Over the last 50 years, scientists have compiled research and data that have concluded that the global temperature is rising. The question that remains is whether “Global Climate Change” is caused by nature or by man. Some believe that human emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are to blame and that they are causing the temperatures to rise. Others feel that there is no human influence and it is part of a natural trend. If the research shows that temperatures are rising at a rate not observed before, it is our obligation to stop turning our backs to the subject and acknowledge that is happening. Only this way can we can begin to reverse it before we reach the point of no return.
The relationship between atmospheric CO2 levels and temperature is one that only further proves the influence we have over it. In his book, “An Inconvenient Truth”, former Vice President Al Gore reveals that by using ice cores from Antarctica, scientists are able to look up to 650,000 years into the past. When examining these cores, they have the ability to measure the CO2 in the air year by year using microscopic pockets of air that were trapped in the ice and measuring their CO2 content. When this data is taken and plotted on a chart showing a year by year progression of CO2 levels and is compared with a temperature graph for the last 650,000 years, it shows that the two line up almost perfectly. If it can be accepted that CO2 levels and temperature influence each other, then the next logical step is to realize that if the CO2 content in the atmosphere increases because of human emissions, then the temperature will rise as well (Gore 43-47).
The Essay on Heavens Gate Group Human Level
On March 26, 1997, in what has become known as one of the most noteworthy mass suicides in history, thirty-nine men and women affiliated with the Heavens Gate cult took their own lives by ingesting a combination of Phenobarbital's mixed with applesauce and alcohol. Each was dressed all in black, their faces covered by a purple shroud. Those who wore glasses had them neatly folded next to their ...
Murray Weidenbaum’s article in USA Today states that as a society, we are constantly producing carbon emissions from factories, motor vehicles and electric utilities (Weidenbaum 2).
All of these pollutants contribute to the problem and as a result millions of pounds of CO2 are added to the atmosphere. To place the amounts in perspective it is easiest to express using a notation for what are known as “dimensionless quantities” or quantities that cannot be measured using standard units of measurement, these numbers are instead expressed using parts per million (ppm).
In the last 650,000 years CO2 concentrations have never gone above 300ppm. However, according to Al Gore, since the industrial revolution levels have risen to 350ppm, if current attitudes and policies towards the subject are not changed then scientists project levels to be on the upwards of 600ppm. Nevertheless, even with statistics like these there are still skeptics (Gore 46-47).
Many people believe that this period of warming is completely natural and not influenced by humans. A justification that is often used for this theory is that “it happened before,” referring to the Medieval Warming Period (Gore 45).
It took place between 800 A.D.-1300 A.D. during which time, the temperature was observed to be rising. Studies have shown that amid this time frame, temperatures increased and became .5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than temperatures today. Yet this justification is not as solid as it seems.
Although it is true that during the Medieval Warming Period temperatures were .5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer then they are today, evidence does not support that this was occurring on a global scale. “Records that do exist show that there were no multi-century periods when global or hemispheric temperatures were the same or warmer than those in the 20th century” (NCDC).
The Term Paper on Global Warming A Chilling Perspective part 1
GLOBAL WARMING: A CHILLING PERSPECTIVE Millions of people have been hearing about the greenhouse effect ever since the drought of 1988. It was reported as a threat that loomed in the near future. But the words destined, future and projected were words that could alarm people. Slowly, it ceased to be a fear for the future and became a concern for the present. Global change was a fact of life. ...
Research shows that this period of warming occurred in Europe for the most part. Supposing for a moment that this did occur globally, it happened over 500 years whereas almost the same amount of warming has happened in less than 150 years with little indication of slowing down.
However, there are an infinite number of things that can be done to help decelerate this process. In particular, one area of our economy that is not commonly thought of as a part of the climate change issue is our production of food. This major defect is brought to light in Michael Pollan’s essay, “Farmer in Chief,” where he exposes the addiction to fossil fuels that the American food system possesses. He claims that factory farms are now one of America’s biggest sources of pollution (Pollan 601).
Since food economies on a global scale are quickly replacing those on a regional level, vast quantities of fossil fuels are needed in order to just maintain these colossal farms and their crops. Pollan proposes that American farms need to be “solarized” by replacing aspects of farming normally done with oil with solar energy. Even by just switching crops such as grain to grass where a bushel of grain takes approximately a half a gallon of oil to produce; grass can be grown with little more than sunshine (Pollan 605).
If any part of the modern economy can be freed from its dependence on oil and successfully resolarized, surely it is food.
While it may not be blatantly obvious now the effect we are having on the planet, putting the issue on the back burner will not make it disappear or slow down until it’s convenient for us to address. Every day we wait to make significant policy changes is only going to make things worse for our generation, our children, and our children’s children.
We posses the knowledge that our current actions are suffocating the atmosphere with massive quantities of carbon dioxide, along with the irrefutable truth that global warming is influenced strongly by atmospheric CO2 levels, the connection can be made that increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere will cause the global temperature to raise. This leaves the question of whether or not we will continue down this path of inevitable destruction or if the necessary steps will be taken to reverse the damage caused by our own actions.
The Term Paper on Fast Food Nation part 1
Fast Food Nation "Eric Schlosser's book on the economy and strategies of the fast-food business should be read by anyone who likes to take their children to fast-food restaurants. I shall certainly never do that again. He employs a long, cold burn, a quiet and impassioned accumulation of detail, with calm, wit and clarity. (...) Fast Food Nation is witness to the rigour and seriousness of the best ...
Works Cited
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. New York: Rodale, 2006.
Pollan, Michael. “Farmer In Chief.” _Seeing &Writing 4_. Comp. Donald & Christine McQuade. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2010. Print.
Weidenbaum, Murray. “Scientific Uncertainties and Policy Controversies Over Global Warming”. USA Today 134.722(2005) 12/03/2010
“The Medieval Warm Period”. WDCfor Paleoclimatology. 11/10/2006
National Climate and Data Center. 03 Dec 2010
