Over 35 years ago, climatologist Wally Broecker coined the term global warming in a paper outlining the trends that he was noticing with temperature and C02 levels (Stefan). Ever since then, the debate has heated up on the controversy of global warming. Politicians have even used the issue to boost their campaigns. Some question whether the earth’s temperature is rising at an unusual rate. Scientists perform experiments from glacial ice to observe the correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature. Scientists have changed the debate over the years from debating whether global warming was actually happening to the current debate about what is causing global warming. Therefore, the term global warming in this paper refers to those who believe humankind is the main cause for the current heating trend. The debate falls between two main arguments: Global warming is being caused by man-made C02 emissions and global warming has no correlation with the amount of man-made C02 emissions released into the atmosphere. First off, the climatologists state that they have statistical evidence suggesting that the earth is getting warmer at an abnormal rate (Alley et al.). They show that in the past 100 years there is a rising trend for the global average temperature and it has gone up .5 degrees Celsius. Of course, .5 degrees Celsius does not seem like much but they project in a multi-model graph that it will continue to rise more rapidly according to most projections (see fig. 1). The climatologists based their temperature projections from land weather observation centers that had been recorded over the years (Alley et al.). The critics of global warming are skeptical about the accuracy of land weather temperature observation si... ... middle of paper ... ...mate/greenhouse_effect_gases.html&edu=high>. Schmidt, Charles W. "Document View." 1 December 2010. ProQuest. 11 February 2011 . Siegenthaler, Urs. "Stable Carbon Cycle–Climate Relationship During the Late Pleistocene." 25 November 2005. AAAS. 8 February 2011 . Spahni, Renato. "Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores." 25 November 2005. AAAS. 8 February 2011 . Stefan. Happy 35th birthday, global warming! 28 July 2010. 8 February 2011 . Watts, Anthony. Surfacestations.org. 16 July 2009. 13 February 2011 .
In his piece on climate change, Richard Lindzen addresses his stance on the heated debate of global warming. He claims that there is, in fact, no ongoing catastrophic temperature increase. Lindzen, a Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a recipient of the Jule Charney award from the American Meteorological Society (Richard Lindzen), believes that the earth goes through natural phases of warming and cooling. In this piece, he examines why he believes people have a false conception of Earth’s climate shifts.
Global Warming - A Problem Blown Out of Proportion It is ironic that fifty two years before hosting the 1997 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the city of Kyoto had barely missed being destroyed. It was one of four cities considered as primary targets by President Harry Truman’s secretary of war, Henry L. Stimson. The others were Kokura, Hiroshima, and Niigata. Gale E. Christianson describes Kyoto in her book Greenhouse as a magnificent city surpassed only by Tokyo in the number of its institutions of higher learning.
Predicting climate change is less accurate than firing a pistol at long range. The fact is, finding a forecast of our future is just as difficult as explaining the meaning of life. I mean, how can we predict the future climate when meteorologists can’t even predict today’s weather? Scientists have only been keeping exact records of the earth’s surface temperature for only just over a hundred years.# Before accurate readings of the earth had been taken, scientists have only viewed charts and graphs of recent years. Patterns have been formed from these short-term graphs. But how can scientists be sure that their trend is true? What proof do we have anyway?
It's no surprise to most people that the idea of global warming is a highly controversial and debated topic. But is there any real evidence that global warming is a growing problem or is global warming just a big scare tactic being used to get people to comply with strict government regulations? Global warming is widely believed to be the main cause of rising average global temperatures. In reality, global warming isn't really all what it has been exaggerated to be. Many of the predicted effects of global warming over time have actually been proven to be false all together.
Global warming has become on of the most controversial issues in the media today. While most of the Western world countries have generally accepted the premise that man's chemical emissions in the atmosphere can and are affected by the world’s climate patterns, in the United States, the issue has become so politicized with many republicans challenging the science behind the theory. Global warming is a greenhouse effect whereby gases are trapped on the earth’s surface causing it to heat up (Maslin 14). It is based on the worldwide temperature records that have been maintained by human beings through their activities since the 1880,s. In addition, global warming is not only caused by human activities only but also through climate changes in solar radiance. The problem is that, humans continue to contribute to the global warming phenomenon. All citizens should work in reducing human activities that cause global warming and also support the development of nuclear power. Scientists deem that, global warming is mainly caused by human activities which accelerate the natural process by creating greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Human activities have become a great contribution to the greenhouse effect and this means that climate changes are inevitable. They further argue that, if these activities continue and are not reduced, it will lead to more trapping of energy radiated from the earth and this will likely lead to extreme weather and global warming. Global warming should be at reduced levels or else, it will be catastrophic.
