Here is your weekly discussion question. Your response is due by midnight Tuesday. The readings (below) may help you in formulating your response.
The question:
Is global warming real? If so, why? If not, why not?
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The teacher is Richard Lewis. He writes about science for Brown University. He has been a journalist for 15 years, most recently with The Associated Press, and writes primarily about science. He taught this class in spring 2008.
Dear Students, Welcome to your class's blog home! Here you will find my questions for your weekly discussion posts. Your comments are due each Tuesday at midnight. Always remember: Make them thoughtful and keep them clean. Here you also will find your reading assignments from me. Make sure to do them. It affects your participation, and it will affect your grade. We'll add other elements as we go along. Let's have a good semester!
About the Class
The class has 3o students and is at capacity.
Required Readings
28 comments:
Whenever I'm asked if something is "real", first I personally reflect on the definition of that term given it's implied context before answering. I say this because, although thought to be a simply and easily understood term, it is however extremely multidimensional in meaning.
In writing for school and other personal things over the years, I have quite a few dictionaries on hand that I devour more often than not, to explore new terms to enrich my vocabulary-as well as to look up the meanings for words that I don't know, that may be of some interest.
Hence this question brings the word "real" or a state of believed reality to question. In my mind, the world real is something that is the essence of truth and/or existing as fact rather than an imagined state of reality or even delusion. "Real" according to one dictionary says that: "it is being an actual thing, having objective existence; actual rather than imaginary."
If I apply any of these definitions to this question on global warming, I would have to state unequivocally, that indeed global is real, and assuredly one of the most indubitable issues that poses the upmost dire threat to the sustenance of our earth, nature, mankind, and the evolution of these three entities as we now them.
From Randolph Schmid's article alone- the evidence presented is crystal clear. Not only do we have a huge crisis on our hands that's growing slowly everyday, but sadly enough we have long begun doing things as a human race that are now deemed irreversible.
The opening paragraph states that "researchers declared (Mon. 2/9/09)... that even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000."
For Susan Solomon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory to define irreversible as: "change that would remain for 1,000 years even if humans stopped adding carbon to the atmosphere immediately", is reason enough for me to believe that these warning signs we're seeing today will become problems of catastrophic proportion tomorrow. Thus future extinction of certain species and the permanent changing of our earth as we know it is imminent, and we need to act now.
With that being said, I'd like to shift gears and pose another question.
Given that global warming is in fact real with undisputed evidence, what can we as individuals do on a small scale to help the bigger picture?
Instead of us debating on tv and arguing with one another on the validity of the issue or even it's current state, (as we currently see going on in regards to the economic stimulus bill) What should we ALL do NOW, to contribute in every home, every school, every office, every prison, every car- to aid in the BIGGER effort on a national level that will in turn push things to move faster on a global level, where it's effects are most researched and forecast.
As Ghandi lived by his mantra :"Be the change that you wish to see in the world," I live my life by that same philosophy.
I believe that a lot more of us in the human race need to take heed from that philosophy, understanding its magnitude, and what it can do for a more interconnected world-view approach to life and daily living- which is tantamount to being environmentally conscious, and understanding and respecting the
interrelatedness of all aspects of the universe. We as people are only a speck of dust in relation to every living thing and or part of nature that exists in this world. Too often that goes unnoticed and disrespected, thus resulting in traumatic times ahead spawned from negligence and ignorance.
As I have said many times before, I have faith President Obama. I believe that he will be a leader in this world by making bold steps in every area of his presidency, global warming/climate change included. I feel that he is personally committed to cleaning our air and mandating that future cars manufactured have the better emissions standards for the environment as a whole. I truly believe that we as Americans can be leaders again in this nation and this world in so many ways with the right leadership. I believe that President Obama is the best man for the job.
Cheers!
-Alexis (:o)
Typos (i always forget to preview first!! sry!) LoL
****Whenever I'm asked if something is "real", first I personally reflect on the definition of that term given (*its) implied context before answering.
*** If I apply any of these definitions to this question on global warming, I would have to state unequivocally, that indeed global is real, and assuredly one of the most indubitable issues that poses the upmost dire threat to the sustenance of our earth, nature, mankind, and the evolution of these three entities as we now ( *know) them.
***Instead of us debating on tv and arguing with one another on the validity of the issue or even (*its) current state,
***As I have said many times before, I have faith (*in) President Obama.
-Alexis (:o)
I feel like this question is very obvious... Of course there is global warming! I also think that really as of right now there is not much we can do about it. Are you telling me that you will stop driving your car, stop wanting products that are mass produced in big factories that omit tons of gasses into the air?! No, I mean don't get me wrong some people will and it will help a little, but even with all the changes we are making, with hybrid cars and recycling. It's only a small puzzle piece in this giant puzzle.
P.S. I know that this class is about current issues in Mass Media and a lot of what is happening out there is bad, but there must be some happy fun issues to talk and read about?!
I'll do some digging
-Corey N.
Corey's point is a very fair one. The economy, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and now... global warming! Is all the news depressing?
My answer to you all is certainly not. And I will find some fun things for us to talk about. I welcome any suggestions, too.
That said, it would be hard to argue that the issues I cited above are not the most crucial issues of the day (and perhaps these times). The good news is they can have positive outcomes. But we all need to be educated, to be informed fully on the issues, so we can participate meaningfully in solving these problems. That's what being a citizen is all about!
