Global Warming–Truth or Myth: Two Sides to Every Story
Summer 2010 Part I (Thesis): Global Warming: A Natural Occurrence
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
…show more content…
We only contribute 3.5% of all CO2 in the atmosphere, while the other 96.5% is released by natural sources. There is no denying that global warming exists. Global warming is, unfortunately, a fact of our lives as humans, but humankind is simply not the cause. It is a natural occurrence and will continue to happen even after we are gone from the earth’s surface.
Part II (Anti-Thesis): Global Warming: Caused By Humans
Every year the average American produces over 22 metric tons of CO2 living a normal life (“What is Carbon Neutrality,” 2008); and the United States as a whole produces 6,049,435 metric tons of CO2 yearly (“List of Countries by CO2 Emissions,” 2010). This disturbing figure is the main cause of global warming and we have yet to take responsibility for our actions. There are many different theories of what has caused global warming and the answer is mankind. Humans are the cause of global warming because of pollution, over population, and deforestation. The first reason humans are the cause of global warming is because of pollution. Pollution is one of the biggest manmade causes of global warming and it comes in many shapes and sizes. The burning fossil fuel is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are a non-renewable source of energy, such as coal, oil and natural gas and when they are burned they give off a greenhouse gas called CO2 (Chughtai, 2008). We as humans release CO2 from power plants,
Global Warming has been a big issue that has effects on the environment, people, and the world, and if not stopped now, the results could be catastrophic. The main cause of climate change is likely to be the result of too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. CO2 creates a blanket which traps heat. Burning fossil fuels for energy, such as coal, oil, and natural gas release CO2 which impacts the atmosphere heavily. Waste management and agricultural practices also produce gases that contribute to climate change, such as methane. There are many contributing factors to climate change.
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,
Every year, almost 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by human activity. That is the equivalent of 107,700,000 jet airplanes being in the air at once! This harrowing figure is the main cause of global warming, and has been increasing for the last 50 years. Global warming is caused by the increase of greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide and methane primarily, in the earth's upper atmosphere directly caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities. Global warming is defined as an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic
Over 35 years ago, climatologist Wally Broecker coined the term global warming in a paper outlining the trends that he was noticing with temperature and C02 levels (Stefan). Ever since then, the debate has heated up on the controversy of global warming. Politicians have even used the issue to boost their campaigns. Some question whether the earth’s temperature is rising at an unusual rate. Scientists perform experiments from glacial ice to observe the correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature. Scientists have changed the debate over the years from debating whether global warming was actually happening to the current debate about what is causing global warming. Therefore, the term global warming in this paper refers to
Decades ago, the theory of global warming was considered a conspiracy theory, with the lack of scientific evidence and the acceptance from society. However, in recent years, the controversy has become further familiarized by both scientific experts and the general society. The overall controversy, when arguing about global warming, is whether or not humans have any contribution to the issue. Substantially humans have different point of views to this issue because there is no real one solution to all agree on. In the article “Global Warming,” Veerabhadran Ramanathan states that “the most important environmental issue facing the world today” in understanding the impacts to earth is understanding carbon dioxide (2). For instance, there is a viewpoint
There are many factors and catalysts making small inclinations and changes within global temperature, but mankind has been the biggest, causing detrimental harm to the world in global warming. Throughout history there are natural causes that factor in small and short term climate change, such as the occasional volcano erupting, or an excess of greenhouse gases in the air, which are gases that help absorb radiation, which as a result keeps heat within the atmosphere, having a warmer net temperature. Annually there are many fluctuations that cause minor altercations within but humanity doesn't help either. During post 1850s since the industrial revolution, the significant uses of coals, oils, and fossil fuels, have caused an exponentially increasing amount of carbon dioxide to be released
Human, on the other hand, is the main cause of the consequences of climate change, especially in the 20th century, counting from the industrial revolution. Just the same as nature, we also release gases such as CO2 to our atmosphere. Some examples of these activities are the burning of fossil fuels and contaminated emission from factories and cars. Looking at the figure above, we can see that the emission of CO2 from ocean and vegetation range as high as from 332 to 439, but at the same time they absorb CO2 at a similar amount they release. Then again, the burning of fossil fuel and land use, only liberate as much as 29 amount of CO2 to the atmosphere, a very tiny amount compared to the ocean or vegetation. But, the question is why we are the main character that causes climate change?
