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Desiree Nixon
Ms. Self
7 November 2018
The Boiling Pot: Why Climate Change Is the Biggest Issue Facing Our Nation
Ever since middle school, I have studied climatology and its influence on our planet. My
knowledge on the topic of climate change actually scored me a second place win at state in
Science Olympiad and first place win in LAD fair, a literary arts fair in the Southwest Missouri
area. At the time when I was a middle schooler, I was just studying and writing facts. I had no
idea of the magnitude of what was beneath my fingers. The magnitude of climate change. It was
not until I got to high school that the Paris Climate Accord was signed and in the news. That
sparked an interest to find out more and made my knowledge take off at exponential levels. That
is when I was provided the opportunity to interview people like Congressman Billy Long,
Senator Claire McCaskill, climatologists from the National Weather Service, the President of
City Utilities, and even a written interview from former Vice President Albert Gore, all to
discuss this issue of the climate changing. After my interviews, I was baffled. It turns out that our
local congressman was putting industry above the environment. And that the climatologist from
the National Weather Service could not confirm global warming on camera, only off, for fear of
losing his job. It was then that I realized climate change is the biggest issue facing this nation and
that we must act immediately to try and preserve anything we care about on earth.
Global warming is a highly debated topic people often debate on if human involvement is
the main cause. Nonetheless, it is obvious that human involvement is the main inducer. Arguing
exactly that human involvement is the main cause, Christopher Cumo states that [the temperature
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is growing, this is a result of the amount of carbon dioxide in the air accumulating. Amounts of
carbon dioxide have accelerated from the combustion of fossil fuels. Humans have used more
fossil fuels since the time period known as the Gilded Age. Nature cannot get rid of the CO2 as
quickly as homo sapiens are adding it] (Cumo 3). These facts help bring to life the point that
climate change is caused by humans. Since the Industrial Revolution humans have relentlessly
been releasing CO2 into the atmosphere with extremely detrimental effects. Carbon dioxide is
harmful to the atmosphere because it gets trapped into the atmosphere through a process known
as the greenhouse effect. As evidence of this, Alex Rich and Tom Warhol explain, [whenever the
air temperature increases the greenhouse effect begins to act alone without human involvement.
This is a result of the issue of greenhouse gases growing in concentration. This causes a higher
temperature within the layers of the atmosphere. As a repercussion, the mean temperature on
Earth gets higher] (Rich and Warhol). This author confirms that whenever the greenhouse gasses
are trapped the earth holds the warmth. This never weakens, more gas is being produced and
none is being released. There are some natural causes of greenhouse gasses, but none compare to
the outrageous amounts caused by humans. Some people argue that humans are not the main
cause of global warming when they do they often provide data that is skewed or not put with
The extreme heating of the earth is caused by us; however, most humans do not truly
understand the damaging effects that it will have on human life. Climate change has the
climate and humans, Andrea Nakaya deduces, [throughout Earth’s existence there has been five
bulk eliminations of human’s. During the previous 500 years, people have cause hazards,
localized community decreases, and eliminations of species that are proportionate to the degree
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of the “five mass extinctions”. This is a result of homo sapiens creating global warming,
destroying earth’s organisms, and dwelling eradication] (Nakaya). This helps draw the
conclusion that citizens are not aware of the brutal trends they are producing. The first five mass
extinctions were not caused by humans so it is devastating to look back on. Be that as it may, this
mass extinction is a direct result of humans. It is difficult to look at all the lives of people
including the children and elderly who are near death due to global warming and to look at the
Not only is human death potential outcome, but animal death is possible and is already
happening. In the oceans, there are massive amounts of animals that are dying. The United
Nations, an international committee which includes 193 countries created in 1945, reports, [the
amount of fish differentiation has begun changing on areas of the earth. Coral reefs are already
causing negative effects to the tiny and massive fisheries that reefs normally help. This is
happening because reefs are facing bleaching due to global warming. The globe warming is the
cause of the destruction of the amount of oceanic life, the dispersion, and the number of
offspring's being produced] (United Nations 1). This statement proves that species in the oceans
are greatly affected by human-made global warming. The oceans are absorbers of all things that
are in the environment. They are taking in immense amounts of CO2 that it is destroying them. It
is possible that humans are not aware of the effects they are causing upon ocean life because we
do not live in the ocean; that is devastating because there are tremendous numbers of lives lost
due to this horrific phenomenon. The effects on animal life are not limited to ocean life. Many of
the small or large fluffy animals are dying as well. Polar bears are becoming endangered because
of global warming. It is particularly difficult for them to live their normal life when they have
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withered away to nothing starving to death because their food has died from global warming. We
There are distressing effects of global warming, yet, there is still a portion of the country
who believes that climate change is not man-made and is an issue that will resolve itself. Many
deny global warming's existence, regardless, or claim it caused by nature. Some of the arguments
made by the opposing side claiming it is natural to include things like Shaidurov’s theory and
volcanic eruptions science. Shaidurov’s theory is based upon an event that happened over Serbia
where a comet exploded in the atmosphere in 1908. Some climate skeptics claim that this lead to
a thin layer of cloud that has trapped the heat. To further explain, W.E. Jacobs and Tom Warhol
state, [water particles that are cold in the atmosphere form ice. That ice can affect the earth’s
temperature. This is very similar to what CO2 does. A theory called Shaidurov’s claims that the
Tunguska Event, when a comet went through the atmosphere, it created ice crystals changing
what makes up the upper atmosphere] (Jacobs and Warhol). This source unfairly assumes that all
of the globe's warming has been caused by a small isolated event more than 100 years ago. There
is little scientific basis to support this considering clouds also reflect rays back due to albedo, the
rate of reflection based on a color, which causes cooling. Additionally, skeptics will claim that
volcanic eruptions are the cause of world climate change. They release many of the famous
greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and sulfur. In contrast, an article arranged by Andrea
Nakaya, it gathers information that states, [or three years the earth's temperature decreased half a
degree. The US Geological Survey claims it was caused by a massive volcanic eruption.
