Shirey Seigworth

ID: 90552226
Prof. Thomas
Soc. 005
April 1, 2014
Climate of Doubt
The documentary Climate of Doubt is about the beliefs of a group of individuals who do
not think global warming is real. These people include scientists and regular citizens who are
not convinced by the data and theories behind global warming. It is true that the globe naturally
heats and cools over time, however, these people think that humans have had no effect on the
recent trend of global warming. This disbelief is a social problem and global warming itself is a
social problem because serious actions need to be taken to try and halt the negative human
influence on the environment that is leading to an increased greenhouse effect. Global warming
may not affect the current generations living on the planet by a whole lot but our future
generations will be forced to deal with the problems due to our past and current neglect of the
environment. Global warming did not happen overnight and each day that industrialized nations
release excessive carbon emissions we dig our future generations a bigger hole. Global warming
will be extremely hard to stop and reverse before it is too late. It is a social problem in and of
itself that a significant number of people do not believe in global warming and even that people
who do believe in it are not taking the proper actions to help reduce human influence on climate.
Global warming should most definitely be considered a social problem because the data does
indeed show an increase in temperature with at some influence from humans and their industrial
carbon emissions. The disbelievers have skewed the data in an attempt to prove that there is not
an increase in temperature. However, there are manipulating the data and selecting parts of the
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graphs that do not show an increase and are ignoring the bigger picture that overall the
temperature is certainly increasing.
The social-constructionist theory is applicable to global warming. This theory is that
social problems arise when people find certain things to be detrimental and in need of change.
This theory applies to global warming because at first humans were unaware of their effects on
the environment and the trends of climate. However, in recent decades climate has been
monitored more closely and in the last ten years or so scientists have begun to see negative
patterns that show not only global warming but that humans play a significant role in causing
increased global warming. Clearly, if the global warming we are experiencing is not entirely
natural change needs to occur to try and stop this from continuing. Scientists have found the
recent trends disconcerting and have done their best to get the word out to politicians and the
public in hopes that enough support will lead to change. This is a great example of the social-
constructionist theory at play. Another theory can be applied to the global warming issue, which
is the social-conflict theory. This theory sees society as divided and in conflict. The opposition
to global warming efforts have successfully generated disbelief in a substantial amount of
people. This has created a lot conflict in-between scientists, politicians, and the public. There is
a divide in beliefs and that in itself has created other conflicts because the opposition has
convinced enough people that now legislation is quite hard to pass that attempts to try and
prevent the continued effect on climate change. Because of the evident divide in beliefs and
subsequent conflicts the social-conflict theory is pertinent in this situation.
There may not be any way to reverse global warming (at least in todays age with current
technology). However, a lot can be done to try and decrease our influence on global warming.
Although steps have been taken to lower CFCs and other harmful chemicals that cause ozone
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depletion in the Clean Air Actthat is simply not enough. Overall, carbon emissions need to be
regulated and lowered much more drastically. So far the legislation has been lacking and a
disappointment to those who believe in global warming. More research needs to be focused on
alternative fueling because at this rate, not much progress has been made at least in terms of
actually implementing such alternative fuels. Renewable energy or cleaner energy sources need
to be implemented instead of coal and oil. The failure of Cap and Trade was a big legislative
letdown and a similar policy needs to be passed. The legislators in states such as North Carolina
need to implement new policies and protocols to protect citizens from rising sea levels etc.
caused by global warming. The threat is real. The undermining of global warming is incredibly
detrimental.