Research Paper about Climate Change

I remember being a young, naive child in a beautiful world with a carefree spirit. I loved climbing trees, digging in the soil, and watching the wildlife stroll through my backyard. Getting high up in the trees so I could examine the whimsical nature around me. Trees are similar to humans in the sense that they need air, water, and sunlight. Why must people kill these beautiful creations? Realizing the reality, my carefree spirit began to slip away. People do many things that negatively affect the environment but never even think twice about those actions. This includes polluting the atmosphere with fossil fuel gases that increase the temperature and retention of heat. I began working at the local nursery to be more involved with these prolific providers, trees. With that, I started to discuss and converse with local rural farmers. Hearing the farmers voice their experiences with the environment made me unsettled and my heart yearn for the earth. Like many others, I always agreed that climate change was a problem but did not see to what extent. I then had too many unanswered questions about what was really taking place. I wanted to know what the serious effects of climate change in the rural areas were and is there anything humanity can do to reverse the damage? What are the effects being seen by people and farmers? Are people worried or do many believe that this is an irrelevant concern?  

Firstly, I plan to investigate the arguments opposing climate change. This is to understand what evidence or examples make them opposed to climate change. I found that many do not believe in the effects of climate change because of the earth's natural cooling and heating. Which, is true the earth does have a cycle of temperature changes. Then again, are these changes that are happening regular or irregular. Are human emissions or fossil fuel emissions affecting the earth's natural cycle? Are there massive increases or decreases in the earth’s cycle? And if there are, are these having any effect on the earth? Are less populated rural areas seeing effects of these negative emissions? I also found; others who deny climate change do not disbelieve in the matter but believe it is on a minor scale to many other problems on earth. Having said that, is climate change a minor issue? Or does this affect every living thing? Do most populations consider this a minor issue?  

Secondly, I plan to research in-depth the issues that may attribute to climate change in rural areas and the foreseeable effects of climate change in the future. There are many effects climate change has on weather. After discussing with a few members of the agricultural industry in rural areas, one of the most notable effects mentioned were periods of extreme heat and no precipitation. With longer periods of dryness, they are noticing an increase in water usage. To give an illustration, over the summer at the nursery the irrigation to the crops ruptured, therefore, when the periods of extreme heat happened many of the crops began to wilt and die. Some may experience such temperatures that can cause a small tinder fire, which can result in an out-of-control forest fire. This results in even more water usage to try and control the burning woodlands or crops. Are water sources being affected by extreme weather? Is this affecting people's ability to use water? What are some other notable effects climate change is having on the weather? Are any of these effects also causing major damage? Has there been an increase in extreme weather? Do these problems seem to becoming worse? 

Thirdly, I wanted to understand Farmers watch the ecosystem around them. Assessing and patrolling the lands to assure their harvest will be well. While doing so, many see the finer details of these ecosystems. Animals that may devour their crops, bugs that may infest them, and potential diseases that may kill off the crop. All the inner workings of the earth’s amazing complex environment. They see the changes year to year in the environment. With that, many insects, diseases, and animals must be controlled or exterminated. Some farmers are experiencing a massive increase of problems not prone to certain areas. Furthermore, not only are animals usually present not present but also animals that have never been present are. What insects and diseases are farmers witnessing that have not been presenting in rural areas? Why are these diseases and pests becoming prone in those areas? Are animals that are usually present still appearing? Or are these animals becoming none existent in their usual habitat? Are animals that may have never been seen in areas beginning to appear? Are agriculturalist crops being affected? Are the crops being sprayed with more pesticides? 

Lastly, I wanted to know if any of these effects could be hurting the general population. The weather has a sizeable effect on air quality. With terrible air quality conditions, some people may develop upper repository issues, as well as, possible cardiovascular issues. Are these effects being seen in rural areas? With extreme weather changes does that affect air quality? People may be worried about many leading causes of death, but with poor air quality contributing to many not getting clean air, climate change should be a big discussion. How do populations of rural areas feel about climate change? Are there discussion groups or meetings about these topics with neighbors? Do people see a change in their ability to breathe? Some doctors and nurses may even recommend their patients move to a different climate. This is because of air quality or weather conditions. They know many patients will struggle with their diagnoses in a certain region, so they recommend an area that gives that person a better quality of life. For instance, if more insects are present on crops, more insecticides will be used to keep the crops pest-free, but what are the effects on the human bodies. Are pesticides harmful for ingestion and have any negative side effects been documented? 

In summary, climate change is not only affecting large parts of the earth but also minor parts within it. Looking into a certain region, seeing, and learning how that area is being affected by climate change and how people in that area are seeing changes is a realistic way of seeing the effects. When looking into areas, you can see individual changes and may even find similar changes happening in different areas. With that, looking into low populated rural areas I feel is the best way of representing climate change. These areas contribute the least to emissions and are beginning to be negatively affected by the massive production in other areas.