Essay: The Phenomenon Of Global Climate Change

During the Eighties and Nineties, the scientific community was divided about the phenomenon of climate change. While it was clear that the planet was getting warmer and that other changes were happening, like rising sea levels and altered rainfall patterns, and that the massive increase in global use of the so-called “fossil fuels” — coal, oil and gas — was changing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, some scientists were cautious in accepting that human energy use was actually causing the changes that were being observed. As more research has been done, it has become clearer that changes to the global climate have not just followed the increasing human use of fossil fuels but are being caused by that process. The science has now been refined to the point where there is no legitimate dispute about the human influence on climate. That does not mean that the debate is over.

With every passing year, the average global temperature is rising, causing permafrost, sea ice and glaciers to melt at an alarming rate. The average surface temperature on the earth’s surface has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees Celsius over the past century. Although this change may not seem all that significant, the effect on the Polar Regions has been tremendous. Rising sea levels threaten millions of people inhabiting coastal regions, and rising ocean temperatures are leaving thousands of square nautical miles of dead zones. The adverse medium to long-term effects of global climatic changes has been dubbed the climate change crisis, and poses a very real and ongoing threat, not only to mankind, but also to the earth’s ability to support life.

In this paper, I would like to discuss the definition of the climate change crisis, and how efforts of communities as a whole are necessary for the communities to protect themselves from the