Research Proposal

Introduction

            Global Warming is an ever increasing crisis on our planet. The causes are many, as well as the effects. The solutions are frighteningly few and far in between compared with how much damage we are doing. I’m not going to go through the old song and dance telling how Global Warming works and the Greenhouse effect. Instead, I will give you a few of effects of Global Warming showing up in our lives today. Scientists are in agreement, and few tend to dispute the fact that the planet is changing. The real question now is how much longer we can continue to ignore this problem before something terrible happens and everyone decides to vote on something. Still, there’s no reason to blame anyone for our current situation. Internal combustion engines were one of the greatest inventions of the 19^th century (next to steam engines). Gas used to be a crude waste product created during the production of kerosene. It ended up being a great way to power pretty much anything. A high return of energy for a minimal amount of energy exhausted. Not only that, but it is still cheaper in many cases to own a gas powered car. They are still being used everywhere. Automobile manufacturers aren’t switching to electric cars or some other energy source; they are still coming out with brand new models of gas powered cars every year. Gas is running out, but it’s not out yet, not by a long shot. There will be gasoline to power things into the foreseeable future, and it’s hard to know really how much time we have left. All we know is that for now gas isn’t going away. Unless we figure out a different way to combat the CO2 we are putting into the atmosphere by burning gas. Other than planting trees and hoping everything will turn out okay. We will have to start adjusting to life using gas as a last resort or to a minimum level. Otherwise everything that has been happening, and is now beyond our control, will continue to happen. We will lose the rest of the ice on the planet; air will have increasing amounts of CO2 in it and less oxygen, yadda yadda, etcetera etcetera. We won’t live to see it, but human beings will. What will they think of the people who allowed our planet to die? My project will cover the main reasons why addressing global warming has not been a top priority for us, our government, and others around the world. Some major questions asked will be what can we really do to make the most impact in reducing our carbon footprint? What is going to stand in our way? What are just a few direct affects of Global Warming causing problems today? It may be that there are just not enough ways to limit the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere at this time. The least we can do is make an effort to reduce and try to eventually reverse this process for future generations to build on, revise, and resolve. At least, that’s the gift each generation gives to the next. The world, full of its newest struggles and impasses, is handed to us. We all hold faith that the next generation won’t give up and will be better than the last in some way.

Review of Literature

            My sources include, “A Quantitative Definition of Global warming Hiatus and 50-Year Prediction of Global-Mean Surface Temperature.” By Meng Wei and colleagues, from the 2015 Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. The authors of this journal investigate the planets normal warming and cooling periods taking into account the warming period we are currently in and comparing it with those in the past. They talk about the steady warming our planet is experiencing as a result of carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect. One piece of evidence many Climate Change disputers use is the fact that the Earth is currently in a natural warming period. This source provides evidence that the warming period alone is not enough to explain the rise in temperature we are experiencing. Another good source will be, “Talking about Climate Change and Global Warming.” By Maurice Lineman and several other authors in 2015. It looks at public opinion and sentiment about Global Warming by using Social Networks to enhance development of social consciousness. This comes from the Public Library of Science. Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks are used as well as commonly searched terms on google relating to the subject. It has graphs and tables of data collected as well as surface temperature increase. It is a common topic for debate whether people are not thoroughly educated about climate change, or if the general public just chooses not to think about it. A good source for maps and understanding of warming in the US will be, "A Link between the Hiatus in Global Warming and North American Drought." From the Journal of Climate 2015, Thomas L Delworth and many other authors compiled this research together. This source looks at the Pacific Easterly wind patterns as the main cause of current North American drought and the causes for the change in wind pattern. This suggests that not only is our drought caused by Global Warming, as it has been assumed, but specifically an effect of ocean warming which changes the planets established air currents. On that note, it will also be interesting to use, “Characteristics of Drought Disaster-Causing Factor Anomalies in Southwestern and Southern China against the Background of Global Warming.” This will be a good journal to compare and contrast with the drought occurring in North America. This source comes from the Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 2015. Its author is Jinsong Wang, among others. It includes climate observations of 129 meteorological stations in southwestern and southern China from 1961 to 2012. The effect of this article being observations made in China can help drive home the point that environmental change is occurring everywhere, not just drought in Western states. A great source to follow the articles on drought is, “Changes in Independency between Two Types of El Niño Events under a Greenhouse Warming Scenario in CMIP5 Models.” By Yoo-Geun Ham and a few other authors published in 2015 in the Journal of Climate. This article observes changes in the areas around the globe receiving precipitation as a result of changing ocean temperatures and wind patterns. Especially in the western Pacific, which would certainly be affecting our precipitation levels here in the western United States. It shows increasing eastward extension of climatological precipitation to the central-eastern Pacific. As well as increased precipitation near the equator in the Pacific. This contrasts the common misconception that precipitation around the globe has decreased, in fact, the change in the ocean temperature has moved precipitation elsewhere. Also an interesting source involving the continuation of the topic of global precipitation change is the article, "Estimating the Response of Extreme Precipitation over Midlatitude Mountains to Global Warming." By Xiaoming Shi, and a few other authors published in 2015 by the Journal of climate. The data collected observed an increase in the amount of precipitation on mountains in this area, and a shift from snow to more rain. The fact that this area is receiving more precipitation than normal while others are receiving less should help convince readers that wind currents really are changing. Still following the topic of changing precipitation is the article, “Global warming, the atmospheric brown cloud, and the changing Indian summer monsoon.” By Beate G Liepert as well as a few other authors published by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 2015. This article investigates current wind patterns as the reason for the lack of monsoons lately which India depends on for its rivers, aquifers, and temperature regulation. It also compares India’s brown cloud caused by pollution which contributes greatly to the lack of precipitation, possibly more so than changing air currents. In order to compare regions of changing plant ecology I will use the article, “Regional Variations in Potential Plant Habitat Changes in Response to Multiple Global Warming Scenarios.” By Chang-Eui Park and colleagues published by the Journal of Science in 2015. The changing precipitation patterns in turn will change the concentrations of certain types of plant life around the globe. This source examines global vegetation and habitat changes in the near future, and ones which are drastically changing at the moment. Africa, for example, is predicted to change its habitat 10% by 2028. This poses a problem to areas that people have occupied for a long period of time. Gathering food, finding water, and other resources. It will also pose a threat to animals, especially those that cannot adapt to the new environment. In relating this topic with our neighbors I will be using an article called, “Ensemble Projections of Regional Climatic Changes over Ontario, Canada.” By Xiuquan Wang and a few other authors published by the Journal of Climate in 2015. This article contains data collected from 1950 until present day to predict changes in temperature and precipitation in parts of Canada up to 2099. This will certainly affect Americans, especially those living in the mid-west, who experience vast extremes of temperature from summer to winter as a result of cold air either moving south through the US or not. Precipitation as well as temperature are expected to increase drastically in the next 30 years. A very interesting article I found uses Hurricane Sandy as a model of what is to come, "Sea level rise, storm risk, denial, and the future of coastal cities." Author Klaus H. Jacob suggests in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists a 2015 issue that this hurricane is a precursor to many more. With sea level rising and hurricanes becoming more frequent with warmer waters, we must prepare all coastal cities for a tragedy of such magnitude. Many structures and homes vital to our survival exist close to water, too close for comfort. If we are not prepared for future occurrences we may be setting ourselves up for failure. I found this article especially interesting because the author has already accepted these increasing events inevitable as a result of Global Warming. He is now focusing on how to improvise, adapt, and overcome the changing climate. At least, for the time being.

