The Concept of Global Warming - Research Paper Example

Global Warming – Natural or Anthropogenic Human are said to have the reached the very zenith of technological advancements. Today we can send satellites to space, fit nutrition in one capsule and engage in conversation with another person thousands of miles away. However, global warming is an issue that we have failed to resolve even with the numerous modern technologies that we have invented. Even today our fate and our lives are somewhere controlled by Nature itself. Global warming refers to the steady rise in temperature of the Earth owing to greenhouse effect. However, even though anthropogenic activities such as burning of fossil fuels and emission of green house gases have been said to be the prime suspects many conservative scientists still believe that Global warming is a natural phenomenon and not a man-made one. After the Earth’s origin the temperature of the earth has changed continuously throughout the geologic time period. As a matter of fact global warming is an important phenomenon that is important for survival of life on Earth without which the earth’s temperature would drop drastically. Conservatives believe that till date there is no credible or reliable information about the phenomenon of Global warming. A thorough study of the Geologic time scale would reveal that instances of global warming has even occurred in the past with temperatures of Earth exceeding than what it is today. The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is one of the most recent cases of Global warming said to have occurred almost 56 million years ago (Bowen et al, 2004, p.495). This not only caused warm temperature conditions but also caused release of almost 2000 x 109 metric tons of carbon into the ocean waters causing ocean acidification, a phenomenon which can be seen today (Zachos et al, 2005, p.1611). Today rapid acidification is attributed to global warming however such acidification is known to occur thousands of years ago when man’s harmful anthropogenic activities did not exists. Global warming is known to be the major cause of melting of ice caps and rising of the water level. However, recent studies of the polar ice caps have shown that in most areas of the Arctic the ice caps have thickened. GIS images have shown that in 2012 polar ice-caps covered almost 3.91 square kilometers whereas as of 2014 the polar ice-caps cover almost 5.62 million square kilometers which is in contrast to the global warming model (Rose, 2014). If man’s activities were to be the cause of global warming then such a phenomenon would not have occurred since Man continues to exploit the environment. However, the only explanation to this is that climate change and global warming is a natural phenomenon which occurs time and again and is very much natural. The Earth faces a natural change in temperature and other climatic conditions owing to the Milankovitch cycles which initiate both axial and orbital induced variations in temperature. There is high possibility therefore that the high frequencies of Milankovitch cycles were and still are responsible for change in the Earth’s temperature (Waltham, 2011, p.105). However, the growing evidence about the human influence on global warming is undeniable. Rise in the average global temperatures have been recorded to be rising steadily with the last decade being warmest and all of this is being attributed to human activities (NASA, 2010). Scientific investigations have also shown a steady rise in carbon dioxide levels after the Industrial revolution. The levels of carbon dioxide emission and the global temperatures are proportional with the most warming occurring after the Industrial revolution i.e. since the 1880’s (Peterson et al, 2009, p17). The steady rise in the global temperatures since the Industrial revolution proves the fact that climate change is associated to man’s activities. Man’s population has increased considerably thereby increasing consumption of energy and global resources such as fuel, coal etc. Population expansion resulted into deforestation which enhanced carbon dioxide accumulation as well. Consumerism is another major factor that contributed to global warming. Extensive use of refrigerators or air conditioners all of which are harmful to the environment had been used. In fact every activity that man does emits carbon dioxide which is measured in terms of Carbon footprint. An average American individual emits almost 20 tons of CO2 annually ( Walser, 2010). Therefore greater the population more is the emission of carbon dioxide and enhanced is the phenomenon of green house leading to elevation of temperatures. Amidst the controversy, being a student of science I believe that man does have a role in the problem of global warming phenomena. It is undeniable that today man pollutes and uses resources unsustainably thereby releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere which initiates a Green House Effect causing considerable rise in temperature and affecting biodiversity, ecology and economy. Even though natural warming is undeniable we cannot overlook the fact that man contributes significantly to this and thereby reinforces the rising of the global temperatures. However one cannot deny that there are evidences of failure of climate prediction models and incidences that cannot be explained through global warming such as expansion of polar ice caps. We all know that the existence of green house gases is essential but history of the earth also tells us that such instances of warming have been seen the past ages as well such that there are chances that man’s role in climate change is minimal. Americans have long denied the fcat of global warming and remained skeptical. According to a survey conducted by the Per Center for the people and Press, the percentage of people believing that there was evidence of man-induced global warming in 2008 was 71% whereas in 2009 the number was reduced to 57% (Oreskes and Conway, 2010,p169) . The need of the hour is to focus research on the executors and real causes of global warming Even to this day, the issue of global warming remains a subject of controversy. The phenomenon has instilled confusion among researchers and geologists who have tried predicting the course of climate change or its rate. In all probability, man-kind is not yet well equipped to understand the forces of Nature or that of the environment. REFERENCES Book Oreskes,N and Conway,E.R.”Merchants of Doubt.”2010:169-170.Bloomsberry. Print Websites NASA.”Global Climate Change-Vital Signs of the earth”.2010. retrieved from http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ Rose,D.” Myth of Arctic meltdown”.Mail Online, 30 Augus, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2738653/Stunning-satellite-images-summer-ice-cap-thicker-covers-1-7million-square-kilometres-MORE-2-years-ago-despite-Al-Gore-s-prediction-ICE-FREE-now.html Walser,M.”Carbon footprint.”The Encyclopedia of Earth, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150926/ Jounal Bowen, G.J. et al. “A humid climate state during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum.” Nature, 2004, 432(7016):495-499. T.C. Peterson et.al., "State of the Climate in 2008." Special Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 90(8),August 2009, pp. S17-S18. Waltham,D. “Testing Anthropic Selection: A Climate Change Example.” Astrobiology,11(2):105-114. Zachos,J.C. et al.” Rapid acidification of the ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum.”Science, 2005, 308(5728):1611-5. Read More