Are We Experiencing a Climate Crisis?
Professor Berntsen
English 360
10 October 2007
Are We Experiencing A Climate Crisis? The issue of global warming has been widely debated in our country the past few years. It is an important topic because it threatens the existence of the human race. Global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect, refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. This climate crisis is a huge environmental and ecological challenge that our planet in facing today. The consequences of ignoring this problem may result in a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, flooding, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced or could imagine (Climate Crisis). However, through my research I have realized that there are some skeptics who do not think global warming is a threat people should be concerned about, and that this whole issue is over exaggerated, almost mythical. Although the following essay will consider the arguments of these skeptics, I will defend the claim that global warming is a real issue with serious consequences and that we as a society must intervene and take action. The fact that the earth's atmosphere is gradually getting hotter every year is agreed upon by the majority of scientists in the field. The question is how and why are the temperatures rising? For starters, global warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. In the United States, coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution. These plants produce 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution every year. Second to coal-burning power plants are our automobiles. Our vehicles create more than 1.5 billions tons of carbon
English 360
10 October 2007
Are We Experiencing A Climate Crisis? The issue of global warming has been widely debated in our country the past few years. It is an important topic because it threatens the existence of the human race. Global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect, refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. This climate crisis is a huge environmental and ecological challenge that our planet in facing today. The consequences of ignoring this problem may result in a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, flooding, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced or could imagine (Climate Crisis). However, through my research I have realized that there are some skeptics who do not think global warming is a threat people should be concerned about, and that this whole issue is over exaggerated, almost mythical. Although the following essay will consider the arguments of these skeptics, I will defend the claim that global warming is a real issue with serious consequences and that we as a society must intervene and take action. The fact that the earth's atmosphere is gradually getting hotter every year is agreed upon by the majority of scientists in the field. The question is how and why are the temperatures rising? For starters, global warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. In the United States, coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution. These plants produce 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution every year. Second to coal-burning power plants are our automobiles. Our vehicles create more than 1.5 billions tons of carbon