Humans are to blame for global warming, there is no question about it. Humans and human actions are causing a rise in temperature worldwide. We have recorded a steady rise in temperature for the last fifty years. This rise is caused by an estimated 95% of human actions.Humans are to blame for global warming because of deforestation, population growth, and the use of non-environmentally safe products.
Global Warming: Fact Vs. Fiction Global Warming -- the gradual increase in planet-wide temperatures -- seems to be accepted by many scientists and people now as fact. Generally, this warming is attributed to the increase of green-house gases in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
While humans might not be solely to blame for global warming, we definitely have a major role. Most are familiar with the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) as a major contributor to the overall C02, although, just as equally important is that of deforestation. It was realized that “conversions of land use, primarily deforestation in the tropics, induce substantial terrestrial carbon losses to the atmosphere, approximately 1.6 billion tons annually” (Broadmeadow, Freer-Smith, & J. Lynch, 2007). While the cause of deforestation varies in different regions, the key contributors are cutting down tree to open up more land for agriculture, urban sprawl (Turk & Bensel, 2011). Forests work like filters to remove CO2 from the air and store it in the trees. When the trees are felled or burned, huge amounts of CO2 are released into the atmosphere at a rapid pace.
41, 2008)” With that being said, Greenhouse gases are said to be the main for the climate to be warming up and temperatures rises and causing all sorts of bizarre weather. The environment is hurting because of the rising temperatures on land and sea level. Sea levels are rising due to the ice melting. Many do not believe the climate is being affected by human emissions at all. Greenhouse gases existed regardless but naturally, the environment balances the greenhouse gases. But with the human emission of the greenhouse gases isn’t balanced on the scale anymore. Which is causing the climate to react in absurd ways that has never been seen in the recent history. Many would say that it is just the environment going nuts for a bit, but if it was the greenhouse gases emission would not be as high it is. Greenhouse gases are the main issue causing the global warming problem cause by environments, but they all are linked to the human production of those gases. So a better answer along with the greenhouse gases would be humans.
Many consider global warming to be the largest threat that faces the earth today. This is just the opposite as we could not survive without global warming! The topic for this speech will be whether or not there is an imminent threat of Anthropogenic (or manmade global warming) at the end of my speech I would like the audience to develop the truce perspective on the issues of manmade global warming. This will be done through a small representation of the facts related to manmade global warming. To have a better understanding of what we’re exactly talking about in regards to the manmade global warming we will look at this chart. (See chart) The atmosphere is divided into four parts, 78% is in
Many claim that global warming is obvious and that all arguments against global warming fall. The problem is that what is “obvious” often isn’t true. “A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.” This is the Webster dictionary definition of Global Warming, which basically says that due to an overflow of harmful and hazardous chemicals in the air that it is creating a danger zone for the earth. This is because these chemicals are increasing the earths’ temperature. Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist was the first person to claim that in 1896 that fossil fuel combustion may
There are several reasons why people blame humans as the cause of global warming. The primary reason for the pro human causation side is the problem with humans burning fossil fuels. These concerns are justified, considering that there has been a 75% increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. This 75% increase is entirely a result of human actions, such as humans burning fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels is the main contributor to global warming; consequently, it has caused the earth to heat up by 1.4oF. Although this evidence is strong, it does not run uncontested in the debate about global warming.
Global warming could potentially be completely natural. There is “no real evidence that humans have caused Global Warming (S. Fred Singer).” There is hardly any if any at all of evidence that supports humans are the cause of global warming at all. Not a single scientist has been able to say one hundred percent that humans are the cause of global warming. Nobody has been able to find a direct correlation between humans and global warming. Our CO2 emissions may not be helping it but we are not the main cause. If we did not exist our planet would still be going through these cycles of heating and cooling. This isn’t the first time our planet has begun heating and most likely will not be the last time either. It is just a completely natural cycle and there is nothing we can do about it.