The Truth About Climate Change

The Truth About Climate Change
Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

If you have heard of Climate Change raise your hand. If you have heard about the International Panel of Climate Change that determined that there is a more than 90 percent probability that Climate Change is caused by people then you can put your hand down.

Actually, it is not your conscious behavior that is responsible for Climate Change. The cause is the environment that you have been raised in that has directed your behavior. Fatimah Jackson and his team states that human behavior is determined by their environment.

Climate change is not the big problem. The truth is that it is the lifestyles that have been created by the Industrial Revolution that has determined your behavior, climate change, the abundance of pollution, and mass extinction.

If you think you have the freedom of choice then you may as well throw that fantasy out the window. However, you do have the power to take control of your life to create a sustainable world and enhance your well-being.

Climate changing conditions are occurring worldwide. The Environmental Protection Agency defines Climate Change as “Any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time.” Examples include drought, intense rains, heat waves and a prolonged rise in temperatures that are melting glaciers.

My next questions are, “Are you experiencing extreme environmental conditions and pollution where you live or visit?” and “Have you witnessed or heard in the news about birds or other life forms dying en masse or natural disasters that are eroding the coastlines; such as Hurricane Katrina and Sandy.”

More than 20 years ago, people noticed that there was something amiss with environmental conditions. So, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Peer review scientific inquiry articles offered the foundation for unbiased knowledge on climate change and its impact on societies and economics. In 2007, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for their work. The IPCC report provides valuable information that allows for an understanding of climate change and how humans are negatively impacting the environment.

Life is able to exist on Earth due to the natural greenhouse effect where gases in the atmosphere capture the sun’s radiant energy and warm the planet. In basic terms, the composition of atmospheric gases blocks some of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation, allows some of the warming radiation to pass through the atmosphere, and maintains a habitable balance of re-radiating sun’s rays.

Your lifestyle choices result in the release of greenhouse gases in excess of the natural environments ability to clean and purify the atmosphere. Human behavior is creating an excess of waste and pollution, more than the environment is able to clean-up. People have been involved in a lifestyle that has created the atmospheric imbalance. You have the choice to change your habits to restore a balance of good and bad environmental conditions to enhance our life support system, hopefully.

Human activities since the Industrial revolution have significantly altered this natural cycling of carbon dioxide. There is a direct relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and temperature. Research on tree rings, ice cores and geologic sedimentation have provided valuable information that allows for a graphical representation on long term concentrations of carbon dioxide and temperatures.

Yes, there have been fluctuations of atmospheric carbon dioxide over geologic history. The British Antarctic Survey reports that there has been a rise and lowering of carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 800,000 years. However, over this time span the highest concentration of carbon dioxide does not reach more than 300 parts per million. The present atmospheric concentrations are more than 380 parts per million and still rising. The concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane have been relatively stable for the past 1000 years. However, the gaseous concentrations have increased dramatically over the past 75 years.

We find ourselves at a unique time in history. The doors are wide open for those willing to jump into the Green Economic Revolution. Let’s follow the trends. Greening is the trend supported by GreenAmerica.org’s reports where between 2006 to 2011 “The green building segment grew 1,700 percent while the overall construction market contracted 17 percent” and between 2002 to 2011 “imports of Fair Trade certified foods grew 1,442 percent while overall food imports declined 38 percent.”

Know that we all have a lifestyle choice to be part of the change for a sustainable world. Going green offers job security and economic growth for everyone’s community.

Elizabeth Armstrong, PhD is a blogger, author, and business owner business. Her Blog: naturemystic.wordpress.com. Her website: www.jazzyeco.com.

Categories: Commentary