I wrote this article for 'report writing' assignment given during summer semester Technical Communication course. I didn't upload it so far in my blog. But today I read an article in Dinamani newspaper which delivered the same thought i wrote in my report (I have CP the article in another blog post).So decided to post my report today.
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Global Warming: A Half-Cooked Dosa
We all tend to believe something if it is said by a celebrity. What if that celebrity is former US Vice President? Obviously, it will be believed by many. I hope you got it. Yes the ‘something’ is nothing but ‘Global Warming’ and the ‘celebrity’ is 45th Vice President of United States, Mr. Al Gore. Why do I call the concept Global Warming a half-cooked dosa? You all should have got served, at least once in your life-time, a brown dosa which is completely white (not fried) on the other side. Global warming is also like a half-cooked dosa served with the well-cooked brown side up (Al Gore’s face) and uncooked side hidden (Some climatologists’ scepticism). This essay tries to highlight some of the issues raised by those climatologists.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Global Warming: A Half-Cooked Dosa
Is it really warm?
Earth has been warmer than today as seen in its history. The thought is that global warming is nothing to get afraid of because it just takes us back to a more natural set of environment of the past. Animals and plants appeared to do just fine in those eras of warm climate on the earth. The present chilly climate on the earth is an abnormality when judged over the geographical scale. The only fact that human beings are feeling it hot to live will not quantify it for global warming. Over geologic time, the earth’s mean temperature is 22 degrees C, as compared to today's 15.5 degrees C.
It is not just green house gases
‘Arctic shrinkage’ is projected as the effect of global warming but not much is spoken about ‘Antarctica cooling’. Is Antarctica not a part of globe? It is regional warming and not global warming, the reason for Arctic melting. Between 1940 and 1970, global temperatures went down slightly, even though carbon dioxide levels went up. So there is something beyond green house gases which govern earth’s temperature.
Is it all because of human beings?
Human beings are accused for the present warming up of earth. It has been stated that the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mainly from your fossil fuel emissions, is the most significant cause of global warming. Our fossil fuel emission is because of the economic growth we have attained in the due course of time. Will we have the guts to deny the growth caused by Industrial Revolution? Do you think Al Gore will be car pooling?
Gore had noted that five states set record temperatures in the first five months of 1998, proving beyond a doubt that global warming had arrived. There are 37 states whose records were set before 1940 i.e., before modern industry started emitting substantial amounts of greenhouse gases. People might not have been aware of green-house gases that time, but why so much heat?
We the human beings are very small compared to nature. We don’t have enough power to either disrupt or save the gigantic earth.
Global Warming – Have some positives too
In fact, if it comes, global warming, in the projected likely range, will bring major benefits to much of the world. Central Canada and large portions of Siberia will become similar in climate to New England today. So too, perhaps, will portions of Greenland. Growing seasons in the North Temperate Zone will be longer. Plant life in general will flourish because of the presence of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Weird Thoughts by Sceptics:
This essay is not just trying to defend the sceptics. They are trying to be too casual. Some climatologists suggest an idea that the disappearance of Arctic ice in summer time will shorten important shipping routes by thousands of miles. What about the species living there? And what about the amount of flooding that will happen? The study projecting sea level rise of 0.18 to 0.59 meters (0.59 to 1.9 ft) in 2090-2100 can’t be taken lightly. We can’t afford human lives for shortening ship routes.
What made ‘Global Warming’ a popular topic?
This is the graph which Al Gore is constantly emphasising on. There is an unusual rise in average temperature from late 1980s. The extrapolation of this graph till 2100 has created a lot of panic among politicians. But we should also not forget the fact that there was a lot of global warming in the 1930s and '40s, and then there was a slight global cooling from the middle '40s to the early '70s. And there has been warming since the middle '70s, especially in the last 20 years.
So only time will tell us (we may not be alive to know) whether global warming is just a natural phenomenon or a human driven disaster.
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