Climate Change – Causes of Climate Change
Essay Preview: Climate Change – Causes of Climate Change
Report this essay
Contents
Introduction
What is climate change?
Causes of climate change.
Effects of climate change.
Suggested Solutions of Climate change.
Geo engineering the earth.
Differences between CDR and SRM.
Conclusion
Introduction
Climate Change:
In the recent decades, climate change has become one of the controversial issues in science because of its huge impact on the earth. Research argues that this global problem will be one of the potential risks that threaten the whole planet in the future. Scientists point out the major factors that contribute to this global change. Natural factors and human activities are considered the major reasons behind this global problem. The purpose of this essay is to highlight some proposed scientific solutions in engineering the earth which may limit the great effect of this problem, but before that it is essential to know the causes and results of climate change.
Causes of Climate Change
Most climate scientists agree that the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of (green house gases).
Effects of climate change :
There are some major profound impacts of climate change on the whole planet .Environment, ecosystem and humanity are more likely to be affected by this major problem. According to (
Suggested solutions ( Geo-engineering the earth) :
Considering all these negative effectives on the earth, quick modifications are essential to overcome this problem and survive the earth. The Royal Society ( 2007 ) suggests that technology can be used effectively to create proposals to minimize the impact of climate change. A proposal called geo-engineering is raised to reduce the possible risks of climate change. Keith (2000a) defines geo-engineering as “intentional and large scale manipulation of the environment”. He adds “both scale and intent are important”. To demonstrate this concept, pollution is not considered as engineering because it lacks one of these two elements. Pollution is just considered as a mess. Also, HC (2008-09) in www.publications.parliament.uk states that the term ( geo engineering ) is used to describe activities specifically and deliberately designed to effect a change in the global climate with the aim of minimizing or reversing anthropogenic climate change .
Methods of geo-engineering the earth can be classified into two main groups; Sun Radiation Management (SRM) and carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Ghosh (2009) in news.bbc.co.uk/go, states that “Sun radiation management SRM” is considered as one of the effective method in limiting the impact of global warming. Controlling the sun radiation can be accomplished by some suggested ways .The following points are examples of SRM approaches.
1-increasing cloud cover, (cloud albedo), over the oceans to reduce the heat and cool the earth.
2- Whitening clouds. This aims to increase the reflectivity by painting roads, roofs and pavements white, but it is more likely to be workable in sunny and hot places.
3- Placing reflective crop varieties and grassland into the stratosphere. Not all plants and crops are suitable for this kind of method, so just few plants are considered here and this is due to differences in basic leaf spectral properties, morphology and canopy structure.( www.publications.parliament.uk ). However, this approach may lead to minimize the diversity of crop yields in the future.
4- space-based