There has been much hype in recent years about global warming. Despite the widespread knowledge that climate change is occurring, how much does anyone actually know about the subject? Let me just say that Global warming is happening, the current debate is about whether or not it is harmful and whether or not it is caused either directly or indirectly by humans.

The theory of Global Warming explains the current heating trend as follows: Heat from the sun enters the atmosphere and is absorbed by land and water. Over time, this heat is released as infrared radiation. A recent build up of green house gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and Nitrogen oxide, absorb a portion of this radiation heating the atmosphere causing both ocean and land temperatures to rise.

Despite the common notion that global warming is a widely accepted fact in the scientific community, it is actually widely debated. In addition, a great deal of information about Global Warming is greatly exaggerated or just not true. There are estimates that temperatures in the near future will increase hundreds of degrees or that sea level will be fifty feet above its current level. These claims are absurd. Even the most extreme Global Warming alarmists claim only a change of a few degrees for temperature and a few inches for sea level. A graph of temperature from a South Pole weather station actually indicates a drop in temperature on the Antarctic continent. If the temperature is dropping it does not make sense to expect a rise in sea level caused by melting ice.

A number of prominent scientists believe that global warming has been greatly exaggerated. These scientists question the temperature data from the early 1900's as much of this data was measured in urban areas and was susceptible to the Urban Island Effect, which is defined by the NASA Earth Observatory as, "a dome of elevated temperatures over an urban area caused by the heat absorbed by structures and pavements." The tools used to measure temperature in the early part of the century were also subject to human error and were unable to provide accurate ocean temperature measurements. The models of the effects of future climate change on which a great deal of speculation is based have also been called into question because they contain a number of inherent uncertainties, making accurate predictions of future conditions nearly all guess work.

One final warning that is heard about global warming is that it causes an increase in extreme weather such as hurricanes. Data shows that the number of hurricanes to strike the United States has steadily decreased since 1940, which is about the time people claim global warming became so extreme. Clearly, even if you accept global warming as a problem, it cannot be blamed for extreme weather.

These arguments do not mean greenhouse gases play no role in warming the planet; they do which is quite fortunate because with no greenhouse gases, the average temperature of the planet would be about -4F (-18C). Pollution is a big problem and humans have a responsibility to reduce the amount of junk they are putting into the world but do not believe that increasing greenhouse gases is the primary cause of Global Warming or that any human actions have created an unnatural warming trend. Some scientists argue that the only results of the current increase in temperature and carbon dioxide will be healthier plant life.

Though we are in the midst of a heating trend, it is unlikely that humans are the only or even the major cause. Many misinterpretations of data have been made leading people to believe in an exaggerated degree of warming.

Learn more about this author, Michael Gil.
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