Throughout history climates have drastically changed. There have been shifts from warm climates to the Ice Ages (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.204). Evidence suggests there have been at least a dozen abrupt climate changes throughout the history of the earth. There are a few suspected reasons for these past climate changes. One reason may be that asteroids hitting the earth and volcanic eruptions caused some of them. A further assumption is that 22-year solar magnetic cycles and 11-year sunspot cycles played a part in the changes. A further possibility is that a regular shifting in the angle of the moon orbiting earth causing changing tides and atmospheric circulation affects the global climate (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.205). Scientific studies suggest that all these played a role in past global warming and cooling periods. Today, however, there is a lot of conflict on whether humans are causing a global warming that could be disastrous to humans and all species of plants and animals on this earth. This paper will first explain the greenhouse effect, then take a look at both sides argument, and, finally, analyze the effect of global warming on world-wide sustainability
There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
Furthermore, this analysis must take place amidst serious gaps in the existing research and technology concerning the developing climatic conditions. For these reasons, global warming stands as one of the most daunting policy issues facing our world today. This is compounded by the debate over the very existence of climate change. While countless sources of empirical evidence testify to the very real presence of climate change the world over, considerable denial of the phenomenon still exists. The argument has been made that evidence of climate change is a gross overstatement, or in some cases, a complete fabrication.
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 13 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Dinosaurs: Climate Change and Biodiversity."
Schmidt, G. A., R. A. Ruedy, R. L. Miller, & A. A. Lacis (2010), Attribution of the present‐day total greenhouse effect, Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, D20106, doi:10.1029/2010JD014287.
There are many different views on whether global warming is actually real or not and possible catastrophic damage it causes. It is a big issue in politics now, everyone is arguing whether or not it is actually real or that it is just a weather pattern. People need to wake up and realize that it is real, just look at the shorter winters and the warmer weather. The Glaciers are melting, crazy weather patterns are happening, so what else could it be? We have more things to worry about as a government though.
Many climate scientists, researchers, and environmentalists are expressing concerns about shifts in the overall climate of the earth. It is believed that a dramatically dangerous warming is taking place in the overall global climate, a problem that is referred to as "global warming”. Global warming is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of Earth’s climate system. This temperature rise is due to the damaging effects of deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. It is our responsibility to preserve our planet and our way of living but in order to do that we need to act now. If we continue to destroy the planet with no regard as to how serious this matter is there could be several negative effects to us as human being and other living thing on Earth. This is why global warming is truly a global issue and needs to be tackled collectively. We must to act now in order to reduce the dangerous levels of carbon dioxide emissions and we must to work together.
Global heating and cooling has occurred on a cycle for millennia, however in the past thirty years the increased use of energy and fuels by humans has drastically changed this natural occurrence (Juerg, 2007). The largest cause of this warming is the release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide levels are twenty-five percent higher than they were in 1957 (UCS, 2013). This seemingly insignificant change has caused a myriad of negative effects. The endangerment of species, rising sea levels, and increased natural disasters are just a few examples of change brought about by global warming (Juerg, 2007).
The earth is a complex system, which continues to evolve and change. Climate change and global warming are currently popular in the political agenda. But what does “climate” really mean? The difference between weather and climate can be conveyed in a single sentence: “Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.” Based on research of the geologic record, we know that climate change has happened throughout Earth's history and at present, ever-increasing evidence points to the roles that humans play in altering Earth systems. The Earth and its atmosphere receive heat energy from the sun; the atmospheric heat budget of the Earth depends on the balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation from the planet; which has been constant over the last few thousand years. However present evidence seems to suggest that the recent increase in temperature has been brought about by pollution of the atmosphere, in particular the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide, mostly through Anthropogenic Forcing (human activity) and other various internal and external factors. I...
One of the most substantial problems in the world today is global warming. This gradual warming of the earth is in occurrence at an extremely slow rate but it is happening. Many scientists believe that as human’s work and release greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere, it can become dangerous for the long lasting life of humans and our environment. “Unless we take immediate action, the impacts of global warming will continue to intensify, grow ever more costly and damaging, and increasingly affect the entire planet - including you, your community, and your family” (“Global Warming Impacts”). Everyone should be knowledgeable about global warming and the dangers that it brings to our planet. This essay will examine