In a capitalist system of unregulated commerce, the market will adjust to environmental factors – but it will adjust too late.  When we run out of oil, the market will replace it with something else – but it will be too late.  In other regards of climate change, such as pollution, water and soil degradation, shortages, drought, hunger, loss of fisheries and forests: externalities for which an unimpeded capitalist system has no mechanism to combat. Furthermore, efforts to regulate economies in the interest of combatting climate change and reversing or preventing its detrimental effects must be a global one.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 attempted to do this, but lacked strict enforcement and universal inclusion.  The United States refused to sign the treaty, and achieving the emission reductions were mostly left to national discretions.  This is why the United Nations must be empowered to implement a cap and trade scheme – one that is international, and removes the possibility of “safe havens” for corporations to pollute.

The idea of cap and trade is less burdensome than a flat tax on carbon, and far more effective.  Businesses that emit more will have to pay more, and those that reduce their emissions will be financially rewarded.

The difficulty in implementing regulation lies in the still developing countries, who are going through the process of industrialization, and at the same time are being asked to participate in emission-reduction and other climate change-related initiatives.  These countries include China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and to a certain extent, Russia.  The argument is that Europe and the U.S. created the climate problems that we had today, and that it is only fair that China and India have their turn to create Pittsburghs and Manchesters of their own as they industrialize.

Unfortunately, such equity is not possible in addressing climate change.  All countries must come together for meaningful work to be done.  It is fair, however, that industrialized countries contribute more, financially, than those who are still in the process of developing.

Sources:

http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
https://www.edf.org/climate/how-cap-and-trade-works
https://www3.epa.gov/captrade/

In considering the best way to safeguard the bird population, the most important aspect is their habitat.  If a birds habitat is destroyed, as is often the case, the bird has little chance of survival.  Yes, banning hunting in places where the population is threatened is important, as is protection of the nesting period and protection of their food supply – but habitats are the root of many of these secondary priorities.

In particular, coastal habitats are perhaps the most at risk to degradation, by nature of them being a shared bird-human habitat.  The Audubon Society counts this specific relationship as one of its five core efforts in protection of bird populations.  I have seen this often, as the Audubon Society has a wildlife preserve and education center in Wellfleet, Mass. (on Cape Cod).  The efforts of this group to protect birds that are nesting on the coast and preserve the dunes and grasses that they rely upon for survival, despite the relentless efforts by humans do degrade these natural habitats.

In protecting natural habitats, a combination of wildlife preserves and responsible sharing is the best path forward.  The Audubon Society cites “sharing our seas and shores” as its goal for marine bird preservation, one that is meaningful in conjunction with preservation of those shared habitats.  The key to all other defense and preservation of birds is protection of habitat, after which several other secondary efforts can be made to truly safeguard these populations.

https://www.audubon.org/conservation

Sea level rise will of course change the appearance of landscapes that have been known and treasured by many, but the effects of sea level rise far surpass the nostalgic emotions of a changing place.  I took this opportunity to do some research into a place that I have loved since I was a child, and a landscape that I treasure.  Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, has been the inspiration of novelists and poets, including Mary Oliver.  It is home to a national park: the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was set aside by President Kennedy as a place that he also treasured.  Like many places, it is drastically changing.

A report by the U.S. Geological Survey warns that sea level will rise about 8 inches.  I have watched the water wash away the land and convert grassland to marshland.  Alongside this rise in sea level comes a correspondingly larger rise in storm surges and the potential for flooding.  If water were to rise 10 feet above its normal levels during a storm, it would cover route 6 and cut off Provincetown from the rest of the Cape.  If a 4 foot rise occurs as the result of a storm, nearly 5,000 homes would be destroyed.

A digital tool, created by the Cape Cod Commission, further shows the effects of hurricanes on the coast of Cape Cod.  A category 4 Hurricane would eliminate much of Wellfleet Harbor (where my house is) and would flood the town of Provincetown on the tip of the cape. The inner cape would also be affected by hurricanes and large storms, as flooding would reach the towns of Dennis and Harwichport.

As I stated, however, it is not just the change in landscape and flooding of homes and businesses that are at risk with a rising ocean.  Cape Cod home prices are being affected by climate change and rising ocean levels now.

The Boston Globe reported on housing prices in Truro, the town between Wellfleet and Provincetown on the outer edges of the Cape.  Sotheby’s International Realty, one of the largest realtor’s on the cape, employs an individual to produce SLOSH flood maps for clients and educate them on the quickly eroding sand on the ocean side of the Cape.  Houses have to routinely be moved further from the shore – a fascinating process of lifting a structure and moving it 10 feet backward that I have observed countless times.

