As increases in human population lead to expansive industrialization and cultivation, increased carbon emissions are resulting in global climate change. This atmospheric alteration may result in a number of detrimental environmental impacts including food insecurity, increased spread of disease, more intense storms, and sea level rise. As the United States is one of the largest contributors to atmospheric carbon emissions, what specific policies might the United States enact to reduce its impact on global climate change? Using at least two scholarly or reputable resources and your textbook, discuss the economic impacts of any proposed policy.
Your initial post should be at least 150 words in length. Utilize at least two scholarly or reputable resources and your textbook to support your claims.
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Discuss the historical development of our scientific understanding of the greenhouse effect and climate change, especially the connection between atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and temperature.
• Review some of the major impacts of climate change that are predicted to occur, or are already occurring, including more extreme weather, changes in water supply, impacts to human health, extinction of animal species, and rising sea levels.
• Describe how climate change might impact agricultural production and food supply in various regions of the world.
• Explain the importance of the stratospheric ozone layer to life on Earth and discuss the ways in which the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) resulted in ozone depletion and the emergence of an ozone hole.
• Discuss the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and ocean acidification and how changes to ocean chemistry could impact the productivity and biodiversity of the seas.
Pre-Test
1. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon.
a. True
b. False
2. Major scientific assessments have determined that natural causes could be responsible for much of the observed changes to climate in recent decades.
a. True
b. False
3. Food insecurity and rising food prices were major factors in the unrest and uprisings known as the Arab Spring.
a. True
b. False
4. The ozone layer that protects life on Earth is located primarily in what region of the atmosphere?
a. Troposphere
b. Mesosphere
c. Stratosphere
d. Ionosphere
5. Scientific research has revealed that excess carbon dioxide emissions are making the oceans less acidic.
a. True
b. False