Global Climate Change in Germany

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One of the greatest and most challenging issues politicians and scientists worldwide face today is global climate change. It is a universal problem and a threat to Europe and Germany’s national security. To show this the following paper provides background information on global climate change and its main cause. Additionally, the global effects and the impacts on Germany’s national security considering the “Instruments of Power” (IOP) will be discussed. Finally, a prediction on future climate change as well as some policy recommendations on how to address this significant subject will be given. To understand the climate change process and global warming we need to know how the atmosphere works. What makes planet earth different from others? Among additional factors like the earth’s position to the sun, it is the existence of an atmosphere and the containing gases that make our earth habitable. The sun radiates solar energy towards earth. Some of this energy gets absorbed by the earth’s surface and some energy is radiated back into space as long wave energy. Certain gases in the atmosphere prevent this reflected energy to pass; they trap the energy and thereby warm the atmosphere and the surface of the earth just like in a greenhouse. Therefore, those gases are known as greenhouse gases (GHG). The main GHGs within the atmosphere are Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O). Others like methane (CH4) or nitrous oxide (N2O) also contribute to the natural greenhouse effect, although present only in very small amounts. Without these GHGs and their warming effect no life could exist on our planet, because the average temperature would be -0.4ºF. However, since the beginning of industrialization in the late 18th century the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere increased significantly causing more heat to be confined in the atmosphere, thus heating the earth

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