as little as a foggy day affected something major such as the destination of an atomic bomb. Many at this time are aware of the WW2 bombing of Nagasaki, one of the only 2 times an atomic bomb has ever been used on humans, however many don't know that Nagasaki wasnt the main target. Nagasaki was the back up target for the primary Kokura, which was protected by something as simple as fog. Another example of climate playing a role in history was in the winter when hitler attempted to invade Russia. Prior to the attack the Germans were so confident in winning that they packed no winter clothing, some being so confident that they brought along dress uniforms to wear when victory marching. Yet when the Germans attacked, Russia was able to hold them off until the winter, one of the record lows, hit. Germany was very unprepared and suffered greatly from the cold with oil in vehicles freezing, artillery grease freezing, and even soup freezing in minutes. With so many germans dying from the cold, Russia was back on the offensive, making that winter a turning point in the war. Even with examples like that on how climate effects history, people are still doing very little to help despite climate caused events happening right in front of our eyes.
In 2016 much more people are aware about climate change yet still aren't trying to stop it. Scientists have tried every way throughout the years to get attention on what climate change is causing such as the ocean rising. Due to a weakened ozone layer, caused by human pollution, more heat from the sun is getting though,
melting the ice caps(4), causing sea level to rise, threatening wildlife and human civilizations on the coast. Hurricanes are also a effect of the climate change due to hurricanes drawing heat from the ocean, more heat means
stronger hurricanes(2) which bring a long list of negatives. The different weather is also causing migrations that weren't suppose to happen, disrupting ecosystems along with causing extinction and
bringing along disease(5). Aside from causing natural issues, climate is also behind a current political issue, the war and human migrations in middle eastern places like Syria. Prior to the current war breaking out Syria, which might be called something else at your time,
Syria faced a drought(1), making many people who had been farming move into cities, and like America has experienced in the 1920s, a rush of people into urban places causes poverty and crime, but unlike America, the Syrian government couldn't handle the issue, leading to the problems going on today.
Throughout the years scientists have started to realize that connecting climate change to public health makes the biggest impact. One notable example of a issue that used public health to cause change was the smog in 1948
Donora(3), PN. The smog lasted for 5 days and killed 20 people, creating the awareness of pollution and the Clear Air Act, which reduced 6 major pollutants by 72%. However in order to use the public health view, something needs to happen, leaving scientist waiting for an e
vent to prompt action(6), which will hopefully have came by the time you read this.
Good luck, Evan Lake
1.
Time Magazine
An article titled "How Climate is Behind the Surge of Migrants to Europe" by Aryn Baker about the ongoing migrant crisis in Syria and how climate played a role behind it.
Time magazine is a weekly news magazine published in New York in 1923 and has the worlds largest weekly circulation.
I used this to learn more about the issues in Syria and how it is affected by weather.
2.
NCSE
States the causes and effects of climate change and how people such as insurance agencies are planning ahead.
The National Center for Science education is a not-for-profit organization providing information and resources for schools, parents, and citizens working to keep evolution and climate science in public school education.While learning about climate change this also taught me how groups such as insurance agencies are planning for it.
3.
Smithsonian
an article titled "why doesnt anyone now how to talk about global warming?" by Natasha Geiling that shows the history of the awareness of climate change and why it became a topic of debate.
The smithsonian institution, established in 1846, "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge" is a group of museums and research centers administered by the U.S. government.
4.
WWF
Talks about the effects of global warming, particularly on the ocean and animals.
The World Wildlife Federation is one of the worlds largest conservation organizations founded in 1961.
I used this source to learn more about the natural effects rather than effects on humans because this came from the world wildlife federation
5.
EPA
A government site showing the temperature, air quality, extreme weather, and disease impacts from climate change.
The U.S Enviromental Protection agency is a government agency with the mission to protect human health and enviroment.
While providing me with useful information about the risks of climate change this source also backed up some other info due to its reliability from a government site.
6.
Historians
An article titled "Historians and climate change" by Sam White, talking about learning and teaching climate change, along with learning lessons from the past.
The American historical association is the largest professional organization in the U.S. devoted to the study and promotion of history and historical thinking.
This showed me a historian point of view on the issue and how it should be taught, helping me think of ways that climate change could be publicly approached.
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