Climate Change

9/20/13

Climate Change has been a polarizing topic around the world for some time now. The first biggest advocate that I can remember who openly believed climate change and the negatives that follow it was Al Gore. An Inconvenient Truth was ripped apart by climate change denialists who have no evidence to back up their egregious claims, and yet people still believed these denialists. Luckily, today it seems as though ninety-nine (99) percent or so of people realize that climate change is both real, and happening right now. This however was not always the case.

The eventual acceptance of climate change globally has sparked a large movement in "green" living. From eating organic or local, to only buying certain brands because they supposedly have more sustainable techniques in their work, sustainable living has become a big deal. While this seems to be having a positive effect on local populations, the population as a whole doesn't seem to be moving in the right direction for a greener world. A big reason for this is, you guessed it, oil companies. Obviously they are a huge advocate for the continued use of petroleum as our main source of fuel and industry, and who's to blame them? They are constantly making tons of money, with no real sign of profits dropping in the near future. Oil companies are one of the main hindrances for effective environmental advancements to cleaner, more environmentally friendly fuel and energy sources.

As we can see from this graph from the EPA (Carbon Pollution Standards, EPA 2013), eighty-four (84) percent of the U.S. greenhouse gas pollution comes from Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and roughly sixty-six (66) percent of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from a petroleum based economic sector - Transportation, industry and agriculture. Three of the most important economic sectors are dominated mainly by oil as an energy source. This has caused a large increase in oil production and infrastructure, which in turn leads to a variety of hazards that can come from drilling for oil. Some of the obvious include the BP oil spill as well as a variety in the Middle East. Not only are these spills negative for the the oil company profit margins, but it also extremely negative on the environment. The Denver Post recently posted an article about Colorado tracking ten (10) oil spills in the flood zones due to damaged oil and gas pipes and tanks, (Jaffe, M., 2013). This can not only kill many of the wildlife in the area, but can also pollute drinking water causing it to be undrinkable.

There are other negative affects from the abundance of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses being emitted on a daily basis. Another major impact from climate change is ocean acidification. This is a two-pronged problem starting with the acidity in oceans increased causing a large amount of dead zones around the world. This is causing fish to die out around the world, reducing the amount for human consumption as well as greatly impacting the rest of the marine food chain. The second prong of ocean acidification comes from the eventual inability by the ocean to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. This will increase the atmospheric CO2 because the ocean will be unable to help mitigate some of the extreme production of CO2. The obvious negatives from this would be global warming from the extra greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, exacerbating the already warming climate. There are a slew of other climate change problems that can't be covered in one blog post, but do still exist.

Overall, it seems like the obvious way to go in terms of the future of energy is to more environmentally friendly ones. Unfortunately, there is great opposition from many companies who are making billions a year on oil. Whether you're just an average citizen of the world or a sustainability studies major or minor, it is our duty, or mission to advocate as much as possible for the advancement of environmentally friendly energy sources. As we head into the future of uncertainty, we must take whatever precautions we can to ensure that Earth will be a habitable place for a long time to come.

"Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us." (Bill Nye)

"Carbon Pollution Standards." EPA.gov. EPA, July-Aug. 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards>.
Jaffe, Mark, and Bruce Finley. "State Now Tracking 10 Oil and Gas Spills in Colorado Flood Zones." The Denver Post. N.p., 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_24132296/oil-spill-along-st-vrain-river-near-platteville>.