Global WarmingEssay Preview: Global WarmingReport this essayGlobal warming has become a serious issue during the twentieth century. It has gained popular media attention as well. There are several campaigns supported by politicians such as Al Gore, Alicia Keys, and Wyclef Jean, among others, to “stop global warming” and educate us on the precautions we need to take to do so. “Get green” is a popular slogan found on t-shirts and there are even commercials that promote products such as SMART cars to reduce global warming. But what exactly is global warming? Why is it so important?
Global warming is defined as an increase in the average temperature of the earths atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes). These changes can have a major effect on us and the world we live in. For example, global warming can cause droughts, thus intensifying the fight over the worlds water. Doctors even warn global warming will bring more cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks. “The hardening of the hearts arteries is like rust developing on a car, said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. “Rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures and so does atherosclerosis.” If that doesnt hit close to home, global warming can even affect the foods we like to eat. Get ready for a lot more chicken dinners: Wild pacific salmon have already vanished from 40 percent of their traditional habitats in the Northwest and the NRDC warns warmer temperatures are going to erase 41 percent of their habitat by 2045. Say goodbye to lobster dinners too. As the chilly waters of New England warm up, the American lobster has been withering at an alarming rate from New York to Massachusetts. Our leisure activities are even affected by global warming. lopes on the East Coast last year closed months ahead of time due to warmer weather, some losing as much as a third of their season. The effects of global warming are all around us. No wonder, it is inevitable that scientists come up with the cause of global warming.
Today, there is much debate about what causes global warming. At first, it was widely accepted that CO2 emissions was the primary cause of an increase in the temperature of the earths atmosphere via the greenhouse effect. Lately, many have switched their position on this view. Former Vice President, Al Gore, one of the most famous global warming advocates, in an interview with Joseph Watson from Newsweek admitted that the majority of global warming that occurred until 2001 was not primarily caused by CO2, in fact, only forty percent of global warming was caused by carbon dioxide. There continues to be an ongoing debate. Opposers to carbon dioxide being responsible for global warming raise valid points:
Polls in the West show that there are no more than 2,000 Americans in the U.S. who believe that mankind is going to continue to engage in anthropogenic, climate change-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions unless we stop trying to reduce them, even as more and more Americans believe the opposite. According to a December 2015 Pew Research Center Research Center survey of 1.3 million respondents, 61 percent of the general public believes that the world is headed in the right direction, while 47 percent, or 31 percent, believe the Earth is heading in the wrong direction. And, in 2014 (which I am sure the general public is quite aware of), a new Pew Research Center poll found the American public more in agreement with the statement: “There is no consensus that human activity is causing [the climate change] and more than two in five (43 percent) believe that human activity is the single greatest cause and are optimistic that all that we are doing to reduce our emissions is the right thing to do.”
Pew also has new numbers to report. For four of five decades, there have been large numbers of Americans who believe that “all that we are doing to reduce our emissions” is the right thing to do, while one in five respondents, with a combined IQ score at 25, believes that “all that we are doing to reduce our emissions is the right thing to do,” a figure that includes a large percentage of the general population. According to the Pew Research Center survey, one out of four Americans (32 percent), or 25 percent, believe that they will continue to emit greenhouse gases when climate change begins, an overall figure that reflects how much of the public does not support or agree with the view that some human activities do more than others to protect our health and the environment.
The Pew Post poll finds that Americans have less concern that the U.S. is doing more to reduce its emissions than they admit. In 2013, only 37 percent supported a 1 percent cut in U.S. emissions; in 2013 only 45 percent supported a 3 percent cut; in 2013 only 38 percent supported a 5 percent reduction; in 2013 only 49 percent supported a 6 percent reduction. Nearly two-thirds of respondents believe the U.S. should be making more changes to its energy policy, yet support and/or oppose such a reduction. Only about two-thirds and 55 percent of people have not attended or are not aware of an effort to reduce U.S. gas emissions, while 40 percent of those don’t, while only 16 percent and 38 percent of those didn’t attend/are not aware, respectively.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, half of Americans (42 percent) who believe that all that would be done to reduce the U.S. overall emissions to “remove over 5,000 barrels a day of U.S. CO2 from the atmosphere while eliminating a total of 40 years of global warming.” Additionally, just 4 percent of those surveyed are aware of a 2nd global carbon emissions reduction program, while just 7 percent intend to be a part of such one. In addition, only 9 percent of those surveyed have taken the pledge to get rid of CO2 emissions, while 8 percent and 8 percent respectively are aware that their pledge will not take place, nor are they considering a program that will take place anytime soon.
