Think about how the weather conditions has changed since you were a kid. Have the
weather conditions slowly turned hotter? Colder? You may have notice more snowfall or more
sultry summer temperatures. These are all caused directly by climate change. According to the
United Nations, Climate change refers to long-term changes in the climate that occur over
decades, centuries, or longer. It is caused by rapidly increasing greenhouse gasses in the Earth’s
atmosphere due primarily to burning fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas). (“Climate
Change Introduction | Reef Resilience”) The intensity heat gasses are warming the Earth and the
Seas bringing about rising ocean level, changes in storm patterns, adjusted sea flows, changes in
precipitation, dissolving snow and ice, more outrageous cataclysmic events like tornadoes,
hurricanes, and fires (Jackson, n.d.). Gasses in Earth’s environment like carbon dioxide and
methane are especially important greenhouse gases, hindering measures of power radiation from
moving away from back to space. The more carbon in the climate, the hotter it becomes. This
issue has made many discussions happen. The supporting side to this issue is that climate change
is caused by human factors while the opposing side believes it is occurring due to natural forces.
Throughout the past one hundred years, the worldwide temperature of the Earth had
changed radically. Before the Industrial Revolution, Earth’s environment changed because of
normal factors as opposed to human exercises; variety in daylight and volcanic emission were
the regular reasons for environment changes previously. While these normal causes have an
impact today, in any case, their persuasions are too little, looked at human activities. Larger part
of researchers concurs that the flow a worldwide temperature alteration is because of human
development of the “ozone depleting substance impact”, that is, the point at which the ozone
harming substances retain IR radiation and keep it from emanating toward space which brings
about steady warming of the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Ozone depleting substances that
add to an unnatural weather change incorporate carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous
oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons.
Natural forces are causes that occur with mother nature. It is the way that the
environment changes by itself. For example, during the water cycle, Precipitation (form of rain
or snow) can be massive in terms of volume and intensity which is the amount of water
discharged per hour. When the land is not covered by vegetation, water runs off eroding soil,
rather than infiltrating into it, which leads to desertification and loss of biodiversity. Changes in
the Earth’s orbit is another event that has caused significant changes in the Earth’s environment
in the past. For instance, in the Sahara Desert, researchers acknowledge that the Sahara changed
from a rich prairie to a desert due to a change to the World’s circle (Hearth,2011). This example
demonstrates how the Earth circumnavigated the Sun impacted how much daylight that district
of Africa got. Scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory say that “the current melting of
ice in Greenland is already causing the tilt to change at a rate of approximately 2.6 centimeters
each year. They predict that his change could increase in the years ahead” (Herath,2011). This
example shows how melting ice in different parts of the world is increasing rapidly. Most
scientists have conducted research that show human activities contribute to climate change.
Humans are changing the Earth’s atmosphere by emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide, which most comes from the burning of fossil fuels. For example,
transportations like busses, cars, and trucks pollute the air making it hard for oxygen to pass
through the atmosphere. Other human activities include agriculture and changes in land-use
patterns. They all work to tip the Earth’s energy balance by trapping more heat. Their argument
is that, in the current cycle of climate change, the impact caused by man is far greater than
nature. According to scientists, “climate change has already doubled the area of forest burned in
recent decades. But by around 2050, the amount of land consumed by wildfires in Western states
is projected to further increase by two to six times. Even in rainy regions like the Southeast,
wildfires are projected to increase by about 30%”. Most scientists believe it is human activity
that is cause climate change because of the glaciers melting that are making sea levels rise.
However, not all scientists believe that because about a couple million years ago, there was the
Pleistocene ice age, which was a reason for melting glaciers which they stick together more
persistently to their beds, triggering cycles of longer ice ages. As these impacts grow in
frequency and severity, they will-and in many cases already have-create crises for people,
animals, and nature around the world (Climate Change FAQs, 2020). If unchecked, these
impacts will spread and worsen with more animal extinction and biodiversity loss, water
shortages. (“Climate Change Facts & FAQs | The Nature Conservancy”) Forests are an essential
part of the planet’s natural carbon management system. Some major effects that can occur from
humans destroying the planet includes extinction which is the process of a particular living thing
ceasing to exist, biodiversity loss where the decline or disappearance of biological diversity.
Lastly, Deforestation where the action of clearing a wide area of trees.
An assumption in the media is that environmental change is a fragile place of cards that
can be brought somewhere near a solitary new revelation. Media has aided many organizations
to make posts on these social media platforms to bring a bigger audience; since, now today social
media is revolved around essentially everything. According to Fisher, Waggle, J., & Leifeld, “if
the media were to present a truly balanced view of the scientific perspectives on the issues, the
news coverage would be much more pessimistic.” The media has controlled how civilians are
swayed to one side or the other because they use big influencers/ celebrities to sponsor their
organization. They also would use images that will draw people either emotionally or by
curiosity. According to Patrick Moore, “There is no scientific proof that human emissions of
carbo dioxide are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the
past one hundred years. If there were such a proof, it would be written down for all to see. No
actual proof, as it is understood in science, exists” (Who Is Patrick Moore? A Look at the Former
Greenpeace Member’s Industry Ties and Climate Denial, 2014). Individuals like Moore are so
committed to their views that they will not even partially admit to humans causing climate
change. Moore wants psychical evidence to see whether he acknowledges this issue to be the
fault of humans. Seems like people like Moore are not rational to this issue because they would
be afraid if they do, it will appear like they agree with the opposing side.

