Global Warming: An Issue That is Man-Made?

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Global warming is both a political and scientific problem, which tends to be manipulated by media to prove one side of the argument. Although the media sways the public to see global warming as a settled matter, it is far from that. Scientifically speaking, the evidence to support man-made global warming comes from assumptions rather than solid evidence that can be fully proven. Scientists cannot say for certain whether or not the warming of the globe is primarily man-made or natural due to the constantly changing research, unreliability of climate models, lack of research, and prior observations before the pre-satellite era. Climate models play a big role in the global warming debate, and the majority of them show rapid warming. However, those same models that are showing rapid warming in both short and long-term periods are already too warm. Over the last 100 years, the earth has warmed by about 0.7° Celsius, which is about three or four times less than climate models were saying there would be 10 years ago. Dr. Roy Spencer, a climatologist, once stated, “In fact, thermometer measurements from the 1930s indicate that temperatures were just as warm now as they were back then.” Since the 1930s, earth has undergone short periods of both warming and cooling, which can correlate with past geological times where temperatures have continued to fluctuate. Since the period of warming we have measured in the last 100 years is so short compared to the past, it is tough to draw conclusions on whether humans have an effect on the speed of warming or not. Climate models also have drawbacks, which can’t be solved by the model directly, called positive feedback. Positive feedback can occur when the warming of the earth is amplified... ... middle of paper ... ...try to prevent it, if possible. The difficulty about “fixing” global warming is that it’s not that simple. The natural resources we use that are said to create global warming are the same resources that help sustain our economy. By switching to other resources that aren’t as sustainable or suitable, it may alter the global economy and create even larger issues outside of the climate. Although scientists cannot say for certain whether the warming of the globe is primarily man-made or natural due to the constantly changing research, unreliability of climate models, and lack of research, cleaning up our environment and trying to reduce fossil fuel emissions can’t hurt. Conserving energy reduces waste, saves money, and even lowers energy prices, which are all great things. Regardless, we will learn more and more about the climate within the coming years, global warming

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