Introduction
Climate Change in a global issue that has started to become highly politicized between people who are concerned with it and the deniers. In 2012, the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication and the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication published a survey, which revealed that 66 percent of the American population believes that global warming is a reality and 42 percent are concerned that global warming will have negative consequences in the next ten years. 45 percent of the American population believes that Americans will face the wrath of climate change in the next five decades and only 16 percent believe that global warming will have no impact on America. Whether it is called climate change, global warming, or global cooling; everyday more and more people are taking either joining the climate change bandwagon or denying it, making it one of the hotly debated issues in the world (Tuthill, 2013).
For Climate Change
Most of the scientists that are arguing that climate change is real, base their argument on their interpretation on changes in the ocean level and gases in the earth’s atmosphere. These scientists believe that changes in temperature can be documented and the primary evidence is based on temperature rise detection and the effect atmospheric gas increase has on the environment of Earth. Those who strongly claim Climate Change is real base it on:
Rise in Sea Level
In many areas of the world, a rise in sea level has been witnessed. This is partially based on the melting of glaciers and ice caps, and more on the changes in the sea based gases. In the last decade alone, the mean sea levels globally have been doubled in comparison to the trend of 1.6 mm throughout the 20th century. In the last century, the global sea levels have risen about 6.7 inches. Such a rise is an example of the increased sea levels through climate change in the country (Rinkesh, 2016).
Rise in the Average Temperature of Earth
There has been a considerable rise in the earth’s temperature over the last 100 years and every year the temperature rise is further enhanced. Since 1800s, tracking the global atmospheric temperature has made scientists to identify that the temperature went through a strong period of increase in 1970s, decrease in the 1990s and it has been increasing after the turn of the 21st century (Rinkesh, 2016).
Rise in the Ocean Temperature
With the increased number of industries and vehicles the level of greenhouse gases trapped in the earth’s atmosphere has increased. The increase of atmospheric heat has been absorbed by water bodies such as Oceans. Over 50 years of the temperature records of Oceans reveal that there has been a steady increase in Ocean temperature since 1969 (Rinkesh, 2016).
Shrinking Glaciers
Several mountain ranges, especially in Antarctica and Greenland have been decreasing due to the reduction of gases important for maintaining temperatures. NASA conduced Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment that revealed Greenland lost around 36-60 Miles3 of ice annually between 2000 and 2006 (Rinkesh, 2006).
Ocean Acidification
Acid levels in the oceans are also increasing that are increasing the level of heat in the water level. This is happening due to the emission of harmful gases in the earth’s atmosphere by humans that gets absorbed by the oceans. The result is that an increase of mass fish deaths and algae blooms, in addition to the changes in the chemical composition of ocean water (Rinkesh).
Against Climate Change
Few people, especially Conservatives and Republicans in the United States of America present their side of the story denying Climate Change. To draw their conclusion, the deniers of climate change always provide the same evidence to make their point. They look at the evidence that is avoided in other arguments over climate change. These deniers have a strict understanding of global warming as increased temperature in the atmosphere; they avoid the precursors as valid evidence. Some of the claims are:
No Prolonged and Significant Changes in Temperature
According to the deniers since 1997, there have not been any major or prolonged temperature changes. The increase in temperature was started in 1975 and ended in 1997. Since, then the temperature has continually been flat since then and it proves that temperature change is not a serious concern at this moment (Rinkesh, 2016).
Non Availability of Enough Historical Data
Lack of consensus among scientists is also used as a tool for denying global warming. Advocates call that in a gathering of 31,000 scientists who specialize in environmental studies failed to reach a consensus on the issue of global warming. Since, all scientists still cannot agree on the issue and consensus has not been reached, it provides deniers the opportunity to maintain their stance (Rinkesh, 2016).
Increase in Arctic Ice by 50 Percent Since 2012
In the year 2012, according to reports, Artic Ice increased by 50% in volume, which is a strong argument against global warming. This form of increase works as an evidence for global cooling of earth’s atmosphere and possible increase in the temperature. It works as a proof of denying the claims of global warming advocates through hard evidence (Rinkesh).
Climate Models are Unreliable
The calculations used in climate models for predicting the impact of global warming have turned out to be flawed that means the long-term predictions made by environmentalists over climate change should be irrelevant. Few scientists and climate change deniers have argued that increases in the global temperatures are caused by natural climate shift (Rinkesh, 2016).
Wrong Early Predictions
The early predictions concerning the impacts of warming have turned to be wrong. Advocates promoting arguments against global warming claims point out that several days have gone by as early predictions have turned out to be false. For instance: Al Gore predicted that Ice from Arctic would disappear by the year 2013. But, the results have been completely different has Artic Ice increased to 50 percent in 2012 (Rinkesh, 2016).
Conclusion
Climate Change is a global issue that has become highly important over the past few years. There are many people who have claimed that climate change is a very important issue and needs to be handled with immediate action, whereas opponents believe that most of the claims made for climate change are hearsay and there is no contextual evidence or consensus among the scientific community over the issue. There are advocates and proponents of climate change who believe that climate change is real and the impact can be seen in rising sea level, rising temperature, rising ocean temperature, ocean acidification and shrinking glaciers throughout the world. Similarly, the opponents and advocates against climate change have their own claims such as no major temperature change since 1997, insignificant data, increased Arctic ice, unreliable climate models and wrong early predictions to prove that climate change is unrealistic.
Reference List
Meyer., W. (9 February 2012). Understanding the Global Warming Debate. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenmeyer/2012/02/09/understanding-the-global-warming-debate/#5068a95560cf. Last accessed 9 March 2016.
Nuccitelli., D. (6 May 2014). The top ten global warming 'skeptic' arguments answered. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/may/06/top-ten-global-warming-skeptic-arguments-debunked. Last accessed 9 March 2016.
Rinkesh. (2016). Is Global Warming Real?. Available: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/is-global-warming-real.php. Last accessed 9 March 2016.
Tuthill., S. (14 May 2013). Tilting at Windmills: Arguments for and Against Climate Change. Available: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/an-interpretation-of-data-argu/12036797. Last accessed 9 March 2016.
