Attitudes About Climate Change and Global Warming

Climate Change and Global Warming

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ON GLOBAL WARMING LEADING TO INSTABILITY OF TEMPERATURES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Global warming, also referred to as climate change, is a phenomenon that not only is a threat to other species but could make life difficult for mankind as well. Some of the human population will undoubtedly be able to adapt to the changes. However, at the same time, the population is reaching seven billion people and constantly climbing. The human populations are maxing out the natural limits of how many people the planet can viably support. Every new generation of people compete for resources such as food and water as well as emit pollution. The point at which the planet can no longer support the needs of all the people on the planet is approaching quicker than many people realize.

Climate change has already begun to impact the environment. Greenhouse gases enter the climate system and we get a different kind of environment altogether. In our research we will try to find out how we can add to the research on global warming by understanding the human perceptions of the phenomenon. How people perceive the changes in climate can also influence further emission scenarios as well as public policy which can have implications for the lives of human being living in the coastal regions in the United States. This study will use a survey to attempt to understand some of the attitudes that are present regarding climate change.

The Research design for this study; will be in a Quantitative Design.

Quantitative Research Design

1. The Problem Statement

2. Literature Review/Introduction

3. The Purpose Statement

4. The Theory

5. The Research Hypothesis

6. Methodology

7. Data Collection

8. Data Analysis

9. Data Presentation

10. Conclusions and Significance of Study

Literature Review

Climate change, which is at least partly due to human activities, poses a threat to the future of all species on this planet. Rapidly growing and exponential increases in greenhouse gas emissions since the pre-industrial era have led to a carbon dioxide concentration of roughly 400 parts per million in the atmosphere (CO2 Now, 2014). The current CO2 concentration is really scary considering many scientists believe that the earth's highest level of a safe CO2 level is somewhere around 350 parts per million. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is another major scientific authority, believes that at 450 parts per million there is roughly a fifty two percent chance that catastrophic climate change will not occur (IPCC, 2007). Some scientist believe that if drastic action isn't taken within the next few years then it could already be too late for some major threshold points to be crossed.

Figure 1 - Global Carbon Emissions