Is global warming real?

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January 8, 2010 • Messi Mohammad  
Filed under Opinion, World News

Is global warming real? Global warming is a problem that emerged as a major issue in the late 1980’s. Global warming can be defined simply as a rise in the average land temperature around the earth. Currently, the average temperature of the earth is roughly 57 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature could be the result of several different factors. Some of the factors that cause the earth’s temperature to rise are natural, but humans have caused many others. From my perspective, I think it’s real and we need to act now and fast about this issue.

Surrounding the issue of global warming is the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect plays an important role in the issue of global warming, but it is not the reason why global warming is occurring. The earth produces greenhouse gasses naturally, and without this gas, humans along with many other forms of life would not be able to survive. The reason for this is that earth would be much too cold for many life forms to exist if it did not have some form of gas to heat up the environment. Without the greenhouse effect the earth would be 40-60 degrees cooler than its current temperature. The problem though, is that the earth is producing an abundance of this gas, and we are going to become much too warm. Life cannot survive in a certain amount of warmth as well, so a middle ground must be sustained. Along with the variety of causes for global warming, there are also many results from global warming. Several of these results are negative. One of the major negative effects of global warming would be an increase in diseases. Diseases such as Malaria, Hantavirus, and many others would be much more common because they would survive better in a warmer climate. Another negative effect of our planet growing warmer would be an increase in the number of natural disasters. There are a number of natural disasters that would occur more frequently in a warmer environment.

The skeptics of global warming believe that the ice caps and coast-lines are by no means in danger of melting away or disappearing. They feel that the earth’s warming is nothing to fear. Climate models of global warming are believed to be misused by the skeptical point of view. The skeptics also have knowledge of the temperature fluctuating throughout time. Another thing that maybe contributing to the global warming scare is that the temperatures are read mostly in cities, or airports. In both places, temperatures have potential to be much higher. However, one can not ignore the evidence. The temperature has definitely increased in the places that it has been measured from, and the sea level has raised.

As COHS students, there are some ways that we could help stop global warming. For example, replace 3 normal light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs to save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year. Keep the tires on your car adequately inflated and check them monthly to save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year. Check your car’s air filter monthly to save 800 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $130 per year. Move your heater thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two degrees in the summer to save 2000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $98 per year. Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120°F to save 550 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $30 per year. Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended to save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150 per year. In these ways, we could keep the environment remain safe for our generation and for all the future generations, but will we do all we can?

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