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Essay on Climate Change: A Greenland Perspective

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Climate Change: A Greenland Perspective
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Climate change is the alteration of temperature and precipitation patterns over an extended period of time. Across the globe, scientists are identifying climate change in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions and solar cycles. While most researchers believe that the increase of atmospheric CO2 is effecting global warming, others are endorsing the concerns of another Ice Age, which is likely to occur due to orbital variations of the Earth. In his article, Abrupt Climate Change, Richard Alley titles one section, ?Chilling Warmth,?15 which perfectly describes the angst of many people who foresee a deadly warming trend, and also the paradox of global warming causing …show more content…

He cites a new study that states that the melting of Greenland?s ice cap could raise the oceans by twenty three feet (seven meters), which would submerge low-lying coastal regions and other cities located at sea level, stretching from Los Angeles to London.18 The rising sea levels and increased rainfall in the Arctic could bring about horrific floods and severe storms across the globe.

The increase in the greenhouse gases from global warming, which the Kyoto Protocol is working to counteract, may cause an uprooting of ecosystems around the globe. In Greenland, the melting of ice caps would cause rising sea levels, a slowing of the thermohaline circulation, and a reduction of salinity; the nearby ocean current systems, which influence the sea?s temperature and salinity, would affect the distribution of organisms.19 Climate change is directly related to the conservation and preservation of species, genetic, and ecosystem biodiversity. Since the last ice age, in Greenland, in which mostly all of life became extinct, the plants, animals, and microorganisms have biologically adapted to the Arctic climatic zones. Another dramatic climate change could potentially cause a domino effect of extinction, habitat destruction, and habitat fragmentation.

While some researchers talk of global warming, others tell a different tale that claims that climate change is determined by the

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