Climate Change and Global Warming
Question 1
There are four main pools and fluxes of the global carbon cycle. These pools act as stores of carbon on four different forms, namely organic molecules, gaseous forms, organic matter, and fossil fuel. The biosphere contains carbon as organic molecules, while the atmosphere holds carbon as carbon (IV) oxide. The soil holds carbon in organic matter, and the lithosphere contains carbon in the form of the fossil fuels and as minerals found in rudimentary rocks.
Human activities have influenced the carbon cycle negatively. For instance, industrialization and motorization utilize fossil fuels, such as petroleum products (Collomb, 2014). These fuels emit greenhouse gases and lead to increased flux of carbon content in the atmosphere. The increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere creates an imbalance of carbon consumption and result in global warming.
Question 2
The use of fossil fuels is widely used in households. People cut down trees and use the timber as firewood, which results in deforestation and global warming (Collomb, 2014). Decreased plant population alters the carbon cycle leading to an influx of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which causes global warming. Global warming causes some infectious diseases to thrive well in hot climates.
Motorized machines such as vehicles use fossil fuel whose by-products pollute the environment. The combustion of fossil fuel in cars results in an enormous amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide (Collomb, 2014). These gases diffuse into the atmosphere to form a blanket of greenhouse gases. Even though governments earn revenue from the massive sale of these fuels, the by-products, such as gasses, result in global warming, that harms people’s health.
Industries use fossil fuels to power their operations. Moreover, other industries use fossil fuels to produce electricity and connect to the national grid to supplement the surplus need of electric power. In these two cases, the most commonly used fossil fuels include natural gas and coal (Collomb, 2014). When fossil fuels are burned, they produce carbon dioxide, which is among the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Hence, industrial processes contribute a significant amount of gases that cause global warming.
There are two primary strategies that governments in the world have adopted to reduce the usage of fossil fuels. The use of solar energy to provide industries and households has resulted in decreased dependence on fossil fuels (Collomb, 2014). The governments have implemented policies to reduce deforestation and encourage investors of solar energy production. Thus, these initiatives aim to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which poses a risk to biodiversity loss due to global warming.
Question 3
The current observations indicate that greenhouse gases have increased. The data available shows that the concentration of carbon dioxide increased by 40% since the year 1800 to 2012, ocean levels of up to 2300 feet (Collomb, 2014). This data shows that the use of fossil fuels has been increasing, causing the rise of the amount of greenhouse gas emitted. This observation indicates that global warming is still growing.
The temperatures are predicted to rise more in the future due to the continued use of fossil fuels. Climate models depict a possible increase of about 0.2-4.0 degrees Celcius in the future (National Research Council, 2014). The predictions are based on computerized models that take into account the rate of emissions of greenhouse gases and human patterns. The positive feedback loops should be used to visualize how the adoption of green energy has reduced the impact of climate change. The negative feedback loop should consider all aspects of the effects of global warming by characterizing all diseases that have been proven to be caused by climate changes.
We might address climate change to mitigate future changes by implementing policies designed by the governments and environmental experts. If we consider replacing fossil fuels with solar energy, households can have access to clean fuels such as solar cookers for domestic use (Collomb, 2014). Besides, industries and vehicles can use solar power to operate. Hence, mitigation of the effects of global warming can be achieved by adhering to policies introduced by authorities and experts.
Model A shows that observed temperature change is higher than the one observed in the model accounting for natural forcing. Natural climate forcing includes the exchange of carbon in a natural environment such as in animals and plants. In this case, there is no effect on weather and climate. The take-home message is that natural force maintains the weather and climate.
Model B shows that the observed temperature is higher than the one indicated by the model of anthropogenic forcing. Examples of anthropogenic forcing include human activities such as deforestation and over usage of fossil fuels. The take-home message is that anthropogenic factors contribute to the increase in high temperatures, hence contributing to global warming.
Model C shows a similar temperature change for both observed data and the model. This model implies that people have changed the nature. Nature is unable to control climate, and so do people’s activities also fail to manage climate change. Thus, the take-home message is that human activities have disabled nature in regulating weather and climate.
Question 5
The American skeptics disregard the effect of climate change associated with the use of fossil fuels. The rich people who own oil-related businesses oppose the scientific consensus because it affects their business (Collomb, 2014). If the use of fossil fuel is banned, then it means that their businesses will end. Therefore, the wealthy people in the market do not support the scientific findings.
The terms of global warming and climate change are interchangeably used, although they are related. Climate change is a more appropriate than global warming because it involves monitoring climate variations over a while (National Research Council, 2014). Climate change is tracked in various aspects, such as variations in wind behavior, temperatures, and the extend of precipitation. Hence, climate change is a more appropriate term because it incorporates the global warming.
References
Collomb, Daniel. (2014, January 2). The Ideology of Climate Change Denial in the United States. European Journal of American studies.
National Research Council. (2014). Climate change: evidence & causes: an overview from the Royal Society and the Us National Academy of Sciences. https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/10305.
What is the difference between global warming and climate change? https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-difference-between-global-warming-and-climate-change-1?qt-news_science_products=0.