Despite the harsh, cold winter, 2010 is likely to be the warmest year on record (Homer-Dixon 2010, p.1). But powerful special interest groups with an economic incentive to fight global warming legislation, such as cattlemen who raise methane-generating livestock or the oil and gas industry, may win out in the short-term, politically. Yet they cannot fight the facts. Due to global warming, the "Northern Hemisphere's jet streams… could alter storm tracks, rainfall patterns and food production far to the south" of the equator, and create the conditions for famine and fuel further political unrest in an already war-torn region (Homer-Dixon 2010, p.2). Urgent action and lifestyle changes are needed, such as radically reducing carbon emissions from automobiles and overhauling existing energy systems (Homer-Dixon 2010, p.2). This could prove quite costly, however, and demand sacrifices of the developing as well as the developed world. The means of addressing global warming is not 'fair' given that certain regions of the world have benefited more from industrialization, polluted more, yet all countries must curtail their energy use to some degree, for policies to be effective. People will have to drive differently, govern their...
Because it is not politically expedient or pleasant, politicians, fringe scientists, and ordinary human beings grasp at straws to 'prove' global warming wrong, such as pointing to a freakishly snowy winter, even though an increase in storms' severity is part of the symptoms of global warming. The complexity of scientific data is difficult to understand. Ever since the age of Galileo, political ideology and scientific truths have always been uncomfortable bedfellows.
What Marshall does to bolster his argument that Global Warming is a sham is quote from scientists and experts in the field who are doubters; for example, Dr. Boris Winterhaiter, a professor of marine geology in Australia, claims that Al Gore's movie is full of "circumstantial arguments." And those arguments, Winterhaiter is quoted as saying, "are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention," the
These effects would be unfairly harsh on developing nations, who had little to do with creating the problem; this is one of the reasons that recent international talks in Copenhagen have stalled (WGW 2009). Not only would these countries not be able to develop as quickly and have healthier populations and more stable governments, but industrialized nations would also see negative economic impacts, making many wary of making any
Americans will face important decisions as consumers, voters, and global citizens. We need to understand that global warming has to be treated as a problem for all in order to properly solve it. If we continue to see it as a political issue as we sometimes do, it will never be fully resolved. Earth has to be made livable for everyone. It is not a place for first world or
Global Warming and Its Effects For many years, people have been talking about how the weather has changed over the past ten years. In fact, you may have witnessed these changes first hand. The earth's climate has been continuously changing for millions of years. Currently, studies indicate that the Earth is undergoing global warming. The first time I ever heard about global warming was a television commercial. I remember that
This shows that media outlets have an extremely strong influence on individuals in their belief of global warming. The lack of knowledge in the real application of global warming is startling considering the real earnestness in which each of these individuals expressed their beliefs on global warming. For the second group of individuals who do not believe in global warming, the results are just as mixed as previously. Although they
The hope, of course, that to the extent possible, both groups will invest themselves, and their money, in the ways that Mr. Gore is going to suggest in the film. The Scientist and Mentors Finally, Mr. Gore shows an image of earth that was made by a friend of his - all of the experts in the film are friends of Mr. Gore. The image was, again, made over a period
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