Climate Change and Average Temperature

Question: Discuss about the Climate Change and Average Temperature. Answer: Introduction Climate change can be defined as a kind of change in the statistical dispersion of different sort of weather series as it signifies a change in average weather conditions. This kind of change happens when long term weather schemes are changed and global warming can be contemplated as one of the most crucial measures of climate change as the global temperature is increasing due to this (Maldonado, Benedict and Pandya, 2016). In other words, climate can be regarded as the average temperature at a particular region as it involves aspects like humidity, wind, seasons and weather. Climate also plays a significant part in the framing of natural ecosystems and it has been seen that the climate is constantly changing due to various disruptive causes and this change has increased with fast pace in the last 2000 years (Rosenberg and Edmonds, 2005). According to the reports of many surveys, the main cause of climate change are increasing levels of carbon di- oxide and other heat trapping gases in the environment. This is causing many wide ranging impacts in the climatic conditions of different countries which may include rising levels of sea, extreme heat events, fires, droughts, melting of snow and ice, higher rainfall and extreme flood conditions. It is believed that if these trends would not stop and continue for longer time then, human life may get impacted at vast scale which may even impact other natural resources and the quality of life. It is perceived that short term climate change is normal and does not impact the environment in a huge manner but long term trends may lead to a vast climate change (Usikalu, 2009). Purpose The main purpose of the current report is to find how climate change is affecting the world with the help of authentic sources. The main agenda is to determine the climate change impact on USA and the manner in which it is affecting the environment in an adverse manner. It would be the key purpose to find the aspects that are responsible for such frequent changes. It is viewed that large number of environmental aspects are attached to the climatic condition of a particular region and a small variation in climate may impact the various relevant elements of where and how people and other living creatures live like food production, utilisation of water and other health risks. Sources The report mainly focuses to determine that how climate change is affecting the environment and how these changes are affecting the environment of different countries. Here, the selected country is USA and in this regard; the data has been gathered through secondary sources as lots of articles and journals would be explored to meet the objective of the report. The main reason of gathering data is that it is not very expensive as well as one does not need to make strained efforts to attain secondary data. Also, it is very time consuming and helps to get a great understanding of the severe problem of the report. Analysis of Current Situation How climate change is affecting the world It is worthy to state that climate change impacts all regions across the world as it has numerous observable effects on the environment. Some of them may include shrink of glaciers, ice on rivers and animal ranges have altered as well as trees are flowering before the time. Various scientists forecasted that the impact of climate change in the past that may impact the future environment which is occurring in the current situation (Wapner and Elver, 2016). These impacts involve loss of sea ice, intense heat waves and increasing sea level. It is assumed that overall temperature is likely to increase for next decades due to high amount of green house gases produced by the activities of human beings. According to the result of report conducted by IPCC, "the range of published evidence signifies that the net damage expenses of climate change are likely to be significant and to rise over time." Therefore, it can be stated that global climate is likely to rise and proceed to change over this century. This shows that climate change is impacting the entire world in numerous ways which has been proved in the above mentioned instances (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2007). How climate change is affecting USA Climate change is impacting several countries of the world and USA is one of them. Due to global warming, the country has got a major alarm to reduce total green house gas to save it from major climatic concerns. In this regard, the US saw its warmest year on record in the year 2012 which shows that climate change is impacting Americans in far reaching manners. The average temperature in US has enhanced by 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit and this change has mostly occurred since the year 1970. These changes have included very often downpours, droughts, floods and heat waves (Earth Observatory, 2014). Also, the problems of heavy rainfall have become very common across the whole country and on the other hand, heat waves and droughts have become really intense and problematic in the country. With the main aim to control the drastic impact of climate change in the country, the article of global climate change impacts of USA is issued after every 10 years by government of United States of America. The main agenda behind this report is that it is a great effort to strengthen and stabilize the affects of changing climate in the country (Rosenberg and Edmonds, 2005). Also, the report lays emphasis that reducing