Today, we live in a dog-eat-dog, who’s better than who world. We live in a world where one person’s opinion on something is more important than another’s because they simply are more qualified. With all of the news sources and media outlets, we are left to figure out which source of information is more correct than another based on the credibility and qualifications of its author. This same problem occurs in the topic of climate change. When we look up information about climate change we must evaluate the credibility of the authors who are writing the articles we are reading. Once you are able to figure out which author is more credible the next step is to determine which author is more persuasive and able to convince the reader that their …show more content…
Although it seems as if Kingsolver is the only credible author, Adrienne Brown is a national coordinator of the U.S. Social Forum, and a leader of the Ruckus Society, “which brings nonviolent direct action training to communities impacted by economic, environmental and social oppression” (Green Generation). Brown’s article published in Wiretap Magazine, entitled “The Green Generation”, focuses on the opinions of youth who found their answers to basic climate change questions typed on an online blog for all to see (McKibben 260). On the other hand, Barbara Kingsolver wrote a novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which her article, "Called Home", comes from (Kingsolver 1). To evaluate which author is more credible the reader must look at the authors education and the quality of the text that they have written. In this case Kingsolver has an advantage over Brown because she has earned multiple biology degrees, compared to no degrees from Brown, which equivalates to more knowledge that is displayed in her …show more content…
I believe that Kingsolver makes her case for the most persuasive author because her writing is about her life story and facts that she has gathered on the way. Wouldn’t you want to be reading a story that you can connect with? I feel that if I can connect to a piece of writing then it becomes more interesting and I would continue to read on. Kingsolver achieves this goal in “Called Home.” Throughout this piece of writing Kingsolver tells a personal narrative of the time she moved from Arizona to the western part of Virginia (Kingsolver 1). Kingsolver is able to connect with the reader by sharing a common experience: “This story about good food begins in a quick-stop convenience market. It was our family’s last day in Arizona, where I’d lived half my life and raised two kids for the whole of theirs” (Kingsolver 1). Think of a time when you went on a trip. What is one of the first few things you start with? The answer: make sure you have plenty of snacks and if you don’t stop and get some. This is contrary to what happens in “The Green Generation.” Brown is unable to connect with the reader because she only uses information from the climate change youth (McKibben 261-267). Now that we have figured out that Kingsolver connect more closely to her audience, the last step to figuring out which author is more
Climate change is one of today’s most hotly debated topic. Scientists for many decades have made supposed claims that current energy creation and reliance on fossil fuels will lead to inevitable changes to the planet. Today, climate change denial is still a popular to most of the world despite the mounds of evidence to support that it exists. The climate change issue suffers from being mismanaged by various parties through focusing on the wrong issues and the lack of true commitment from the general public, according to Sandra Steingraber.
In his essay titled “Climate of Denial”, Al Gore, a well known environmental advocate and former vice president, verifies the reality of climate change and global warming. The piece is an attack on corrupt companies and news outlets that attempt to persuade the public that global warming is not a critical issue. Gore also earnestly conveys our environment’s current state and offers possible solutions that would increase awareness about global warming and begin to revert the planet back to a healthier, more sustainable state. The overarching purpose of Gore’s work is to call attention to the widespread climate change that is occurring. However, he also focuses on the corruption and bias within the media, and their attempts to conceal the truth about global warming. Writing to those who are conflicted about who to believe, he makes a valid argument that defends the beliefs of he and his fellow activists and encourages others to become more active in the climate change issue.
Right away, she starts by referencing to a global warming statistic from the book, Effects of Global Warming. It states, “In 2010, the international community is facing many environmental challenges, including global warming, pollution, and dwindling fossil fuel resources… Scientists estimate that by the year 2030, there will be no glaciers left in Glacier National Park (“Global Warming Statistics”) She uses this fact to explain her point in which she states that Americans “could demonstrate a commitment to buying local, and could set an example for global environmentalism” which is a big problem for industrial farms (Spriggs 92-93). This is example helps bring logic to the reader’s mind so that they can process that this paper and become better
He says, “So perhaps we need some symbols to get us started, some places to sharpen the debate and rally ourselves to action.” He claims that sports utility vehicles are one of the main blamable symbols for global warming. He goes as far as to say “SUVs are more than mere symbols. They are a major part of the problem…” McKibben opposes SUVs because he claims they are simply unnecessary, not fuel efficient, and do not provide any additional safety compared to average cars. He claims, “SUVs essentially are machines for burning fossil fuel that just happen to also move you and your stuff around. But what makes them such a perfect symbol is the brute fact that they are simply unnecessary.” He fails to back this claim with evidence which weakens his argument because it appears to be biased. Furthermore, he extends the symbol of the SUV to American consumerism. McKibben claims that SUVs are “…the perfect metaphor for a heedless, supersized society.” He strays from his thesis at this point because consumerism is unrelated to the morality involved in global warming. In “The Obligation to Endure,” Carson does not use symbols like McKibben does; instead, she directly assigns the blame to humans for the environmental issues associated with nature’s balancing cycle. She claims that through pesticides and insecticides, importation of new species, and failure to follow the advice of
Media coverage of climate change has effects on public attitude on the issue, as it mediates scientific opinion on climate change. The media uses interactions between climate science, policy, statistical scientific texts, data, scientific language and the appearances of scientific personalities. Such as work and stories from scientists that are personally known. It is clear that science and policy shape media reporting and public understanding. Whether people believe in it or not is their
Perhaps the most well-known spokesperson for climate change, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, recently attracted a lot of media attention for his emotional rant against climate skeptics. When he spoke at the Aspen Institution in Boulder, Colorado in early August, he compared climate skeptics to those who argued that smoking was not harmful to human health in the 1960s.
