Man Made Climate Change Essay

The progressing debate on the validity of man-made climate change continues to rely on the emergence of new evidence that supports each side. While challengers of the theory of man-made climate change would argue that natural events such as some glaciers around the world actually expanding, advocates of global warming, such as James Balog, contend that man-made climate change is a crucial and ominous progression that will soon lead to the downfall of planet Earth. In fact, Chasing Ice, a documentary that exhibits Balog’s influential experiment, the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), presents evidence of massive glacial recessions as a direct cause of man-made climate change which is captured with hundreds of thousands of photos and implies the imminent

Some of Balog’s time-lapses illustrate how much ice breaks of from the glaciers each day and eventually reaches the oceans which contributes to rising sea levels. In one of Balog’s most extreme feats, he sent some of his scientists out to the Ilulissat Glacier in Greenland to record a mega-chunk of ice over one kilometer wide break off from the glacier. Over the course of a few weeks, they overcame extreme weather conditions without any sign of the massive impending calving event. Their diligence and perseverance eventually paid off, as they managed to record a rare calving event, and the largest one ever recorded. Their discovery exhibits the tremendous magnitude and effects that man-made climate change causes. All of these discoveries, combined with all of Balog’s pictures of glaciers which shows the rapid recession of glaciers, demonstrate how real man-made climate change is and how dire the consequences can

As a matter of fact, according to National Geographic Editor Dennis Dimick, “people have a hard time understanding when we talk about climate change." His views dramatically changed after EIS and now, he is one of the leading figures in advocating for the recognition of man-made climate change. Furthermore, scientists have provided further proof for increased greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere which leads to climate change. They can drill holes in glaciers and remove a core, which consists of layers of accumulated ice from millions of years ago. These layers provide information of ancient air bubbles that were trapped in ice which reveal past temperatures and carbon dioxide content in the air from the past. Today, carbon dioxide levels are 40% higher than any naturally occurring level in the past and are increasing at over 100 times the highest naturally occurring rate recorded. Balog highlights how the physics and chemistry of the air are changing which leads to more natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. Although on paper, the temperature changes do not seem too drastic, it only takes a small change to cause massive changes on the environment, similar to how small amounts of steroids can have massive effect on the human body. These changes will continue to destroy our environment unless humans collectively make efforts to reduce such climate