Fig. 1. This graph presents yearly surface temperature compared to the 20th century average from
1880 to 2021. The blue bars indicate cooler -than average years while the red bars show warmer
than average years. As you can see, no matter what side you are on, this is a major problem that
has occurred throughout the years, will projected to continue, and increase which agriculture,
marine life, and the lifestyle of humans could slowly be destroyed.

           It is evident that concentrations of the gasses in our Earth’s atmosphere have increased
and will continue to increase rapidly. This issue is occurring and most of the recent change is
certainly due to emissions of greenhouse gases caused by human activities and natural forces.
Furthermore, Climate change is one of the major challenges for our global society. Climate
change is inevitable; if emissions of greenhouse gases continue unbated, future changes will
exceed those that have occurred so far. So, what are the solutions to climate change? First,
whether they are for or against climate change, we all must have influence in the world so that
future generations can see a beautiful Earth. Some solutions that could possibly end this debate
include recycling. Transition to clean energy sources which means to increase the percentage of
renewable energy in electricity, while also focusing on the consumer and community sides, by
supporting policies to make local distributed energy sources like solar and wind energy
technologies available and affordable. We can minimize fossil fuel consumption. Minimize
Industrial wastes. We can educate others who either are not aware of this issue or others that are
aware but do not know what to do about it. There is no indication that these two sides of the
climate change debate will reach any common ground in the near future. If we come together as
a community, as a nation, we can make this world a better place for everyone to enjoy and live at
peace.

                                                                      Works Cited

Climate Change FAQs. (2020b, November 29). The Nature Conservancy Australia. Retrieved
September 22, 2022, from https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/climatechange/climate-change-stories/climate-change-frequently-asked-questions/
Fisher, Dana R., Joseph Waggle, and Philip Leifeld. “Where does political polarization come
from? Locating polarization within the US climate change debate.” American Behavioral
Scientist 57.1 (2013): 70-92.
Herath, A. K. (2011a, October 5). The Climate Change Debate: Man vs. Nature.
livescience.com. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/16388-
climate-change-debate-man-nature.html
Is Human Activity Responsible for Climate Change? 13 Pros and Cons. (2022, February 17).
Climate Change. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://climatechange.procon.org/
Jackson, R. (n.d.). The Effects of Climate Change. Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.
Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/.
Lomborg, Bjørn, ed. Global crises, global solutions. Cambridge university press, 2004.
Who Is Patrick Moore? A Look At The Former Greenpeace Member’s Industry …,
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/who-patrick-moore-look-former-greenpeacemembers-industry-ties-and-climate-denial.