The problem that the pro- global warming theorists have created is that of social standing and little else. While there may be scientific backing to support some of the theory, the media presents the problem with great sensationalism. Global warming and energy conservation has thus become a trend and losses some of its validity through this. The scare tactics used by the media to “promote awareness” are just that, a linguistic ploy to gain favor. “Awareness of this global threat reinforced public concern and environmental problems and thereby provided environmental activists, scientists, and policy makers with new momentum in their efforts to promote environmental protection.” (McCright, 2000) This statement draws line to the potential benefits that would be received if the pro-global warming theorists were to draw enough attention to the issue. Driven by social empowerment and conviction to environmental protection, these activists misrepresent the actual threat and paint it as being much more
The Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork by Anna Lappé is an argumentative article that gives an unorthodox view to the probable causes and potential solutions of global warming. In the article, Lappé argues that many modern procedures for food production and distribution across the world have an astronomically negative effect on climatic change. Three different “connections” between food production, food distribution, and negative climatic change arise from the article: the “land use connection”, the “agricultural connection”, and the “waste and transportation connection.” Lappé also insists that changing the way food is produced and distributed around the world could decrease the harmful consequences of global warming rapidly, and ultimately
During the 1930s as well as today traveling around the country is a considerable way to enjoy vacation days and business trips. For white people back then its was an effortless process to get from place to place. However, African Americans had a difficult time traveling without being un- harmed, embarrassed and awkward. So Victor H. Green published a book called “The Green Book”, a guide for all African American travelers. It was a bold and thoughtful way to help the African American community by allowing them to travel around the country without any worry of people harming them or disrespecting them. I felt that this book assist several people to experience freedom by roaming around the country. The Green Book was composed of alternate ways
The essay opens up with McKibben talking about how the political campaign against global warming is flawed because at our current point there is nothing much that can be done to fix it.(Mckibben,1) He then goes to state that humans are the biggest culprit behind global warming and supports this by giving examples such as SUVs and American ignorance.(2,9) He concludes by saying that if ten percent of America were to go green, it still would not save the planet, but ten percent could get the government’s attention to pass laws making everyone go green. (11)
Analysis of “The Environmental Issue from Hell” “The Environmental Issue from Hell” by Bill McKibben discusses the moral implications of climate change and why climate change needs to be viewed as a serious political issue. McKibben makes use of persuasion to convince the reader that global warming should be recognized as an issue and dealt with. He argues his position by illustrating the immoral effects of global warming and their causes.
It is that first bite you take of one of your juicy and savory store bought apples that just sends your taste buds wild. You can tell by how juicy it is that the apple was probably picked fresh last week. However, that is not the case. That apple had been picked mid-august while it was not fully ripe, was treated with a chemical called 1-MCP (Methylcyclopropene), waxed, boxed, and stored in a cold warehouse for up to 9-12 months. Apples used to be sprayed with fungicide before they used 1-MCP, but after so many health issues it was put to a stop. We have no idea of what is really being put into our food to give them the tastes that we enjoy so much. Unfortunately, American society today barely even knows how food is grown anymore. Barbara Kingsolver’s,
97% of climate scientists agree that such increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration are man-made (Global Climate Change: Consensus). Why then is it that the news media treats such widely held views by experts as debate rather than consensus? The answer may lie in the media’s current and skewed standards of what constitutes “objectivity” and “balance”.
Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Flight Behaviour demonstrates that environmental degradation brought on by climate change tends to have a greater impact on people of lower social class. Kingsolver accomplishes this through numerous unique secondary characters. More specifically, Kingsolver illustrates through the Delgado family how industrial development and global warming are triggering devastating environmental catastrophes in less developed countries such as Mexico, and consequently causing mass migrations of working class people from these areas. Furthermore, the novel highlights how lower income families in the United States, such as the Turnbows, are similarly vulnerable to the devastating effects of climate change. While the novel demonstrates how the less fortunate are impacted by climate change, it also suggests that the more fortunate, such as Nelda and Myrtle, have a greater responsibility in raising awareness and addressing the issues of climate change. Thus, Flight Behaviour conveys a complex message about how social class is entangled in environmental impacts and responsibilities, by highlighting how the lower classes are suffering from the disastrous effects of climate change and advocating how the higher classes must take more action to call attention to and mitigate these effects.
Adversaries even likened the op-ed researchers’ climate-science equivalency to that of “dentists practicing cardiology.” (Trenberth) Mainstream scientists found the contrarian authors’ lack of credibility was most prominently portrayed through their argument which completely misrepresented the majority consensus on climate change research and the overall field of climate science. In the op-ed, the climate science field was portrayed as faction of notable scientists with varying views on the extent and risk of global warming but that contrarian opinions, that wouldn’t conform to the alarmist majority, were silenced by scientists who hyperbolized global warming’s threats to society. Mainstream climate scientists saw this as a crude misrepresentation of their field and hit back with the fact that at the time, among climate experts, there was a general consensus of over 97% that global warming was anthropogenic as well as an imminent threat to human and environmental wellness.(Trenberth) They went on to claim that the journal’s severe distortion of the field of climate research was misinforming the public by publicizing, and at times even praising outlandish accusations by minority dissenting scientists. Many researchers and public officials were angered by the paper’s misrepresentations arguing the Wall Street Journal was simply fueling