Political History of Global Warming
There is a lot of ambiguity surrounding the theory of 'global warming' and the proper political response to it. At the very center of the scientific debate on the variability of global climate is to what extent human activities influence climate change. Another unforeseeable is whether the potential impacts of climate change will be harmful or beneficial for humans, managed agriculture, and natural ecosystems. Some question the authority with which current scientific data has been given in international negotiations on the regulation of greenhouse gases. Others are convinced that immediate actions must be taken to limit the potential effects of excess greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere
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It signaled the beginning of a new national policy, a diplomatic role in international actions on potential global climate change, and expanded scientific research on these issues.
The first major international studies on global climate change requested were performed by the United Nations. Their first study, which addressed potential global policy considerations, was released for public review and adopted by the U.N. Secretary General at the First World Climate Conference (FWCC) in 1979. For about 10 years after FWCC, ?the science? of global climate change was further studied by the U.N. in order to formulate an international position on how best to approach the issue.
In November 1988, at the request of U.N. members involved in climate change research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created. To help assist U.S. involvement with the IPCC, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP) was established in 1989. In 1990, the IPCC completed the first of a series of recurring international scientific and policy assessments of global climate change. According to the National Climate Program Office, these assessments aimed to ?review scientific knowledge about natural and human-induced climate change and ... provide governments with a sound consensus of scientific evidence on climate change and resulting impact on natural and human systems from which policy options can be developed.?
After reviewing
The report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), consisting of more than 150 scientists, states that (Stocker, 2013) “Warming in the climate system is unequivocal and since 1950 many changes have been observed throughout the climate systems that are unprecedented over decades to millennia.” In the last quarter of twentieth century, the climate change problem has been the global issue. From 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?
Earth has experienced many episodes of dramatic climate changes with different periods in earth history. There have been periods during which the entire planet has been covered in ice and at another time it has been scorchingly hot and dry. In this regards, earth has experienced at least three major periods of long- term frigid climate and ice ages interspersed with periods of warm climate. The last glacial period which current glaciers are the result of it, occurring during the last years of Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years age (Clayton, 1997). Indeed, glaciers present sensitive indicators of climate change and global warming and by estimating and monitoring the dynamic evolution of these ice masses, several
The North American Drought of 1988 marked the very first time global warming crossed over from scientists to mass media coverage. Following an American professor’s address to the Senate correlating abnormal weather to global warming, European nations addressed the issue, and many countries began to reduce greenhouse gas. The European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 to make it legally binding. In Europe, global warming was acknowledged as a problem, with the only debate centered around how serious of a problem it was- 87% said it was a very serious problem, where around 10%
In recent years, global climate change due to global warming has been largely researched. The paper, “Global Climate Change Triggered by Global Warming,” offers compelling evidence from various scientific papers that the process of Earth’s climate undergoing significant change has already begun and requires our attention due to the probability that human-generated greenhouse gases are the primary cause. Major focal points are shifting towards determining the causes to mitigate the effects rather than establishing the existence as sufficient amount of evidence has proven that global warming is indisputable. During the final decade of the 20th century, climatologists have concluded that the past millennium to be the warmest, especially in the year of 2005. Solutions towards the cause would require assistance from the population as a whole.
Global warming is the environmental and social changes caused by emissions of greenhouse gases. Human activities have been the primary cause of this significant change, resulting with extreme weather conditions, increasing sea levels, and climate changes. In this paper I will compare and contrast natural versus anthropogenic climate changes of global warming, mitigation strategies, mitigation effectiveness, policy implications, costs, and address some policy changes to help stabilize global climate.
Climate change is the most significant, most revisited, most controversial, most discussed climate issue in modern history. Global warming serves as a glaring demerit on the lengthy list of accomplishments of mankind: a reminder that progress coupled with reckless abandon never has a good outcome. Though its presence in the national spotlight is a recent phenomenon, the early stages of global warming were detected centuries ago.
Indeed, if we accept the danger of global warming to be a real and present one, then the question of how to address it must be given serious consideration. Research conducted from as early as the 1950s through the present has afforded us a solid understanding of its causes. In the most basic sense, the problem lies in the burning of carbon-based fossil fuels such as carbon and oil which leads to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). Gases such as CO2 are referred to as greenhouse gases (GHGs) which accumulate in the atmosphere. GHGs can
The first argument examined on the man-made global warning side is that increasing greenhouse gases caused by human activities is causing directly observed climate changes. The first resulting climate change discussed is warming global surface temperature. There has been an increase in global surface temperature of 0.74 degrees C since the late 19th century. In the last 50 years alone the temperature has increased by 0.13 degrees C per decade. North America and Eurasia have seen the largest increase in warmth. However, some areas of the earth have actually cooled some this past century (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para6). After the mid 20th century 70% of the global land mass saw reduced diurnal temperatures. From 1979 to 2005 the maximum and minimum temperatures have shown no change; both indicate warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para10). Furthermore, borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data all seem to agree with recent warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para11).
Thesis Statement: Global warming is a growing concern of scientists and researchers who believe that it is a serious problem for our planet. The concerns and research have also been questioned and have even been called myths. Millions of people find themselves affected by these weather pattern changes and are concerned for their futures. Activists on both sides of the argument are very passionate and not afraid to attack each other in every way they can. There are many questions that are still not answered, however, we continue to see drastic weather changes to Earth. We must go beyond the arguments and learn as much as we can to stop what could possibly lead to the destruction of our planet, our way of life and our future.
The following is a summary of the IPCC Status Report on Climate Change. The following questions will be answered: is climate change occurring? About which aspects of climate change are we certain? Uncertain? What are the main factors determining climate change today? What is the likelihood that humans have caused these changes and what data supports this conclusion? And finally, what information is not yet available or are we unable to access at this time that may have bearing on the report and our understanding of climate change?
In this research paper, I will discuss what climate change is and what causes it. I will also describe how the political and scientific communities differ on the topic. Next, I will discuss the causal chain of climate change starting with the Industrial Revolution until today. After that I will cover the differing beliefs of Democrats and Republicans, and what each party is doing in regards to climate change. Lastly, I will cover what is being done by businesses, governments, and individuals in the world to combat climate change, and provide possible solutions, including the use of renewable energies to solve this problem.
The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,
When one encounters the concept and idea of global warming, we inquire a wide range of opinions, facts, assumptions, and philosophies. As the general population of the world, the idea
These reports led to a call for international action and thus the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in 1994. The Framework envisaged two main strategies to tackle climate change-