Chapter 9
Heating Things Up: Living in a Changing Climate
IN THIS CHAPTER
Getting familiar with natural and human sources of greenhouse gases
Studying the Earth’s climate yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Recognizing the effects of climate change
Preparing for the future through mitigation and adaptation
The climate, it’s a-changing! For more than 50 years, scientists, policymakers, and environmentalists have been talking about global warming, or global climate change. For decades, the discussions focused on blame and fault and responsibility for the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
While the debates raged on, greenhouse gases piled up in the atmosphere and temperatures warmed as a result of humans putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Now, the climate is changed, oceans are warming, ice is melting, and extreme weather is more common. After evolving and thriving in a stable climate, the human species is faced with the outcome of our inaction: Now we must adapt to living with an unpredictable climate, to living in our changing climate.
In this chapter, I provide a ...
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