Understanding The Global Warming Myths

The first global warming myth many people hold is that the science of global warming is too uncertain to act on. Nothing could be further from the truth, as scientists are in agreement over the basic facts of global warming, including the fact that global warming is occurring and that human activities, like burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests, intensify global warming's effects on our planet.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and 10 other National Academies of Science state that there is clear evidence that global warming is occurring and that nations should take prompt action in the form of cost-effective steps in order to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions.

Another commonly-held myth is that addressing global warming will hurt the American industry and American workers.

The fact is that a well-designed trading program would harness American ingenuity to decrease heat-trapping pollution cost- effectively and would also give rise to a new carbon economy.

Many companies that have already reduced their heat-trapping emissions have learned that they can save money by being more environmentally friendly.

The cost of a comprehensive national greenhouse gas reduction program will depend on the precise emissions targets, the timing for the reductions, and the means of implementing it. An independent MIT study has determined that a modest cap-and-trade system would cost less than per household and would not result in anyone losing his/her employment.

Experience has shown that properly designed emissions trading programs can reduce compliance costs significantly compared to other regulatory approaches; one previous example was the U.S.

acid rain program that helped reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by more than 30% from 1990 levels and cost the industry a fraction of what the government estimated.

In addition, a mandatory cap on emissions can lead to technological innovation that can create jobs and wealth. Conversely, if we do nothing until the damage is more extensive, that delay will likely disrupt and severely damage our economy, so it would be wiser and more cost- effective to act now.

A third widely-held global warming myth is the thinking that because water vapour is the most important, abundant greenhouse gas, efforts should be taken to control it instead of carbon dioxide (CO2.)

The fact is, however, that even though water vapour does trap more heat than CO2, global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2 because they can directly affect how much CO2 is in our atmosphere by cutting back and/or eliminating such activities like burning coal, natural gas, and oil, as well as cutting down trees.

The level of water vapour cannot be directly controlled by people because they are determined by temperatures - the warmer the atmosphere, the more water vapour it can hold. Therefore, the more CO2 present in the atmosphere, the warmer the air becomes, which leads to more water vapour in the air. As a result, the key to controlling and reducing water vapour is to control the levels of CO2 people put into the air.

A fourth widely-held belief is that global warming and extra CO2 will be beneficial as they'll reduce cold-related deaths and stimulate crop growth.

The fact is that any positive benefits from extra CO2 in the atmosphere will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.

Even if only the middle range of scientific projections are reached in the future, the effects would have catastrophic effects on many sectors of the economy. Rising seas would inundate coastal communities, contaminate water supplies with salt, and increase the risk of flooding by storm surge. Extreme weather events, like heat waves, droughts, and floods are expected to increase in frequency and severity, which would lead to more loss of life, agriculture, and property.

While higher levels of CO2 can act as a plant fertilizer, most scientists think that this benefit has been overstated in recent years as plants seem to acclimate to the higher levels of CO2 after a few years, thereby nullifying the benefits. In addition, higher levels of CO2 can allow undesirable, weedy species to grow more rapidly, something that is not wanted.

As you can see, believing global warming myths can lead people to actions that will cause more harm to our economies and our planet in the future. That is why it is so important to learn the facts about global warming so that proper actions can be taken in the future to lessen or reverse the effects global warming will have on our economies, societies, and way of life.

Understanding The Complexity Of Global Warming Issue

Environmentalists are those people who are dedicated to the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment, and this includes the preservation of our natural resources and the prevention of pollution. In regards to the global warming topic, environmentalists believe that forests should not be cut down or burned, which would help to prevent more CO2 from going into the air. Environmentalists also support renewable energy sources, as less coal and fossil fuel usage would lead to less CO2 being put into the air.

Media coverage in the United States tends to give equal coverage to both sides of the debate involving global warming. That may sound reasonable, but it actually might lead to inaccurate coverage. The reason why is because the "balance" of covering both sides of the issue has allowed a small group of global warming sceptics, many of which are funded by carbon-based industry interests, to be frequently consulted and quoted in new reports on climate change.

