Climate Change

TERM PAPER
CLIMATE CHANGE / THE GLOBAL AGENDA 2010

I. Introduction:
This paper looks at the controversial issue of climatic change. In particular, it develops the question of if and why earth’s climate is changing? The roles of man, naturally occurring trends, and earth’s cycles are considered, and an outlook for what can be expected in the near and distant future is given. ‘The uneasiness of modern man arises from a rupture between himself and nature that leaves him homeless within the universe...’ William Barrett Introduction Over the past years most individuals have become acutely aware that the intensity of human and economic development enjoyed over the 20th century cannot be sustained. Material consumption and ever increasing populations are already stressing the earth’s ecosystems. How much more the earth can take remains a very heated issue. Here a look at the facts sheds some very dark light.

II. Body:
Climate change is an amazingly simple phrase for such a complex subject. Following, we have a go at defining climate change in today’s terms. Climate Change – What is it? In the current day lexicon of scientists, climate modification isn’t really a term of use anymore. The reason for this is that we have come to understand that the effect of the changes we make to our environment will increase the temperature in many locations on the planet, but will also cool a few places. In light of this, the thing you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global climate change. Over all, however, the world is definitely warming. We need a simple definition for climate change in relation to the warming of the planet, one that gets the gist without excluding the simplicities. The simplest and most accurate definition is that climate change is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth’s climate. Greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, carbon dioxide and methane. While this sounds like a simple definition, there are a couple of key...