Global Warming Argument Analysis

Global warming, as many of us are probably aware, is the process of the earth continually heating, and there is great debate about what will result from this process. The concept of global warming was first hypothesized by a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius in the 1890s and has caused great debate in recent years (Weart 42). The major debate regarding the issue of global warming essentially revolves around whether the end results will be “good” or “bad” for the Earth. The media often portrays the effects of global warming as being eventually catastrophic for the future of humanity and the Earth. Even though this belief is correct to a point, it can also be said that there will actually be some good results from global warming. The effects

of global warming will not be completely bad for the Earth and our society because the constant rise in global temperatures will lead to continuously longer growing seasons (which will lead to an increase in the world-wide food supply), an increase in the number of “warm” days for people to enjoy, as well as an increase in worldwide economic activity.
Thomas Gale Moore, a major researcher on economic activity, wrote an article on the perspective of how global warming can be good for humanity in the future.

In his article “Global Warming: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Efficient”, Moore acknowledges this idea that global warming can produce positive results such as longer growing seasons and an increased food supply. He also outlines a discussion about how these positive aspects of global warming will occur. According to Moore, when we look at the rising temperatures on Earth, we shouldn’t panic because this is not an immediate danger to the survival of humans. Even though this rising temperature will change living conditions, we currently don’t live in the best possible climate. The average temperature around the world is predicted to rise two to three degrees Celsius in the next century, so based on this rate of temperature change, it would take hundreds of years before the fate of humans living on Earth would be at serious

