Confronting concerns of global warming
Heads or tails? Right or wrong? Black or white? There seems to be two sides to everything.
Recently, bombarded by the media with headlines like, “Global Warming…Is It the END of the World?” I began to wonder if there is another side to this story of global warming. I have yet to turn to any source of local news or pick up The Star Tribune and hear, “Global Warming…Nothing to Worry About.” My question is: Should we worry about global warming or not?
In the early 80’s, popular thought was that another ice age was coming. In 1983, TIME Magazine’s headline was, “The Next Glaciation.” Recently, TIME Magazine put out an edition titled, “Be Worried, Very Worried” in regard to Global Warming. In 20 some years—how is it that we have gone from the idea that the earth is going to freeze, to the earth is going to melt itself away? How have temperatures done a 180 in that little amount of time? Perhaps, they were wrong then, and are wrong now.
Living in this great state of Minnesota, “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” the question must arise: Why are there so many lakes around here? The answer is simple. Thousands of years ago there were gigantic pieces of ice that passed through this area and melted because temperatures rose. More scientifically speaking, going back about 18,000 years, the glaciers of North America were at their peek. They began to recede until about 4,000 years ago, when the atmosphere began to warm. Eventually, there was not a piece of ice left, but only many bodies of water.
With the recent popularity of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, it seems that people stopped questioning global warming because it is presented as a scientific fact. According to the film, humans are to blame for the downfall of our planet (the warming of the atmosphere) with our gas-guzzling SUV’s and comfort-glutton lifestyles. Overusing fossil fuels, we have emitted too great an amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; now we will pay unless we mend our ways.
Ecologists degrade the use of cars, due to the release of carbon dioxide. These ecologists never mention the fact that cars emit carbon dioxide in order to reduce pollution. Catalytic converters exist in all cars made after 1970, according to the Clear Air Act of 1970. This mechanism turns carbon monoxide, a harmful gas, into water and carbon dioxide. The release of carbon dioxide in this case is procuring our safety. But, I know each and every one of you is jumping at the chance to give up your car.
2005 was an unprecedented year for the number of hurricanes which occurred, by only two hurricanes. The media says that the extra two hurricanes were due to the effects of global warming. 2006 was forecast to be an even more devastating year, but in fact, 2006 resulted in the fewest hurricanes since 1997.
Ironically, we have accounts of violent storms since the Ancient Greeks in The Odyssey. Further, accountable hurricane recordings only exist for the past 40 years. Therefore, it is deceitful and presumptuous to say that these have been the worst years for storms in a thousand years.
Technically, the land is warmer since 12,000 AD, the time of a mini ice age. Hopefully, the temperatures would rise after a period of extreme freezing.
An Inconvenient Truth chooses to ignore the fact that our planet has been warming for thousands of years, but not at a dire rate. The ever popular hockey-stick graph the film showcases showing rising temperatures is a fraudulent PR ploy. In the 20th century the temperature rose 0.7 degrees Celsius.
What the two sides, when addressing global warming, differ on is what type of carbon dioxide has a warming effect. Most chemists will tell you carbon dioxide is carbon dioxide, whether it comes from a vehicle or a person’s lungs. Greenhouse theorists say nature’s contribution of carbon dioxide and man’s are quite different. Nature’s supposedly does not add to Global Warming.
No one will argue that man’s machines do not release carbon dioxide, but even today, nature still releases 30 times more than humans. Carbon dioxide released by humans is called anthropogenic, and this is the only type taken into consideration in An Inconvenient Truth and The Kyoto Protocol (A 1997 United Nations agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions). Don’t be shocked, but of all the carbon dioxide, only 3.2% is anthropogenic (caused by humans).
Think back to the world 18,000 years ago. The earth clearly warmed significantly to have melted massive amounts of glaciers. So, why didn’t the earth die out? Warming of the earth is natural. The earth is continually going through cycles of temperature change. According to Richard S. Lindzen of MIT, awarded as the world’s best climatologist, anthropogenic carbon dioxide produces less than .1% of the greenhouse effect. All greenhouse gases only cause 2% of the warming.
Both sides, considering global warming, will tell you that the earth is warming at this point in its life. Yet, the warm temperatures are not global. There is no record of an increase in the temperature in the southern hemisphere. Also, since the beginning of the 1990’s, many of the weather stations have closed, specifically in the cold areas of the former Soviet Union.
We have become accustomed to the world we know today; we cannot fathom that Chicago was once covered with ice. Today, a frozen Chicago would not be beneficial for our lifestyle, but there is no telling what a perfect temperature is for any place on earth. Is a warmer Chicago detrimental to our lifestyle?
In the northern hemisphere, the highest temperature increases are noted during the night and winter. The higher temperatures permit longer periods of cultivation which permit agricultural productivity. Also, warmer temperatures mean less use of heaters, which would mean less use of coal, and therefore reduced carbon dioxide (win-win!).
It is left to the next generation, students, like ourselves, to create a world in which we can live and prosper. It is difficult to do this in a society where only one side of an issue is readily available and propagated.
We must face this challenge and dig a little deeper so we as individuals can make informed decisions. Our environment is essential to our lives and we must take care` of it, and act as conservationists. This doesn’t mean we must regress into the days of horse and buggies, when perhaps the environment was no safer. Instead, let us be proud of our advancements and keep pressing on for better.
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