Although most of the time small eruptions have little effect] (Nakaya). This article helps to
solidify the argument that climate change is not the most influenced from things like comets or
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volcanoes. Instead, the globe is warming from human influence through the burning of fossil
fuels.
Although the arguments against man-made climate change can easily be rebutted, our
own president, Donald Trump, the one who nominates the director of the Environmental
Protection Agency is a denier of climate change. Since the very beginning of his campaign, he
has been vocal on his thoughts upon the issue. He often tweets his opinions in a less than
scientific manner. You can see this when looking at his Tweet which was included in an article
called, “Weatherman Trump,” it states, “The concept of global warming was created by and for
the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive” (Earth Island Journal). This
man wrongly infers that climate change is some kind of government propaganda. This is
completely irrational considering a coalition of 193 countries, called the United Nations, has
been one of the leaders in this fight about global warming, not China. Regardless of the fact that
multiple scientists agree climate change is not a form of propaganda, President Trump still
rejects their studies in his policies. In an article written by Christina Lyons, one learns [the fossil
fuel industry is supported by the president. President Trump’s goal has been to weaken anything
he finds is negative on business. In doing this, the White House has undone Obama regulations
that seek to slow down global warming. This directly goes against what scientists say the
negative impacts of climate change are] (Lyons). This helps to presume that the President and his
party care more about the economy than the people. The economy is important, but, there will be
none anywhere if something is not changed immediately. President Trump has been and
continues to be a representative of the fossil fuel industry. Earlier this year tariffs were placed on
the solar industry, limiting possible growth. Big business has been put above the lives of our
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future. Policies are not being made that care about our children and grandchildren. A dystopian
Unfortunately, in the United States, our current administration and a large majority of
people refuse to acknowledge climate change and its destructive effects. Nonetheless, in other
parts of the world, they are more apt to acknowledge what is going on and make adjustments. In
Germany, there is a great effort being made to switch to 100% alternative energy. The article
“Energy and Climate Change” outlines what Germany has accomplished, [throughout 1990-2015
Germany has diminished 20% of their greenhouse gases. In just 2015, German had 32.5% of
their energy coming from alternative sources. The United States has done less than half of that.
Germany is making massive changes] (Adams). By looking at all of this information you can
witness that other nations in the world are making changes to help prevent the catastrophic
effects of global warming from taking place. Germany is one of the driving forces in the
alternative energy movement. Additionally, in France, there has been a push to help the
environment. In December of 2015, France held the Paris Climate Summit with the United
Nations to try and help the environment. This meeting was remarkable and showed genuine
recognition of climate change. As evidence of this, Adams continues to explain, [the Paris
Climate accord formed a legal document. Due to this, it had the most positive change produced
than the past 21 meetings regarding climate change. The United Nations was the leader of the
event. In December, delegates from 193 areas met in Paris to reduce the 40 billion tons of
greenhouse gases that we put in Earth's air] (Adams). This statement proves the argument that
France is helping lead the fight to help the environment as well as Germany. Although the
United States has led many revolutions in the past, the switch to alternative energy is not one of
those. France has used this well-known information to create the "Make Our Planet Great Again”
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movement in response to the “Make America Great Again” agenda put forth by President
Trump. Other nations are leading to help an agenda that the United States could be profiting on.
Although I have made great strides to try and inform you and inform myself upon this
issue this is only an informative paper without giving possible solutions for you to do. All those
interviews and documentaries are worthless if no one watches them and acts. The midterms are
about to happen, go out and vote. Elect representatives that you know care about the
environment. Do your research. Nearly every party issue can be reversed and fixed with each
party switch. If a party alters the economy in four years, the opposite party can come in and fix
it. Unfortunately, the environment does not work that way. Tell our government that the planet
matters. We only have one. Global warming is the biggest issue we are faced with today. Along
with voting, go out and try and reduce your carbon footprint. Walk instead of drive, do not eat
beef as cows produce methane, and change your light bulbs. Until the nation picks up on this
madness it is up to you, the everyday citizen, to try and stop this impending crisis. You need to
care about the next seven generations. Let us keep our planet great for our grandkids. If nothing
Works Cited
Cumo, Christopher. "Climate." Encyclopedia of Global Warming & Climate Change. edited by
S. George Philander. vol. 1. SAGE Publications, 2012. 263-69. SAGE Knowledge, doi:
Jacobs, W. E., and Tom Warhol. “Counterpoint: The Causes of Global Warming Are Not Clear.”
2018.
Nakaya, Andrea C. “Issues in Society: What are the Consequences of Climate Change?,” 2017.
Rich, Alex K., and Tom Warhol. “Counterpoint: Scientists Know That Human Activity Has
Caused Global Warming.” Points of View: Global Warming, Dec. 2017, p. 3. Points of
View, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=26159052&s
“Weatherman Trump.” Earth Island Journal, vol. 31, no. 2, Summer 2016, p. 12.
/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=a9h&AN=115610894&site=ehost-live&scope=site.