by Mia Hill

Created on: December 26, 2009   Last Updated: April 30, 2010

When people talk about climate change it is usually a discussion that concerns only the weather. However, climate change affects not only the earth’s atmosphere, but oftentimes accounts for the underlying environmental factors that define the social and economic dynamics of our societies.

There have been several discussions and initiatives designed to address the issue of climate change, the two foremost being the Kyoto Protocol and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The primary goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce carbon emissions, by a range of 1% for Norway to 10% for Iceland, by the 2012 expiration date of the Kyoto commitment. The key objective of the IPCC is to bring together experts in the scientific community to assess the effects of the green-house gases on the planet and to make recommendations on how to reduce the negatives effects of these gases.

The pillaging of rainforests in areas such as Brazil (South America) and British Columbia (Canada) to name only two is destroying the ecological balance in these areas. This unbridled lumbering of tropical hardwood timber is causing an imbalance in the earth’s equilibrium. This imbalance is also threatening the social fiber of our societies since rainforests are the incubators for potential sources of natural remedies for diseases for which there are presently no known cures.

Climate change contributes to droughts in some countries and, at the same time, flooding in others. In some cases, droughts have resulted in the disappearance of wetlands and farmlands. Researchers at NASA have revealed that ice cores from various regions of the earth’s surface have shown that “large changes in climate have happened very quickly, geologically-speaking: in tens of years, not in millions or even thousands.” (NASA) The impact on society resulting from the reduction of arable lands caused by climate change can be seen in wars between ethnic groups in regions such as Darfur, Africa. The ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is another example of fighting over favorable real estate.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, flooding has caused the erosion of coastlines and the destruction of crops. The warming of the atmosphere has triggered the melting of mountain and ocean glaciers - expanding lakes, rivers, and seas. The effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes are compounded by this expansion of water on the earth’s surface. In addition to

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