Global Warming

The debate of if the Earth is warming due to human interaction has been around way before anyone in this group was born. There have been many scientific studies since then, and they continue to grow as more scientists either approve or disapprove to such claims. To prove that the Earth is warming due to human interaction, we first need to find out if we are warming or not.                                                                                                                                               

The Earth is indeed warming as of right now, but as of thirty years ago in the 1970’s it was believed Earth was cooling. In the 1970’s people actually feared we were going into another ice age. Now thirty years later, people think the earth will become inhabitable unless we do something now. This trend of the earth warming and cooling more than likely has been going on even before the introduction of man. Every so often the earth will warm up, and every so often the earth will cool down, and we today are unfortunate enough to be caught in a global warming period especially when you live in a town like Barstow.                                          

  If we want to predict how the climate will be in the future, we need to look at the past and realize that it’s completely random.  Climate patterns can’t be predicted because of they are random. An example would be of a meteorologist predicting a storm before it even forms, it’s impossible to do it, so how can we predict how the climate will be in the future? In 2005 we had a record setting high of hurricanes and tornadoes and everyone blamed it on global warming. In 2006 we had a record setting low of hurricanes and tornadoes and no one said a single thing about global warming that year. This tells you that weather patterns are unpredictable and we humans do not pay attention to all of the facts, except for the ones that inflict fear.                                                                                             

  A good example of the fear that is being inflicted is by how much this is being blown out of proportion. In the book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming it talks a lot about the “Greens”. The Greens are groups of people who really believe in the theory of “Global Warming”. The whole role play of the Greens is to basically scare people by installing fear in them. The Greens major leader is Al Gore. The main idea is that Al Gore uses his political power to use as an ally. He has a big name, people on his side to talk about “Global Warming”. Although a fact made about Global Warming is that it’s only a theory. Also in the book it talked about how the Greens use to focus on Global Cooling, and then abandoned it. Now Global Warming has come to effect. The Greens really have nothing better to do, just so they can stay in the middle. The Greens really don’t want strict control on corporate acting and individual behavior. Environmentalism has served for decades as the last excuse to increase governmental control over your actions. Global Warming possesses no such weakness. Not only is planetary existence on the line, but with global warming. The Greens can argue that greenhouse gas emissions in Ohio threaten people in Paris. Global problems demand global solutions; they argue thus helping to bypass the irritated obstacles posed by democratic decision makers. There for the planet is warming, but in a cycle that it have always been. It’s not going to change for anything that is just the way Earth works.

               It is obvious that global warming is not being caused by humans. The earth does this naturally, just like it has for billions of years. It did so during the various ice ages and the period of warming during the medieval times. Our presence on this planet cannot possibly change something so huge that has been happening for so long. A century ago the amount of carbon dioxide we had in the air was around 250 part per million this is from tests using ice cores, which still has not been perfected.) Since then the number has gone up to 350 parts per Million. That translates into for every million molecules of air, 350 of them are carbon dioxide. At the rate we are going we add about another 10 parts per million every five years. That's way too little to have such a huge impact. If every inch of land in San Bernardino County was covered with electric heaters then that might just be what it takes to heat the planet it up (if attaining so many of them to cover everything as much as possible.) Even if we were to do this the weather would knock out half of the heat being produced, still making it not enough to make a dent in the worlds overall temperature. We are just witnessing what Earth can do on it’s own. We have been caught in the middle of it. We just have to wait it out until everything cools down or we adjust to where water has been relocated.                                                                                                                                 James Lovelock author of Gaia, and The Revenge of Gaia, believes there is nothing to prevent global warming and we humans need to consider his concept of “Sustainable retreat”. Sustainable retreat means it's time to start talking about changing where we live and how we get our food; about making plans for the migration of millions of people from low-lying regions like Bangladesh into Europe; about admitting that New Orleans is a goner and moving the people to cities better positioned for the future. Most of all, he says, it's about everybody "absolutely doing their utmost to sustain civilization, so that it doesn't degenerate into Dark Ages, with warlords running things, which is a real danger. We could lose everything that way.”  

          Even though global warming is natural, we can contribute to slowing down the process by using more efficient things that emit carbon dioxide. Examples would be the Hybrid vehicles and Turbine wind generators. Not only do these two examples would help slow down the emission of carbon dioxide, it would lessen our dependency on foreign fuels. The Turbine wind generators would also create more jobs, and other upcoming alternatives would also contribute to creating more jobs.                                        

There is a general worldwide consensus there is climate change occurring, but many still claim it's not man made, but a natural earth cycle. While this may contain some truth, most believe it is caused from the burning of fossil fuels and man in general. The bottom line it is coming (if not already here) and we have to figure out what we can do. Waters rising will be a disaster, food will be affected and we got to plan for catastrophes like Katrina. This is going to hit everyone, we're all in a heap of trouble and the sooner we accept this fact, the better we can weather the situation. As far as politics go, it seems bush has cost us by delaying so long before deciding it was real. Obama seems to have a better grasp of its seriousness that is the overall perception shared by many. Finally, global warming is not as accurate a description as is climate change.                                                           According to one website article the best thing we can do about global warming is to learn about adaptation.  Planning for adaptation can and should complement efforts to reduce emissions, and an early start would reduce the overall costs. This is especially true when it comes to many large and expensive decisions, such as what kind of building or road to construct, where to locate a new nature reserve, or when to replace or relocate a power plant. Many investment and planning decisions being taken today could strongly influence the costs of adaptation in the coming decades and the options available to future generations. In some cases advance planning can ensure that efforts to adapt achieve great benefits at low or even no cost. Yet another advantage is that many adaptation measures will help people whether or not the climate changes. For example, adapting to current climate risks such as droughts and storms will offer immediate benefits to today’s most vulnerable people as well as benefits that will be appreciated by future generations. Similarly, adaptation measures can be incorporated into programs that address existing non-climate stresses, such as biodiversity loss. The more we strengthen our societies today, and the more we work towards a healthier natural environment, the better prepared and more resilient our world will be in the future. A major challenge facing us today is that there are still many uncertainties about climate change impacts and our options for adapting to them. There are simply too many variables – such as population growth, the economy, technology, and environmental stress – that, like the climate, will change over time.