The globe is being rocked by extreme weather and the hottest temperatures on record. As the average global temperature soars, there are floods, droughts, unusually cold winters, forest fires, and huge storms. Are all of these horrors being caused by human-induced global warming?
The source of global warming is a very controversial topic. Some scientists think that global warming is a natural part of the Earth’s cycle because the Earth has always had natural heating and cooling cycles. Other scientists believe that global warming is caused by humans dut to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is the accumulation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels. These scientists believe
…show more content…
Since being on the “green” side seems to make the politicians popular, many of them “stand up” to global warming. So environmentalists, among of whom are some politicians, hide or just ignore the facts regarding global warming and its true aspects.
First of all, the environmentalists disregard the fact that there has been several global warming and cooling periods throughout the history. Willie Soon, a professor at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, confirmed that from 800 to 1300 A.D. the average temperatures of the world were 2 to 4 degrees or more higher than that of the 20th century, which is referred to as the Medieval Warm Period (Anderson, par.16). This warming trend was detected in many other parts of the world at that time, and the history proves that it brought wealth rather than disaster. During this period, Europe flourished and was awoken by Renaissance culture.“Olives grew in 13th –century Germany, where St. Albert the Great also noted abundant fig and pomegranate groves in Cologne and the Rhine valley-places too cold for those crops today” (16). Following the Medieval Warm Period, the temperature plummeted 3 to 5 degrees, which is 2 degrees colder than our climate today, lasting until 1900. Since 1900, the world has warmed up about 1 degree (18). One of the other natural causes is the activities of volcanoes. Volcanoes release a huge amount of sulfuric acid, which is believed to contribute to global warming.
Then what can be
We might disagree on the causes of global warming. We cannot ignore that it is happening. We still experience cold winters, average global temperatures has risen drastically for the past three decades. Polar ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising. Scientists predict more extreme weather in the coming decades. Drought will probably be more common. Flooding and tropical temperatures might cause large amounts of methane gases to be released. This could be disastrous for our atmosphere. Climate change may have human causes; it might be a natural occurrence. We must find ways to save our planet.
The problem that the pro- global warming theorists have created is that of social standing and little else. While there may be scientific backing to support some of the theory, the media presents the problem with great sensationalism. Global warming and energy conservation has thus become a trend and losses some of its validity through this. The scare tactics used by the media to “promote awareness” are just that, a linguistic ploy to gain favor. “Awareness of this global threat reinforced public concern and environmental problems and thereby provided environmental activists, scientists, and policy makers with new momentum in their efforts to promote environmental protection.” (McCright, 2000) This statement draws line to the potential benefits that would be received if the pro-global warming theorists were to draw enough attention to the issue. Driven by social empowerment and conviction to environmental protection, these activists misrepresent the actual threat and paint it as being much more
Climatologist Tim Ball argues this point in his article, The Science Isn’t Settles – The Limitations of Global Climate Models. Dr. Ball looks at the data of global temperatures and concludes that the earth’s atmosphere is actually cooling while in its cooling cycle, which is the complete opposite to the assumption that the atmosphere is heating up. In 1999 a petition was asked the U.S. Government to reject the environment treaty The Kyoto Protocol, which was signed by over 17,000 other scientists sharing the same views. These scientists view that there is no convincing scientific evidence around the idea of global warming and all of these conclusions are not justified. They believe that the human release of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses are not contributing to global warming and the climate change, instead the increase of CO2 is promoting plant and animal growth. Some other scientists argue that global warming is being blown way out of portion and its effects are so small we will not notice its effects. They believe this increasing in extensive publicity is an environmentalist scam for more recognition, power, and
The first argument examined on the man-made global warning side is that increasing greenhouse gases caused by human activities is causing directly observed climate changes. The first resulting climate change discussed is warming global surface temperature. There has been an increase in global surface temperature of 0.74 degrees C since the late 19th century. In the last 50 years alone the temperature has increased by 0.13 degrees C per decade. North America and Eurasia have seen the largest increase in warmth. However, some areas of the earth have actually cooled some this past century (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para6). After the mid 20th century 70% of the global land mass saw reduced diurnal temperatures. From 1979 to 2005 the maximum and minimum temperatures have shown no change; both indicate warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para10). Furthermore, borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data all seem to agree with recent warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para11).
