Future Actions

Earth’s climate has been through a lot over the past few billion years, and at this point scientist have a
pretty handle on how our planet has changed over time.

- Another area of debate is centered in predictions as to what will happen to the climate of the
world in the future. (It is about how it’s changing more quickly than it has in the past and about
the dangers of rising temperatures and more severe droughts and storms. Our methods for
predicting the future of climate are a little different than those for reconstructing the past. The
past leaves physical records we can study in things like tree rings and ice cores)

This is a difficult question to answer since the climate is a chaotic system that can only be
understood using computer models.
- Computer model is not only as good as the data it used to do the calculations. (The future
requires us to be a little more abstract. So we mostly predict the future or Earth’s climate using
computer models- a mathematical reconstructions of our atmosphere that account for as much
as possible to produce an accurate simulation)

- According to Sparks & Hawkesworth 2004, the challenge is to assemble sufficient and well-
established from all over the world to make the predictions as accurate as possible; (It’s taken
decades to get to the point where we can be confident that what they say is accurate, but it is.
And what the models say is that our climate is changing and humans are making it happen)

- Some scientists take the issue further by “tipping points” specifying values of meteorological
parameters in which irreversible changes will take place.
- Upon reaching the tipping point, a new state would replace the old one.
- In Chaos Theory, it means that the Earth-atmosphere relationship would become a chaotic
region where uncertainty would exist. (Chaos theory allows for the prediction of long-term
meteorological events such as global warming and the greenhouse effect. Modern weather
prediction can work when meteorologists gather large amounts of data from accurate sensing
devices on Earth and in space about past and current weather and use complicated computer
programs to estimate future weather.

- However, this issue has implications on the environment and on the economy—burning of fossil
fuels is one of the major sources of electricity but also leads to higher amounts of CO2. (By the
1970’s they were also beginning to worry about the greenhouse effect of the carbon dioxide we
were adding to the atmosphere using the fossil fuels. They thought it could trap the sun’s heat &
causes the plant to warm. All factors must then be considered when resolving this issue or
debate. If we want to industrialize but at the same time protect the environment, then a
balanced plan must be created)
- Science has given humanity a tool for modernization. (It allows for the emergence of technology
that spreads and applies knowledge for the attainment of the good life. It must be realized that
science is more like a cookbook than a blueprint.) It is open for experimentation, innovation,
and refinement. (So like any good chef, reading it requires a fine sense of taste)