Guiding Questions:
What is the impact climate change is currently having around the world, and the United States?
What is the history of Climate Change?
What are other countries doing in comparison to the U.S.?
What impact does a lack of action on climate change in the U.S. have on the rest of the world?
- On July 22, 2016: The Soberanes Fire, as it would later be named, went on to burn more than 132,000 acres along the Big Sur coastline, with more than 5,000 personnel combatting the blaze at its peak. The fire was the most expensive firefighting operation in U.S. history to date, costing $260 million.
- In 2017, California spent more than $700 million fighting fires, exceeding its budget by several hundred million and making 2017 the costliest year in California’s history.
- The American Northwest has witnessed a 1,000 percent increase in the frequency of large fires — 1,000 acres or larger — since the 1970s.
- the wildfire season has lengthened by 78 days
- Human-caused climate change heats the air, then vegetation dries out, making it much more likely to burn.
- One out of every 10 American schoolchildren has asthma
- A study by Cornell University forecasted that four out of every ten wells in northeastern Pennsylvania will leak or fail.
- 12.6 million Americans live within a half-mile of active oil and gas wells, compressors and processors.
- Approximately 158 million Americans—nearly half of the country—live in counties where air pollution exceeds national health-based standards; each year, air pollution causes 200,000 premature deaths in the U.S.
- The World Health Organization estimates that dirty air kills about 7 million people worldwide each year.
- But after more than a century and a half of industrialization, deforestation, and large scale agriculture, quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen to record levels not seen in three million years. As populations, economies and standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions.
There are some basic well-established scientific links:
The concentration of GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global temperature on Earth;
The concentration has been rising steadily, and mean global temperatures along with it, since the time of the Industrial Revolution;
The most abundant GHG, accounting for about two-thirds of GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO2), is largely the product of burning fossil fuels.
What is the history of Climate Change?
- 1827: French polymath Jean-Baptiste Fourier predicts an atmospheric effect keeping the Earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He is the first to use a greenhouse analogy.
- 1863: Irish scientist John Tyndall publishes a paper describing how water vapour can be a greenhouse gas.
- 1890s: Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius and an American, P C Chamberlain, independently consider the problems that might be caused by CO2 building up in the atmosphere. Both scientists realise that the burning of fossil fuels could lead to global warming, but neither suspects the process might already have begun.
- 1890s to 1940: Average surface air temperatures increase by about 0.25 °C. Some scientists see the American Dust Bowl as a sign of the greenhouse effect at work.
- 1940 to 1970: Worldwide cooling of 0.2°C. Scientific interest in greenhouse effect wanes. Some climatologists predict a new ice age.
- 1957: US oceanographer Roger Revelle warns that humanity is conducting a “large-scale geophysical experiment” on the planet by releasing greenhouse gases. Colleague David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Keeling soon finds a regular year-on-year rise.
- 1970s: Series of studies by the US Department of Energy increases concerns about future global warming.
- 1979: First World Climate Conference adopts climate change as major issue and calls on governments “to foresee and prevent potential man-made changes in climate.”
- 1985: First major international conference on the greenhouse effect at Villach, Austria, warns that greenhouse gases will “in the first half of the next century, cause a rise of global mean temperature which is greater than any in man’s history.” This could cause sea levels to rise by up to one metre, researchers say. The conference also reports that gases other than CO2, such as methane, ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide, also contribute to warming.
- 1987: Warmest year since records began. The 1980s turn out to be the hottest decade on record, with seven of the eight warmest years recorded up to 1990.
- 1988: Global warming attracts worldwide headlines after scientists at Congressional hearings in Washington DC blame major US drought on its influence. Meeting of climate scientists in Toronto subsequently calls for 20% cuts in global CO2 emissions by the year 2005. UN sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to analyze and report on scientific findings.
- 1990: The first report of the IPCC finds that the planet has warmed by 0.5°C in the past century. IPCC warns that only strong measures to halt rising greenhouse gas emissions will prevent serious global warming. This provides scientific clout for UN negotiations for a climate convention. Negotiations begin after the UN General Assembly in December.
- 1992: Climate Change Convention, signed by 154 nations in Rio, agrees to prevent “dangerous” warming from greenhouse gases and sets an initial target of reducing emissions from industrialized countries to 1990 levels by the year 2000.
- 1995: The hottest year recorded to date. In March, the Berlin Mandate is agreed by signatories at the first full meeting of the Climate Change Convention in Berlin. Industrialized nations agree on the need to negotiate real cuts in their emissions, to be concluded by the end of 1997.
- In November, the IPCC states that current warming “is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin” and that “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate”. Its report predicts that under a “business as usual” scenario, global temperatures by the year 2100 will have risen by between 1°C and 3.5°C.
