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Essay on The Global Warming Debate

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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, …show more content…

Sources for this paper include articles, books, and websites. Terms will be defined as the arguments are presented. Scientists who believe in global warming say that global warming is the result of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun’s heat which causes the earth to heat up. In fact, according to Amber Jenkins, site editor for "Global Warming: Vital Signs of the Planet," meteorologists at NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration) have reported that “Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, and possibly even the last 2,000 years. Studies indicate that the average global temperature has increased by approximately 0.5-1.0°F (0.3-0.6°C) over the last century” (Jenkins). However, CEI scientists have reported that there is no proof that rising temperatures are linked to global warming. The Earth has gone through various periods of cooling and warming throughout its history. The rising temperatures are simply the Earth warming itself up from the previous ice age (Competitive Enterprise Institute). Contrasting with the virtual world of computer simulations, the real world presents a very different picture. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) website even states that: During the last 2,000 years, there have been departures from the stability of earth’s natural course

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