CLIMATE CHANGES, UNCERTAINTIES AND CONTRADICTIONS: TOWARD THE RESPONSIBLE ATTITUDE BEFORE ENVIRONMENT (original) (raw)

Climate change and its causes, a discussion about some key issues

This article discusses the limits of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Theory advocated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A phenomenological theory of climate change based on the physical properties of the data themselves is proposed. At least 60% of the warming of the Earth observed since 1970 appears to be induced by natural cycles which are present in the solar system. A climatic stabilization or cooling until 2030-2040 is forecast by the phenomenological model.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS ATTENDANT ISSUES

Climate change and its attendant issues has generated various debates especially in this century. Various arguments and positions have been put forward concerning the affects of climate change on the human race; much concern however has been placed on the role of human beings as agents in the continuous degradation of our climatic conditions. Activities necessitated by man's insatiable quest for the "good life" and of course, bettering his life has negatively impacted on our environment such that environmentalists, philosophers and even laymen have expressed concerns on the rapid and continuous degradation of our ecological-system. The task of this paper will center around the activities of human persons as agents of climate change with a view at examining the ethical implications of human's continuous exploitation of the eco-system for economic and social development thereby disturbing the balance of nature. The paper will also take into consideration certain ethical principles as they affect man's insatiable quest for development and how it affects and encourages climate change.

A simple reflection on climate change

Revista Eletrônica em Gestão, Educação e Tecnologia Ambiental

In order to discuss climate change and our role, this literature review was developed. The term climate change, climate change or climate change refers to global-scale climate change or Earth's regional climates over time. These variations refer to changes in temperature, precipitation, cloudiness and other climatic phenomena in relation to historical averages. Such variations can alter climatic characteristics in a way to change their didactic classification. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth-atmosphere system, by external forces, or by the result of human activity. Therefore, it is understood that climate change can be either an effect of natural processes or arising from human action and so one should keep in mind what kind of climate change is being referred to.

Towards a history of ideas of anthropogenic climate change

In Wefer, G., W. Berger and E. Jansen (Eds): Climate and history in the North Atlantic realms. Springer Verlag, 17-23, 2002

In this essay we show that the notion of anthropogenic climate change is not novel. Concerns over transformations of the Earth’s climate by human activities have been expressed since the 18th century Enlightenment and earlier. It Is reasonable, therefore, to speak of a „history of anthropogenic climate changes“. Most of the instances were not „real“. But all cases were associated with the perception of significant discontinuities and in most instances the perceived change was seen as a threat to society. We briefly discuss the possible implications of this „history“ for the functioning of the scientific community in the present debate.

Some comments on the possible causes of climate change

Climate change is an important current issue and there is much debate about the causes and effects. This article examines the changes in our climate, comparing the recent changes with those in the past. There have been changes in temperature, resulting in an average global rise over the last 300 years, as well as widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. There are many theories for the causes of the recent change in the climate, including some natural and some human influenced. The most widely believed cause of the climate change is increasing levels of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and as the atmosphere plays an important role in making our planet inhabitable, it is important to understand it in order to protect it. However, there are other theories for the cause of climate change, the Sun and cosmic rays, for example, are felt by some to have a significant role to play. There is also well-established evidence that the three Milankovitch cycles c...

Climate Change: a Theoretical Review

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems Scientific Journal, 2013

Climate Change has been undoubtedly the most illustrious environmental issue since late 20 th century. But neither the discourse merely emerged during that time, nor it was problematized in the same way since its onset. History of Climate Change discourse reveals that from a purely scientific concern it has turned into a public agenda that is nowadays more inclined to be development problem. Transformations have brought about a complete new paradigm every time. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the Climate Change discourse and to do so it captured the underlying philosophy of the issue using Thomas Kuhn's well-known thesis of 'paradigm shift'. In particular it discusses about the crisis that lead the issue towards transformations; explores key perspectives around the crisis thus representation of the issue in the environmental discourse over the time. While this paper establishes that with the beginning of the 21 st century, the discourse entered into a new paradigm and will reach to a critical point by the end of 2012, it finally postulates some measures that the discourse might integrate with the existing to advance beyond that point.

Climate change: is it a new phenomenon?

