by Kate Glasch

Created on: May 14, 2009

I believe that global warming is not a hoax. I would argue that human activity is a direct cause to our rising temperatures.

Global warming is the idea that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are trapping heat inside our atmosphere that would normally escape into outer space. While many greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, I believe that the human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. The main greenhouse gases noted today are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, water vapor, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), (West). The last three gases result from human industrial processes.

Now that you know the basic facts about global warming, we can talk about what the scientists are saying. Although there are many different viewpoints that scientists hold on global warming, there is a consensus that global temperatures are indeed rising. In their most recent report released in February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated, "The global average surface temperature has increased over the twentieth century by 0.6 degrees Celsius." In The Skeptical Environmentalist, author and statistician Bjorn Lomborg agrees with the IPCC that global temperatures are rising.

The IPCC and Lomborg also agree on the issue that humans are causing global warming. In their 2007 report, the IPCC writes, "By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees means less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen." "Human activity 'very likely' has been the primary cause of global warming since 1950.", reports the IPCC. Lomborg agrees by writing, "The important question is not whether the climate is affected by human carbon dioxide, but how much." Dr. Fred Singer, Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, writes in his article "Global Warming: Man-Made or Natural?", "Human activities are not influencing the global climate in a perceptible way." In this statement Singer denies the theory that humans are the main cause of global warming, but acknowledges that human activities do influence the global climate. Richard S. Lindzen, the Professor

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