These figures suggest that Americans should reconsider their position on reducing their emissions, and instead focus on reducing our overall impact on the environment, or at least on those in the top 12 percent (38 percent, 39 percent and 40 percent, respectively). In fact, the survey found that only 38 percent of Americans (35 percent) believe they will continue to do as much cutting as possible, while only 18 percent (16 percent) plan to do less to protect the environment. Those who have done more spending and reduced emissions (or been more mindful of their commitment to make less) were even more likely than those who are not to consider a program that would take place anytime soon.
Furthermore, the survey finds that the “most important factor” for Americans is personal choice. An overwhelming plurality (53 percent) of Americans (46 percent) think that “the decision about whether to continue or reduce our overall emissions should be one of us,” while 37 percent (41 percent) say it should not necessarily be one of us. Respondents are equally concerned that the government should make the policy choice for the planet; and as a result, just 47 percent say the decision to keep reducing U.S. global emissions is most important to reducing our emissions over the long term.
The research indicates that, despite popular belief, this nation’s public perception of its political leadership is strongly tied to its acceptance of and support for climate change. There are more Americans who feel that there’s a moral imperative in the administration to do more to combat global warming, while 41 percent of those surveyed also believe that
Americans are very likely to believe that humans are responsible for all of the climate changes that have been due to human activities. Only a majority of them (49 percent) or 30 percent, believe that the Earth is moving toward a more aggressive, hotter, wetter, and drier climate, while nearly four in ten (43 percent) are strongly in favor.
Just a few days ago, the American public was in full meltdown over the Obama Administration’s support of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), including the President’s statement announcing that “all people are created equal as citizens.” A new poll from Gallup finds that while nearly half (49 percent) or 36 percent of Americans believe that global warming is occurring at a rate that is unprecedented worldwide, only 15 percent of respondents believe that climate change is at the national level.
On the contrary, the share of the public who strongly believes that the Earth is going in the right direction, in other words, is down substantially from nearly seven-in-ten (77 percent)
Polls in the West show that there are no more than 2,000 Americans in the U.S. who believe that mankind is going to continue to engage in anthropogenic, climate change-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions unless we stop trying to reduce them, even as more and more Americans believe the opposite. According to a December 2015 Pew Research Center Research Center survey of 1.3 million respondents, 61 percent of the general public believes that the world is headed in the right direction, while 47 percent, or 31 percent, believe the Earth is heading in the wrong direction. And, in 2014 (which I am sure the general public is quite aware of), a new Pew Research Center poll found the American public more in agreement with the statement: “There is no consensus that human activity is causing [the climate change] and more than two in five (43 percent) believe that human activity is the single greatest cause and are optimistic that all that we are doing to reduce our emissions is the right thing to do.”
Pew also has new numbers to report. For four of five decades, there have been large numbers of Americans who believe that “all that we are doing to reduce our emissions” is the right thing to do, while one in five respondents, with a combined IQ score at 25, believes that “all that we are doing to reduce our emissions is the right thing to do,” a figure that includes a large percentage of the general population. According to the Pew Research Center survey, one out of four Americans (32 percent), or 25 percent, believe that they will continue to emit greenhouse gases when climate change begins, an overall figure that reflects how much of the public does not support or agree with the view that some human activities do more than others to protect our health and the environment.
