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Media claims on climate change
The debate surrounding the evidence for global warming
The debate surrounding the evidence for global warming
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Recommended: Media claims on climate change
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
In addition to lowering greenhouse gas levels and using cleaner energy sources, there are things we can do as people to stop climate change. We could reduce our use of electricity at our homes by turning off the lights when we leave the room, turning down/up the heating/ac when it is unnecessary, and using less water. Also, we could install solar panels in our homes and donate money to environmental protection agencies. Hopefully, the people of our world will soon realize climate change is a pressing issue that must be solved as soon as
First, during the last few decades the Earth is experiencing greater rate of rising temperatures due to greenhouse gases that are being produced by human activities rather than because of environmental reasons, such as solar or volcanic activities. In 2006 the President of the National Academy of Sciences stated: “There is no doubt that the Earth is warming,” also he added that people are at least partly responsible for these changes in addition to regular factors (Cicerone, par.4). Natural factors have produced climate fluctuations on Earth for several million years. People have effected an atmosphere of the Earth just for nearly one hundred years, since Industrial Revolution has begun (Revkin 340). Of course, it is unfair to say that global warming is caused entirely by humans. For example, people can not have an impact on the position of Earth in relation to the sun, or on the galactic density, or such nature events as air emissions of volcanic gases. As a result of these environmental factors, Earth usually had higher rates of temperature fluctuations during the previous million years than it has in later centuries. On the other hand, people are responsible for the highest concentration of greenhouse gases during the last 650,000 years in the atmosphere due to industrial manufacturing, driven by the increase in consumer consumption (Lindsey, par.
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.
The gradual warming of temperatures doesn’t just effect us though, there are numerous other plants and animals that will be threatened, or even pushed to extinction due to these changes. I believe it is our duty to fix the problem that we created, but it is more easily said than done. Megablazes, droughts, or even species extinction due to human stubbornness is unacceptable. Although climate change is a gradual issue, the factors that contribute to it need to be managed right away. Again, Global warming is caused by UV radiation reflecting between the ozone layer and the earth. The ozone consists of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, which humans are the main source of. If we could better manage our carbon dioxide and methane output through less omissions or a carbon tax, I think we could effectively begin to curb the problem of climate
Global warming is an issue we are all pretty familiar with. It is the climate change that we, humans, are responsible for. The warming of the earth’s atmosphere is caused by the fossil fuels we burn, clearing of forests, and the carbon dioxide and other harmful gases we release into the air (Cunningham, Cunningham, 2009). There are other harmful toxins we use such as pesticides that are supporting global warming. Some effects of global warming include: increase in weather catastrophes, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and the impact on species could lead to extinction (Cunningham, Cunningham, 2009). “Many scientists regard anthropogenic global climate change to be the most i...
Global temperatures have noticeably been rising since the mid 1800’s.The average temperature has increased by 0.6 ± 0.2°C since 1860 according to (John Sweeney, 2003)with accelerated warming apparent in the latter decades of the 20th century. The legitimacy of global warming had long been debated, however in a report by (IPCC, 2007) it states that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level. Simulations on models such as EC-Earth provide us with predictions for future climate change. Depending on levels of emissions an increase of 1 to 5.5 degrees celsius is expected in average global temperatures by 2100.
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.
The Earth's climate has changed significantly throughout history. In the last 700,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. With the abrupt end of the last ice age approximately 7,000 years ago the beginning of the modern climate era was born. In the last century the global sea level has risen 17cm. All three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since 1880. Most of this warming has occurred since the 1970s, with the 20 warmest years, having occurred since 1981 and with all 10 of the warmest years occurring in the past 12 years. There is no denying global warming. Once considered a conspiracy theory by the world’s leading governments, industries and populations; global warming
For a majority of people, it isn’t new news that the Earth’s climate is changing and increasingly getting warmer. For quite some time now, people have been arguing about what the actual causes are and what role humans have played in the current condition of the earth. A good bit of people seem to be in agreement that due to the actions of humans, the earth’s climate is increasingly getting worse and that if things don’t change, than everyone living on earth will be facing the consequences. However, this is not entirely true. The fault of climate change does not fall solely on the shoulders of mankind, but on the earth as well.
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
Our world is always changing, so is our climate. Some changes are apparent, others not so much. Climate change is an important issue of concern in the twenty-first century. Environment, if it changes at all, evolves so slowly that the difference cannot be seen in a human lifetime (Wearth, 2014). Mostly all scientists predicted that it would take thousands of years for the planet to warm up due to emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels called greenhouse gases. But in the past 200 years, things began to change. The rate and the amount of warming that is happening on this planet are unprecedented. Wearth says, “People did not grasp the prodigious fact that both population and industrialization were exploding in a pattern of exponential
The subject of global warming is as popular as the president. These both topics have always been hot subjects in everyday life. Global warming is the biggest storm headed in our way. It is also the most important issue of our times. Those ads or public service announcement on TV about global warming might not be the most attractive but the cause behind it is very important. Global warming is one of the major threats our planet is facing. Most scientists prove the fact that global warming is mainly caused by human activities rather than natural cycles. To simplify it, most mechanisms that we use are affecting earth. These mechanisms are created by humans. Therefore, humans are affecting earth.
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.
In conclusion, many facts point to global warming being detrimental to our world. With scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations being some of the more thought about topics it`s hard not to agree that our world can not continue to be used as it is. Even with some scientists arguing against the topic, our Earth`s orbit changing the temperatures before and have been through hotter and cooler time periods the pros still outweigh the cons. This is why we, as a global population, need to take into consideration the outcome of our planet should we continue to abuse it the way we do. Our earth and resources are not a right but a privilege and we should learn to treat them as such before we no longer have either.
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...