Plan to Collect Information

I plan on doing much more online research (10/28/2015 to 10/29/2015), Global warming is a pretty broad topic and I really want to get down to some contrasting opinions and activities which contribute more greatly than others. I will have several articles from academic search premier since it is such a great resource by (10/29/2015). I want mostly studies and scholarly articles from my online sources, but investigating all venues will reign supreme when I write my paper. I will be able to address many frequent opinions and misconceptions as well as have a general feel for the public’s consensus on the issue. I will go to the library on (10/29/2015) and find some books on the subject then stay awhile while I skim and decide which to bring home for a closer look. It would also serve me to ask some friends and other people I know to see the depth of their knowledge on the issue and if they can suggest something I hadn’t thought of or say something which spurs me to do more research. I can ask my dad on (10/31/2015) and a librarian and/ or a random person on the (10/29/2015) when I go to the library to gather some more information on the subject.

Project Timeline

My project should be complete on time. I’m completing this proposal just in time. My Annotated Bibliography is due on 11/3, which should give me time to decide which resources I want to use after I go to the library and talk to people by 11/2. My Literature Review is due on 11/10, which will give me time to review my sources and write all my paragraphs by 11/9. I will have 9 days from that point to work on my Final Draft, Outline, Rationale, and abstract completing them by 11/19. 3 copies of my Draft-in-Progress will be complete before it is due on 12/1. I will have my final paper and research blog entries done by the due date 12/7 by following this plan.

Working Bibliography

Delworth, Thomas L et al. "A Link between the Hiatus in Global Warming and North American Drought." Journal of Climate 28.9 (2015): 3834-3846. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015

“Global Warming: News, Facts, Causes & Effects.” LiveScience Purch 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. http://www.livescience.com/topics/global-warming/

Ham, Yoo-Geun et al. "Changes in Independency between Two Types of El Niño Events under a Greenhouse Warming Scenario in CMIP5 Models." Journal of Climate 28.19 (2015): 7561-7576. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Oct. 2015

Hellegaard, Jim. "Poll Finds Global Warming is a Serious Concern to Hispanics and an Important Issue in Presidential Election." Franklin Business & Law Journal : 3 (2015): 87-91. Catholic Church. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Jacob, Klaus H. "Sea level rise, storm risk, denial, and the future of coastal cities." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 71.5 (2015): 40-51. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Liepert, Beate G et al. "Global warming, the atmospheric brown cloud, and the changing Indian summer monsoon." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 71.4 (2015): 23-31. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Lineman, Maurice et al. "Talking about Climate Change and Global Warming." Public Library of Science 10.9 (2015): 1-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015

Park, Chang-Eui et al. "Regional Variations in Potential Plant Habitat Changes in Response to Multiple Global Warming Scenarios." Journal of Climate 28.7 (2015): 2884-2900. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Shi, Xiaoming et al. "Estimating the Response of Extreme Precipitation over Midlatitude Mountains to Global Warming." Journal of Climate 28.10 (2015): 4246-4263 . Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Wang, Jinsong et al. "Characteristics of Drought Disaster-Causing Factor Anomalies in Southwestern and Southern China against the Background of Global Warming." Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 24.5 (2015): 2241-2252 . Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Oct. 2015

Wang, Xiuquan et al. "Ensemble Projections of Regional Climatic Changes over Ontario, Canada." Journal of Climate 28.18 (2015): 7327-7347. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Wei, Meng et al. "A Quantitative Definition of Global Warming Hiatus and 50-Year Prediction of Global-Mean Surface Temperature." Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 72.8 (2015): 3281-3290. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.