AmericasIgnorance1

AmericasIgnoranceonClimateChange
MariaFlores
Ms.ColeandMr.Lopez
EnglishIV
December1,2015

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Climatechangeistheshiftoftemperatureinageographicalareawithanincreaseof
carbondioxideproducedbyfossilfuels.Sincethe1960swhenLyndonB.Johnsongaveaspeech
toCongress,climatechangehasbeenapressingissueinpolitics.Countriesworldwidehave
noticedaseriousproblemwiththischangeaswell.Ontheotherhand,othercountriesdonotfind
climatechangetobeathreat.
Americaisanexampleofacountrywhodoesnotseemtocare
abouttheeffectsofclimatechange.
AccordingtothePewResearchCenter,climatechangeseemstobemoreofa
controversialissueinplaceslikeAfricaandLatinAmericaratherthanmoredevelopedcountries
likeChinaortheUnitedStates(Stokes,Wike&Carle,2015).OnasurveythePewResearch
Centerdid,theyfoundthat74%ofLatinAmericabelievedthatclimatechangewasavery
seriousproblem,whileonly45%oftheUnitedStatesbelievedso(Stokes,Wike&Carle,2015).
Thedatatheycollectedshowedthattherearemanydifferentperceptionsofglobalclimate
changebasedontheregion.Thosewhoweretheleastconcerned,theUnitedStatesandChina,
alsoshowedthehighestannualcarbondioxideemissions(Stokes,Wike&Carle,2015).
Ironically,America,acountrythatcontributeshighlytotherecentshiftinclimatechange,insists
onputtingtheblameonothernations.Inoneexample,CNNwroteanarticlelinkingtheSyrian
conflicttoclimatechange.U.SSecretaryofState,JohnKerry,islinkingthelackoftheresources
inSyriatotheCivilWar.Manyscientistaresupportingthisargumentsuchasclimateexpert,
PeterGleickwhosaysclimateconditionshaveplayedadirectroleinthedeteriorationof
Syriaseconomicconditions(Miller,2015).Thesepeoplearerecognizingclimatechange
aroundtheworldbutnotinAmerica.

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Americanpoliticians,thosewhoaresupposedtobeleadersofthecountry,goasfarasto
saythatclimatechangedoesnotexist.Republicanpresidentialcandidates,suchasRandPaul
andTedCruz,believethatclimatechangeandglobalwarmingarenotreal(Kaplan&Uchimiya,
2015).TedCruzcomparedthosewhobelievedinclimatechangearesimilartothosewhoonce
believedtheearthwasflat(Kaplan&Uchimiya,2015).Essentially,heissayingthatjustbecause
sciencemaysaytherearechangesintheclimatedoesnotnecessarilymeanitistruebecause
sciencehasbeenwrongbefore(Kaplan&Uchimiya,2015).Otherpoliticianstakearadically
differentpointofviewbybelievingitisreal.Forexample,NewJerseyGovernor,ChrisChristie,
believesthatclimatechangeisrealhoweverthatmassivegovernmentinterventionisnotthe
solution(Woolf,2015).TheU.Sgovernmentisinfamousforhavingdividingopinionsonissues
thatcanhavedrasticconsequencestothecitizens.Theyrefusetoactuallydoanythingaboutit
andjustdebateonwhetheritisrealornot.
Politiciansarethosewhoaresupposedtobelookingoutfortheinterestsofthecitizens.
Attemptingtobattleconcernsandaddressingsolutions.Howevermanyofthemseemtobe
avoidingtheconsequencesdespitetheevidence.TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)
reportsin2013that82%ofhumanactivityintheUnitedStatesaccountsforthereleaseof
carbondioxideemissions(EPA.gov,2015).TheEPAalsoreportsthatin2011,thattheUnited
Statesisthesecondcountrywiththeworldshighestemissionfromfossilfuelsbycontributing
16%(EPA.gov,2015).ThesearealarmingnumbersconsideringthatboththeEuropeanUnions
andIndiasemissionareequivalenttotheemissionofonecountry:theUnitedStates(EPA.gov,
2015).Americasignoranceontheissuecanleadtoanepidemic.Climatechangeisrealandis
affectingourworldeachdaywiththelargenumberofcarbondioxidethatisbeingemitted.

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References
Kaplan,R.,&Uchimiya,E.(2015).Wherethe2016Republicancandidatesstandonclimate
change.
Cbsnews.com.Retrieved1December2015,from
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wherethe2016republicancandidatesstandonclimate
change/
Miller,B.(2015).IstheSyrianconflictlinkedtoclimatechange?CNN.com.CNN.Retrieved1
December2015,from
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/23/world/isthesyrianconflictlinkedtoclimatechange/in
dex.html
Stokes,B.,Wike,R.,&Carle,J.(2015).GlobalConcernaboutClimateChange,BroadSupport
for
LimitingEmissions.PewResearchCenter'sGlobalAttitudesProject.Retrieved1
December2015,from
http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/05/globalconcernaboutclimatechangebroadsuppo
rtforlimitingemissions/
Woolf,N.(2015).'Americaisnotaplanet':Republicansresistclimatechangeactionatdebate.
the

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Guardian.Retrieved1December2015,from
http://www.theguardian.com/usnews/2015/sep/17/marcorubiochrischristieclimatecha
ngerepublicandebate
Www3.epa.gov,.(2015).CarbonDioxideEmissions|ClimateChange|USEPA.Retrieved1
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Www3.epa.gov,.(2015).GlobalEmissions|ClimateChange|USEPA.Retrieved1December
2015,
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