Global Warming Literature Review - Assignment Example

Cover Page The subject of discourse is Global Warming. Global Warming is a significant rise in the normal temperature of the Earth. It is generally believed by scientists that, the world is presently being faced by a series of abrupt warming which has been caused by the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This issue has generated heated debate all over the globe and this underlines its importance. When our world starts getting abnormally warm due to some controllable factors, the onus then lies on the shoulders of researchers to look for ways in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases through the introduction of alternative sources of energy. In view of this fact, I have also taken this bold step to do an annotation of five sources on an issue that could cause humans to go into extinction, if it is not treated with the urgency it deserves. Annotated Bibliography Candler, Wilfred. Global Warming: The Answer: (The Energy Dividend). Bloomington: Author House, 2007 This book arouses our awareness to the fact that, global warming is caused by the industrial activities of humans and points to the fact that, the adverse effect of climatic change keeps increasing by the day. Wilfred Candler reflects on how humans have succeeded in altering the carbon cycle as the emission of the greenhouse gases has added excess gases than what nature intended. Global warming is seen as an economic problem in the book as the author explains that, the technical solution would come at the right prices. The book examines the impracticability to achieve a carbon neutral life style and the importance to build an economy on fossil-free energy. The need to impose taxes on fossil-fuels was also emphasized as this would help the completion of pending technologies that would replace the fossil fuel as the primary source of energy. The clear solution to global warming was exposed as the author urged the public to take stringent action to combat global warming. This source is highly important to the research work on global warming as it gives the practical solution to the reduction of the release of greenhouse gases and it lets readers know that, carbon emission cannot be totally eliminated, but can be reduced to the barest minimum. It would further help the research work as it is realistic in the way it presents its fact. It would also be useful to people that do not know much about the issue of global warming. Flannery, Tim. The Weather Makers: How Man is changing the Climate and what it Means for Life on Earth. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005 The book gives a historical framework on climate change and global warming. The author also gives a well-detailed account of the current situation of global warming and it also attempts to predict the devastating prospects of global warming in the nearest future and it also explains to readers what could be done to avert this impending environmental disaster. Flannery also explains how climate change has contributed to the evolution of our planet. The author makes readers aware that, the level of greenhouses gases that are emitted each day could cause one out of five creatures to go into extinction in the nearest future. The fact that this book was written by a well-grounded scientist that is knowledgeable in the field of global warming underlines the relevance of the book to the research work. The book is also very important for this research in the sense that, it gives a historical perspective on global warming as it helps readers to know what happened in the past with regards to climate change. The book did not only dwell on the past of global warming, but also provides a comprehensive account of the present situation and the future effects of climate change. This makes the book highly important to the issue at hand as readers would be aware of the situation in the past, where they stand today and how bleak the future could look, if the matter is not treated with the urgency it deserves. Leroux, Marcel. Global warming: myth or reality: the erring ways of climatology. New York: Springer Publishers, 2005 This book makes reference to the elusiveness of global warming as it makes emphasis on the current debate on global warming. The book gives answers to people’s inquisition as to whether the causes and effects of global warming are just a myth or reality. Marcel Leroux makes an attempt to draw the line between fact and fiction in the debate on climate change. The descriptions of conferences of climate change were given in the book and one of them is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of 1998. Leroux deliberates on the most important findings of the three IPCC reports and he also discusses the predicted impact that global warming would have on world temperatures, weather, climate and rainfall. Leroux tries to correct the confusion on global warming as he explains that the prediction on global warming have been blown out of proportion Being a book that lays emphasis on the facts about global warming, it becomes very important to the issue at hand. The review of several conferences on climate change that was undertaken by the author of this book makes the book very relevant to this research as it would make us conversant with the ideas of world leaders and other researchers on the issue on global warming. The fact that the author presents an analysis that challenges the norm about global warming would help the work of this research as it would help us look at global warming from a different angle. Maslin, Mark. (2007). Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and the Future. Minnesota: Voyageur Press. This book explores the causes and the future consequences of global warming. The book reminds readers on the importance of dealing with the threat posed by global warming as it describes it as the most controversial issue that the world is currently facing in this century. Mark Maslin does a great job in giving a critical analysis on the changes in our climate and also analyzes the proposed solution to the problem of global warming. The book gives a very good scientific perspective to the issue of global warming as the author uses science to show why and how the changes in our climate are occurring. The book also relates the present trend in warming to what was obtainable in the past with regards to the climate with the ongoing politics to the issue on global warming. The book describes the UK climate Change Bill and the US policies on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and the findings of the IPCC. Maslin further explains that, in order to avert the impending climatic disaster, individuals must work hand in hand with the government to seek for ways in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. This book is full of well-grounded research on global warming and this would make it very relevant to this research work. The book offers one of the best present scientific understanding of climate change and global warming and this makes it a very important tool to producing a good research work on global warming. Silver, Jerry. Global Warming and Climate Change Demystified. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008 This book is more like a guide on global warming and climate change. It offers a moderate view on the main reasons behind the changing climate that the world has been experiencing for some years now. Jerry Silver analyzes the scientific data that was obtained from coral sections, satellite telemetry and weather instruments to show how the temperature has changed over time. The book further explains that, the greenhouse gases that are released daily into the atmosphere are the main causes of global warming. Several viable solutions to global warming are also presented in the book. The book also makes reference to alternative energy sources to the widely used carbon-based energy sources. Data are very important in a research work and the fact that, this book presents past data on temperature changes on Earth makes the book very important to this research work. The data from this book would be used to predict what the future temperature of the Earth would look like with the current trend in the emission of greenhouse gases. The book would guide us through the steps to be taken in producing a solid research on global warming. Read More