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Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 By Maddie Hagan
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There have been many debates about global warming throughout the years: is it man-made, is it actually happening, or is it just a natural cycle of the earth? Some believe it is just a scam pulled by the media and others feel that it is a matter which needs much attention from the public in order to limit the effects of global warming on the environment. It is nearly impossible to determine which side of the argument is correct because there is not enough evidence to support or disprove either side. Then, there are some who have no opinion on the debate, and have concluded that the evidence supporting each argument has allowed for them to draw the conclusion that they can’t take any sides. Many factors point towards global warming, but the only way to tell is to wait.

Sea levels rising, global temperature increasing every decade, ice melting, and many other current events have lead scientists, as well as the public, into believing that global warming is happening, and is man-made as all of these happenings have occurred after the Industrial Revolution, a man-made event that essentially began modern-day life. The Industrial Revolution began in 1750 and was a time in which changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, technology, and transportation changed the everyday life for the common person, making life easier with inventions in the above fields. Among the many things created in this time, glass blowing, gas lighting, and the paper machine were some of the most important and influential. This period ended in 1850, but a second Industrial Revolution began again, which resulted in the invention of the automobile industry, the chemical and petroleum industry, and electrical industries. From all of these inventions, GDP per capita was increased, thus resulting in capitalism, which has driven the need for more, and the production of so many wasted materials. The entire production from both Industrial revolutions began in an increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and this sudden amount of carbon dioxide and the natural greenhouse effect has caused for the earth to warm and for all of the changes to happen. The natural greenhouse effect is a process by which the sun heats the earth, and the atmosphere releases most of the heat, but many are kept within the atmosphere, and thus, earth is warming, and in current years, less heat is being released. And, CO2 is a heat-trapping gas caused by human activity, which hasn’t helped the increased warming of earth. From this evidence, many scientists believe that global warming is man-made and is happening, however it cannot be proved nor disproved, as the only way to do either is to wait for any other evidence to come up which may help prove either side of the climate debate.
 Earth has always gone through natural cycles, and some scientists believe that global warming is just a natural cycle of the earth, similar to the Holocene epoch. The Holocene epoch was a time that happened about 10,000 years ago and was a warming of the earth. During this time period, the Younger Dryas, Little Ice Age, and the Medieval Warming Period occurred. Both the Younger Dryas and the Little Ice Age were times of low temperatures and the Medieval Warming Period was quite the opposite, it was a time of warming. These were all natural cycles of the earth, of course, and also had been caused by other factors such as change in climate or introductions of species. However, many scientists strongly believe that global warming, which had happened in the Holocene epoch, is just a natural cycle of the earth, as well as the shrinking ice sheets and other effects of the warming in earth’s temperatures.
 Global warming is just a general term used to describe earth’s temperatures warming, globally, which they are; global warming is happening. Both sides to this argument on climate change however, agree the carbon dioxide levels have majorly increased since the Industrial revolution, a man-made event. Global temperatures have increased as well, but has the climate changed? That is essentially the entire debate, because global warming is happening, but is the earth’s climate being affected at a global level? The only way to disprove or prove this argument is to wait, and see what the future holds as scientists don’t have enough evidence to take a side. Well, what do you think about global warming, and do you think climates have changed, is climate change happening, taking into mind the recent ice melts and sea levels rising as well as other pieces of evidence?

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