Is Our Globe Warming?

The controversy and debate about Global Warming can be as vicious and volatile as a political campaign. Finding the truth in the midst of the professional opinion can be vexing at best. It follows that the political battles and conflicts within the scientific community continues to rage on with no end in sight. How are average citizens to find the truth in the midst of media hype, big business, and political agendas of powerful politicians and business enterprises (2009 Caruba)? For the majority of average Americans, the fight to keep their homes and provide for their families in these troubled times is overwhelming; and if they watch the nightly news, their heads are filled with threats of shortages, job scarcity, and rising crime rates; not to mention one global crises after another. These are immediate threats that can put most citizens in a state of hopelessness and apathy. To add insult to injury, the approach by professionals that use fear-based tactics to elicit a response to global warming issues, cause many to become withdrawn and angry. Consequently, instead of researching the truth independently and making personal changes in lifestyle, the general public tends to wait for someone else to change things, fall in line with the most prominent stars and media voice; and/or, bury their heads in the sand (2009 Caruba).

With this in mind, how do we, as a nation, wade through the endless controversies around Global Warming and come to a rational understanding? This is a difficult question for many professionals, who have theories and statistics, but most of the data collected and used to recognize the global warming trend are only 75-130 years old which is not a lot of time to gauge the affects of a complex phenomenon as Global Warming. Additionally, we don't really know how accurate the data collecting techniques, equipment, and resources were before advanced technology. Also, many profoundly important professionals are excluded from nationally impacting studies; therefore, the data is incomplete and unbalanced (2009 Everett). For example, some powerful players in this debate deliberately exclude those professionals in the scientific community who opinions do not support mainstream theories. For instance, many well respected scientists believe that the earth is actually cooling; therefore, the global warming trends are not a threat, but a natural phenomenon that cycle on regular intervals since the earth's conception (2009 Everett).

These scientists theorize that the natural trend of global warming is used as 'a smoke and mirrors' tactic to create more revenue for big business and corporations. After-all, if we create new industries, vehicles, and energy sources the economy will be spurred by a new workforce; consequently, it follows that those large corporations and the wealthy businessmen and women will line their pockets with the profit (2009 Easton). Obviously, public opinion is important to the careers of politicians, and who knows from one debate to the next what their agenda is. Even so, one may conclude from recent political events that whether global warming is truly happening or not, the scare is assisting the politicians in creating policies that will reboot our economy. For example, since President Obama's election, more stimulus money has been designated to education and enterprises devoted to saving the planet by "going green." We must conclude that as a politician, the need to positively affect popularity polls will always be the driving force behind many decisions. Therefore, the idea that any politicians really believe, or know for-a-fact that the planet is in danger is mute, as long as their actions help the economy and assist in making the earth a priority.

When considering the claims and theories that dispute the global warming threat, how valid are the arguments against global warming theories? Actually, in the 1970's Russian scientists studying the solar system and its mechanics noticed that the earth was actually cooling. With convincing data they warned that if it continued the outcome would be catastrophic. Additionally, the 128 years of NASA GIS data shows 2008 as the most drastic year-to-date cooling trend ever. So, if this is true, why are the Polar ice caps melting? These scientists have data that offer another event as the culprit to this disaster that was published in 2008 by Scafetta and West. This paper clarifies the cause of these phenomenons and proves their theory by presenting well defined facts. Recently, they found and documented the reason for the Asian Glaciers melting, and the data is not only convincing, but accepted as fact. In this publication Scafetta and West shared that 68% of the warming is from the sun, and the sun is predicted to cool (2008 Ramanathan &Michael). This means that 60% of the warming is actually produced by soot, which did, in fact, cause the Asian Glaciers to melt. Consequently, many respected scientist believe the warming trend is dependent on the sun (which is cooling and quiet) and not the CO2's (2009 Everett).

On the other side of the issue, In the text called Taking Sides, Seth Schulman introduces the concept of disinformation campaign's, (a tactic used in political campaigns to defuse accusations) and pinpoint one used by Exxon Mobil to raise doubts about the dangers of Global Warming just as the ". . . tobacco industry did about the evidence linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease" (Easton 2009). This strengthens the conception that the politics around the issues concerning global warming are based more on the agendas of leading officials than on the evidence presented by the scientific community. For instance, for over a century scientists have realized that carbon dioxide and other gases keep the heat from escaping the earth's atmosphere. This is one major "green house effect" that assists the life sustaining nature of the earth. Even so, we can produce too many CO2's because of industrial byproducts. There are many reasons besides the obvious that cause concern. Some events that have these professionals wringing their hands are the widespread melting of ice and snow, the rising global air and ocean temperatures, and the rising global average sea levels (2009 Easton).

