What should the United States do about climate change?

To better understand the effects of climate change, you must first know what climate
change is. Climate change is a change in global climate patterns, the effects have been more
apparent from mid to late 20th century and onwards and are attributed to the increased levels of
atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels, and methane build-up from the
increase of animal agriculture. Next, we need to know what is true based on facts and what is
fake news? Thanks to climate change myth-buster John Cook, who is recognized as a top
science communicator, created a 2013 analysis that was a key piece of research that 97% of
climate scientist agreed with and set the tone for the future of climate change advocates.
First myth: Climate has changed in the past. What's happening now must be natural as
well. Fact: The climate changes that have happened in the past show that climate reacts to
energy input and output, so if the planet accrues more heat than it gives off, then global
temperatures will continue to rise. As of right now, CO2 is imposing an energy imbalance due to
boosted greenhouse effect and past climate change is providing us with evidence for our climates
sensitivity to CO2. For example, From 1990 to 2010 greenhouse gases from human activity
increased by 35% and carbon dioxide (which accounts for about of total emissions) increased
by 42%.

Second myth: The sun is causing global warming. Over the course of a few hundred
years, the suns activity (along with the number of sunspots) has amplified and caused the world
to get warmer. Fact: With 35 years of information about global warming, the sun has actually
shown a cooling trend, and at the same time, the earths climate has been heating up. A study that
was published in the journal, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in December 2011, exposed
a prolonged calm in the suns activity and Earth still continued to increase temperatures.
 The third myth: Ice covering much of Antarctica is expanding, contrary to the belief that
the ice caps are melting due to global warming. This is suggesting that Antarctica is gaining
more ice. To debunk this myth, we need to acknowledge that there is a difference between land
ice and sea ice. The Antarctic ice sheet can expect some gain in buildup in the interior due to
warmer, more moisture-laden air, but increased calving/ice loss at the outside edge, primarily to
warming southern oceans. Fact: Decades of evidence, plus the detailed gravimetric
measurements (which looks at changes in Earths gravity over various parts of the Earth), show
that the Antarctic ice sheet is already losing mass and contributing to rising sea levels. For
example: Floridas sea level has been rising 1.1 inches per decade. The sea ice is a different story,
this type of ice is influenced by year-to-year changes in wind directions and changes in ocean
currents, which makes it complicated to identify a clear trend.

On top of all the myths, there are a few known realities that give us an idea of where we
are in todays climate. For instance, the temperature of our planet has risen just about .08C (not
a big number, right?) but 1/3 of summer sea ice in the Artic has disappeared, the oceans are 30%
more acidic, and warm air holds more water vapor than cold, which means the atmosphere over
the oceans is 5% wetter, raising the chance for floods drastically. Climate scientist say that if we
will exceed the 2C limit by mid-century and keep rising to go beyond 4C by centurys end. If
this happens, we will not be in a very good spot. Like Hans Joachim Schellnhuber said, Take
the human body. If your temperature rises 2C, you have a significant fever. If it rises 4C or 6C
you can die. This is why at the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 countries
adopted the first-ever universal, legally-binding global climate deal, limiting global warming to
well below 2C.
 Another alarming fact that climate scientist have found, is that there is 2,795 gigatons of
carbon already contained in the proven coal, oil, and gas reserves of the fossil-fuel companies.
This number is a big deal because it is five times as much coal, oil and gas on record as climate
scientist think is safe to burn. 80% of those fossil fuels would have to stay locked away in
reserves underground to avoid a catastrophe in the near future. Here is an example of how bad
this is: Lets say you are at the legal .08 blood-alcohol level to drive home, a total of 6 beers in
one night (575 gigatons). Now lets say you showed up to a house party, but you are the only one
there to drink all the beer. There is 3 12-packs on the table open and ready to drink and that is the
2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions that fossil fuel companies are just sitting on (you would not
be driving home anytime soon). The fact that this number is worth about $27 trillion is why these
companies are against climate change and want to spread false news so people will keep adding
to their already enormous profits. We need to change this, because money is useless if we dont
have a livable planet.

Another issue that has drastic effects on the environment that no one wants to talk about
is the Beef industry. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
agriculture is responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases world-wide. That is
more than the entire transportation sector. Livestock is currently using 30% of earths entire land
surface and on top of that, 33% of global arable land is used to produce feed for livestock. This is
a major driver of deforestation, 70% of former forest in the Amazon have been turned into land
for grazing cattle. There will be outrage, but policies that the U.S can put into place could
include focus on eating less, better quality meat and push for a public-health goal that spreads
balance nutrition across the country, with a weekly average consumption of red meat of no more
than 300 grams. Many scientist believe we cannot continue the rate of current consumption and
strongly recommend vegan and vegetarian diets. The U.S could put policies in place to spread
awareness to these issues and create transition plans from a meat-base diet to a vegetarian-base
diet. This would not only create healthier lives for our population but it would help reduce the
rise of greenhouse gasses and save us from breaking the 2 degree Celsius mark.
To keep earth livable for humans we need to change the way we think about business and
we need to adopt the same policies that most European countries have done. Such as increased
use of renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass. Improve energy efficiency in buildings,
industry and household appliances. The reduction of CO2 emissions from new passenger cars
and continue measures to reduce emissions from landfills. We need to put policies in place that
reduce tropical deforestation, place limits on the amount of carbon that polluters are allowed to
emit, and build a clean energy economy by investing in efficient energy technologies, industries
and approaches. To do this, we need to address the gaps in knowledge about climate change and
spread the true facts that we are living in today. We need to encourage all 50 states to adopt a
comprehensive adaptation strategy and the government needs to provide funding to help build
the capacity to take action. The responsibility will rely on our government, who need to take the
necessary steps to ensure each city is doing their part to help reduce this disaster that has been
created by greed. It also comes down to us, we need to make a conscious effort to cause the least
amount of damage possible. One person might not seem to make much difference, but if we set a
good example for our fellow man, and more people catch on to this conscious way of living, it
could make a noticeable difference.

References
http://www.livescience.com/19466-climate-change-myths-busted.html
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/queensland-academic-wins-climate-
award-four-climate-myths-busted-20160511-gospas.html
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases
http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2
http://www.nature.com/news/agriculture-steps-to-sustainable-livestock-1.14796