Ultimately, rising oceans will change landscapes all over the world, but looking at each of these places as unique and special may help to convey the gravity of the situation to individuals who do not see it.

Sources:

Click to access 10_Thieler-Future-SLR-and-Coastal-Change-on-Cape-Cod.pdf

http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20140425/NEWS/404250341
http://www.capecodcommission.org/sealevelrise/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/real-estate/2014/09/13/climate-change-concerns-weigh-cape-home-buying-decisions/SnTafe2lwWiOsLt5AtezHK/story.html

Water shortages have become a primary vehicle of climate change, and an extremely visible effect of human influence on the environment.  Pollution has rendered some supplies useless, while other sources have simply been depleted.  Not only are water shortages detrimental to human health, they also pose a threat to energy production.

In China, the northern region is very dry, and experiences frequent droughts despite the construction of man-mad canals.  Coal-fired power plants in the north have exacerbated the issue of water supply, and further polluted available supplies.  Chinese coal-fired power plants consume 7.4 billion cubic meters of water each year, enough to meet the needs of 406 million people (nytimes.com).

The United Nations predicts a 40 percent global shortfall of water availability by 2030. Not only is will this cause people to go without water, but it will damage food production and energy production, as 98% of energy sources today require water (scientificamerican.com).  The clearest way to confront water shortages is to decrease consumption, and the best way to accomplish this is to decrease the amount of water that is used in energy production and more efficiently use water in agricultural production.

There are numerous ways to achieve this multi-faceted reduction of water consumption.  For the individual, one can take shorter showers, be conscious of a running tap, and eat less meat.  According to the National Geographic Society, a vegan, a person who doesn’t eat meat or dairy, indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet. Intelligent travel plans can also help lessen the impact people have on the world’s water supply.  A single gallon of gasoline tanks about 13 gallons of water to produce, Even a short 700 mile flight costs over 6,000 gallons of water (environment.nationalgeographic.com).

Finally, in addition to reduction of consumption, individuals and industries can focus upon recycling.  Recycling a pound of paper, less than the weight of your average newspaper, saves about 3.5 gallons of water (environment.nationalgeographic.com).

Sources:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/water-shortage-may-cripple-global-power-supply/
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-conservation-tips/

The acidification of the Earth’s oceans can be quantified in several ways, including by measuring the pH level of the water and the healthiness of reefs.  The overall trend is increased acidification of the ocean and a deterioration of reefs that can be correlated through the work of several researchers and projects.

A recent article, published in Nature, outlines the effects that ocean acidification has had on the Great Barrier Reef.  In this study, the growth rate of the Great Barrier Reef has significantly declined as CO2 levels increase. This was done by using an alkaline substance to alter the chemistry of the seawater at a small atoll in the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s east coast. This decreased the acidity of the water to roughly match pre-industrial levels – and resulted in a 7% increase in reef growth (nature.com)

According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website, the oceans absorb about a quarter of all CO2 emissions, thus the levels of CO2 in the oceans are bound to increase as total CO2 emissions increase.  In regards to marine life, an increase in CO2 and ocean acidity impedes the process of calcification, which is detrimental to the health and population of marine species (noaa.gov)

In this context, (ocean acidification as an impediment to calcification) the coral and reef-building organisms are producing 10-50% less calcium.  This decline in calcium carbonate production poses countless problems: from the structure and size of the reefs themselves, the biodiversity of the environment it creates, and the breakwater applicability when a reef is located near a populated shoreline – are a few of the ways that reef environments are detrimentally suffering from ocean acidification.  With the loss or shrinking of a reef comes the loss of marine life, of the ecosystem of the organisms that live there, and the overall healthiness of the oceans.

Sources:
http://www.nature.com/news/landmark-experiment-confirms-ocean-acidification-s-toll-on-great-barrier-reef-1.19410
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification

Click to access 22-4_kleypas.pdf

In learning about the global conveyor belt, it is natural to consider the impacts of climate change in the context of this course. While the global conveyor belt takes about 1,500 years to complete, any alteration of this process could prove to be significant. It is difficult to prove, at this point in time, that changes to the global conveyor belt are caused by humans, but it is a safe assumption that humans are significantly contributing to any change in the climate, and is a relevant consideration in this case.

