Is Global Warming Real?
Alison Doherty
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Opinions
While there have been many skeptics in the last couple of years about the validity of global warming, it has become a generally accepted fact - at least on Smith Campus - that carbon emissions and fossil fuels have disrupted the natural progression of weather and have led to the phenomena we call global warming. A politician or rare scientist will occasionally come out of the woodwork proclaiming it as propaganda. Even comedian-pundit Steven Colbert asked viewers the question, "Is global warming real or are you just wearing too many layers?" But science books, Al Gore and even college classes have addressed these views with uniform dissent.
So what about this frigidly cold winter? Many people, especially scientists and politicians who oppose the idea of global warming, are seizing this information to support their cause.
Data now show record coldness appearing in both hemispheres of the globe. From blizzards in China to snow in Baghdad to the very icy steps approaching Seelye, it has been an unusually cold winter.
Does this mean that global warming has been a political hoax? Does it truly not exist? No. In fact, many scientists say that this cold winter is the result of a mixture of "good old-fashioned weather" and a cold kick from the Pacific Ocean; the La Niña phase which we are in tends to lead to coolness, as it is the opposite of the warm El Niño pattern. They assert that this winter does not diminish the overwhelming evidence that global warming has disrupted the world's weather patterns, citing among other things the lowering of ice in the Arctic and the rise of sea levels.
Similar cool winters have occurred in 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1998, but the trend of the last two decades has been one of heating up. We should not let an outlier in the weather data trends influence our opinions, even though it is comforting to think that global warming is over or never existed in the first place.
Do I know the answers or all the intricate data of weather patterns? No, but I would still like to err on the side of caution and work to reduce fossil fuel emissions in order to protect the environment. Because something we all can agree on is this: whether it's cold or whether it's hot, there will be weather, whether or not.
So what about this frigidly cold winter? Many people, especially scientists and politicians who oppose the idea of global warming, are seizing this information to support their cause.
Data now show record coldness appearing in both hemispheres of the globe. From blizzards in China to snow in Baghdad to the very icy steps approaching Seelye, it has been an unusually cold winter.
Does this mean that global warming has been a political hoax? Does it truly not exist? No. In fact, many scientists say that this cold winter is the result of a mixture of "good old-fashioned weather" and a cold kick from the Pacific Ocean; the La Niña phase which we are in tends to lead to coolness, as it is the opposite of the warm El Niño pattern. They assert that this winter does not diminish the overwhelming evidence that global warming has disrupted the world's weather patterns, citing among other things the lowering of ice in the Arctic and the rise of sea levels.
Similar cool winters have occurred in 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1998, but the trend of the last two decades has been one of heating up. We should not let an outlier in the weather data trends influence our opinions, even though it is comforting to think that global warming is over or never existed in the first place.
Do I know the answers or all the intricate data of weather patterns? No, but I would still like to err on the side of caution and work to reduce fossil fuel emissions in order to protect the environment. Because something we all can agree on is this: whether it's cold or whether it's hot, there will be weather, whether or not.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 148
Arthur E. Lemay
posted 3/15/08 @ 12:09 PM EST
Scientists all over the world are calling the global warming frenzy a bunch of nonsense intended to enrich those who are telling the worse lies. It is absolutely clear that the work of Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas of the Harvard Institute of Astrophysics definitively shows that the influence of the Sun is orders of magnitude more important than the greenhouse effect, and, man's contribution in the form of CO2 is only a very small part of that. (Continued…)
jordyn
posted 3/19/08 @ 12:51 PM EST
global warming is not real whether you think it is or not
Nick
posted 3/29/08 @ 2:27 PM EST
Global Warming is Hollywood?s new religion Follow the money! If there is one thing I can not stand it is Hollywood trying to dictate there morality to ME! For most of them(Hollywood) ?going green? is a PR move, and nothing more. (Continued…)
BDB
posted 4/01/08 @ 7:50 PM EST
A man once said if you want to find the coroption in government just follow the money.(haha ralf nader) If everyone was to take a step back and look at the people who are giving us these statistics and facts, they would realize that they are government funded companies and organizations. (Continued…)
Dan
posted 4/02/08 @ 5:47 PM EST
Global warming is not true. It is hotter in the winter but colder in the summer. This is not because of global warming.
anne allen
Anne Allen
posted 4/13/08 @ 3:02 PM EST
We need to stop confusing the issue of climate change with the issue of man as the cause of climate change. Conservation is a good thing for a multitude of reasons. (Continued…)
silentassassin
posted 5/15/08 @ 6:18 AM EST
I'm sorry, but just because a group of people at Smith do "generally accept" that global warming is happening, does not mean that it actually is. I'm not trying to launch an aggressive anti-global warming tirade here, but I'm just trying to say that most people, so called "experts" included, aren't well qualified enough to speak on the subject, simply because there isn't enough conclusive data. (Continued…)
Gary
posted 5/16/08 @ 5:52 PM EST
jordyn and silentassassin global warming is real
in the near future polar bears will be gone
These are just some of the facts people, from real scientists who do REAL research. (Continued…)
DavePSU
posted 5/17/08 @ 11:30 PM EST
Is global warming real? It could be but I'm not sure. Man has been recording weather since the late 1800's and we launched our first satellite into space in the 1960's. (Continued…)
LogicStick
posted 6/03/08 @ 2:39 PM EST
Don't be ignorant. Find the truth!
Here's a few things most people don't know, because most people like to get their news from propaganda movies which win Oscars (*achem* "An Inconvenient Truth"). (Continued…)
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