The Existence of Global Warming - Essay Example

?One of the most heated environmental debates which have existed for the past 15-20 years within the scientific and political community is with relation to the existence of global warming. The topic itself is hotly contested between both left and right of the political spectrum; between progressives and conservatives and between developing and developed nations. Each of these shareholders has something to gain or to lose based upon their own interpretation and as such this topic has been a particularly messy one to understand and to define. Accordingly, this brief essay will attempt to briefly analyze this monolithic problem through the lens of one particular article that promotes the understanding that global warming is in fact something of a hoax. The article, entitled “The Global Warming Conundrum” discusses the fact that something of a a middle path to this ongoing debate that has been raging and consuming valuable time in the process should be engaged. Furthermore, this author will seek to make a determination with regards to the question of whether human action or natural causes best explains the climate fluctuations that planet earth has recently been chronicling. Lastly, as a function of the previous points of discussion and analysis, the author will attempt to proscribe a reasonable and performable set of steps and solutions which both the scientific community and the world at large could and should seek to employ as a function of ameliorating the stress on planet earth and the issues at hand. Furthermore, as a means of bringing such an understanding about, the analysis will also rely upon relevant scientific publications on the topic as well as verifiable statistics and charts concerning overall levels of climate change and corresponding increases in CO2 emissions by humans over the past several decades. However, noting the global climate change is an issue is not, in and of itself sufficient. As such, the analysis will also consider the rapidly increasing demand that fossil fuels have been projected to assume over the next several decades and posit a potential alternative to further environmental degradation (Fowler 43). Firstly, the author of the article presents contrary point of view that strongly believes that the swings in climate change are the direct result of the presence of high amounts of human CO2 in the atmosphere that is causing a greenhouse effect on the planet and thereby causing world temperatures to rise. Prima fascia of this argument is the belief that human CO2 emissions are responsible for the changes to the global climate. It follows therefore that those which ascribe to this point of view are the most vehement that drastic and immediate changes to the manner in which human beings interact with planet earth and seek to use her resources in order to achieve a high standard of living be re-assessed as a function of whether such practices are best for the future health and longevity of the planet. However, the biggest drawback to this particular line of reasoning is the fact that the overall extent to which human CO2 factors into the percentage of total CO2 generated by planet earth on a yearly basis is so miniscule as to be laughable. Indeed, numerous studies have convincingly noted that human CO2 emissions only account for around 4% of total earth CO2 release in any given calendar year. Although this by no means relieves humans of their responsibility towards the planet, it does however help put into perspective the precise scope of this problem and the means by which it should be sought to be rectified. The problem with this point of view, as the article indicates, is of course the fact that the main causal factors for global climate change with respect to the recent changes in temperature patterns have not been considered. For instance, there is a preponderance of evidence that the size and heat the sun generates is of course non-uniform and varies depending on the level of solar flares and solar storm activity. As such, scientists have noted that beyond CO2 concentrations, the suns actual energy output has increased slightly over the exact same period in which the global climate change has been most powerfully noted. Of course the purpose of this brief essay is not to convince the reader regarding what the true culprit of global climate change truly is; rather, it is merely meant to acquaint the reader with the various causal mechanisms that likely influence the way in which the planet’s climate is regulated and changes as both a function of solar activity, human actions, and overall concentration of a number of other factors. Yet another issue with the global warming as a result of CO2 emission side of the argument is the fact that it is scientifically proven that global temperature is determined not only by CO2 levels, or the sun but also by the world’s oceans. Due to the fact that the oceans of the world cover more than 70% of the surface of the earth, they have a profound effect on regulating the temperature of our global system. Moreover, scientists have recently proven that the world’s oceans dictate the global temperature levels more so than was previously recognized and at a rate that no one thought was possible. For instance, due to the fact that the oceans of the world are so deep and so expansive, it takes decades for global climate changes spurred on by other factors to actually be felt. In this way, it is the earth’s way of naturally providing a reactionary thermostat that does not allow minor variations to be immediately and painfully felt by the biosphere. Taken at face value, such an understanding would necessarily mean that the peaks in global temperature that have been felt within the past several decades would have been the result of much earlier temperature peaks and are only exhibiting themselves via the worlds warming oceans at a much later date. Understanding this is important due to the fact that any and all models of understanding with respect to global climate change must factor into account the effect that the oceans have on global climate patterns and overall temperature shifts. Similarly, the other side of the argument believes that humans have little if anything to do with global warming and as such the situation is little more than a large amount of prefabricated intellectual nonsense that is better left ignored. The primary issue with this point of view is the fact that it does not seek to find a solution to the recent swings and changes in global climate change and merely dismisses the argument of the other side on a categorical basis. The old dictum goes that it is better to have a flawed explanation than no explanation at all. In many ways this can be said for those that proffer this particular point of view. Rather than being able to promote a convincing and logical reason for the global climate change that has been evidenced in the recent past, this side merely contents itself with lampooning the abject silliness of the other side without seeking to offer a legitimate solution to something that they see as little concern. As such, from the information that has been presented, it is readily seen that the main ways in which the two sides disagree is the area of overlap which could most be exploited to find a middle path between these two. For instance, it is the recommendation of this author that although human CO2 emissions are obviously but a small component of the total CO2 release that go into the earth’s atmosphere in any given year, it is still nonetheless a release that has hitherto not been something that the earth’s environment has had to accustom itself with absorbing. As such, to disregard the compound effect that such a low statistical percentage could affect compounded over multiple years would also be foolish. Furthermore, in order to better understand the issue, it is necessary for those that seek to push the global warming agenda to take a thoughtful step back and consider the multitude of factors that can also contribute to global climate change. In this way, a type of middle path between the two points of view can be made as a means of seeking to effect a realistic and actionable level of change to the current system. Work Cited Fowler, Thomas B. "The Global Warming Conundrum." Modern Age 54.1-4 (2012): 40-62. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. Read More