Climate change has been a topic of debate for decades. Scientists support climate change is happening with hard scientific evidence whereas the people who oppose climate change have evidence which is mainly opinion-based. This report will cover what climate change is, why climate change is happening, the science that supports climate change, the different views and opinions on climate change, the effects of climate change around the world and particularly the effects in New Zealand, my opinion on climate change and my conclusion on the issue.
NGS integrates greenhouse into other major policy initiatives, such as the Natural Heritage Trust, and launches new measures to increase greenhouse emission reduction activities across the Australian community. It provides the strategic framework for an effective greenhouse response and for meeting current and future international commitments. It will provide a fresh impetus for action by governments, stakeholder groups and the broader community and set directions for that action into the next century.
Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. (What is global warming, google.com). Scientists have stated that the rise in average temperatures worldwide since the late 1800s. Earth's temperature has gone up by 1.4 degrees over the past century, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Temperatures are to rise another 2 to 11.5 degrees over the next 100 years (what is global warming, livescience.com). Human are one of the main causes for global warming, all of the cars, factors and electricity production they have created. They have also created Greenhouse which gases
The United States Environmental Association (EPA) has listed natural changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, volcanic eruptions and solar energy as some of the natural causes of climate changes on earth. However, the recent climate changes cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes are very unlikely to explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, human activities can very likely explain most of that warming. These human activities are the causes of anthropogenic climate changes. The article also adds “Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750; human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by the addition of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gas emissions have increased the greenhouse effect has caused Earth’s surface temperature to rise. This is the primary reason which is affecting the amount and rate of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.” Other activities that initiate climate changes are caused by the gas emissions from fossil fuels used to heat homes, petroleum based fuels like gasoline and diesel used for transportation and electricity production which comes from burning fossil fuels.
Researches reveal that natural events as well as human related activities contribute to changes in average global temperatures. AtKisson affirms that global warming is basically a result of increased emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This atmospheric carbon dioxide (co2) comes from anthropogenic (caused by humans) sources. The concentration of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, nitrous gases, and methane in the atmosphere has increased evidently due to human activities since 1800. NASA’s article adds:
In the last 100 years, Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4°F. The rising global temperatures have caused changes in weather and climate. Global warming refers to the ongoing rise in the average temperature near Earth’s surface. This is causing a climate change, which refers to any significant change (major change in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns) in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time (several decades or longer). Due to this, it is projected that the temperature will rise from 2 to 11.5°F in the next hundred years (US EPA, 2014). The “drivers,” which are the principal causes making this occur, are very controversial. It is debated whether a change in temperature is due to the work of
The cause of global warming has been a debate between scientists and experts for numerous years. In fact, Svante August Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, first predicted global warming would occur in 1896 (Harris 16). Researchers who agree it is naturally caused insist the greenhouse effect has many natural causes. Others agree that the cause of the Earth’s increase in temperature is just part of a continuous cycle. These researchers argue that solar activity plays a huge role in the issue of global warming. Therefore, based upon the myth of the greenhouse effect, cyclical patterns, and research on solar activity, global warming is not a man-made dilemma.
Climate change is an urgent issue that is currently taking place. Climate change is increase of carbon dioxide, as a result of the use of fossil fuels and other factors. Climate change can also be portrayed as global warming, which includes severe weather, and excesses of rain or heat waves. Even though there has been means of addressing climate change, not much has been done in the government to minimize it. Climate change affects businesses, the environment, government, and can be diminished.
The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,
Imagine you are placed into the future. The year is 2100. You begin to live in this
Global warming has become a well conversed topic among scientists and peoples in the world today. There are extremists who do everything possible to stop contributing to the warming, but the average person does little to alleviate the issue and in many cases refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem at all. Dating back to millions of years ago, even before humanity was born, the world has always experienced one form or another of warming; so the warming seen today is not as bizarre as many may think. The prevalent saying that history often repeats itself, is no joke when discussing global warming. As to what is kindling the current warming, that is where a query is imposed. Scientists from around the globe have theorized close to every possible contributor to the warming seen today, and the conclusion that present occurrences of global warming are being evoked by human interference has become evident.