Global warming talk cools down
Global Scorning
Michelle Udem
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Opinion
Global warming has been a hot topic for a substantial part of the 21st century so far. However, does global warming actually deserve all these water-cooler chats and front page headlines? Some scientists and critics are convinced global warming is all hooey, but more have the evidence to prove that the melting ice caps and longer summers are effects of a rising global temperature due to anthropogenic reasons.
The term "global warming" refers to an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures that is widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect, which is mostly caused by pollution and greenhouse gases. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press recently found that only 35 percent of people, recently surveyed, see global warming as a very serious problem as opposed to 44 percent back in April of 2008. Furthermore, the Research Center also found that only 57 percent of the 1500 adults surveyed believe there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been rising over the past few decades. Yet, in April 2008, 71 percent of this sample population believed there is solid evidence of rising global temperatures.
At the same time, prominent scientists warn that the world can expect decades of disruptive climate patterns, rising sea levels, drought and famine if the gas concentration exceeds the upper limit for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a number they believe to be 350 parts per million. The current concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 387 parts per million. Though climate change campaigners and some prominent scientists from all over the world emphasize the importance of keeping carbon dioxide levels at 350 parts per million, other scientists and economists believe 350 to be unrealistic and discouraging. Michael Oppenheimer, a scientist who previously worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, told The New York Times that it would be a Herculean accomplishment to hold concentrations below even 450 parts per million in the coming decades. However, environmental author and activist, Bill McKibben told the Times that the goal of 350 is simply used to build a "global community" for climate change action.
The term "global warming" refers to an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures that is widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect, which is mostly caused by pollution and greenhouse gases. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press recently found that only 35 percent of people, recently surveyed, see global warming as a very serious problem as opposed to 44 percent back in April of 2008. Furthermore, the Research Center also found that only 57 percent of the 1500 adults surveyed believe there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been rising over the past few decades. Yet, in April 2008, 71 percent of this sample population believed there is solid evidence of rising global temperatures.
At the same time, prominent scientists warn that the world can expect decades of disruptive climate patterns, rising sea levels, drought and famine if the gas concentration exceeds the upper limit for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a number they believe to be 350 parts per million. The current concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 387 parts per million. Though climate change campaigners and some prominent scientists from all over the world emphasize the importance of keeping carbon dioxide levels at 350 parts per million, other scientists and economists believe 350 to be unrealistic and discouraging. Michael Oppenheimer, a scientist who previously worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, told The New York Times that it would be a Herculean accomplishment to hold concentrations below even 450 parts per million in the coming decades. However, environmental author and activist, Bill McKibben told the Times that the goal of 350 is simply used to build a "global community" for climate change action.
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