Risks+of+Extreme+Weather+Events+Higher+if+Paris+Agreement+Goals+Aren't+Met

= **Risks of Extreme Weather Events Even Higher if Paris Agreement Goals Aren't Met** =

Stanford University. "Risk of extreme weather events higher if Paris Agreement goals aren't met." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 February 2018. .

The United Nations' Paris Climate Agreement nations have realized that their current commitments to reducing global climate change will not have a strong enough impact. They have an overall goal of limiting the global climate from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. A study from Stanford University shows that even a one degree increase could lead to increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather. Increased output of greenhouse gases have increased the probability of hot, wet, and dry weather extremes. This Stanford study developed a model to compare the relative influence of natural and human activities on the global climate and how that affects weather patterns. Even with the plans in the Paris Agreement to reduce global warming, weather extremes will still increase significantly. This phenomenon affects different areas of the world in different ways.
 * Summary: **

This article relates to AP Environmental Science because it shows how global climate change resulting from human activity can affect weather patterns. This relates to the unit that we did on weather patterns and global climate. This also relates to our unit on urbanization because urban areas can create urban heat heat islands due to climate change from human activity. This article also relates to our studies of agriculture because much of the methane added to the atmosphere is added from livestock gastrointestinal waste products. The idea that the Paris Agreement efforts will have more short-term effects than long-term ones demonstrates the frequent motif of politicians, corporations, and citizens focusing their environmental efforts on short-term solutions.
 * How does this relate to APES?:**

I believe that the Paris Agreement should be modified to accommodate the needed efforts to reduce global climate change. As is evident in the recent string of hurricanes worldwide, extreme weather causes extensive damage, loss of property, and loss of human life. If human activity is causing the climate to change in a way that causes weather extremes to intensify, than our climate change efforts must intensify as well. We must shift our efforts from short-term solutions to long-term solutions in order to protect future generations and pay our respects to the planet that gives us life. We must not wait until long-term climate issues become short term. This article also relates to our study of renewable, potentially renewable, and nonrenewable resources because the human activity of burning nonrenewable fossil fuels, which contributes to climate change.
 * Opinion:**

This article relates to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, which requires comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impact of an activity before it is undertaken by a federal agency. If this law were more strictly enforced and applied not only to federal agencies, but also to private business owners, we would be able to increase our climate change prevention efforts, which would help control these increasing weather extremes. Requiring federal agencies and private businesses to research the environmental impact of their endeavors would allow us to predict the affect that human activities would have on the climate and thus change our actions to support climate change prevention.
 * Environmental Law:**



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