Goodreads Debate Guild discussion

debate⠀/dɪˈbeɪt/
noun
1.⠀⠀formal discussion on a particular matter in a public meeting or legislative assembly,
⠀⠀⠀ in which opposing arguments are put forward and which usually ends with a vote.
2.⠀⠀an argument about a particular subject, especially one in which many people are
⠀⠀⠀ involved.

verb
1.⠀⠀argue about (a subject), especially in a formal manner.
2.⠀⠀consider a possible course of action in one’s mind before reaching a decision.

SOURCE, OXFORD LEARNER’S DICTIONARY
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionarie...


This is the Climate Change topic. Below are a few direct links to different
websites which are the sources we have found for this topic and the points
we have made.

[⠀⠀https://science.nasa.gov/climate-chan...⠀⠀⠀⠀]
[⠀⠀https://science.nasa.gov/climate-chan...⠀⠀⠀⠀]
[⠀⠀https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/do...⠀⠀]
[⠀⠀https://science.nasa.gov/climate-chan...⠀⠀⠀⠀]
[⠀⠀https://climate.mit.edu/what-can-be-d...⠀ ⠀⠀]
[⠀⠀https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetin...⠀ ⠀ ⠀]
[⠀⠀https://apnews.com/article/trump-pari...⠀⠀ ⠀]

For some preliminary definitions, climate is the long-term (usually at least 30 years) regional or global average of temperature, humidity, and rainfall patterns over time. Weather, on the other hand, is atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of time—from minutes to hours or days. Climate change is looking at the largest and longest scale of temperature and weather changes, not just the day-to-day temperatures we feel when we step outside. Humans have been keeping track of changing temperatures since the late 1800s, but we can study the paleoclimate (climate way back in the Earth’s history, going back hundreds of thousands of years) using ice cores drilled at the poles, the rings of ancient trees, and the history stored in the layers of rock that make up the ground we are all standing on.

The first thing to discuss here is that there is a difference between climate change and global warming, although the terms are often used synonymously. Global warming is the heating of the Earth in recent human history primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels trapping more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global warming is inarguably the result of human activities, and temperatures keep trending upwards as we pump more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which blocks the Sun’s rays from leaving our atmosphere back into space, trapping in the heat.

Below in the spoiler is a graph showing average yearly temperatures since 1880 (when we began keeping track of temperature) from NASA. That sharp increase in global mean temperature in the 1940s is directly correlated to the industrial revolution and technological advancements leading to the increased burning of fossil fuels. While there have been periods of heating and cooling throughout geologic time on the Earth, the current warming that we are seeing is happening at a rate faster than anything that has been seen from the last 10,000 years.

(view spoiler)[


https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynam...

(hide spoiler)]

But, again, global warming is not the whole of climate change. It is just one piece of the puzzle. Climate change is referring to the long term changes in local, regional, and global weather patterns observed starting in the mid-20th century directly due to human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that, “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.”

Yes, there have been ice ages and warm periods in the Earth’s history, and we generally know the cause of each, but this time, it is our impact on the environment instead of something like a volcanic eruption or changes in the Earth’s orbit. Through the analysis of ice cores, we are able to see the rising and falling atmospheric carbon dioxide levels throughout the eight cycles of ice ages and warm periods in our known history, which is a period of 880,000 years. As you can see in the graph below, there is far, far more carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere now than in any of the warm periods in our known past. Look at the years where the number skyrockets. The start of the industrial revolution directly corresponds to the increase in carbon emissions, which is then directly correlated to rising temperatures.

(view spoiler)[


https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynam...

(hide spoiler)]

It has been made clear that temperatures are on the rise. But what else is happening to contribute to this changing climate? Oceans are getting warmer, ice sheets are shrinking, glaciers are retreating, sea levels are rising. We are caught in a positive feedback loop where because oceans are warmer, ice is melting, causing the sea level to rise, causing more warm water to push against retreating ice and so on. According to NASA, “Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year.”

We are also beginning to see an increase in extreme weather events, both in occurrence and intensity. Hurricanes will become stronger and more intense, and there will be higher storm and rainfall rates. In dryer parts of the world, droughts and heat waves will increase in number and intensity, while the number of cold waves will steadily decrease. There will be a longer wildfire season in wildfire-prone areas like the American West. All of these pose risks to infrastructure and human life across the globe.

This is all pretty scary, so what can we do to stop climate change? The biggest thing is to stop adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Replacing fossil fuels with green energy sources like solar, wind, and water. Updating infrastructure so that it takes less energy to build and maintain them. Reforesting the Earth and changing farming practices to absorb some of the carbon back into the soil.

Most of the world has acknowledged that changes to carbon emissions need to be made for the good of the planet, which resulted in the Paris Agreement, which is an international treaty on climate change that was adopted by 195 parties at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015. The goal of the agreement is to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which is the temperature that has been recognized as holding severe climate impacts. This is to be accomplished through decreasing global carbon emissions by a designated amount for each nation in the agreement. Members of the agreement are supporting each other in this endeavor through financial assistance, technological development, and capacity-building in developing countries. So far, the Paris Agreement has worked at slowly minimizing carbon emissions and introducing new zero-carbon solutions to the market.

Unfortunately, Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement during both of his presidencies, most recently in January of this year. The US is the second biggest annual carbon polluting country, responsible for nearly 22% of the carbon dioxide put in the atmosphere since 1950. It is important that the United States acknowledge what we have done to our planet and make the effort to change things for the good of all life on this world.

ooooh i'm so passionate about this topic
rn though i just want to say that the environment isn't about recycling and biking and stuff (actually recycling is extremely ineffective), that's just what the media promotes. over recycling, you should try composting, which not only keeps dumps much less deadly (juices from fruits and stuff run through the trash and then seep underground, contaminating everything they pass through, which can easily include the aquifers that we get our drinking water from) but also provides free fertilizer for a garden you might have, and is a good place to get rid of dry leaves. and alongside limiting usage of co2-emitting things, remember that other gases, such as methane from agriculture and the gases in ac units, are also huge contributers to the greenhouse effect.

the one thing the mass media has gotten right in terms of helping the planet is the importance of trees. trees are ridiculously important. they balance dozens of ecosystems on them, which we literally depend on. a lot of people think climate change is affecting animals, not humans, but i think they're forgetting that we depend on a lot of animals? and not only that, trees are so crucial to converting co2 to oxygen, which, mind you, is very important. plants are extremely important overall. phytoplankton in the ocean is actually also a major co2-to-oxygen converter, but we're much more in control of trees than that. so please, save as many trees as you can. whether or not you believe in the existence of climate change, trees are incredibly important to you.

i would love some links to resources about composting and trees!

sources for all my claims:
recycling is ineffective:
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/202...
https://www.repurpose.global/blog/the...
leachate from rain + decomposing items:
https://www.actenviro.com/what-is-lea...
composting benefits:
https://www.compostingcouncil.org/pag...
how to compost easily:
combine "green" kitchen scraps/biodegradable waste with "brown" leaves/yard waste in a large trash can, then wait a few months. when the process is almost complete, shift it to a second can so you can keep adding fresh scraps and yard waste to the first without it mixing with the finished product.
importance of trees: https://www.savatree.com/resource-cen...

i also want to add, these things are extremely important whether or not you think climate change is a hoax. a lot of times climate change and general care for our world are mixed together, so a lot of people who don't believe in climate change don't believe in doing this either. however, there's no logical way you can deny that trees are important, or compost is beneficial, or whatever. please just remember to take care of other people, other animals, and our soil, water, and planet, because these things are all extremely important.