Scandel of the Century

Climate change: the talk of the century. The question is where do we stand? Everyone wants to be placed in a category: the ones who believe in it and the ones who don’t. I like to say yes climate change is happening but it always has been however, we humans are now speeding up the process. In the past the climate changes were due to changes in the Sun’s intensity, Earths tilt, volcanic eruptions, and changes in greenhouse concentration. Today the climate changes for the same reasons but human impact has played a role. For example deforestation can change the amount of sunlight a land gets, which can change the temperature, wind and precipitation of the particular region. Deforesting an area also comes with other side effects, it can mean perhaps human development in that particular area. The once remote forested area had its natural ecological balance, but with the presence of human development (i.e. cities and industries ) an unbalance occurs perhaps the resources are exhausted and carbon emissions increase, leading to an increased rate of climate change. So the question is which philosophical group do I belong to? With the above said, I believe climate change is not man made instead it is aided by man. I do think that a lot of the information out is propaganda in order to collect money and we must be the judge of which is real or not. We need to do our own research and figure this out because we are causing change and education and global communication is great start to figuring out a solution. If we allow false information to spread sooner or later people will begin to feel as if the debate is a joke and more people will join the side of denial and will choose to not help in the further prevention of a negative human impact. Plenty of media coverage is given to this debate and therefore a lot of it gets stretched to extremes in order to get the most attention so using websites such as ones from EPA or other governmental agencies instead of personal opinionated blogs are great ways to get solid information but also do not allow yourself to be guided by just one make sure to compare many different websites and do not be scared to question them either. Following my own advice to do my own educated research and asking questions has allowed me to change small things in my life. Decisions such as which foods to buy, what materials to use and how to dispose of my materials are little steps I have taken towards my effort to reduce my and my family’s carbon footprint. If we do not take the first step in educating ourselves in this topic then our kids will have a lost cause in front of them because they too will not know what to do, which could lead to our demise. So I would say educate ourselves now so our next generations can too enjoy life have the opportunity to fix our past mistakes and prevent them.