OPEC Review, 1993

AT A TIME of so much discussion about current and future climate change, little attention is being paid to the situation in the past. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to shed some light on the past climate of the Earth, as well as on present and expected future changes. This, in my opinion, is essential, since the present climate is a natural extension of that of the past and the causes of climate variation may be very much interrelated. Full understanding of present and future climate change can only be explained if past climate behaviour is fully understood. Climate change may be defined as the variations in the components of the climate which may lead to its warming or cooling. These components are: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the biosphere and the lithosphere, forming what is known as the 'climate system'. These climate elements vary through time as well as from one region to another. Indirect evidence of climate variation during geological time is revealed in rocks, fossils, lake and ocean beds, glacial deposits, peat bogs and soils. The widths of annual growth rings in trees correlate with temperature and rainfall fluctuations, and fossil trees provide records of dramatic climatic events in the past. Archaeological remains and written history offer clues to climate conditions and variations during the human era. More recently, modem instrument records have provided direct evidence of climate change. Many theories have been put forward to explain the causes of climate change, such as changes in the atmosphere's content, veations in the Earth's surface features, changes in solar radiation (insolation) patterns and human interference. Variations in the amount and distribution of gases, clouds and solid particles within the atmosphere may lead to changes in the climate. Natural phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions, comet and/or large meteor impacts, may cause such changes. The Earth's surface has a direct influence on the heat and moisture of the climate. Paleoclhatic changes have been attributed to changes in the position, size The author is Head, Energy Section, in the Energy Studies Department at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria. The original manuscript was received on 23 April 1993; a shorter version of the paper was published in the April I993 issue of the OPEC Bulletin. 1. The geological record on climate Geological time is divided into four major units (eras): the Re-Cambrian; the Palaeozoic; the Mesozoic; and the Cenozoic. These four eras are subdivided into *nods, and the periods in turn are subdivided into epochs. Using the geological concept that "the present is the key to the past", and by studying present-day sediments and their related environments, one can, in a similar manner, analyze past sedimentary records and try to infer the ancient environments which led to the deposition of particular types of sediment. Therefore, deductions can be made about the climatic significance of certain classes of sedimentary rock, such as: Calcareous rock (limestones, marbles and marls). These are currently deposited in warm, temperate or tropical seas. Coral reefs which belong to this category of rocks are currently confined to subtropical shorelines, typically in the 20-25OC sea temperature range, and to waters with a salinity of 2.74.0 per cent. 306 OPEC Review Arenaceous rocks (sands, sandstones, quartzites and conglomerates). These rocks are rich in silica and are often made up of fragments of preexisting rocks, implying the breakdown of continental surfaces by processes of rapid denudation, which indicates the washing away of the covering of strata by rapid water action (heavy rainfall or river action or both). Carbonaceous rocks (coals, oil-and gas-bearing rocks). Coal, oil and gas are derived from organic material (plants and/or animals); therefore, their presence inzhe geological record could indicate the distribution of land forests and the reduction of the marine environment in which the hydrocarbons were formed. Evaporites (salt, potash, gypsum and anhydrite). Accumulations of such material indicates rapid evaporation in deserts, shorelines and inland basins. Glacial deposits (till, moraine, diamictites and outwash fans). Sea and lake ice may raft boulders and other coarse material, like till or ground moraine (unsorted assemblages of pebbles and boulders that are typically 'unrounded' by water transport and are embedded in a clay or silt matrix), away from their original place, finally depositing them in the new location where the ice melts. Glacial deposits indicate cold climates in the regions in which they are found. Other deposits, like red beds (assemblages of red and yellow sandstones, marls, clays, pebble and boulder beds). Their presence implies, as from their colour (abundant iron oxide), warm desert conditions or, sometimes, warm, humid conditions with an abundance of oxygen. 2. Climate during geological time Based on the information obtained from the sedimentary record, the following conclusions may be drawn about climate variations during the various geological periods (figure 1 and table A1 in the annex). 2.1 The climate of the pre-Cambrian era This era covered the time period from 590 to 5,000 million years ago. The climate during this era is characterized by much warmer conditions than at present, an abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2), a lack of oxygen and hence the presence of ozone in the atmosphere, powerful ultraviolet radiation at the Earth's surface, which inhibited terrestial life and stimulated active chemical reactions in the lower Autumn 1993 2.4 The climate of Cenozoic era This era extends from 65m years ago to the present. Its climate during the Tertiary period (2-65m years ago) was characterized by: warm and fairly moist Autumn 1993

Facts and trend of Climate Change - with reference to Geological time frame.

The Earth is a dynamic planet, constantly undergoing change, driven by internal and external forces. The Paleoclimatic studies have confirmed that climatic change is a natural process in Earth’s history with a variation in atmospheric Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. It is also observed that the Earth's average temperature was much higher in the past than the present average temperature. In the Late Ordovician Period (450 Ma) which was a cold phase at that time the CO2 concentration was nearly 12 times higher than today i.e. 4400 ppm. Only the Carboniferous Period (350 Ma) had witnessed the concentration of CO2 levels less than 400 ppm in the last 600 million years of Earth history. The studies had shown that last 4500 years, there were 75 major temperature swings. There was sudden cooling started in the year 2200 BC and due to Volcanic eruptions at Italy, Pacific, Columbia, Alaska and Iceland, again increased the global temperature. The year 1100 BC was much warmer then present time. The year between 1350-1800 AD was marked with Litter Ice age after that temperature increased again. Thus in the present study we synthesis and analysed the causes of climatic change in the past, change in atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the present time and its trends leading towards the change in climate of planet Earth.

Towards a History of Ideas on Anthropogenic Climate Change

In this essay we show that the notion of anthropogenic climate change is not novel. Concerns over transformations of the Earth's climate by human activities have been expressed since the 18 th century Enlightenment and earlier. It Is reasonable, therefore, to speak of a "history of anthropogenic climate changes". Most of the instances were not "real". But all cases were associated with the perception of significant discontinuities and in most instances the perceived change was seen as a threat to society. We briefly discuss the possible implications of this "history" for the functioning of the scientific community in the present debate.