- 1996: At the second meeting of the Climate Change Convention, the US agrees for the first time to legally binding emissions targets and sides with the IPCC against influential skeptical scientists. After a four-year pause, global emissions of CO2 resume their steep climb, and scientists warn that most industrialized countries will not meet Rio agreement to stabilise emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000.
- 1997: Kyoto Protocol agrees legally binding emissions cuts for industrialized nations, averaging 5.4%, to be met by 2010. The meeting also adopts a series of flexibility measures, allowing countries to meet their targets partly by trading emissions permits, establishing carbon sinks such as forests to soak up emissions, and by investing in other countries. Meanwhile, the US government says it will not ratify the agreement unless it sees evidence of “meaningful participation” in reducing emissions from developing countries.
- 2000: IPCC scientists re-assess likely future emissions and warn that, if things go badly, the world could warm by 6°C within a century. A series of major floods around the world reinforce public concerns that global warming is raising the risk of extreme weather events. But in November, crunch talks held in The Hague to finalize the “Kyoto rule book” fail to reach agreement after EU and US fall out. Decisions postponed until at least May 2001.
- 2001: The new US president, George W Bush, renounces the Kyoto Protocol because he believes it will damage the US economy. After some hesitation, other nations agree to go ahead without him. Talks in Bonn in July and Marrakech in November finally conclude the fine print of the protocol. Analysts say that loopholes have pegged agreed cuts in emissions from rich-nation signatories to less than a third of the original Kyoto promise. Signatory nations urged to ratify the protocol in their national legislatures in time for it to come into force before the end of 2002.
- 2002: Parliaments in the European Union, Japan and others ratify Kyoto. But the protocol’s complicated rules require ratification by nations responsible for 55% of industrialised country emissions, before it can come into force. After Australia joins the US in reneging on the deal, Russia is left to make or break the treaty, but hesitates. Meanwhile, the world experiences the second hottest year on record and Antarctica’s Larsen B ice sheet breaks up.
- 2003: Globally it is the third hottest year on record, but Europe experiences the hottest summer for at least 500 years, with an estimated 30,000 fatalities as a result. Researchers later conclude that climate change at least doubled the risk of the heatwave happening. Extreme weather costs an estimated record of $60 billion this year. 2003 also sees a marked acceleration in the rate of accumulation of greenhouse gases. Scientists are uncertain if it is a blip or a new, more ominous trend. Meanwhile Russia blows hot and cold over Kyoto.
- 2004: A deal is struck on Kyoto. President Putin announces in May that Russia will back the Protocol. On 18 November, the Russian parliament ratifies the protocol, paving the way for it to come into force in 2005. A study links the 2003 heatwave to global warming.
- 2005: On 16 February, the Kyoto Protocol comes into force. In December, Kyoto signatories agree to discuss emissions targets for the second compliance period beyond 2012, while countries without targets, including the US and China, agree to a “non-binding dialogue” on their future roles in curbing emissions. Europe launches its Emissions Trading Scheme, despite criticism of the idea.
- 2005 is the second warmest year on record. Researchers link warming to a record US hurricane season, accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice and Siberian permafrost. At a pivotal climate meeting held in Exeter, UK, scientists warn that the west Antarctic ice sheet is starting to collapse.
- 2006: The Stern Report, commissioned by the UK government, argues that the costs of coping with climate change will be greater than the costs of preventing it. Al Gore’s climate change film An Inconvenient Truth becomes a box-office hit. Carbon dioxide emissions are found to be rising faster than in the 1990s, and new evidence bolsters the iconic “hockey stick” graph. The US Environmental Protection Agency is taken to the Supreme Court over its refusal to regulate CO2 emissions. US agencies, including NASA, are accused of trying to censor climate experts.
- 2007: The fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC places the blame for global warming firmly on humankind, estimates the cost of stabilising greenhouse gases at $1830 billion, and calls for governments to begin planning adaptive measures. Some of the most extreme scenarios are left out of the report, leading to accusations that it has been watered down. The synthesis report warns of “abrupt and irreversible” climate change.
- After amendments were made to the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970, air quality markedly improved in cities like Denver and Los Angeles (the latter experienced unhealthy levels of air pollution on more than 200 days a year in the early ‘70s).
- Air pollution was significantly worse during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. Coal, the dirtiest source of fossil fuel energy, was burned to heat homes, power factories, and produce electricity. Famously toxic blankets of “smog”—a mixture of smoke and fog—blanketed big cities like London.
- Paris AgreementAt the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
On Earth Day, 22 April 2016, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement at United Nations Headquarters in New York. This was by far the largest number of countries ever to sign an international agreement on a single day. There are now 186 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement.