According to these scientists, temperature changes on a global scale will alter all the ecosystems and climate patterns of the earth. This means that ocean, plant, animal, and human ecosystems will be altered (some to the point of extinction) if efforts aren't made to change current trends (2009 Cause and Effects of Global Warming). Since fossil fuel, coal and other popular energy sources are used on a global scale; our first step in reversing the negative trend will be finding alternate sources of energy like renewable energy such as wind, or solar power; biodegradable products that are safe for the environment, and vehicles that cause less CO2 to be emitted (2009 Audubon). Another focal point for those professionals are those dangers that go unnoticed because of political cover-ups, or a plain, old-fashion case of 'lack of knowledge.' For example, the consumerism that goes on in the more wealthy nations fuels their economy; but, also adds to the emissions of dangerous green house gases. One fact that most consumers are unaware of, is the danger that 'garbage gases' create once they begin the decomposing process. Some products that cause these dangerous fumes are plastics, paper, and electronics. These are consumer byproducts that are disposed of on a regular basis. Another issue that concerns scientists are the effect that industry substances and pesticides have had, and are is still having, on the ocean's delicate ecosystem and our limited supply of fresh water. Also, Oceans have few controls in place for their preservation. Consequently, there are dead zones and poisonous algal blooms increasing in number in our oceans. Plastic and other contaminants ensnare, choke, and kill sea birds, mammals and even fish. Other sources of water contamination are pathogens created by untreated or improperly treated human waste, which infects humans and other species with lethal waterborne diseases (2009 Cunningham pp.247-48, 253).

The scientists that back the global warming argument theorize catastrophic events in our future unless we make drastic changes in our environmental impact and our ecological foot-print on a global scale (2009 Cunningham). Among the most impacting effects are human activity and energy consumption. Those professionals that believe global warming is caused by CO2 and other emissions direct citizens to make changes in our energy consumption. By limiting and changing not only the amount, but the type of energy used we will enable the earth to repair the damages we've caused by years of neglect. The population is also a factor when estimating the dangers we face as the globe warms (2009 Cunningham). So what are we doing about it? Despite the very real, ongoing debates about global warming and its existence, many countries are taking an active stance in reducing their greenhouse emissions. For instance, Britain is beginning a campaign to substitute natural gas for coal, and the United Kingdom has already reduced their emissions to the numbers they saw ten years back, and vows to reduce them 60% by the year 2050. Germany is another country determined to make a difference, and has also reduced their CO2 emissions by replacing coal with natural gas, and encouraging citizens to become energy efficient. The United States and Canada established the Clean Water Act in 1972, which has made a big impact on our ability to protect our water. (2009 Cunningham pp214-15). These efforts and many others are helping humanity to make significant progress in our world-wide efforts to "go green."

Interestingly, on an individual scale, even with the very real facts around the sun's cooling trends, people are making changes in favor of "going green" within their daily lives and there's an obvious change in their attitudes about our earth, and our responsibility to care for and protect the species we share our planet with. It follows that, it is not uncommon to see smart cars on a daily basis in the year 2009. This was such an uncommon and weird experience in past years that seeing a hybrid putt down the road not only turned heads, but commonly gave rise to snickers. Although they are still making improvements, the newer versions of these cars are pleasing to the eye and make very little noise. Consequently, more and more hybrids are replacing the gas driven cars. Additional changes can be seen in many grocery stores. Most sell reusable bags and if a customer doesn't have their own, the employee is trained to ask "paper or plastic." In addition to these positive steps, most people are learning to purchase "eco-friendly" cleaners and biodegradable products. Hence, in American, much of the younger generation seems more environmentally conscious than any other generation since the industrial revolution, which is encouraging. Lastly, there are groups of concerned citizens that donate to efforts to clean up third world countries and assist them with disease, famine, and contaminated ecosystems. These changes and many others are proving that the impact of the global warming controversy is causing a new awareness of our natural world that is positive and productive.

Consequently, the debate over our world ecosystem and global warming is going strong, and rightly so. Many humans would never realize the importance of our planet's health to our own health, and the health of the species we live with without these controversial topics being public. This is why it is important that the science community continues to publish their findings, whether they are supporting the global warming theories or disproving them. Humanity needs to learn about and respect the delicate ecosystems that sustain all life on our planet. Whether we agree or disagree, we all understand the influence each person can have on their ecosystem which is the beginning of taking person responsibility for change. Education is the foundation for growth, positive change, and can cause communities to begin working together to make the world a better place.

In conclusion, the controversy and debate about Global Warming can be as vicious and volatile as a political campaign. Finding the truth in the midst of the professional opinion can be vexing at best. There is no doubt that global warming is a political, controversial issue in which the agenda's of powerful players can and do sway public opinion for unsavory purposes. Even so, it is not only practical but smart to go back-to-basics. Whether global warming is a threat, or a natural occurrence is secondary to the importance of our health and the health of those species we have the honor of sharing this great planet with. Politics aside, we can all benefit from eco-friendly habits and reusable energy sources that assist Mother Nature's natural processes. The trick is not finding out who's telling the truth, but instead finding affordable options that the average citizens of the world can incorporate into their lives; because, protecting our environment is the not only the right thing to do, it is the only thing we can do to make a difference on an individual scale.