America and Climate Change
The Earth’s climate has continuously changed throughout history. Most of the time, these climate changes are attributed to small variations in Earth’s orbit, which in turn change the amount of solar energy reflected onto the planet. However, according to NASA, the current warming trend is so significant because “most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.” And research from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies shows that every month in 2016 has been substantially warmer than ever before-- and it will only get worse. Climate change, such a wide-reaching phenomenon, is obviously of great significance. But often times it feels like America is …show more content…
To start, sunlight passes through the atmosphere and warms the Earth’s surface. This heat is then radiated back towards space. However, most of the outgoing heat is absorbed by greenhouse gasses and re-emitted in all directions, warming the surface of the Earth and the lower atmosphere. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, increasingly emit greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. This leads to a positive feedback loop, enhancing the warming of Earth’s surface. As more heat is re-emitted, sea ice melts. This, in turn, “exposes the underlying sea surface, which is darker and absorbs more sunlight than arctic ice, increasing the total amount of warming.” (EPA CITE). All in all, most causes of climate change lead back to carbon dioxide. For example, carbon sinks, such as trees and oceans, absorb carbon dioxide. But increased deforestation leads to less absorption of the greenhouse gas. And as the oceans get warmer, they increasingly release carbon dioxide into the air, while absorbing the gas at a slower …show more content…
According to Kiley Kroh of ThinkProgress, “68 percent of the Republican leadership in both House and Senate deny human-caused climate change.” Even worse, Kroh writes that on the committee level, “13 out of 21 Republican members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology… reject the science behind human-caused global warming” and so do “21 out of 31 Republican members, of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.” Additionally, in the Environment and Public Works Committee , not only do 10 out of 11 republicans deny climate change, but the leader of the committee, Jim Inhofe, is the most vocal “skeptic” in congress. It is astounding how many leaders deny climate change-- but even more astounding is how many have gotten contributions from the fossil fuel industry. In the senate, 38 vocal climate change deniers have taken $27,845,946 in donations from the coal, oil and gas industries, while the 62 Senators who haven’t denied the science have taken $11,339,967. On the house side, 131 climate change deniers have taken $35,702,245 in fossil fuel industry contributions, while the remaining members have taken $24,268,787. In terms of just lobbying, the oil, gas, and coal companies spent a total of $151,437,335 in
The Earth’s climate has continuously changed throughout history. Most of the time, these climate changes are attributed to small variations in Earth’s orbit, which in turn change the amount of solar energy reflected onto the planet. However, according to NASA, the current warming trend is so significant because “most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.” And research from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies shows that every month in 2016 has been substantially warmer than ever before-- and it will only get worse. Climate change, such a wide-reaching phenomenon, is obviously of great significance. But often times it feels like America is …show more content…
To start, sunlight passes through the atmosphere and warms the Earth’s surface. This heat is then radiated back towards space. However, most of the outgoing heat is absorbed by greenhouse gasses and re-emitted in all directions, warming the surface of the Earth and the lower atmosphere. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, increasingly emit greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. This leads to a positive feedback loop, enhancing the warming of Earth’s surface. As more heat is re-emitted, sea ice melts. This, in turn, “exposes the underlying sea surface, which is darker and absorbs more sunlight than arctic ice, increasing the total amount of warming.” (EPA CITE). All in all, most causes of climate change lead back to carbon dioxide. For example, carbon sinks, such as trees and oceans, absorb carbon dioxide. But increased deforestation leads to less absorption of the greenhouse gas. And as the oceans get warmer, they increasingly release carbon dioxide into the air, while absorbing the gas at a slower …show more content…
According to Kiley Kroh of ThinkProgress, “68 percent of the Republican leadership in both House and Senate deny human-caused climate change.” Even worse, Kroh writes that on the committee level, “13 out of 21 Republican members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology… reject the science behind human-caused global warming” and so do “21 out of 31 Republican members, of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.” Additionally, in the Environment and Public Works Committee , not only do 10 out of 11 republicans deny climate change, but the leader of the committee, Jim Inhofe, is the most vocal “skeptic” in congress. It is astounding how many leaders deny climate change-- but even more astounding is how many have gotten contributions from the fossil fuel industry. In the senate, 38 vocal climate change deniers have taken $27,845,946 in donations from the coal, oil and gas industries, while the 62 Senators who haven’t denied the science have taken $11,339,967. On the house side, 131 climate change deniers have taken $35,702,245 in fossil fuel industry contributions, while the remaining members have taken $24,268,787. In terms of just lobbying, the oil, gas, and coal companies spent a total of $151,437,335 in