Introduction
The reason for global warming and the resulting change is greenhouse gases, which make the planet habitable. According to Wang and Oppenheimer (6), it is human activities, especially the fossil fuel burning and deforestation that have contributed heavily to the increase in GHGs and the subsequent warming trends. This has created a need to reduce these emissions with various governments making efforts. There has been an increase in adoption of renewable forms of energy, and automobile companies are producing energy-friendly cars such as electrics and hybrids to ensure that GHG emissions are reduced. However, global warming has not been without controversy. There are those who believe that it is just an alarmist myth, while there are those who feel that it is a reality and that it needs to be tackled.
Myth or Reality
The debate on whether global warming is a myth or reality is centered on whether or not human activity is responsible. Two documentaries form the center of this controversy; An Inconvenient Truth and The Great Global Warming Swindle. The latter is a response to the former. In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore presents facts and trends rising global temperatures with the clear message being that humans and human activity are the main causes of global warming, a phenomenon with devastating effects (Revkin 1). However, The Great Global Warming Swindle, a documentary based on interviews with “real” climate scientists and “sound science” responds to this by providing a number of arguments (Singer 1). First, it cannot be proved that the current temperatures are as a result of GHGs from human activity. For example, records from the past 650,000 years indicate that rises in temperature have not been a result of increases in carbon dioxide, but have rather preceded it by hundreds of years. Second, it observes that warming is natural, and not a consequence of human activity. Therefore, since it is natural, humans can do very little to control the “inconstant sun” which is the most probable source of climate variability (Singer 1). As such, any of the efforts such as controlling GHG emissions, use of renewable sources of energy and use of uneconomic energy alternatives such as ethanol are all in vain.
Third, there is no proof that a warmer climate has negative impacts. An example provided is the rise in sea levels. The documentary observes that short-term changes in temperature cannot result in rising sea levels since the rate of increase in the sea-levels has been steady over the past 10 years. However, the broader message carried by this documentary is that scarce resources should not be focused on global warming-a non-existent problem- while real problems such as hunger, disease and terrorist threats continue rocking the world. These views seem to be supported by Vincent Gray of the Frontier Center for Public Policy. According to Gray (4), 3 of the 4 methods used to measure global temperature show no signs of global warming. These include Proxy measurements, weather balloons and satellites. The fourth method which is surface measurement at weather stations indicates an averaged mean global increase of just 0.6oC over a period of 140 years (Gray 5). However, what are the facts and evidence provided regarding the reality of global warming?
According to the National Center for Policy Analysis (2), human activity is responsible for one quarter of 1% of the greenhouse effect. National Geographic News (1) indicates that the earth is already indicative of many signs of climate change. For example, average temperatures have increased 0.8oC around the globe since the year 1880, and much of this increase has occurred in recent decades. There is also an increase in the rate of warming. The last two decades of the twentieth century were found to be the hottest in about 400 years. Most of the effects of this warming are being felt at the Arctic with average temperatures in Western Canada, Alaska and Eastern Russia, rising at twice those of the global average. There is a rapid disappearance of Arctic ice with the region being projected to have a complete ice-free summer by the year 2040. Mountain snows and glaciers are melting rapidly, with Montana’s Glacier National Park being provided as an example. The park now has only 27 glaciers as compared to 150 glaciers in the year 1910. At the same time, there has been an increase in extreme weather events such as tsunamis, hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires and strong tropical storms (National Geographic News 2). All these factors are suggestive of climate change but the big question whether or not humans are responsible for it.
According to Roach (1), a 2007 report by IPCC indicates that human activity is responsible for the current warming. This report was the work of about 2500 scientists drawn from 130 nations. Some of the human activities held responsible for the rising global temperatures were deforestation, industrialization and pollution, which have contributed to an increase in concentrations of carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane and other GHGs that trap heat near the earth’s atmosphere. The same report also warns that the dangers of global warming are dire. It warns global warming will lead to large-scale water and food shortages as well as catastrophic effects on humans and wildlife. These include animal extinction, the rise in sea levels, melting of glaciers, droughts, heat waves, strong hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis and other natural disasters.
Conclusion
Therefore, review of literature indicates that there still remains controversy on whether global warming is a myth or reality. Skeptics still rely on various studies that seem to suggest that global warming is a hoax. For example, the National Center for Policy Analysis (10) observes that carbon dioxide levels were 18 times higher in the Cambrian period than they are today. Therefore, Carbon dioxide levels cannot be increasing. Also, during the time that dinosaurs roamed the earth, the average temperature was about 10oC warmer than today. The conclusion by skeptics is that temperatures have increased and decreased over the past 600 million years and therefore, the current increase in temperatures is just a pattern of the process (NCPA 12). However, it is the argument that global warming is a reality that seems to have captured the imagination of many. This can be evidenced by various efforts in the world towards a reduction in GHG emissions. Governments have committed themselves to reducing carbon footprints in their respective countries through agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, global warming has come to be known as a reality rather than a myth.
Works Cited
Gray, Vincent. The Cause of Global Warming. Frontier Center for Public Policy, January 2001, pp. 1-23.
National Center for Policy Analysis. A Global Warming Primer. NCPA, 2007, pp. 1-40.
National Geographic News. Global Warming Fast Facts. National Geographic, 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 March 2013.
Revkin, Andrew C. An Inconvenient Truth: Al Gore’s Fight Against Global Warming. The New York Times, 22 May 2006. Web. 22 March 2013.
Roach, John. Global Warming “Very Likely” Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say. National Geographic, 02 Feb. 2007. Web. 22 March 2013.
Singer, Fred. The Great Global Warming Swindle. The Independent Institute, 22 May 2007. Web. 22 March 2013.
Wang, James and Oppenheimer, Michael. The Latest Myths and Facts on Global Warming. Environmental Defense, 2005, pp. 1-30.
