Olivia Sexton

Dr. Adrienne Cassel

English 1201

15 December 2019

Literature Review

My research question is this: what is happening now with climate change and what

can I do to help it? With a world facing lots of recent and changing environmental factors,

I was intrigued to learn more about climate change. Not only do I want to learn more about

climate change, I want to learn what I can do on my part to help save the Earth.

Some disagreement with this topic is some simply do not believe in climate

change, or that the temperatures are actually rising. As time goes on newer technology

and science are able to prove that global warming is really happening. As writer Johnny

Wood states, “Earth’s average surface temperature has risen by 1 degree celsius since

the 1880s, driven largely by man-made greenhouse gases” (economic forum) This

source is mainly discussing climate change results in the arctic, and delivers some

shocking facts.

The next source to review is about how global warming is impacting farm

production and what greenhouse gases are doing. Koneswaran, Gowri and Nierenberg

are able to clearly say ,” Many impacts of global warming are already detectable. As

glaciers retreat, the sea level rises, the tundra thaws, hurricanes and other extreme

weather events occur more frequently, and penguins, polar bears, and other species

struggle to survive (Topping 2007), experts anticipate even greater increases in the

intensity and prevalence of these changes as the 21st century brings rises in GHG
emissions” (578+) This source also talked about how the farm production creates

greenhouse gases. Their research was able to conclude that, “By 2050, global farm

animal production is expected to double from present levels” (Koneswaran, Gowri,

Nierenberg) This shows how important acting on climate change now is. This source is

reliable and resourceful.

The Tribune Content Agency Graphics created a visual diagram that shows how

melting sea ice impacts the food chain. This source is just a singular visual diagram, but

is easy to understand when wanting to learn about how climate change impacts a part of

the ocean. If anything, this source is not quite enough information to do much with.

Diego Ortiz does an impactful job in his BBC article about what you can personally

do to help climate change. His article is important for this research because it helps

answer the second part of the question of what we can personally do. As said in the

article, “The number one goal? Limiting the use of fossil fuels such as oil, carbon and

natural gas and replacing them with renewable and cleaner sources of energy, all

while increasing energy efficiency” (Ortiz) I was able to learn this is one of the largest

harms to the Earth that is speeding up climate change. I found this article very resourceful.

Sabrina Shankman uses a good mix of literature and visual aid to show what is

happening with temperatures in climate change. This article states, “ Across the country,

temperatures have increased by an average of about 1.23°F, but the impacts vary by region”

(Shankman) There are many charts and graphs to show temperature changes all around the

globe over the years. This source is great to look at for temperature changes with climate

change.

Holly Shaftel’s source was strong. Being from the NASA website, people are more

likely to trust this source. The website is full of the effects climate change is having on the
globe. This source will be used in the paper to talk about what effects are happening from

climate change.

To conclude, I have some strong sources but there is so many different things written

on climate change I need to focus on a more specific area. The source for temperature

change was strong, as well as the source of the greenhouse gas emissions from farm

production. Moving on now with the research I will become more focused in a specific area

of climate change.
 Works Cited

"How Melting Sea Ice is Impacting the Food Chain of the Bering Sea." Tribune Content
Agency Graphics, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/GRZEEV527061276/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid
=5da6f179. Accessed 21 Nov. 2019.

Koneswaran, Gowri, and Danielle Nierenberg. "Global farm animal production and
global warming: impacting and mitigating climate change." Environmental Health
Perspectives, vol. 116, no. 5, 2008, p. 578+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A179233987/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=f483b8
57. Accessed 21 Nov. 2019.

Ortiz, Diego Arguedas. “Ten Simple Ways to Act on Climate Change.” BBC
Future, BBC, 5 Nov. 2018, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181102-what-
can-i-do-about-climate-change.

Shaftel, Holly, “The Effects of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 30 Sept. 2019,
https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/.

Shankman, Sabrina, et al. “Climate Change Is Happening in the U.S. Now,

Federal Report Says - in Charts.” InsideClimate News, 10 Apr. 2019,
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06112017/infographic-climate-change-
happening-now-human-role-national-climate-assessment-sea-ice-temperature-
rainfall-extreme-weather

Wood, Johnny. “4 Crazy Things That Are Happening in the Arctic Right Now.”
World Economic Forum, 19 July 2019,
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/4-crazy-things-that-are-happening-in-
the-arctic-right-now/.