One study, recently published in Science, has been monitoring the global conveyor belt since 2004. It is early to be able to notice trends, but one that was quite noticeable to the researchers is a slowdown of the belt. If this trend continues, it could be extremely significant for the transport of warm water.

Even with only a moderate slowdown, the global conveyor belt would not be able to transport warm water to the northern Atlantic, and could begin an ice age as the oceans become significantly more cold.

It is difficult to pinpoint trends and results, as well as causes, in such a short study. It is, however, important to understand that with systems such as the global conveyor belt, even small changes can be massively detrimental to the environment.

Source: http://www.carbonbrief.org/the-atlantic-conveyor-belt-and-climate-10-years-of-the-rapid-project

It is often thought that if carbon emissions were halted at current levels, the temperature would stabilize and the majority of the problems of climate change would be mitigated.  Many Americans believe that this is the case, as is exemplified in a study done by researchers at MIT.

Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.  Beyond the irreparable damage that has already been done to the Earth’s temperature by carbon emissions, there are other human activities that cause climate change than by simply burning fossil fuels.  Perhaps at the forefront of these “other” human sources of climate change is agriculture.

Agriculture emits large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, which also significantly contributes to global warming, and would not be solved by reduced fossil fuel consumption.  An article by Scientific American, in which a sociologist surveyed farmers’ opinions on Climate Change, found that most accept that Climate Change is occurring.  While most accept the facts of Climate Change, a majority of farmers disagree that action needs to be taken to prevent it.

While a majority of the Climate Change discourse is in regards to the burning of fossil fuels, there are several other aspects of the Carbon Cycle that is impacted by humans, and must be addressed in order to properly combat climate change.

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-do-farmers-think-about-climate-change/

One of the most relevant feedback mechanisms to climate change is the Ice-Albedo feedback mechanism.  A recent article in the New York Times details the changing temperatures at the north and south poles, and how the drastic nature of those changes has significant impacts on flooding and global climate.

In terms of feedback mechanisms, the Ice-Albedo mechanism fits this pattern because of the lack of and declining amount of ice in these regions.  In part due to climate change and the warming of the planet, ice has begun to melt.  With less ice, there are less surfaces to reflect the sun’s heat, and fewer sources of global cooling.

According to the New York Times article, the North Pole saw an average temperature in December of 2015 that was 20 Degrees Celsius warmer than usual.  With such a drastic temperature change in December, it is not surprising that glaciers and ice are melting at increasingly alarming rates.  As a result of this melting, the Ice-Albedo feedback mechanism is not able to cool the planet or to reflect the sun’s heat.

Article Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/in-wild-winter-warm-arctic-storm-chills-u-s-forecast-as-flooding-threatens-levees/

Climate Change brings varied impacts to people in different places, most often for the worse – but sometimes for the better.  A recent article outlines an example of the detrimental effects of climate change to many individuals ways of life in Bolivia.  The country’s second-largest lake has dried up, and therefore dramatically altered the life of those who relied upon its existence.

Thousands of residents have had to leave the area and find a new way to earn a living, and there is little hope that the lake – which is twice the size of Los Angeles – will be able to replenish.  This is an example of how climate change has and will continue to destroy lives and harm the planet.  There are, however, a few positive aspects of a changing climate.

Perhaps paramount among these are the opportunities that accompany changing energy policy.  California has had a policy in place, which they recently extended, to allow households with solar panels to sell excess energy to the grid.  This is a wonderful economic opportunity that makes using solar power more affordable and realistic for average families.

While, on the whole, the effects of climate change are incredibly detrimental to human and other life, there are ways to make these changes have positive impacts, such as repurposing and energy innovation.

sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/world/americas/a-lake-in-bolivia-evaporates-and-with-it-a-way-of-life.html?ref=topics

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/business/energy-environment/california-narrowly-votes-to-retain-system-that-pays-solar-users-for-excess-power.html?ref=topics

Hello!  My name is Ben, a junior from the College of Liberal Arts.  I study Asian Studies and International Politics with minors in History and Chinese.  I grew up nearby in Hollidaysburg , Pennsylvania, and have been interested in the subject of climate change since I was old enough to understand the subject.

My interest stems from the work of my father, who is a professor of Environmental History at Penn State Altoona.  He has written extensively on the subject of petroleum, landscapes, and climate change – and therefore provided me with an environment to foster my interest.  I believe the climate change is extremely relevant to every field of study, particularly my own in the future challenges of international cooperation in regards to climate change.