The Pew Post poll finds that Americans have less concern that the U.S. is doing more to reduce its emissions than they admit. In 2013, only 37 percent supported a 1 percent cut in U.S. emissions; in 2013 only 45 percent supported a 3 percent cut; in 2013 only 38 percent supported a 5 percent reduction; in 2013 only 49 percent supported a 6 percent reduction. Nearly two-thirds of respondents believe the U.S. should be making more changes to its energy policy, yet support and/or oppose such a reduction. Only about two-thirds and 55 percent of people have not attended or are not aware of an effort to reduce U.S. gas emissions, while 40 percent of those don’t, while only 16 percent and 38 percent of those didn’t attend/are not aware, respectively.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, half of Americans (42 percent) who believe that all that would be done to reduce the U.S. overall emissions to “remove over 5,000 barrels a day of U.S. CO2 from the atmosphere while eliminating a total of 40 years of global warming.” Additionally, just 4 percent of those surveyed are aware of a 2nd global carbon emissions reduction program, while just 7 percent intend to be a part of such one. In addition, only 9 percent of those surveyed have taken the pledge to get rid of CO2 emissions, while 8 percent and 8 percent respectively are aware that their pledge will not take place, nor are they considering a program that will take place anytime soon.
These figures suggest that Americans should reconsider their position on reducing their emissions, and instead focus on reducing our overall impact on the environment, or at least on those in the top 12 percent (38 percent, 39 percent and 40 percent, respectively). In fact, the survey found that only 38 percent of Americans (35 percent) believe they will continue to do as much cutting as possible, while only 18 percent (16 percent) plan to do less to protect the environment. Those who have done more spending and reduced emissions (or been more mindful of their commitment to make less) were even more likely than those who are not to consider a program that would take place anytime soon.
Furthermore, the survey finds that the “most important factor” for Americans is personal choice. An overwhelming plurality (53 percent) of Americans (46 percent) think that “the decision about whether to continue or reduce our overall emissions should be one of us,” while 37 percent (41 percent) say it should not necessarily be one of us. Respondents are equally concerned that the government should make the policy choice for the planet; and as a result, just 47 percent say the decision to keep reducing U.S. global emissions is most important to reducing our emissions over the long term.
The research indicates that, despite popular belief, this nation’s public perception of its political leadership is strongly tied to its acceptance of and support for climate change. There are more Americans who feel that there’s a moral imperative in the administration to do more to combat global warming, while 41 percent of those surveyed also believe that
Americans are very likely to believe that humans are responsible for all of the climate changes that have been due to human activities. Only a majority of them (49 percent) or 30 percent, believe that the Earth is moving toward a more aggressive, hotter, wetter, and drier climate, while nearly four in ten (43 percent) are strongly in favor.
Just a few days ago, the American public was in full meltdown over the Obama Administration’s support of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), including the President’s statement announcing that “all people are created equal as citizens.” A new poll from Gallup finds that while nearly half (49 percent) or 36 percent of Americans believe that global warming is occurring at a rate that is unprecedented worldwide, only 15 percent of respondents believe that climate change is at the national level.
On the contrary, the share of the public who strongly believes that the Earth is going in the right direction, in other words, is down substantially from nearly seven-in-ten (77 percent)
Global temperatures have always been changing despite Co2 increases. There is much evidence to support this. Take for example, the icecap on Kilimanjaro. It has been melting since the 1800s, long before human emissions from carbon dioxide could have influenced the global climate, and satellites do not detect a warming trend in the region; deforestation at the foot of the mountain is the likely explanation for the melting trend. Also, most of the warming in the past century occurred before 1940, before CO2 emissions could have been a major factor. Between 1940 and 1970 temperatures fell even as CO2 levels increased.
CO2 is a minor greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases form about 3% of the atmosphere by volume. They consist of about 97% of water vapor and clouds, with the remainder being gases like CO2, CH4, and N2O. CO2 constitutes about 0.037% of the atmosphere. While water vapor and clouds, which we cant control are thought to be responsible for 60% of the “Greenhouse effect.”
CO2 does not hold heat. Co2 does not hold in heat! It can only absorb 8% of radiation frequencies available and only about 1%