Climate Change
Valeria Contreras, period 4th
What is climate change ?
Climate change is the term used to refer to the significant increase in temperature and the effects these changes lead. It is the phenomenon that causes natural disasters and other complications, which means that climate change is the biggest problem worldwide.
What are causes of climate change?
There are two types of causes of climate change:
- NATURAL CAUSES : They include volcanic activity or changes in the energy received from the Sun, among others.
- CHANGES IN THE ENERGY RECEIVED FROM SUN: The sun is the largest source of energy of the earth, any change in solar radiation influences our climate. The number of sunspots on the sun's surface, solar flares and determine how many more sunspots, more solar energy is emitted.
- SEA CURRENTS : The oceans cover almost 71% of the Earth and absorb about twice the sunlight. Ocean currents move large amounts of heat around the globe through channels.
- VOLCANIC ACTIVITY: a volcanic eruption contains a huge amount of sulfur dioxide, water vapor and ash into the atmosphere. This does not disappear from the earth which over the years could cause climate change.
- HUMANS ACTIVITY:Includes burning fossil fuels, deforestation, among others.
- DEFORESTATION: It is the term to refer when humans cut down trees, destroying the forest area.
- CONTAMINATION: This includes when humans throw garbage on the ground, the use excessive of cars, the industries, the excess use of energy, and these causes the excess of gases like dioxide carbon.
How and why this issue will impact ecosystems?
Climate changes and the impacts of climate change affect ecosystems in a variety of ways. For example warming could force species to migrate to higher latitudes or higher elevations where temperatures are more regular to them. Also when the sea elevation increases the salt water could enter into fresh water and could affect some animals.
When the climate change some animals cannot adapt to these changes and they are decreasing. when there are a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) makes alterations in the process of photosynthesis, that's why some vegetation are decreases.
- Range Shifts:
climate change are causing changes in the composition and distribution of vegetation , this means that natural ecosystems are changing their location. For example, boreal forests are invading tundra, reducing habitat for the many unique species that depend on the tundra ecosystem, such as caribou, arctic fox, and snowy owl. ( the picture of the food web is down of the information).
- Food Web Disruptions:Declines of sea ice in the Arctic leads to declines in the abundance of ice algae, These are eaten by zooplankton, which are in turn eaten by Arctic cod, an important food source for many marine mammals, including seals. Seals are eaten by polar bears. Hence, declines in ice algae can contribute to declines in polar bear populations.
- Oceans: The ocean absorb some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It solves in the ocean, doing a carbonic acid, but humans are producing a big amount of carbon dioxide which leads to more carbonic acid. And this can have negative effects on marine like for example Coral reefs.
- Forest: Climate change is likely already increased the size and number of forest fires, insect outbreaks, and tree deaths. Deforestation also ends with the habitat of some species
Solutions to save our planet
1. Recycling: consist of reusing material products that were already used for example a plastic bottle can be reused for liquids or we can make a pencil holder of it. Separate the trash like organic products and non organic. Also Buy recycling products.Try to not buy bottled products. If we can reduce 10% of our personal trash we can safe over 1188 lbs of carbon dioxide each year.
2. Solar Panels: Buy products that work with solar energy. This products are expensive but in the long run they help us safe money because they waste less energy. The solar panels work this way: the solar rays impact over the solar panels, penetrating and absorbed by semiconductor materials, like the silicon and the gallium arsenic. This panel take advantage of the solar energy, that produce the solar energy to electric energy that is utilize the same way.
3. Save energy: Use energy saving light bulbs. unplug the plugs when we are not using any electronic device, for example there is no need to leave our phone charging all night when in just 3 hours our battery is full of charge.Use your Mobil phone efficiently. Also Turn off the electronics when we aren't using them.
We can make a change!!! Let's save our planet
Some people don't try to resolve this problem because they think that are just normal changes and they don't see the reality in how this is really affecting our planet and the person that influences this problem directly is the human being. We ourself are destroying our home and the humans don't have enough moral to recognize it. Is necessary to see the reality in how much is affecting. Let's not regret tomorrow and always remember that little actions make enormous changes, let's change our planet. The glaciers aren't melting because of magic. Also some people don't want to do that because the solar panels, saving bulss, recycle products are expensive but these things could help to save money. The problem is buy it but then is more cheap.
What this video about?
This video is about how we need to control our carbon footprint.
Carbon footprint refers to the greenhouse gases. What are these? Carbon dioxide, when we generate using electricity or when we driving. Another gas is methane, It's also produced with organic matter decomposes in an absence of oxygen. Nitrous oxide also known as laughing gas, this is produced when bacteria break down the nitrogen compounds soils in the ocean. These gases have a significant effect on climate change. How our carbon footprint is calculated? When we use our cell phone to send message we need to charge our cell and the text message as a carbon footprint. But we can reduce our footprint. For example when we go to a store we need to buy the necessary, scientist made an experiment about 40% of the food is wasted after leaving the farm. And how we get the food? Is a big process that includes a big amount of carbon dioxide? The food includes deforestation to make a good place for cows to get the meat, and includes contamination because the milk needs to be produced by industry, also a lot of carbon dioxide, because the food is transported. So we need to plant a garden, buy local and eat our leftover.