Global Warming: Mankind or Mother Nature?

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Global warming is defined as being a gradual increase in the Earth’s atmospheric temperature due to an increase of specific gases known as the greenhouse effect. The dictionary even implies that the greenhouse effect is caused by an increase in pollution, or otherwise, mankind. In fact, 97 percent of scientists would also agree to that implication. Which, honestly, seems feasible at first until all the facts are on the “table” so to speak. Yet, there has been reports that were not openly announced to the public or used in those scientist’s research to disprove the legend of what causes global warming. While mankind has a miniscule effect of global warming, there are more powerful and natural forces at work. Many natural causes can explain the modern warming climate. Such forces are the Earth’s reflectivity to sunlight, orbital changes, and solar influences. The Earth has natural gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) that work to keep the lower layers of the atmosphere warmer. These gases trap infrared radiation that would normally be emitted to outer space in reaction to solar heating of the Earth. One of the reasons for mankind to be given the blame for the increased climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, which in turn creates more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The theory is that as the population and industrialism grows, so does the climate change along with the increase of humans burning fossil fuels. Surprisingly, after the Industrial Revolution began in the 1800s, the climate cooled from 1940-1975 while carbon dioxide levels was rising rapidly and disproves that idea. Dr. Roy Spencer, who is the Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama, states that very little research is funded to f... ... middle of paper ... ... the correct assumption. Further research will one day answer this quandary. Until then, history speaks for itself in the fact that long before man came into existence the climate changed massively. Works Cited "Global Warming." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. “Greenpeace co-founder: No scientific proof humans are dominant cause of warming climate.” FoxNews.com. Fox News. 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. “The Climate Change Debate: Man vs. Nature.” Livescience.com. Tech Media Network. 5 Oct. 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. “Global Warming: Natural or Manmade?” Drroyspencer.com. Dr. Roy Spencer Ph. D. n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. “Global Warming: A Natural Occurrence.” Qualimetrics.com. Quality Metrics. n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate.” Heartland.org. The Heartland Institute. 2 Mar. 2008. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.

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