Climate Change

Climate Change

Something you may not know about climate change

Myrtle Beach is a beautiful place to live. The beach is the perfect place to visit during the hot summer days, aside from dealing with a lot of tourists that is. Never the less, Myrtle Beach is a place that many call home and many more will call home in the future. However, it has become apparent to most that the climate has been changing over the last few years, and even longer still. The summer seems to be hotter, rain seems to have increased, winters seem to be colder, etc. Sea levels are also rising from climate change. Climate change can be come from many things: changes in ocean circulation, volcanic eruptions, tectonics, and astronomical cycles. However, did you know that greenhouse gases also effect climate change? The increases to greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, etc, increase the overall global temperature. The rises in greenhouse gases can be partly blamed on industrialization, pollution, and deforestation. The picture below shows the changes in the Earth's atmosphere from 1985 to 2005. Since the atmosphere is thinning, the Earth is not as protected from the Sun's rays as it once used to be, thus increasing the overall temperature of the Earth.

What does global warming have to do with climate change? Well, the increased temperatures cause glaciers and polar ice caps to melt more and more cold water enters the ocean's currents, raising sea levels. When the colder ocean currents enter warmer ocean currents, the result is precipitation, or rain. The more rain that occurs around Myrtle Beach there will be higher chances of flooding, erosion, an increase in sea levels, etc.

The rise in sea levels around our beautiful homes can cause harm to everyone living here. The higher sea levels would increase the erosion that the ocean causes to our beach because it will drag more sand, rock, and land into the ocean. It will also lessen the amount of beach that we currently have because the ocean level will be higher. This means that homes too close to the ocean's water could be harmed or could be at risk for being harmed by the ocean, not to mention if a hurricane was to occur. The rise in sea levels also means that salt water will inundate estuaries and infiltrate fresh water supplies. The changing temperatures would cause us to use more heat and air conditioning in our own homes to accommodate the changes.

What can we do to help? Well, this all depends all on the person wanting to make changes. A person does not have to go out and make huge changes to help prepare for climate changes or to help prevent some of the increasing greenhouse gases. Simply using less energy in a home or recycling can make a huge difference. Turing lights off in a room that is not being used, turning