risk.
Warmer temperatures will produce longer summers as well as longer growing seasons as a result. Since warmer global temperatures could lead to more droughts, many people believe that increases in droughts would be a bad thing for the world. When saying that the amount and intensity of droughts are going to increase, this by itself does sound like a very bad thing. However, these people do not look at the other events that will happen simultaneously when the number of droughts increase. Based on these other factors, we collectively shouldn’t have to worry about this. This is because as time goes on, technology will improve. Since the technology to combat droughts will improve over time, humans will be better able to deal with droughts and the effects that will result from the increased number of droughts. One of the major effects of more droughts is that these warmer temperatures will lengthen the summer season and shorten the winter season (Ren 421). Longer summer seasons will allow more time for carbon dioxide to flourish in the atmosphere. So, when more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, this means that more plants will grow as a result of longer time intervals that will allow the growth to occur. Even though carbon dioxide isn’t the only factor in plant growth, this gas is able to speed up the growing process of plants. Also, when more carbon dioxide is released, the gas will react with other greenhouse gases such as methane and will counteract the effects that these other greenhouse gases have on the atmosphere.
These increased temperatures will ultimately lead to more time that can be devoted towards growing crops. Increasing the amount of crops that can be grown around the world will lead to an increase in the food supply (Sudetic 80). The increase in the food supply will also lead to a decrease in the prices of food (Ren 424). Decreasing the prices of food will essentially improve the quality of life since more money will be available to use for other purposes such as housing or health care.
Research has been conducted that demonstrates this belief of continuously increasing temperatures around the world. This research looks at how many days throughout one year that a city experiences certain temperatures using this year’s temperature data and then tries to predict how many days a particular city will experience the same temperature in 2050 and in 2100. For example, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is currently experiencing around eleven days throughout the year where the temperature is above ninety degrees. By 2050, the number of days above ninety degrees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for one year is estimated to be thirty one (“87 Cities”). A similar trend can be observed in other major U.S. cities. This trend supports the argument that warmer temperatures are occurring and they will lead to more opportunities to produce food.
However, these research results are very hypothetical. Most of the research conducted on this aspect of global warming includes four different scenarios of how much future temperatures will be affected. The four categories that are included in this research are: “low impacts, moderate-to-low impacts, moderate-to-high impacts, and high impacts from global warming emissions” (“87 Cities”). For example, the number of days presented for the city of Pittsburgh in is actually the highest number that is possible given the worst possible scenario. The other number of days above ninety degrees for Pittsburgh that could result from the effects of global warming include twenty four days for the moderate outcome, nineteen days for the moderate-to-low outcome, and fourteen days for the low outcome (“87 Cities”). Compared to Pittsburgh’s current level of eleven days above ninety degrees throughout the year, it is safe to say that the effects of global warming will have to be massive in order for Pittsburgh to experience more of these hot days. If the effects of global warming have the smallest plausible effect, the average number of hot days throughout the year will only increase by three in 2050 which is an almost insignificant change.
With all of this evidence of increasing temperatures, it should be noted that as they continue to rise, we will also be able to better handle catastrophes such as: droughts, floods, hurricanes. The catastrophes mentioned will be a result with rising global temperatures. However, the effects of these catastrophes will be less noticeable. This is due to the rapid advances of technology that we are currently experiencing. Technology has advanced greatly since the 1800’s and it’s safe to say that technology will continue to advance at a similar pace. Also, as wealthy countries become wealthier, they will be better able to repair their home country after these natural disasters take place. So, even if something bad such as a decrease in food supply were to happen as a result of global warming, we would be better able to cope with these negative effects in the recovery phase after these natural disasters have occurred (Moore). People who view that global warming is catastrophic believe that the natural disasters will become worse in nature, but they argue that our ways of dealing with these natural disasters will not improve. Even though it is not certain as to whether or not our current technology will improve, it should be noted that the capabilities of man have increased greatly in the last fifty years and that this trend will most likely continue in the near future. If this trend does exist, it can be assumed that there will be even more breakthroughs in handling these catastrophes with better strategies and better equipment.
In having the ability to better cope with natural disasters, this means that the world will remain in a more stable condition (Ren 424). When the Earth is in a homeostatic condition, this means that the world will also be more economically stable. This can be proven by looking at the previous two main ideas. First, longer growing seasons are attributed to longer summers and shorter winters. The shorter winters will mean “less ice and snow… [which] would lead to fewer interruptions to transportation” (Moore S41). Ice and snow are known for slowing down transportation activity within a country, especially during very harsh winters. In terms of transportation, the more ice and snow that are on public roads, a longer amount of time will be needed to transport goods and services. The less ice and snow present on roads will mean fewer delays in transportation and fewer delays in economic trade.
Since the winters will be shortened due to increased temperatures, this means that there will be fewer pauses in economic activity throughout the world. These decreases in weather-related interruptions will lead to economic growth as well as a more stable system for trading throughout the world (Moore S43). Economic stability and economic growth are directly related to each other and these two conditions cannot exist independently of each other.
The second point of evidence that supports increased economic activity throughout the world relates to the increased supply of food that will result from increased durations in growing seasons. It was demonstrated that a decrease in the price of food would allow consumers to spend more of their money on other factors of life such as housing and health care. Consumers would be able to buy the same amount of food at cheaper prices and they will be able to devote more of their financial resources to other important things such as housing and healthcare. This essentially means that we as individuals will become wealthier in terms of our quality of life. Based on this information, it can be deduced that we as individuals will become more stable in both financial and economic terms as well as in terms of our health. Since these three factors are effectively improving, the effects of global warming don’t seem to be as catastrophic as some people may perceive them.
In conclusion, when the term “global warming” is used in the media today, most people will associate “global warming” with the catastrophic and negative consequences that the media often emphasizes in the news.

Even though this view is correct in saying that there will be some negative effects of global warming (such as increased opportunities for natural disasters), this view lacks the idea that other variables will be affected at the same time (these other variables include increases in technology and increases in understanding of how to keep the world more stable). When these other factors are considered, we can see that global warming will actually produce positive effects for humanity and the Earth and all though global warming has some questionable side effects, there will be some positive aspects that will result in the end. These aspects of global warming will create conditions that will lead to longer growing seasons, an increase in the number of “warm” days for people to enjoy, as well as an increase in worldwide economic

activity.