English 102 Global Warming: Air, Water, Space and Common Ground

Global Warming: Air, Water, Space and Common Ground.
Global warming and climate change has been a topic in the headlines for the last 30
years. With both sides of this issue staking a claim that they are the correct side and the other
side is unintelligent or any number of mean spirited things. One side of the argument is sure that
we are killing our own planet and all is lost or soon to be. The other side looks at the same facts
and figures and comes to a vastly different conclusion. In reality the planet has shown that it is
far more resilient and complex than we ever thought and there is no evidence of long term
warming.
Background Go over a short timeline and what changes have been made over the last
years. For example the thought we were heading into an ice age in the 70’s and now many think
a heat wave.
On the warning side of things there are those who say that the global temperature is rising
and this will in turn cause a myriad of future issues. After the end of the 2004 hurricane season
scientists, political agencies and media outlets were all looking for answers on why that
hurricane season was so severe. There were several scientists who made the claim that the $40
billion hurricane season was caused by global warming from the emissions of greenhouse gasses
into the atmosphere. While it is true that from 1995-2005 the number and severity of hurricanes
went up in the Atlantic area, globally there has not been any increase in hurricane or tropical
cyclone frequency over the past several decades (Pielke, Landsea, Mayfield, Laver, and Pasch

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1571). This led Kerry A. Emanuel and MIT educated meteorologist from the Center for
Meteorology and Physical Oceanography to say in a 2005 article “Because the global earth
system is highly complicated, until a relationship between actual storm intensity and tropical
climate change is clearly demonstrated and accepted by the broader community, it would be
premature to conclude with certainty that such a link exists or is significant” (Pielke, Landsea,
Mayfield, Laver, and Pasch 1572). Another concern is the overall warming and increase in
positive degree days (PDD’s) are causing the ice sheets in Greenland and other places to melt
away. From 1985 to 2005 several of the meteorological stations on the Antarctic Peninsula
observed an increase in the number of PDD’s each year. At the same time that this was
happening it was observed by scientist that the ice sheets were melting and receding in the
coastal areas of Greenland, Svalbard, Patagonia and Alaska (Vaughan 148). These findings led to
the following conclusion by British Antarctic Survey scientist David G. Vaughan that “The
analyses of long-tern meteorological station data, which show the increase in the duration of melt
conditions across the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 50 years is substantial and significant”
(Vaughan 151). These studies and alarming numbers have been the driving force in several “last
chance” summits over the last eight years. In looking at these numbers and the potential for
widespread damage and even the end of the human race I can understand why so many are
alarmed.
For every study out there that is telling the story that we are headed into oblivion there is
another study that is telling us to hold on a minute. If you were reading closely you would have
noticed something about the above studies, they are all pre 2005 studies. More recent studies are
showing there has been a short term drop in temperature globally with a more steady temperature
over the last 15 years (Kosaka, Shang-Ping 403). This short term temperature drop is thought to

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be caused by natural variabilities and according to Yu, Kosaka of the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography are “difficult to predict several years in advance owing to the limited
predictability of tropical Pacific SST” (Kosaka 407). Here it is shown that even some of the
experts are struggling to explain why the warming has recently stopped and that predictability is
limited with the climate models. It is also interesting that during this same time the ice sheets that
David G. Vaughan’s studies were showing were receding have begun to not only expand but in
2014 to hit what is an all-time high since we have been measuring them in the late 1970’s
(Antarctic). During this time the ice was expanding on one pole it was beginning to recede on the
opposite pole, NASA researchers commented that “The new Antarctic sea ice record reflects the
diversity and complexity of Earth’s environments” (Antarctic).

With many scientists making claims in opposition to one another and the temperature
rising for one decade and dropping off the next it is tough to point to any hard evidence of what
exactly is happening with our planet. Scientists have said in so many words that things are very
complex and that nobody really knows exactly what is going to happen or when it might happen.
The thing that is known and largely agreed upon is that measurable greenhouse gas levels are
rising. This is one area we can work together to make a change, by working together to limit the
amount of greenhouse gasses we emit there can be no significant downside. If the warning folks
are right and we are headed over the cliff we can do no better at this point than to limit
greenhouse gasses as much as possible. If the deniers are right and things never do get any
warmer than we would still have cleaner air to breathe.

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Works Cited
Kosaka, Yu, and Shang-Ping Xie. "Recent Global-warming Hiatus Tied to Equatorial Pacific
Surface Cooling." Nature 501 (2013): 403-07. Print.
Moore, Thomas. "Global Warming: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Efficient." EMBO
Reports 9.S1 (2008): S41-45. Print.
Pielke, Roger, Christopher Landsea, Max Mayfield, Jim Laver, and Richard Pasch. "Reply to
“Hurricanes and Global Warming Potential Linkages and Consequences”." Bull. Amer.
Meteor. Soc. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 86.11 (2005): 1571-1575.
Print.
Ravilious, Kate. "Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says."
National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 28 Feb. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Vaughan, David G. "Recent Trends in Melting Conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula and Their
Implications for Ice-sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level." Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine
Research 38 (2006): 147-52. Print.
"Antarctic Sea Ice Reaches New Record Maximum." NASA.GOV. Ed. Holly Zell. NASA, 7 Oct.
2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.