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Sasha Smith

Professor Moore

English 1301

9 April 2017

Climate Change

One of the largest debates in our society today, if not the largest is about Climate Change

or Global Warming. Climate change can refer to the rise in temperatures and the production of

large amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. When there is a large amount of

carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, and greenhouse gas emissions, which is protecting

us from the suns rays, it begins making holes in the atmosphere. The arguments are whether

humans are creating climate change by increasing the carbon dioxide emissions from the burning

of fossil fuels or whether climate changes are a natural occurrence that happens every few

hundred years from volcano eruptions, solar radiation received by Earth and plate tectonics.

The first of many issues of Climate Change is the rise in global temperatures. Around the

globe, the average temperatures are at an all-time high and the temperature has risen 1.4 degrees

Fahrenheit since the year 1880. Michael Mann who was a climatologist, created the hockey

stick results, showing the pattern of rising temperatures. The majority of these results are from

Europe and the United States. The graph purports to show that global temperatures were steady

from about AD 1000 until the twentieth century, when they began a sharp uptrend, presumably

owing to accelerating human use of carbon-based fuels. (Fowler, 36). This graph was accepted

by many people until holes in the data were found. The graph is missing the Medieval Warm

Period and barely showed the Little Ice Age, which made temperatures seem a lot higher. Both of

these period were crucial pieces of history when showing patterns in the weather. Neither of the
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two may have been for long periods of time, but the rising temperature of the Earth that is going

on now could also be for a short amount of time as well.

The second of the many issues of Climate Change is the occurrence of more extreme

weather patterns. The recent flooding in the south of United States of America, the draught in the

west of the United States of America, the tsunamis in Chile, massive Hurricanes all of the globe

are examples of extreme weather patterns. These changes are occurring due to the industrial

revolution in the early 20th century. Since the rise of the industrial revolution, the carbon dioxide

emissions have risen because of factories using fuel to produce the energy for the factories and

larger populations. The increase in carbon dioxide has increased the water temperature which is

causing the more extreme weather. While there has definitely been extreme weather in the past

couple of hundred years since we have been able to record data, there is also evidence of extreme

weather patterns in history, such as the great flood in the story of Noahs Ark, volcanic eruptions,

and the great hurricane of 1900 that hit Galveston Island. History repeats itself and according to

Keith Miller if we go back 500 million years, carbon levels were not just 10-20 percent higher,

they were 10-20 times higher. (Miller, 225).

The third issue is the rise of sea levels from the temperature increasing. Activists claim

the sea levels are much higher now than 25 years ago. This raises issues on flooding and

extinction which are caused by rise in temperatures. The extinction of species may not seem like

a big deal, but each species in a part of the food chain. Without one, another could become over

populated and that would not be good for humans. The non-believers claim if true it would not

be a sudden flood, and it would happen gradually over time, giving people and animals enough

time to move away from the coasts. On a global basis, world sea ice in April 2008 reached
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levels that were unprecedented for the month of April in over 25 years. Levels are the third

highest (for April) since the commencement of records in 1979 (Miller, 224).

While the climate change debate will be on going for many more decades to come, the

existence of humans may or may not. The existence of natural disasters and the Earth will still be

making history, as it is doing now. Carbon dioxide is being released by all of natural disasters

and humans could possibly be causing more rapid changes, but it will take many more decades to

find out since scientist just acquired a more trustworthy testing. The more global locations and

more long term data required, the better of an exact answer the human race will get. In 2016, an

agreement was signed called the Paris Agreement. This agreement is between 195 countries. The

agreements aims to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and lower greenhouse

gas emissions. This is the first climate agreement. With the new deal, this could help prevent any

further damage if humans have caused any.

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Works Cited

Fowler, Thomas B. "The Global Warming Conundrum." Modern Age, vol. 54, no. 1-4, Winter-

Fall2012, p. 40. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f5h&AN=85445034&site=ehost-live. Apr 9 2017.

Miller, Keith B. "The Nature of Science and the Public Debate over Anthropogenic Global

Warming." Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith, vol. 64, no. 4, Dec. 2012, pp. 220-

229. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=83722757&site=ehost-live. Apr 9 2017.