This has allowed their views to be greatly amplified to the point where it looks like there is a 50/50 divide on whether human-made global warming is a legitimate concern or not, when in reality, there is more overwhelming evidence that suggests that human-made global warming is a real legitimate concern.

Controversy is being stirred when science actually finds consensus.

However, there is disagreement about whether the scientific community has reached a consensus that human-made global warming is a legitimate concern and that if it is left unchecked, it will cause considerable damage to our planet in terms of extreme climate changes, more powerful tropical storms and hurricanes, and rising sea levels that will lead to the destruction of coastal communities, among other destructive events.

Opponents maintain that no consensus has been reached, claiming that most scientists believe that human-made global warming is "unproven," they dismiss the theory altogether, or they dispute the dangers of consensus science.

Global warming is also a decisive political issue, especially in the United States. Most Republicans tend to adopt the view of not believing that human-made global warming is a "proven" issue, so they oppose all proposed measures of counteracting it because they don't believe it's necessary. Democrats, on the other hand, believe that human-made global warming is a legitimate cause of concern and endorse measures to reduce and/or eliminate the threat.

Two perfect examples of the political division involving the global warming issue are President George W. Bush's inaction regarding the Kyoto Treaty provisions and 2000 Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore's new documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," that refocuses attention on the global warming issue and why we must address it soon or face dire consequences.

The Kyoto Treaty is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, calling for mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the nations that sign off on it. It was opened for signature on December 11, 1997, but wasn't enforced until February 16, 2005.

Even though the United States is a signee of the Kyoto Treaty, the US has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the Treaty. Since it has not been ratified by the US to this point, the US is not required to follow the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty.

On July 25, 1997, the U.S. Senate passed the Byrd-Hagel Resolution, which called for developing nations to also be required to follow the Kyoto Treaty before forcing industrialized nations to sign off on it, 95-0. They feared serious harm would come to the US economy if they signed off on it beforehand, as developing nations not bound by the Kyoto Treaty would have an unfair advantage over industrialized nations like the US in coal and fossil fuel production. As a result, the Treaty was never submitted to the Senate for ratification.

Current President George W. Bush has no intentions of submitting the treaty to the Senate for ratification, not because he doesn't support the Kyoto principles, but because of the exemption granted to China (the world's second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide after the US, and is projected to be the largest emitter by 2010.) Bush also believes the Treaty would put much strain on the US economy; he has concerns over the uncertainties which are present in the climate change issue.

Bush and the US Government have enacted some of their own legislation in order to mitigate the climate change and the US is on track to fulfil its pledge to reduce its carbon intensity 18% by 2012. However, Paul Krugman has stated that the target 18% reduction in carbon intensity is still actually an increase in overall emissions. In addition, the White House has also come under criticism for downplaying reports linking human activity and greenhouse gas emissions to climate change.

Al Gore has brought renewed focus on the topic of global warming with his Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." This documentary shows Mr. Gore's passionate and inspirational look at his fervent crusade to stop global warming's deadly progress by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. The documentary also reveals that if most of the world's scientists are right about global warming, we may have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could cause our world to experience extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics, and killer heat waves at levels we've never seen before.

As you can see, there are many facets and elements that go into the topic of global warming. From the controversial science behind it to the way the media covers it to the politics that are behind each side of the debate to the Kyoto Treaty that tries to address the issue of global warming to the Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," that tries to alert people that global warming is a real issue that needs to be addressed now by all, both governmental and individual, global warming is a very important topic in our world. The debate will likely continue, but the evidence seems to indicate that human-made global warming is having more pronounced effects on our world, and without concise and decisive action in the near future, it's quite possible that the damage caused by global warming will only continue to become more devastating to our world.

More Global Warming International Center Articles