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By Mia (Age 16, USA)
“Global Warming,” the term that wasn’t heard often fifty years ago; the term now familiar to even primary-schoolers; the term that is tossed about everywhere by everyone: the television, the dinner table, the gas station, your local weatherman, the newspapers, even on clothing. The World Wildlife Fund has recently started making, “Hotter than I should be” t-shirts which appropriately are printed on 100 percent organic cotton. In the United States, the Toyota Prius, which gets 48 miles to the gallon (77.25 km / 3.79 L), is the most in demand car in the nation. To put it simply, global warming is the issue right now. But what is it exactly? What does it mean? Has it indeed sped up in the last half-century? Every scientist and civilian has his or her own opinion.
Before we get into that, however, we should first define global warming.
Global Warming: is the phrase used to describe the standard, gradual increase in average temperature worldwide over time. We should also clarify that yes, global warming is an actual thing. The debate doesn’t center upon whether or not global warming is happening, but rather on whether or not it is increasing at an abnormally fast rate, perhaps leading to drastic climate change. In turn, “climate change” must be defined as:
Any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer). [It] may result from:
Similar to global warming, climate change is undeniable. If it did not exist, we would still be in the Ice Age, freezing cold and hunting wooly mammoths. Thankfully, we aren’t. Various stimuli can effect climate change, and it’s perfectly natural for the Earth to go through rapid periods of cooling and warming. Most people, who don’t believe that global warming is happening at an unusual, and dangerous rate, argue that throughout history our planet has gone through phases of intense cold (like the Ice Age), and intense heat. They explain that it could be that we are currently headed into a warmer period. You have to remember that the Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, so a decade is practically nothing.
Nevertheless, the ten warmest years ever recorded, have happened since 1995, and further more, seven of the eight warmest have occurred in the last 7 years. This is enough to alarm a large number of people. These are the ones who believe that something on earth has changed in the past few centuries, which has set our planet on a path towards an unnaturally steep heating curve and hence, catastrophic climate change. Already, our seas are rising, the Artic is melting, and natural disasters are becoming more and more common.
In 1750, before the Industrial Revolution, the atmosphere contained 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2). This sounds like a lot, but the Industrial Revolution rapidly increased carbon emissions due to a boom in coal-burning factories. Today, when we drive cars, operate machinery, turn on our bedroom lights, or buy food at the grocery store, we unknowingly are adding to our carbon emissions. How else could the jump to 380 parts per million of CO2 be explained, as it was measured in 2004? Undeniably, we are polluting more, but the second real question is, “Are pollution and irregular global warming connected?”
While some might immediately point to increases in greenhouse gas emissions and a rise in average temperature (1 ºF, 0.56 ºC in the past century) to argue that we are to blame for the increase in global warming, others caution alarmists that maybe the two are not in fact connected. One of these people, William Gray, a hurricane expert, argues, “Nearly all of my colleagues who have been around 40 or 50 years are skeptical…. about this whole global-warming thing. But no one asks us. If you don't know anything about how the atmosphere functions, you will of course say, 'Look, greenhouse gases are going up, the globe is warming, they must be related.' Well, just because there are two associations, changing with the same sign, doesn't mean that one is causing the other." The argument over greenhouse gases is both complicated and divisive, but the actual Greenhouse Effect is fairly simple to understand.
If you’ve gardened, or even indeed eaten hydroponically grown vegetables, congratulations, you have come in indirect contact with a greenhouse. The Greenhouse Effect that scientists discuss is not that different. As gases, like water vapor and carbon dioxide, rise after being emitted, they remain in the atmosphere, effectively trapping heat in the lower part. While this sounds bad, it really isn’t. The Greenhouse Effect is what allows for a comfortable life on Earth. Without it, our planet’s temperature would be 0 ºF (-18 ºC) instead of 57 ºF (14 ºC). The issue lies in whether or not our enhanced levels of greenhouse gases (up from 280 to 380 parts per million since the Industrial Revolution) are negatively impacting the Greenhouse Effect and muffling more heat energy into our lower atmosphere than needed.
Ultimately though, regardless of whether our planet is heating up irregularly, or we’re actually causing it, the fact remains that the Earth is getting warmer and our climate has begun to change. We’re experiencing higher highs and lower lows, warmer and deeper oceans, and declines in deposits of sea ice. But what can we do to help? Regardless of which side of this argument you take, Earth’s climate will worsen if we continue to abuse it. Take the time to think about your actions today. You’ve probably driven somewhere, school or a friend’s house perhaps, then you might have gone shopping and enjoyed the nicely air-conditioned mall, and now you’re home again, on your computer. But stop and think: where does electricity come from? Currently, most of the world’s electricity is generated using fossil fuels, which continue to pollute our environment. Gasoline pollutes. Factories pollute. We are trashing our one and only home and when it’s beyond repair we will not be able to buy a new one. Something must change.
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