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Global Warming: Raising the Right Issues
From WikiVerde
Global warming has been both vehemently claimed and adamantly denied. Respected scientists, meteorologists and other researchers have argued both sides of the question. Among the skeptics, many will agree that the planet is warmer than it used to be, but the issues that are debatable include the amount of warming to be expected, what the results of continued warming will be, the extent to which humans have caused the problems, and what role the government should take regarding global warming.
Global Warming - Does it exist?
Although many who believe in global warming would begin a discussion by assuming that the planet is steadily increasing in temperature, one of the major issues to be discussed first is whether or not global warming actually exists. Opinions seem to be fairly evenly divided on the issue at present. Part of the rush to assume global warming exists lies in the fact that some fairly significant public figures are verbalizing support of the issue.
There is little doubt that the glaciers are receding and that the ice caps are getting smaller. The questions and basis for the strenuous arguments from skeptics is determining whether or not this fluctuation in the earth's temperature actually constitutes a significant trend toward a warmer environment, or whether it is simply a part of a long range cyclical pattern in the earth's climate.
Recorded temperatures and the statistics that are revealed by studying such patterns are only as accurate as the equipment used and the accuracy of the person doing the recording. At the same time, studies of tree growth rings show good years and bad years in the life of the tree, but not necessarily the temperature of the earth during the growing years of the tree.
If it exists, what caused it?
If one makes the assumption that global warming is occurring, the next issues that will be raised are the causes of the warming. The simplest cause and effect statement is that global warming is defined as the rising temperature of the earth because of the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases, or the greenhouse effect is blamed on a number of factors all originating from human action. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is being released into the atmosphere which traps the sun's heat on the surface of the earth and causes the temperature to increase.
Various other human actions are being counted as causing the increased temperatures. For example, if the earth gets warmer and the polar ice caps melt, there is less reflective surface to send the sun's rays back into space. The oceans of the planet are not able to filter as much of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so they are becoming less viable as a cleansing agent in the environmental cycle. The destruction of the rain forest in the Amazon Basin is blamed on mankind as well, although for different causes than a few years ago. Slash and burn farming methods were blamed for changing the delicate balance of sustainable air and water temperature. Sometimes indigenous people are blamed, sometimes the large organizations who ravage the land for the products that lie under the surface.
How significant are the trends claimed?
Again, the significance of the trends and what they portend depends on the forecaster and the data that is being used to prepare the computer models. If the best figures are placed in the computer modeling software, the forecast usually turns out to be fairly insignificant problems in the future. If the worst numbers are modeled, the forecast can be gloomy indeed. If, as is often the case, reality is somewhere in between the two extremes, there will be some things that are worse than planned and others that no forecaster even thought of. However, in order to plan for actions, the assumption of widespread sociological, geographical and other problems must be individually determined and studied for ways to create a solution.
Another characteristic of such action plans is that typically it's not a single action that will affect warming trends, but the combination of many factors, some of which are not in the control of the government agency that is in charge of the problem.
What impact will be caused by such warming trends?
Many factors can be tied to warming trends, but the seriousness of their impact will be dependent on other issues rather than simply cause and effect. For example, while flooding along coastlines may affect people and housing, others might be negatively impacted in relation to agricultural plantings and food production, and still other people may be unaffected environmentally. Significant population shifts in cities and in more rural areas as well can affect things like employment, housing sales, health issues and nutritional capabilities. If two or more of these factors occur in combination, the impact can more than double. For example, if rising waters force relocation of the citizenry and there is not enough infrastructure to handle a mass immigration into a nearby city, there will be food, transportation, health, and employment issues all balanced precariously on top of the initial flooding and relocation. This is just the short term impact. Long term flooding, food shortages, unemployment and health issues can overwhelm the most prepared citizenry and government emergency preparedness plans.
Who is responsible for correcting the problem?
Global warming may be reversible, but it may already be too late to mitigate some or all of the damage. However, whether the concept of global warming is accepted personally or corporately, there are steps that can be taken by individuals and governments that will help to alleviate some of the known causes. Steps taken by individuals include reducing the consumption of energy that causes heat in the atmosphere. Governments can mandate energy conservation policies or encourage them, thus reducing the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Will Ferrel in : Bush and Global Warming
Resources
http://www.alternet.org/environment/40639
