Salt Lake Community College

Communication 1010
Section 002
Raymond Bingham
Persuasive Speech Climate Change
April 11, 2016
Sara Staschke

PERSUASIVE SPEECH OUTLINE

Sara Staschke
Persuasive Outline
Topic:

Climate Change

Audience:

Students of this Class and the Instructor

General Purpose:

To persuade

Specific Purpose:

To persuade my audience that climate change is as much human caused as

it is natural caused.

Thesis:

Climate change has been happening for thousands of years. Humans are
elevating the natural occurring climate change and the earth is warming at
an exponential rate. We can see this mainly in fishing and farming.

I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: The earths radius is 3,959 miles.
There are about 7.125 billion people and 8.7 million species cohabiting
this planet.
Scientists say 80% of species are still undiscovered.
B. Reason to Listen: We work together with the plants, animals, oceans, volcanoes, and other
planets in our solar system to survive. Humans are killing the planet.
C. Thesis Statement: Climate change is happening, both human and natural caused. Volcanoes,
Orbiting Planets, Plate Tectonics, and Ocean Currents are natural causes of
climate change. Deforestation, Mining, Power Plants, Agriculture,
Transportation, and Overfishing are human causes. The human causes
have increased the overall temperature of the earth without question.
D. Credibility Statement:
1. I have done research on the internet.
2. Listened to a climate change expert, Professor Dastrup.
3. I have also watched numerous documentaries on this topic.
E. Preview of Main Points:
1. First, I will explain the natural causes of climate change and how they affect the earth
2. Second, I will show you the human causes of climate change and how WE are
affecting the earth.

3. Finally, I will show you who this is affecting and why we should care. I will then give
you a few ways to cut down your impact on climate change.
II. Scientists say a rise of 2 degrees will cause many islanders, and people living near the coast to
lose their homes.
A. Outer Space has an effect on the ever-changing climate.
1. Solar flares can increase or decrease the earths average temperature.
a. Sunspots are darker areas on the suns surface.
b. More sunspots contribute to a warmer global climate, less sunspots contribute
to a cooler global climate.
c. About 300 years ago, there was a period of reduced solar activity. This was
called the Little Ice Age.
2. The Milankovitch Theory explains the 3 cyclical changes in Earths orbit and tilt that
cause the climate fluctuations that occur over tens of thousands of years to hundreds of
thousands of years.
a. These fluctuations include changes in the shape (eccentricity) of Earths orbit
every ~100,000 years
b. the tilt (obliquity) of Earths axis every ~41,000 years
c. and the wobbling (precession) of Earths axis about ~23,000 years.
d. The interplay of the three orbital cycles affects the amount of solar radiation
received at different latitudes over the year.
e. The amount of solar radiation reaching the Northern Hemisphere at 65N seems
to control the advance and retreat of glaciers and ice sheets.
B. Plate Tectonics
1. As tectonic plates move over long periods of time, landmasses are carried to different
places on our planet.
a. These changes affect global circulation patterns of air and ocean water also the
climate of the continents.
b. One form of evidence for plate tectonics and an example of how plate tectonics
affects climate is the location of coal mines.
C. Ocean Currents
1. El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a change of the ocean and atmosphere system
in the tropical area of the Pacific Ocean that affects global weather.

a. Every 3 to 10 years, the southeast trade winds weaken, allowing the warm
water to flow further eastward toward South America.
b. El Nio warm-water phase changes global weather patterns.
c. For example; South America experiences wetter than average weather, while
North America experiences mild but stormier winter weather.
D. Volcanic Eruptions
1. Aerosols scatter incoming solar radiation, causing a slight cooling effect. Volcanic
aerosols can block a percentage of sunlight and cause a cooling that may last for 1-2
years.
2. 1816, violent eruption of Indonesias Mount Tambora was possibly the largest known
eruption in the history of human civilization.
a. In the United States and Canada during June there was snowy conditions,
causing food shortages and increased death rates.
3. Winds move these gases around the planet parallel to the equator.
a. Volcanoes that erupt closer to the equator are more likely to cause global
cooling.
b. Volcanoes that erupt closer to the poles are less likely to cause global cooling
because the wind patterns will keep the gases near the poles.
E. Deforestation
1. Think about our planet as one living organism, the forests would be the lungs of the
entire planet.
a. forests cover 31% of the land on our planet. Livestock covers 45% of the
earths total land.
b. The equivalent to 48 football fields of forest are lost every minute.
c. The leading causes of rainforest destruction are livestock and feedcrops.
d. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction.
e. Up to 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to rainforest
destruction.
f. 1,100 Land activists have been killed in Brazil in the past 20 years.
F. Fishing
1. Overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through
natural reproduction.

