Heating Up Action To Cool Down The Planet

The Arctic and Antarctic ice caps are only two of the major features facing the ills of climate change over the past few decades. Scientists have been studying the increasing levels of temperature on Earth that have risen steadily over the years. CO2 emissions are at an all time high because of pollution and need to be addressed and resolved. According the Environmental Protection Agency, this increase in heat has caused the sea levels around the world to rise about 6-8 inches in the past 100 years. Most of this growth in water level is directly from the melting of the ice caps. This short clip below shows a satellite image of the Arctic ice from January 2000 to recently in May of 2009.



Now the question is, how do we help prevent further increases in temperature levels? Who is responsible for this change and how is society going to go about it? John Tribbia from the University of Colorado presents five factors that affect individuals’ environmentally responsible behavior, or ERB as he refers to it. The first factor is the inclination to engage in an environmentally conscious behavior. There are certain characteristics of people that might encourage or not encourage them to engage in environmentally friendly actions that will help climate change – such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, and values. The second factor is motivation to actually become involved in the cause. The public might not be fully informed about the melting of the polar ice caps causing confusion about how to actually help prevent it. This brings us to Tribbia’s third factor, information process and behavioral intent. How individuals’ perceive and feel about the issue of the melting Arctic and Antarctic ice will directly effect how they act in return. Therefore it is extremely important to stress the significance of the problem of climate change due to the daily pollution of the population.

Image of estimated thickness of Arctic Ice


The fourth and fifth factors focus on the ability and skill of the individual to engage in ERB as well as the external support one receives for acting environmentally friendly. The “good citizen” of America has certain standards that all people should live by, however this all depends on certain social, economical, and personal factors that greatly influence their ability to act in ERB. Informing the public is only the first step in this problem of climate change’s distress on the ice caps. Grabbing their attention, motivating them to be environmentally conscious, and letting the public know exactly how they can help this worrying issue will be the next necessary steps to address and hopefully end global warming.

Briauna F.

Here are some links with interesting information and tips to help stop global warming:

http://www.takepart.com/news/tag/stop-the-ice-caps-from-melting

http://scienceray.com/earth-sciences/five-potential-results-of-melting-polar-ice-caps

Works Cited

"Actic Sea". YouTube. May 19,2010 .

"Is the polar ice caps melt, how much would the ocean rise?". howstuffworks. May 19,2010 .

Tribbia, J. (2007). Stuck in the slow lane of behavior change? A not-so-superhuman perspective on getting out of our cars. In Moser, S.C. & Dilling, L (Eds.), Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 251-265.