Issues about Climate Change - Essay Example

Sur Lecturer Issue about climate change Introduction Our world is warming at an unprecedented rate in human history. The global air temperatures, rainfall patterns and humidity show a distinct ‘fingerprint’ which can never be explained without a rise in emissions of the carbon dioxide as well as some other greenhouse gases resulting from human activity. The rate of warming is slowly rising and over the past 50 years the world warmed to around 0.13°C, on average, each decade. Some argue it`s wonder questions if not myths abound regarding what exactly is happening in the atmosphere, oceans and on the land. It`s essential to ascertain whether the world is actually warming and if humans are to blame or not, and so this paper will investigate the myths as well as known scientific facts regarding certain seemingly murky statements on climate change. Climate change is undoubtedly all time threat to human survival. The rising sea level, drying of cultivatable land as well as the extreme temperature of the earth are just but some of the climate change effect that threaten human survival, thus, resulting myths should be separated from scientific facts regarding this deadly issue. Myth: It`s cold outside. Some argue it cant be a planet is warming when their front yards are covered in quite a few feet of snow. They even quote winter has being one of the chilliest. So how is it possible the world is warming? Science fact: Local temperatures recorded as personal data points offer nothing as far as the long-term trend of the global warming is concerned. The local ups and downs in temperature and weather may conceal a slower-moving uptick in the long-term climate. Scientists depend on changes in the weather over quite a long period of time to obtain a genuine bead on global warming (Robinson, 63-65). Examining the low and high temperature data from previous decades reveals that new record highs happen nearly twice as frequent as new record lows. Myth: The sun is to blame. Over the past hundred years, the suns activity, such as the number of sunspots, has risen, causing the globe to get warmer. Science fact: The sun has revealed a slight cooling trend, whereas the climate of the world has been heating up in the last 36 years of global warming. In the previous century, solar activity may explain certain increase in the global temperatures, but in a comparatively small amount. Solar activity is the activity of suns magnetic field and incorporates magnetic field-powered sunspots as well as solar flares. According to (Bailey, 122-126), the Earth had absorbed 0.58 watts of extra energy per square meter compared to the energy escaped back into the space during the period when solar activity was relatively low (from 2005 to 2010). Myth: Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. Some people such as Rick Santorum, the GOP presidential nominee, argue that carbon dioxide is neither a pollutant nor dangerous. Instead, it`s useful in plants. Science fact: While it is a fact that plants do photosynthesize, and thus take up carbon dioxide, sunlight and water as a means of forming energy, this gas is also a direct pollutant considering the acidification of oceans. It`s also associated with the greenhouse effect. Whenever the heat energy is released from the Earths surface, part of that radiation is “held hostage” by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide; the resulting effect is what causes the Earth`s comfortable temperature (Bailey, 110-112). However, too much of it causes global warming. Myth: Climate scientists conspire to push "global warming". Hundreds of emails among climate scientists had leaked in the year 2009 (dubbed Climategate) showed a cover-up of data which conflicted with the research suggesting the Earth is warming. Science fact: It`s true a hacker accessed and released emails as well as documents from the serve of University of East Anglia. However, there existed no cover-up since a number of investigations were started, including newly established, by the university, two independent reviews: the (SAP) independent Scientific Appraisal Panel and the (ICCER) Independent Climate Change E-mails Review. The findings of the investigations set free the researchers implicated with the e-mails of alleged scientific misconduct. There was no evidence of a cover-up (Leroux, 213-217). Myth: Antarctica is gaining ice. The Ice covering larger part of Antarctica is expanding, this is contrary to the idea that this ice cap is actually melting as a result of global warming. Science fact: The argument put forward that ice is increasing on Antarctica neglect the fact that there exist a difference between sea ice and land ice. If one is referring to the Antarctic ice sheet, some gain in accumulation is expected in the interior as a result of warmer and more moisture-laden air, however increased ice loss at the periphery, mainly due to warming southern oceans (Robinson, 29-30). The net change in the ice mass is now the difference between this peripheral loss and accumulation. Models customarily have anticipated that this difference actually doesnt become negative, that is the net loss of the Antarctic ice sheet mass, for several decades. Additionally, detailed gravimetric measurements, which measures changes in the Earths gravity over the spots to estimate, among other things like ice mass, suggest that Antarctic ice sheet is by now losing mass and so contributing to the sea level rise. For sea ice, this sort of ice is determined by year-to-year alterations in the wind directions and also changes in the ocean currents. For the sea ice, its complicated to identify a precise trend. Myth: Climate models are unreliable. Climate models are characterized by "fudge factors" or suppositions which make them fit only with data collected in a todays climate; It`s impossible to presume that those same assumptions may be held in a world of increased carbon dioxide. Science fact: Climate models have effectively reproduced global temperatures since the year 1900, in the air, by land and the oceans. Models are merely a formalization of the best understanding of processes which govern the atmosphere, the ice sheets, and the oceans among others. Certain processes like how clouds will react to alterations in the atmosphere as well as the cooling or warming effect of the clouds are unpredictable and different modeling groups create different assumptions regarding how to well represent these processes (Leroux, 213-217). Nonetheless, certain predictions are anchored on chemistry and physics that are so fundamental, for instance the atmospheric greenhouse effect, which the resulting forecast that surface temperatures need to warm, ice need to melt and sea level requires to rise, are robust regardless of the assumptions. Conclusion The world is warming at an exceptional rate and so all arguments should be centered and based only on scientific facts and not myths in order to fast tract the cause of climate change. Climate change is unquestionably all time threat to our survival and so rising sea level, drying of cultivatable land and the extreme temperature among others effects of climate change require to be averted. The very first step to doing this is separating the climate change myths from facts. My opinion It`s obvious the existing myth may divert the current attention and effort put by scientists to help curb climate change. These myth as well as those who argue in favor of the myths definitely lessen the seriousness of the climate change. It ought to be condemned in one of the strongest term possible and scientific facts be provided to counteract these myth. A global awareness campaign is necessary in order to avert the widespread myths regarding climate change. Work Cited Bailey, Ronald. Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths: How the Environmental Movement Use False Science to Scare Us to Death. Roseville, Calif: Forum, 2002. Print. Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth or Reality : the Erring Ways of Climatology. Berlin: Springer, 2005. Internet resource. Robinson, Matthew. America Debates Global Warming: Crisis or Myth?New York: Rosen Central, 2008. Print. Read More