a. For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species

are caught and discarded as by-kill.
b. this would be like going to Africa and trying to catch all of the antelope in a
net, while doing this you also catch elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. and kill them
G. Agriculture
1. Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more
than the combined exhaust from all transportation.
2. Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.
3. Even without fossil fuels, we will exceed our 565 gigatons CO2 limit by 2030, all from
raising animals.
4. Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption. 5% of water
consumed in the US is by private homes. 55% of water consumed in the US is for animal
agriculture.
H. Transportation
1. Transportation exhaust is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
I. Mining and Power Plants
1. Coal mines were formed over millions of years ago in tropical areas, yet are found at
higher latitudes today, which proves the shift in plate tectonics.
2. Fracking water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually.
3. Coal mine methane is 20 times as powerful as a greenhouse gas, forms during the
geological formation of coal, and is released during the coal mining process.
4. Underground coal fires can burn for centuries, filling the atmosphere with carbonmonoxide (CO), carbon-dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrous
oxides (NOx) and other gases.
5. Along with the harm caused by coal mining, global warming CO2 and other gases are
always produced when the fuel is burnt as a source of power.
J. Climate change effects everyone and everything. Our planet has been growing and changing
for billions of years.
1. Ten thousand years ago, 99% of earths makeup was wild animals.
a. Today, humans and the animals that we raise as food make up 98% of the
biomass. Leaving 2% for wild animals.
b. the oceans are at stake, and could possibly contain no fish by 2048.
2. We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people

a. There are 795 million starving people on our planet.

b. 82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the
animals are eaten by western countries.
4. Climate Refugees are experiencing this crisis on their homelands and are either
flooding into the mainland continents, or moving inland away from the coast.
III. Conclusion
A. Review of Main Points:
1. I first described the natural causes of climate change and the effects they have.
2. Second, I discussed the effects humans have on climate change.
3. Finally, I showed you who will be effected by climate change and why you should care
about it.
B. Restate Thesis: Climate change is happening, both natural and human caused. This will effect
everything on our planet and we really need to take a stand and change our habits to benefit
earth.
C. Closure: Be conservative when consuming meat, fish, dairy products, when using energy, like
lights. Be conservative when using paper, taking showers, washing your hands, or traveling;
please be aware of the imprint you are making on the lives of your future grand-children. Would
you rather believe in something that doesnt exist, or not believe in something that does?

Fun links to watch how the earths climate is changing.

http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/climate-time-machine
http://climate.nasa.gov/state_of_flux
http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing
Watch: Cowspiracy
Watch: Blackfish
Watch: Climate Refugees
Watch: Ted Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O019WPJ2Kjs

a. The amount of water used to produce 1lb. of beef average to about 2500
gallons.
b. 477 gallons of water are required to produce 1lb. of eggs; almost 900 gallons
of water are needed for 1lb. of cheese.
c. 1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
-Dairy Cows, 120lbs of waste per day x 9 million cows.
-Cattle, 63lbs of waste per day, x 90 million cattle.
-Pigs, 14lbs. of waste per day, x 67 million pigs.
-Sheep/Goats. 5lbs of waste per day, x 9 million sheep/goats.
-Poultry, .25-1lbs of waste per day, x 9 billion birds.

3. A person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide,
uses 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food.
a. Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45
pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one
animals life.

References
"Population, Total." Population, Total. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Sweetlove, Lee. "Number of Species on Earth Tagged at 8.7 Million."Nature.com. Nature
Publishing Group, 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
"Causes of Climate Change." Climate Science Investigations South Florida -. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Apr. 2016.
"Deforestation." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Science, "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services".
National Geographic, article Nov. 2006
Discards and Bycatch in Shrimp Trawl Fisheries. UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO).
Livestock impacts on the environment. Food and agriculture organization of the United
Nations (fao). 2006.
Rainforest statistics and facts. Save the amazon.
RAN, Fact Page.
Tropical Rain Forest Information Center, NASA Earth Science Information Partner
Monga Bay, "What is Deforestation?".
Batty, David. Brazilian faces retrial over murder of environmental activist nun in
Amazon.
The Guardian. 2009.
CO2: "The Carbon Footprint of 5 Diets Compared." Shrink The Footprint.
Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in
the
UK. Climactic change, 2014.
Oil, water: Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment. The

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003.

One Green Planet, "Meat The Truth".
Robbins, John. "Food Revolution". Conari Press, 2001
Land [xvii]: Our food our future. Earthsave.
Water Footprint Assessment. University of Twente, the Netherlands.
Measuring the daily destruction of the worlds rainforests. Scientific American, 2009.
Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in
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UK. Climactic change, 2014.
Meat eaters guide to climate change and health. The Environmental Working Group.
Oppenlander, Richard A. Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Wont Work. Minneapolis, MN :
Langdon Street, 2013. Print.