Human-caused climate change and greenhouse gas emissions

Climate Change

The world's ecological issues have been studied intensely by scientists in various academic disciplines vigorously for many years and have been greatly accelerated in recent decades. The level of understanding about how natural systems on the planet operate has become immensely sophisticated. Although there are still some issues that remain puzzling, on the whole, scientists have a fairly good understanding of the planets natural systems function. In recent years much of the research has been aided the technological advancements in computing power which allows for modeling systems such as the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and land area use. In fact the knowledge base has grown to a point in which scientist can predict with some accuracy the future of how the natural systems will be affected through the natural changes in these systems coupled with the human interactions that work to alter many of these systems.

Climate change, which is also commonly referred to as global warming, is a phenomenon that deals with the alteration of the natural climate systems primarily through human emissions of greenhouse gases. The alteration of the climate stands the potential not only to threaten many species around the world by changing their natural habitats, but climate change also has the potential to alter the climate of the earth making inhospitable to humans as well. Although humans are incredibly adaptable creatures, which are one of the reasons this species has been so successful, the limitations of the planet to support the exponentially growing human population are growing narrower. The limitations of the natural systems to provide resources are becoming increasingly more salient and this field of research has caught the attention of scientists all over the world for many decades. With the world population recently climbing to over seven billion people, many researchers are questioning the natural ecosystem's ability to support the global population (Hanna & Osborne-Lee, 2011). At this pace, humans will reach a point in which the regenerative capacity of the planet will no longer support the physical requirements of the population; if that point has not been crossed already.

Background on Climate Change

The climate, which is largely regulated by the greenhouse gas layer, plays an important role in regulating the energy balance of the Earth. Energy from the sun comes in the way of ultraviolet light which can be either absorbed or reflected by the Earth's surface. Once it reaches the Earth's surface much of it returns to the atmosphere in form on infrared light. Some of this light is absorbed back into the atmosphere by the greenhouse gas layer. The chemical composition of this layer has an interesting property that allows ultraviolet light to pass through but not infrared light and the molecular composition of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases such as methane, are responsible for this phenomenon. The greenhouse gas layer is directly responsible for making the Earth much warmer than it would be without this layer. When the Earth was still going through its planetary evolution and the greenhouse gas layer had not yet formed, the globe was covered in mostly ice.

The greenhouse gas layer is usually spoken of in terms of its carbon dioxide level or CO2; although there are several other gases that also contribute to the same greenhouse gas effect. Other gases are also present such as methane, which is largely admitted into the atmosphere from domesticated cows and their flatulence. However, when people speak of Climate Change they generally refer to the CO2 layer because this serves as a quick reference to the state of the gas concentrations. With the thickening of this layer, it acts to change the Earth's energy balance and traps more heat. This has warming effect on the entire planet on the whole. However the effect of this isn't spread equally throughout and the warming of the planet occurs on an aggregate level. In fact, some regions may get much hotter while others are actually cooler. To help people better understand this phenomenon, many scientists stopped referring to the phenomenon as global warming and began calling it climate change so that it would be less confusing.

Climate change, which is undeniably at least partially due to human activities, poses a threat to the sustainability of the natural systems on the planet. Rapidly growing and exponential increases in greenhouse gas emissions since the pre-industrial era have led to a carbon dioxide concentration of roughly 393 parts per million in the atmosphere (CO2 Now, 2013). The current CO2 concentration is alarming to many scientists because some of the estimates state that earth's highest level of a safe CO2 concentration is somewhere around 350 parts per million (Hensen, Sato, Kharecha, Beerling, & Masson-Delmotte, 2008). 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). There are also many estimates that unless drastic action is taken in the next five years, threshold points will be crossed that will make any recovery in the energy balance virtually impossible. Carbon dioxide concentrations stay in the atmosphere for centuries, therefore the decisions we make now, as a species, will affect generations to come indefinitely.

Discussion

The polluter pays principle served the United States as a cornerstone of its environmental policy for over twenty years (Browner, 2002). Although this is more complicated with greenhouse gas emissions, this principle has provided some incentive for polluters to reduce their wasteful process through monetary incentives. Despite the complexity of emission regulations, there are models that have been in place for years that the U.S. could look to for examples. One method has been in place in Europe for some time now and has also been proposed in the United States (Lee, 2001). The system utilizes market mechanisms to allow pollution rights to be bought and sold between corporations. One drawback to this system however, is that it promotes what is referred to as carbon leakage. Producers could move capital and production capabilities to another country that does not impose the same restrictions. Therefore, in some cases the net effects of regulations can make the situation even worse. It is exactly for these reasons, as well as many others, that it will take a worldwide effort for the citizens of the world to create a sustainable path for the future.