IGNACIO, RICHELLE ANGELIKA E.

4BIO2 3 FEBRUARY 2017

Is Climate Change Real?

As we all know, climate change is the changing of global weather patterns due to global
warming. It has been a long known problem that, up until now, remains to be unsolved. The
effects of climate change may not directly affect us in the present time but looking at it at a large
scale, it has been doing great damage to our planet. It is a problem that cannot be ignored and
should be shouldered by everyone. However, for some reason, there are still a few people being
skeptical when it comes to talking about climate change. Rex Tillerson, the newly appointed US
Secretary of State, recently have stated that climate change is not a national threat. Furthermore,
Mike Pompeo, the newly appointed director of CIA, stated that it is not relevant to his job and
that he would rather not go into details of climate change. From their viewpoint, it seems that
climate change is not relevant and significant enough to give attention to. From my viewpoint, it
seems that they do not understand the gravity of the situation. Climate change is relevant to
everyone living in this planet and it is only a matter of time that our negligence regarding this
matter will take its toll on us.

To answer the question, climate change is real. In my opinion, it has never been more real
than its condition right now. Like what the intergovernmental panel on climate change said,
Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Some of these
evidences are the rising of sea levels; the rising of global temperatures; the warming of oceans;
the shrinking of ice sheets; the retreating of glaciers; and the acidification of oceans. Reading
several articles on this matter, I have learned that the effects of climate change are not something
that can be extinguished easily. Its effects are long-term which means that changes will happen
throughout the century or even beyond. When talking about the changes that climate change may
induce, it may be viewed as a domino effect in the ecosystem in such a way that climate change
may alter temperature, humidity, and other conditions in a certain ecosystem, which in turn may
alter the migratory period and certain physiological processes of the animals within it. Moreover,
plants living within that certain ecosystem are also affected. It is important to note that plants and
animals adapt and depend largely on the specific climate conditions in a certain ecosystem
because they are the very conditions that allow them to thrive and live. A slight change in these
conditions may affect them significantly.

With all the evidences presented and by observing the temperature changes, I can fairly
conclude that climate change is real and it needs the attention it calls for. We cannot keep putting
other issues first when the very place we live in is in jeopardy. We need to take action if we want
to keep the remaining clean air, water, earth, and our other co-inhabitants.
IGNACIO, RICHELLE ANGELIKA E. 4BIO2 3 FEBRUARY 2017

Is Climate Change Reversible?

As of this moment, according to NASA, the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 405.25
ppm and this has been the highest concentration so far when, in fact, in the 1950s the carbon
dioxide concentration does not exceed 300 ppm. This fact was gathered just last December 2016
but climate change has been around since the early 19 th century. Imagine the damage it has been
causing ever since up until now. So it makes me wonder, is it still reversible? As I have been
reading through articles, I have stumbled upon different views on this question. Some say it is
reversible and Graciela Chichilinsky and Peter Wadhams are some of them. They say that with
today's technologies, it is possible to come up with the right equipment to reverse the effects of
climate change. Moreover, the funds required for this project will not cost as much as the other
projects that the US government plan to put up. Graciela Chichilinsky, being the author and
architect of the Kyoto Protocol Carbon Market, is optimistic that carbon emissions will decrease
with the carbon trading established. However, so far, it has not been showing promising results.

But, I guess one more question has been popping up within those concerned, "How come
the ozone layer managed to fix itself?" From what I have read, the action taken for the ozone
layer is quite different with climate change. Back when the ozone layer was still a problem, an
immediate action was done since the effect of the hole in the ozone layer would have a direct
effect on the people, which is skin cancer. So, in the 1980's, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were
banned in order to combat the ozone layer hole, and consequently led to the ozone layer
repairing itself. On the other hand, scientists dealing with climate change do not know how to go
about the repair of the damages caused by climate change because the damage is too massive to
be repaired. The effects of climate change do not affect us directly and immediately. It will take
hundreds of years for us to feel what this problem is all about. However, the environment is
being destroyed before our eyes, and even if we miraculously come up with a solution to cut off
carbon emissions, its effects will continue for decades or more. The fact that climate change does
not affect us directly feeds the masses the notion that climate change is not much of a big deal;
that it could always be fixed later. That notion is one of the biggest factors why the community is
not at their best performance to look for an immediate solution.

So, if you were going to ask me if climate change is reversible, I would say it is not, but it
is also not unstoppable. However, it would take more than just environmental actions to combat
climate change; it would also require us to take socio-economic actions. Like what I have been
implicitly saying previously, we have to stop seeking instant gratifications and look at long-term
actions because unlike the CFC ban for the ozone layer repair, for the climate to be stable, there
is a need to remake the energy systems, redesign the economies, stand up to powerful corporate
interests, and just stop being greedy over growth and power. It may seem impossible now, but
only if we act boldly and quickly, then we can take on the path towards abolishing climate
change, no matter how long it takes. As what Richard Somerville have said, "People today,
whether they realize it or not, have control over the thermostat that will set the climate for
future generations."