A little background...
In the year 1969, three astronauts emerged from the dark side of the moon to see our only home rise over the lunar surface. The photograph taken (shown on the right) was debatably one of the most influential pictures taken during the century. For the first time, in history, mankind was able to look back on itself surrounded by an impossibly dark background. In the year 1969, we became aware of how precious and scarce our natural resources are.
Fast forward to today and we have seen photographs of our planet from the farthest reaches of the solar system. Unfortunately, the climate crisis has become more dire. Fortunately, there is time to change. To understand climate change, we must first understand what climate is. According to Merriam-Webster, climate is defined as "the average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and precipitation". In aggregate, our planets temperatures have spiked since the industrial revolution. The primary reason for the planets warming is the emission of carbon into the atmosphere. The popularized term for this warming effect is the greenhouse effect. (To read more about the second law of thermodynamics and the greenhouse effect, click here.) |