GLG499 Recent climate change is not a concern

GLG 499 Sinclair Community College Climate Change Discussion

GLG 335 Final Exam (100 points)

Please respond to the following statements and answer the following questions using the books that we have read (Flannery and Alley), knowledge from the lecture material, information from other readings such as the IPCC reports, as well as your own insights. You need to answer 10 of the 12 questions, but if there is an asterisk by the question then you have to answer that question.Each question is worth 10 points. There is no perfect length for answers, but I imagine most answers will be around 2 paragraphs in length. I am looking for a thorough understanding of the material and a thoughtful perspective. Good luck, and please let me know if you have any questions.

*1. Recent climate change is not a concern. We currently live in a CO2 deficient world and current average temperatures are much lower than they have been over the last 50 million years.

2. There is all this talk about the polar bears and other organisms that will be affected by climate change, but climate has changed rapidly numerous times in the past, and these organisms did just fine.

3. There is an incredible amount of carbon in biogeochemical reservoirs, only trace amounts in the atmosphere, and humans have only emitted a small amount through deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. There is also a lot of carbon being released to the atmosphere through volcanism and the breakdown of organic material. Humans could not have had that much of an impact on atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

4.There is no scientific consensus among climate change scientists that current warming is the result of human actions.

5.Climate change is natural.

6.Predictions of global warming by the end of this century are all over the place, from 1-5°C. Climate change scientists have no idea what will happen with global climate, and cannot agree on the impact of greenhouse gases on global temperature.

7. How much will it cost to stop climate change? There is no way it is worth it with all of the other pressing issues facing the world today. Climate is changing gradually (<1°C over the last 125 years) and human society can easily adapt to this slow rate of change.

8. A friend of yours from Canada says that he is not concerned about climate change. Warming will greatly improve agricultural production in Canada and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.

9. A friend of yours just found out about geoengineering projects such as loading the stratosphere with SO2 and reflecting solar radiation with discs in space. She is skeptical that nations will ever agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and thinks geoengineering is the solution.

*10. Please reflect upon the IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers from 2014. Were there any surprises to you in this report?

*11. What must we do as a global society to avoid a 1.5°C temperature increase according to the IPCC?

*12. What would you recommend to improve this course.