Reasons For Global Warming - Essay Example

Reasons For Global Warming The article "Some Convenient Truths" by Gregg Easterbrook is one the contributions in studying the issues and government contribution towards environmental problems. The article focuses its attention towards the issue of global warming. Easterbrook is much interested in finding out the reasons which contribute towards such a negative portrayal and debates surrounding the issue. He is much of the opinion that the issue is not as negative as the media and other contributors are proving it to be. He gives certain facts which are related to the negativism of environmental hazards which are resolved or reduced to a great extent through the efforts of governments. Regardless of the achievements made in the past, he argues that "Yet a paralyzing negativism dominates global-warming politics. Environmentalists depict climate change as nearly unstoppable; skeptics speak of the problem as either imaginary (the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated," in the words of Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate's environment committee) or ruinously expensive to address." Arguments against the existence of global warming, or it being imaginary, are given by the opponents of global warming who consider global warming as a myth. They state the fact that the Earth has been showing a warming trend over the past century. This argument also denies the possibility of CO2 as a reason for global warming. The temperature reconstruction direct towards the period which is known for the warm weather. That period is often called as the medieval warm period which shows higher temperature patterns than the 20th century. They also argue that these facts show the natural reasons behind such warm weather and changing temperatures. These are natural cycles of changing weather and humans do not contribute to it (Hoggan & LittleMore 2009). Moreover, this group of thinkers believes that the warming trend is not unusual and is a normal cycle of weather changes which occur naturally. Their claim about the Earth’s climate is clear. They believe that the Earth's climate is not affected by humans' actions, prevention and suspension of any act. It is free of our activities and temperature swings occur naturally. A study in this regard reveals that the Earth has a planetary ‘iris', which consists of tropical cloud cover. This cloud cover spreads out and contracts to control the quantity of heat exhibited from the surface of the Earth. (Lindzen et al., 2001). On the contrary, however, it is said by the supporters of global warming that medieval warm period was not researched properly and the research contains flaws. They also argue that there is no validity of the claims that the recent extreme conditions, including heat waves, intense precipitation, massive forest fires and worldwide coral bleaching, in the Earth's environment are the result of changing the climate. These are invalid, unrealistic and self-created myths which are not validly proven so far. In addition, they argue that the CO2 emitted by the activities of humans is not comparable to the natural resources that are available to eliminate the threat of the 'non-existing' global warming. The natural resources that the Earth acquires are greater than the Carbon Dioxide emitted hence, none of the human activities can be held liable for the massive increase in CO2 over the course of last few centuries. The cause of the warming temperature has been disclosed by this group as a natural phenomenon. The debate over the solar variability, cosmic rays, recovery from the ice age and so on (Leroux 2006). This group also denies the claim that the warming is caused by greenhouse gases. The fact that they present in this regard is that warming does not follow the trend of greenhouse gases concentration. This group also asserts that the increased warming detected around the world for the past century is the effect of increased urbanization. This warming is also a result of other changes on the surface of the land including deforestation etc (Easton 2005). Moreover, the opponents of global warming also have to say that the greenhouse gases which tend to accumulate in the troposphere have not caused any major change in the temperature of the layer. This hypothesis is further backed up by the satellite data which measures the layers of the surfaces over the earth (Christy et al. 2003). Easterbrook’s research and arguments, however, are all encouraging the fact that global warming indeed is a developing and growing issue as a result of human’s activities. He calls for various interventions, which were made in the past for antipollution and environmental sustainability. Easterbrook provides ample persuasive arguments in favor of the fact that global warming is diminishable by human efforts which further enlightens his conceptual agreement to global warming being a result of human activities. Easterbrook further adds up a debate about the costs related to or associated with the reduction of harmful environmental effects. He motivates the readers towards the point that environmental measures taken by various governments like that of George W. Bush were not as expensive as they were thought to be due to rapid development of the technological advancements. He clearly is of the opinion that media and other related parties are overwhelmingly negative about the issue and prove this issue as irresolvable which, according to Easterbrook, is not the case. The article under consideration is a good effort towards motivating the thoughts of people and governments in taking certain steps to reduce the harms of global warming. Easterbrook persuades the reader on the possibility of reducing the environmental hazards and provides sufficient background information on how Bush’s government achieved success eventually. He criticizes the media and negative portrayal of global warming issue to an extent that discourages people, environmental agencies and governments to take an initial step in curbing the issue. The debates about the costs capture a major portion of these discouraging factors. Easterbrook provides an example of the catalytic converter which resulted in significant reduction in smog. Easterbrook is quite hopeful that the environment may be cleaned and the air may become less polluted once human beings as a whole consider their duty to work for hands in hands for the resolution of this problem. He is hopeful of some technologically advanced tools which may result in the reduction of global warming, possibly by replacing the environmentally dangerous equipment, tools, and resources like fossil fuels. The article by Easterbrook has its strengths as it provides a detailed investigation on motivating the thoughts of a reader towards ‘change'. His facts and discussion are mainly pointed towards changing the negative thoughts and understanding of the people over the issue. He draws a sketch of an environment where the impossible may become possible through constant efforts and an initial step taken instantly. He does not undermine the hazards but tries to convince on global warming as a controllable problem. There are certain weaknesses in the article as well. The article does not focus on the quantitative figures to support the claims. A more researched and properly designed study would have been more convincing. Easterbrook, somehow, fails to address and capture the negative side of the issue. He does not provide a balanced picture of the environmental problem and fails to paint the devastating picture of global warming’s effect on human beings, other species and the environment as a whole. His suggestions are, somehow, far from reality. He does not provide a practical solution but instead generalizes it through his efforts to persuade on a practical step to be taken. He is counting on some advancements in technology like that happened in the past but does not point to the region, field or area of activities where he calls for advanced technologies. In conclusion, we can say that the article by Easterbrook is a great source of motivation but lacks practical implication. He does not provide a practical approach to be followed and provides a rather generalized discussion. His motivating article, however, is highlighting the positive achievements of various governmental programs which were not mentioned with such a magnifying quality before. Bibliography Christy, John R, Roy W. Spencer, William B. Norris, William D. Braswell, and David E. Parker. "Error Estimates of Version 5.0 of Msu-Amsu Bulk Atmospheric Temperatures." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. 20.5 (2003): 613-629. Print. Easton, Thomas A. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Environmental Issues. Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2005. Print. Hoggan, James, and Richard D. Littlemore. Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2009. Internet resource. Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming - Myth or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. Dordrecht: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg & Co. KG, 2006. Internet resource. Lindzen, Richard S, Ming-Dah Chou, and Arthur Y. Hou. "Does the Earth Have an Adaptive Infrared Iris?" Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 82.3 (2001): 417-432. Print. Read More