In this paper, I will be analyzing two types of media: Scientific articles versus socially and politically motivated, biased articles. This paper’s intended audience are my fellow ENC1101 students. This paper will challenge students to do further research then what they see after one search before forming an opinion on a subject. The audience of my paper will be aware of the subject, as the topic has been in the news in ad nauseam over social media, news outlets, newspapers, and personal conversation. I will accomplish my goal of showing similarities and differences between scholarly articles and media with a second agenda by establishing niches, counterclaiming one source with another, and indicating gaps in information. The ideas in …show more content…
In this paper, I will be doing just that; I will be analyzing documents about climate change. As climate change is a controversial topic, there are many sides to this subject. I will be analyzing science-based articles from NASA, and NOAA and comparing them with the views of scientists, and popular news outlets. What are climate and climate change? The definition of climate is rarely disputed; according to NASA, climate is “typical or average weather” (Dunbar) Climate change, however, has a different definition depending on where one gets their information. NASA describes climate change as: “range of changes that are happening to our planet. (Global Climate). However, if one looks to another news outlet, they would get this definition: “’’Global Warming’ is a sham... A sham perpetuated by a network of dirty government officials, greedy corporations, and bought off scientific organizations” (Scientist Confesses). The difference is in not only information being given, but how a rhetor presents the information. When NASA is outlining definitions, they are straight to the point; they have an idea to present, and they present it. This is drastically different from the Newsmax source. In this source, there is little to no mention of climate change until page 3 of the article to find what the article is even about, one must sift through page upon page of imaginative situations and economic statistics. When reading
Many people in today’s society use the terms Global Warming and Climate change interchangeably when actually, global warming is more of a long-term trend of only increasing global temperatures and climate change can be a decrease or increase in climate patterns of a particular area or sector (Lineman).
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
The UNFCC also defines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over time periods.”
According to The Framework Convention on Climate Change, “[climate change is] a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere, and that is in addition to natural climate variability over comparable time periods” (Pielke 31). Many climate change deniers like to focus on the latter portion of this definition, claiming that the warming changes currently being experienced throughout earth’s climate are a naturally occurring phenomenon, and that the earth goes through periods of
People often get climate change and global warming mixed up. According to the EPA, climate change “refers to the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth’s surface” (epa). Climate change may cause changes in temperature, wind patterns, and precipitation. On the other hand, EPA defines global warming: “caused mostly by greenhouse gases- refers to the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth’s surface” (epa). People mix these two terms up because they are very similar and both may refer to the temperature rise near Earth’s surface; however, Kennedy states that “Global warming refers only to Earth’s rising surface temperature, while climate change includes the warming and the ‘side effects’ of warming (Kennedy).
Climate change is the term used to describe the warming of the average surface temperature on earth. Climate change; often referred to as the general term global warming, is a topic that often inspires fierce debate among those on both sides of the issue. One thing those who are pro and those that are con both agree on is that the temperature on earth has increased over the past century by an average of 1.4 degrees. The big debate on the two sides is if the warming temperatures are caused by human activities and if it is not stopped it will have dire consequences (the pro side) or if it is the result of natural causes and the earth’s surface will find ways to adapt such as crops becoming more heat resistant (the con side).
Over the years there has been a lot of controversy on if climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed and solved. There is a constant debate among scientist on if human actions are contributing the changing of earth’s climates. Climate change is defined as the change in average weather patterns for a specific region or Earth as a whole. This could include the change in an average temperature for a city or the amount a rainfall it receives (Dunbar, 2015). The main difference between weather and climate is the period of time specific patterns are recorded. Weather patterns are looked at over a much shorter period of time, meaning that these patterns are going to be more sporadic and change more frequently. Climate on the other had is recorded over a much longer period of time and usually show less drastic changes in patterns when compared to weather. Some people may argue that climate change is not an issue because Earth’s temperature is always changing do to natural effects. What people don’t realize is that human activity has effected the rate that earth’s temperature is changing, and just the smallest changes can lead to drastic consequences (Dunbar, 2015).
Climate change is a change/interruption in our normal weather patterns. It is when it is warm, even though it is winter. Or cold, even though it’s summer. It can also be called “The greenhouse effect.” gases Like CO2 are a big factor of why climate change is a problem. CO2 helps keep heat stuck to the earth, meaning even more hot days,which is a good thing in some places but a very bad thing for others.This is proven by many charts online showing the changes in weather throughout the years.
Climate is sometimes confused with weather, which can lead some people to think that an abnormally cold day can mean that climate change and global warming is a myth. Climate is the weather conditions of an area over an extended period. Climate change is the current warming trend of weather mainly caused by human activities. According to a report written by NASA on global climate change, the main cause of this new human induced, climate change is what’s known as the “greenhouse effect.” The greenhouse effect results when the atmosphere traps gasses, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane which causes earth to trap heat (“Global Climate Change”). According to a report by the Washington State Department of Ecology, carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses caused by humans have warmed the earth and are causing many negative
Most of all Americans get their news in one form or another, and with the introduction of smartphones and other technology to our daily life, receiving news has never been easier and more accessible. However, not all media outlets are equal. Many news media outlets contain bias and opinions. Some bias can be subtle, while other propaganda can be extremely obvious. Spotting the propaganda is not always easy, however it is important to know the difference between fact and opinion in order to formulate your own opinions.
This online magazine article, “What is Climate Change? The definition, causes and effects,” by author Alexandra Simon-Lewis (2018) states, “The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines it as a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, altering the composition of the global atmosphere” (2018). However, climate change is a highly debated topic in many countries, because of the probability of a financial lose to their fossil fuel industries. In the article, “Reframing Climate Change for Environmental Health,” author Caitlin Weems (2017)
Climate change is defined as the change in global or regional climate patterns, which is apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards. When looking at climate change there is an abundance of evidence that supports that humans are the leading causes of the drastic shift in the weather pattern but there is also a lot of evidence against humans actually causing climate changes. For example, the increasing levels of man made gases that are let into the atmosphere may have created a greenhouse effect, which traps heat and ultimately causes global warming. But there are also many scientists who believe that the earth has always naturally cooled down or warmed up at its own pace.
The IPCC refers to climate change as those changes in the state of the climate that is identifiable using statistical tests usually through the mean changes /or the variability of its properties and occurs over an extended period of time, typically decadal or more. This according to IPCC refers to change in climatic condition with time resulting from natural forcing or anthropogenic activities. Whereas the UNFCCC, refers to climate change as a change in climate due to human footprint either directly or indirectly thereby altering the worldwide atmospheric conditions, including the observed climatic variability over a period time. (IPCC, 2007b; WMO, 2014).
Climate change could be described as any process that causes adjustment to climate system be it a volcanic eruption to a change in the solar activity. Today, however, the phrase is most often used as climate change caused by humans. Climate change is also used commonly with another phrase – "global warming" – reflecting scientific observations of strong warming trends over the past century or so. Indicators like rising sea levels, retreating snow cover and glaciers, longer growing seasons and shifting wildlife has alarmed scientific community unanimously agreeing that the earth has warmed in the last century. Experts however are of the opinion that climate change is a more accurate phrase than global warming as the latter is just one component affecting the larger climate systems of the earth.
Climate change is defined as “a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.” Climate change has happened as a cycle throughout history, with ice ages occurring, and then warming. The earth naturally warms and cools, but due to the burning of fossil fuels the rate is growing exponentially.