Without a doubt

Convincing the public of the urgency to reverse climate change has been difficult problem faced by scientists studying this issue. Big industries have had great influence on relieving concern of climate change through their effective ability to instill doubt into the American public. Numerous tactics have been adopted by industries who are responsible for massive amounts of impact on our environment and human health to delay action towards limiting their profit. It is important that we understand they are not looking out for our best interest when they speak of freedom. Fake information and attacks on environmental scientists are entirely in the interest of industries financial gain. Economic success can't protect us and our children from an unlivable planet. Although a representative from a tobacco or oil company can put on a better show than a scientist presenting his data. The scientist lets his numbers to do the talking and the industries let the money do theirs. If there is reason to doubt climate scientists there is certainly reason to doubt anyone willing to oppose them. Without a doubt the concern for the fate of our children should be of our main guide in interpreting issues of climate change.

Is this Natural?

This week I expanded my outlook on climate change by including the whole history of Earth to analyze non-human impacts on the warming and cooling of the planet. With the help of Troy Knight  we were able to dig deep into the factors that most recently warm Earth and determine that human activity is at least partly responsible for the steep rise in temperatures. The Earths climate is driven by the sun, orbit, albedo, global circulation and the greenhouse gases that make up the atmosphere. I also never knew the true importance of the ice sheets throughout the planets history. Of those drivers greenhouse gases have experienced the most change especially CO2. In the past decade people around the globe have been changing the reflectivity of the planet by changing the landscape around them. I was shocked to find out that currently the Earth is in a cooler phase in its history but has witnessed an increase of .85 degrees Celsius in the past 120 years. This time is known as the industrial revolution which makes the connection seem obvious and yet it is not a concern of many.  Like Troy, I have found it difficult to convince others that climate change is an issue and the need for action is now. How will we ever change a society that refuses to believe in its own destruction?

Change

After reading the articles from "The Guardian" I realized that I am no better than anyone else when it comes to making real steps towards change. The problem we are facing with climate change threatens the lives of billions of people around the Earth. Something that really struck me in Naomi's article "This Changes Everything" is that we must start treating climate as a crisis. Individual efforts aren't enough to reverse the amount of damage we have caused and no technology can come about to magically fix the problem either. Humanity's greatest weapon throughout history has been our ability to come together for the greater good of everyone. Like Naomi was saying it's not a crisis until we make it one. Leaders of the world have not viewed climate change as the true crisis it is. Naomi used slavery as a good example. Slavery wasn't a crisis until enough people rose up against it to make it one. The same must occur for climate change, together we have more power to create the change need to save us and our planet. People look away because they are afraid of change but it has become clear that the only way to prevent such a terrible future is to change everything. Innovate or die right?