carbon di- oxide emission can help in lessening the impact of global warming and problems as well as challenges do not arise that may overpower the good aspects of climate change (Tol, 2009). Who do you see as responsible? It is believed that the global north of industrialized nations has majorly contributed to global warming and United States is one of those countries which is highly responsible for the same. In context to this, it can be said that the responsible factors to this major problem may include industries, nations and various human activities too but the ratio of their competition may differ. Hence, some of the natural aspects that may lead to climate change may involve eruption of volcanoes, the earths tilt, continental drift, currents of oceans and many more (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2007). For instance, at the time of volcano eruption, it is likely to throw out large amount of sulphur dioxide, water vapors and ashes into the environment which is not at all healthy for the atmosphere. On the other hand, there are various human causes that contribute to various climatic changes. It is true that electricity is one of the major sources of power in urban areas as maximum number of day to day gadgets run from thermal power plants (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.). These plants run on the principle of fossil fuels and are highly accountable for the emission of high amounts of major gases which are not good for the environment and various other harmful elements. Also, vehicles like cars, buses and trucks and 2 and 4 wheeler vehicles run on petrol or diesel and they are fossil fuels and impact the environment in an adverse manner (Houghton, 2011). Addressing Strategic Issues It is very important to address these issues and take effective measures to cope with major climatic changes. Nations across the world are trying to manage and overcome the drastic effects of changing climate and they are trying to come up with effective plans with the main aim to lessen their green house gas emissions (Usikalu, 2009). With respect to United States, it is believed that the country is making leading major efforts to point out the major threats that are imposing various kinds of climate changes. As a major effort, the country has lessen its overall carbon pollution as compared to any other country across the globe since the year 2005 (Pittock, 2013). The ex President of united states, Obama took several major efforts to cut down carbon pollution and various other green house gases with the main aim to promote energy efficiency and clean energy. To ensure the same, the government of US has enhanced solar electricity generation as well as the country has tripled electricity production from wind energy. Apart from this, the Department of the Interior of United States has alloted approximately various kinds of plants which may include 50 wind, solar, and geothermal projects on public or rural lands to reduce the drastic effects of changing climate on the country. As a result, these projects have the ability to support and generate employment in U.S. and also, generate enough electricity to power more than 4.5 million homes with an ease (Wapner and Elver, 2016). Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be stated that climate change has been impacting the whole world in an adverse manners and the government is making great efforts to reduce its major impacts. The selected country for the chosen report is United States. It has been perceived that most of the developed countries are largely to get impacted by the changing climate and it is the main reason to select America to complete the report. Also, it has been proved in the report that the frequent changing climate is contemplated as a major security threat on the global level to the United States. The country got second position in the emission of carbon dioxide as well as it is contemplated as the second highest emitter of green house gases. Hence, it has been given in the report that how the country is tackling with these changes to save the environment and its aspects. References Earth Observatory. (2014). [Online]. Available at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83624 [Accessed on: 19 January 2017]. Maldonado, J.K., Benedict, C. and Pandya, R. (2016). Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Impacts, Experiences and Actions. Springer International Publishing. Wapner, P. and Elver, H. (2016). Reimagining Climate Change. Routledge. Pittock, A.B. (2013). Climate Change: The Science, Impacts and Solutions. Routledge. Rosenberg, N.J. and Edmonds, J.A. (2005). Climate Change Impacts for the Conterminous USA: An Integrated Assessment. Springer Science Business Media. Tol, R.S.J. (2009). The Economic Effects of Climate Change. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23 (2), pp. 2951. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2007). Impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation in developing countries. [Online]. Available at: https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/impacts.pdf [Accessed on: 19 January 2017]. Union of Concerned Scientists. (n.d). Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/climate-costs-of-inaction.pdf [Accessed on: 19 January 2017]. Houghton, J. (2011). Global Warming, Climate Change and Sustainability - Challenge to Scientists, Policymakers and Christians. The John Ray Initiative. Usikalu, M.R. (2009). Health impact of climate change due to combustion of fossil fuel. International Journal of Physical Sciences, 4 (13), pp. 880-884.