Global Warming Today - What is climate change?

Global Warming is a major problem and is publicised in the news and many magazines, put simply global warming is the unwanted presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in large dangerous quantities. This CO2 tarps the suns rays in the atmosphere and so heats the planet up.

The main cause of this is people driving their cars, factories that pollute the atmosphere and other industrial companies that use non renewable energy that pour tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the air, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide. Global warming is well documented and is a matter of fact, every human being’s individual actions, e.g. driving your car to work, or leaving your television on standby instead of switching it off contributes just a little bit to global warming. If all of us do this on a day to day basis it adds up to a much bigger problem. If everyone changed their lifestyles and reduced their carbon footprint it would add up to big change and would lead to a brighter future for the next generations.

If we all did these small steps then the effect of global warming would be considerably reduced.

Many celebrities have become involved in the issue due to the coverage it receives on TV and radio, such celebrities include Leonardo DiCaprio who has become an environmentalist and is using his fame to highlight the problems of global warming and getting them discussed. This was followed by a documentary on channel 4 in which he highlights the issues.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has also attempted to use his status as actor/politician to highlight the issues, he has passed laws in California where he is governor to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere.

Also Al Gore has been well known for illustrating the issues of global warming, and has made a film about it, which won awards for its brilliance.
In contrast the author Michael Crichton wrote a book which was released in 2002 stating global warming was a conspiracy theory. These celebrities have used their fame to bring the issue to the forefront of peoples minds in an effort to facilitate change.

Some scientists believe that we should be more concerned about cooling rather than warming and that another ice age is headed our way, this is highlighted in a book called Not by Fire, But By Ice, which predicted an ice age in the next 400 years. And some anthropologists believe the heat has enabled the human race to evolve.

Many people believe that global warming problem has as much to do with politics and power control as it does with the environment, for instance if we planted millions of trees, developed the clean cola technology which already exists in early stages and coated the roads and tops of buildings to prevent heat loss, also it is possible to collect CO2 above buildings and use it for other purposes.

Many people believe that governments should not tax its people because of global warming, as it is not caused by just a single country and the wind may cause polluted air to move to other countries. They believe governments should do more to find alternatives to fossil fuels, like low lying land that is susceptible to flooding could harness this water for an energy source, likewise a high land country with lots of prevailing wind could use this as a source of energy.
If more trees were planted this would decrease the level of CO2 in the atmosphere as trees use carbon dioxide and expel oxygen, and many new forests have been planted since the 1930’s although trees can’t get rid of. And in some counties deforestation occurs on a massive scale especially in the amazon rainforest where trees are cleared for farming and firewood, likewise in Africa.

Earth’s climate is and has always been in a state of constant change which is all part of a normal cycle, however scientists do agree that changes have been caused by human impact of the earth (global warming)
In the USA the climate there has increased by 4 degrees Fahrenheit and every state in America has experienced an increase in temperature. In 1998 and 2006 these years were the warmest years on record for the USA, and 1999 and 2005 were the warmest in 25 years in America, and the average temperature in 2006 was 55 degrees Fahrenheit in America caused by climate change. Global warming has also increased the number of droughts that occur these always fit the world poorest hardest, especially in Africa, although in America there was a major drought that lasted from 1999 – 2002, there were two other major droughts that occurred in America in the last 40 years, however many smaller drought have occurred recently causing widespread wildfires that even set new records in 2006 for their size. These damaged crops, which devastated the food supply. Global warming also causes storms, some of which are very destructive and hurricanes have increased in the last few years. A pattern of downpours followed by long periods of drought. The overall climate has changed a lot in the last 50 years most of which has been brought about by global warming but if everyone took more responsibility for their carbon footprint the overall effect could be limited.

Many people including one Dr Deepak Chopra believes that we have the knowledge and technology to stop global warming and its effects, but because of the fear and hopelessness thoughts that come with the words “global warming” we are paralysed by fear and not motivated as a people or individually to stop it. People feel overwhelmed and powerless when they think of global warming and that one person cannot do anything to stop it, but if everyone did their little bit then it would make a difference.

Global warming is a serious problem and its campaigners demand to be heard and demand action, they had launched a huge PR campaign to get the issue highlighted and talked about, some scientists who don’t believe in Global warming are ridiculed by others. Many people are shown CO2 increases and no further information, if solar cycles pole axis movement, volcanic activity, ozone cycles and space energy. There are many factors that are not discussed and many reports are submitted from sources with other agendas, such as money and government funding.