Global Warming: A Look at Both Sides of the Issue Essay

There are always two sides to every story and every different point of view has a right to be heard. When it comes to the discussion of global warming—a gradual increase in the earth’s surface temperature—there are two very distinct and opposing points of view. The world seems to be split between global warming being caused by humans and it being a natural occurrence; the latter being the viewpoint that I strongly support due to the evidence I will present in detailin this paper. In contrast, I will also discuss, in Part II, the “anti-thesis” or the opposing viewpoint that humans are actually the

The globe is being rocked by extreme weather and the hottest temperatures on record. As the average global temperature soars, there are floods, droughts, unusually cold winters, forest fires, and huge storms. Are all of these horrors being caused by human-induced global warming?

The human race all around the world wonders if the climate is changing due to human activity or if it is just a natural occurrence. At certain parts of the Earth's surface, the climate can be observed much differently than other locations. As the years go by the average temperature of the Earth increases by little intervals. There are several different reasons why people believe the climate is changing every year. However, the increase of worldwide population and production of heat to the atmosphere is due to the increase of human activities that take place on a daily basis. Human activity is the main cause of the global climate change. The human impact on climate exceeds any known changes due to natural processes. The impact of this human activity is often misunderstood when looking at climate change.

It has been observed through various researches that in the last century, average temperatures across the globe increased by over 1.3°F with an increase of more than two times in the Arctic. (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof, June 2008). The results of climate change can also be seen in changing precipitation patterns, increases in ocean temperatures, changes in the sea level, and acidity and melting of glaciers and sea ice (USEPA, 2014).

Alleged Global Warming has been a hot topic and been widely reported in the American media since the 1970s. In March 2014, TED, a nonprofit committed to expanding ideas with short talks, gave a powerful presentation of the alleged current consequences of Global Warming in Gavin Schmidt’s (2014) talk: The emergent patterns of climate change. His claims are stark and he implores his audience to take the grave predictions of Global Warming seriously and not just write it off as insignificant. While Google Trends (2014) shows (graph 1) that search terms for global warming in the United States (red) have decreased while worldwide (blue) interest (image 1) fluctuates with India showing the most curiosity. Yet, not everyone agrees that Global

Alternative reasoning, other than greenhouse emissions, behind the topic of global warming relates to the disparities in the suns reflection reaching the earth as well as fluctuations in the earth’s reflectivity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (n.d.), prior to human activities, it was believed climate changes were a result in varying of the Earth’s orbit, fluctuations in solar activity as well as volcanic eruptions. (Causes of Climate Change, n.d.) Scientists infer, although these things could have affected

Purpose of this research is to discuss the problem of climate change and highlight the importance of sustainable development of resources to reduce or eliminate global warming. This paper also introduces the Paris Agreement to its readers and the research is questioned by asking: What if countries don’t sign Paris Agreement? The information used in this research paper is obtained from the official United Nations website which is the primary source of information for this paper as well as the secondary sources like Reuters and NASA along with scholarly sources like ProQuest. This paper refers to previous studies and discusses the effects of climate change and global warming domestically as well as globally on a country. In this research, the significance of the Paris Agreement as a driving force in reducing activities responsible for climate change and lowering percentage of global warming will be highlighted. Referring to the analytical and statistical information provided by NASA, the paper is designed to persuade the readers that the information is credible and accurate.

The Earth has always been undergoing climate change. Extreme weather, natural disasters, and global warming are a few examples of current climate changes. To help prevent this, the Climate Change Education act was introduced by Ed Markey, a democrat from Massachusetts. The main goal of this act was to educate the citizens about the causes of climate change, solutions to it, and small adjustments in their own lives to help prevent it. While there are people who totally support this, there are others who do not. The Climate Change Education act can be seen as helpful because it can protect the Earth and its inhabitants, yet it can be unnecessary because it will not contribute to our society.

CFCs emitted from aerosols, air conditioners, refrigerators and foam packagings are the most detrimental of greenhouse gases. Methane is released decomposing organic matter such as animal dung, swamps and waste dumps. Nitric oxide is released from car exhausts, agricultural fertilisers and power stations. The US is known to have produced up to about a fifth of all greenhouse gases. Future predictions are that there could be violent storms and sea levels will be raised.

Global warming first became evident during the 19th century when it became evident when temperature increases were beyond constraints of natural variability (AGU, 2013). Climate change was first brought to the public’s attention by head U.S. Weather Bureau 's Division of Climate and Crop Weather who reported that the global climate system was experiencing an increase in temperature (Spencer Weart & American Institute of Physics, 2015). To explore how climate conditions have varied throughout Earth history, paleoclimate reconstructions are used to extend records back hundreds to millions of years (IPCC 2013, pg.2).

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions but primary cause by human activity

The main heat-trapping gases include methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrous oxide. As a result of global warming, the current earth’s average temperature is about 1

According to Nasa, the main gases that contribute to The GreenHouse Effect are; Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Chlorofluorocarbons. While half of these gases occur naturally, and half of them are synthetic, they are being emitted into the atmosphere at rates this Planet has never seen before.

The cause of global warming has been a debate between scientists and experts for numerous years. In fact, Svante August Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, first predicted global warming would occur in 1896 (Harris 16). Researchers who agree it is naturally caused insist the greenhouse effect has many natural causes. Others agree that the cause of the Earth’s increase in temperature is just part of a continuous cycle. These researchers argue that solar activity plays a huge role in the issue of global warming. Therefore, based upon the myth of the greenhouse effect, cyclical patterns, and research on solar activity, global warming is not a man-made dilemma.

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, with the ensuing changing tides and atmospheric circulation, affects the global climate (Cunningham & Cunningham,