- “In 2015, the Obama Administration unveiled the landmark rule requiring the power sector to curb their emissions 32 percent by 2030. “ “The ACE rule plans to cut emissions by only 1.5 percent. “
- After amendments were made to the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970, air quality markedly improved in cities like Denver and Los Angeles (the latter experienced unhealthy levels of air pollution on more than 200 days a year in the early ‘70s).
What are other countries doing in comparison to the U.S.?
- “The right of the population to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment that guarantees sustainability and the good way of living (sumak kawsay), is recognized. Environmental conservation, the protection of ecosystems, biodiversity and the integrity of the country's genetic assets, the prevention of environmental damage, and the recovery of degraded natural spaces are declared matters of public interest.“
- “The State shall promote, in the public and private sectors, the use of environmentally clean technologies and nonpolluting and low-impact alternative sources of energy.”
- “The development, production, ownership, marketing, import, transport, storage and use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, highly toxic persistent organic pollutants, internationally prohibited agrochemicals, and experimental biological technologies and agents and genetically modified organisms that are harmful to human health or mat jeopardize food sovereignty or ecosystems, as well as the introduction of nuclear residues and toxic waste into the country's territory, are forbidden.”
- “All persons, communities, peoples and nations can call upon public authorities to enforce the rights of nature.”
- “The State shall give incentives to natural persons and legal entities and to communities to protect nature and to promote respect for all the elements comprising an ecosystem.”
- “The State shall apply preventive and restrictive measures on activities that might lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems and the permanent alteration of natural cycles.”
- “Ecuadorians have the following duties and obligations, without detriment to others provided for by the Constitution or by law:
- ….6. To respect the rights of nature, preserve a healthy environment and use natural resources rationally, sustainably and durably.”
- In 2015, the United States emitted 15.53 metric tons of carbon dioxide per capita. China emitted 6.59 metric tons. India emitted just 1.58 metric tons.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment to provide an objective source of scientific information.
- From next year, Italian school students in every grade will be required to study climate change and sustainability, in an attempt to position the country as a world leader in environmental education.
- The Government of Costa Rica expects the country will generate more than 99% of its energy from renewable resources in 2019. That means Costa Rica will have run on more than 98% clean energy over five consecutive years, according to data from the National Center for Energy Control (CENCE).
- In Bhutan the citizens and the government have made environment conservation their priority, rather than economical growth.
The country’s new policy consist of minimum 60 per cent forest coverage. With 72 per cent forest coverage in his nation, the overall carbon production has been nullified. Bhutan produces around 1.5 million tonnes of carbon every year but because of the immense greenery, more than 6 million tonnes of carbon is absorbed. - Ethiopia planted more than 353 million trees in 12 hours
What impact does a lack of action on climate change in the U.S. have on the rest of the world?
- “Not only would the CPP have significantly reduced climate-driving greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, but it also would have saved up to $45 billion in health care costs per year (in 2030), avoiding up to 150,000 asthma attacks among kids and up to 3,600 premature deaths. “
- the largest share of global greenhouse gases emitted since the Industrial Revolution comes from the US
Bibliography:
“Climate Change.” United Nations, United Nations, 2019, www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/.
“The Elements.” The Human Element, The Human Element, 31 July 2019, thehumanelementmovie.com/.
Ecuador, Government of. “Ecuador's Constitution of 2008.” Ecuador's Constitution of 2008, The Constitute Project, 9 Aug. 2012, www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Ecuador_2008.pdf.
Gatti, Mauro. “The Happy Broadcast.” The Happy Broadcast, The Happy Broadcast, 2019, www.thehappybroadcast.com/
Irfan, Umair. “Why the US Bears the Most Responsibility for Climate Change, in One Chart.” Vox, Vox, 24 Apr. 2019, www.vox.com/energy-and- environment/2019/4/24/18512804/climate-change-united-states-china-emissions
Marshall, Michael. “Timeline: Climate Change.” New Scientist, 4 Sept. 2006, www.newscientist.com/article/dn9912-timeline-climate-change/.
“The Elements.” The Human Element, The Human Element, 31 July 2019, thehumanelementmovie.com/.
Ecuador, Government of. “Ecuador's Constitution of 2008.” Ecuador's Constitution of 2008, The Constitute Project, 9 Aug. 2012, www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Ecuador_2008.pdf.
Gatti, Mauro. “The Happy Broadcast.” The Happy Broadcast, The Happy Broadcast, 2019, www.thehappybroadcast.com/
Irfan, Umair. “Why the US Bears the Most Responsibility for Climate Change, in One Chart.” Vox, Vox, 24 Apr. 2019, www.vox.com/energy-and- environment/2019/4/24/18512804/climate-change-united-states-china-emissions
Marshall, Michael. “Timeline: Climate Change.” New Scientist, 4 Sept. 2006, www.newscientist.com/article/dn9912-timeline-climate-change/.