I don't see how you could think global warming isn't real! Is this a trick question? I mean there is a ton of scientific proof that it is real. The article by Randolph Schmid that we had to read makes it clear that it is real. Sadly there is no immediate remedy for this horrible human induced climate problem. Even if all the world recycled and did all the necessary things to stop omitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it would take well past our lifetimes to see a change. Despite that sad inconvenient truth, I do my little part anyway by reducing, reusing and recycling. The earth is our only home!
yes I do think global warming is real (even though this winter was a bad one). One piece of evidence for you is the melting of the polar ice caps. I think that more people should be informed of what is global warming and to find a way to prevent it before it is too late.
I dont think everything we discuss in class is depressing...it is just something that people have to stop and say,"hey, do I agree with this or disagree? Do I want to fight for this issue or do I want to fight against it?" We, as human beings, should not only be educated in the world around us but we should also do something about it, to help others and to not stand by and do nothing! It's good to know about the good issues as well as the bad so we can work to change them for the better!
Yes, Global Warming is real. We see evidence in this everywhere from the melting icecaps that are located in the coldest areas on this Earth to the rising sealevels to the Great Barrier Reefs that are dying off. All these things are natural beauties the world cannot retrieve once lost. Sadly, we have the technology to substainally lower our carbon footprint on the Earth, now it's just a matter of what we will do with this knowledge!!! -Veronica P.
In my opinion, I think that global warming is real and the pollution and lack of preservation of the environment aren't helping. There have been some measures taken to try to relieve the problem but it may not be enough. The reliance that a lot of people have on the things that cause pollution has gotten to a point of necessity which is not exactly a good thing. Hopefully my cynicism on this global warming issue will be proven wrong since I usually like to be an optimist. But yes, I think Global Warming is real
Yes, global warming is absolutely real, and I don’t think many people take it very seriously either. There is tons of proof noting the change in our world and the damage caused by massive amounts of pollution. Some of the most natural things in our environment are suffering including ice caps, the ozone layer and the Great Bearer Reef s. Like the articles stated this issue isn’t going to get fixed over night, it will be a long process that will require a lot immediate awareness by the world’s people.
There are many pieces of evidence that global warming is effecting us. I do believe that the world is changing, however i'm the type of person that i need to see it to believe it. If someone says that aliens do exist. Someone show me some aliens! I digress. The effects of global warming can be seen online and on the news. Many celebrities are campaigning for this cause. i hate to say it, but Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio turn me off. The more they push it the more i want to vomit. The earth is always changing and evolving. Nothing lasts forever and we both know hearts can changing. We cant try an stop something that the whole world isn't a tune too. i guess its like fighting for terrorism.
I am in agreement with everyone else at this point. Yes, we are definately experienceing global warming (even if this winter hinders that "warming" idea.) I think that we should definately try to find a way to control the problem before it get worse. We are seeing the horrible effects of what happens when you wait for things to get to their worst possible being in our economy. If we act now.. small steps.. in 1000 years people won't be in a panic than if we just say "oh no real effects for 1000 years? MOVING ON!" If we want to talk about hybrid cars and energy efficiency, I find it real upsetting that alot of car companies have ideas and models for more efficient cars and hybrids, but because of the all mighty dollar, they put those ideas on the back burner. I wonder if those models had been brought out sooner, how the market would be for those companies. The also talk about the high CO2 content in the air. Did anyone think about the fact that the human population has increased significantly since 70 years ago? Not to baby this, but we expell CO2, so what should we do? Control the population? haha maybe we should but Im sure there would be major backlash there.
We all know for a fact that global warming is real. It's happening...polar ice caps are melting and climates are changing. However...I don't believe that it is something WE caused. We may not be helping with our gas guzzling cars, our factories, and our hairspray...but this is a naturally occurring process! This has been going on for billions of years. The earth has changed a lot and been through climate changes before.
All we can do is try to help slow it down. I think the whole "Go Green" thing is great...as "trendy" as it has become. We should all do our part to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Hybrid cars, wind and solar power, etc. are also great ways we are trying to help.
I don't know much about global warming, but I think aspects are real. I know obviously there is a hole in the ozone layer, but honestly, I don't understand how people are blaming it on things like hairspray.
The world is just changing. I mean, we had the Ice Age. How did that happen? It was obviously a natural occurrence because there was no people there doing harm to the planet to cause it to freeze over.
It's all just a natural process. And to be honest, I'm not too worried about it.
Global warming is definitely something that is happening, and will probably end up effecting us more so than we think it will. The most significant aspect of global warming is the fact that once the damage has been done, we can't reverse it. I think that it's going to take A LOT of effort to get people to actually adjust their lifestyles enough to help out. I think that it's due to the fact that people don't want to change their habits, especially if their used to living a certain way. For instance, I could probably take the bus to school and work, but I don't because it's an annoyance.
I think that once we somewhat stabilize our economy , the government should put some more money into cleaner energy research. There's no reason not to explore different avenues. While I was digging around on the subject, I found an article that discusses five places you should see before global warming ruins them (as if we can all really afford to go there). But it's a fairly interesting article nonetheless. You can check it out here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/02/17/global.warming.travel/index.html
I believe that Global warming is real and is happening now. Global warming is the average increase in the earth's temperature. This then causes changes in the climate. Glacier ice caps have melted, and have put polar bears on the endangered species list. Many people have begun to try to conserve energy by buying energy efficient products, recycling, and by switching to other energy conservative alternatives such as solar power, and hybrid cars. By switching to these products we are able to save money but also use less energy which is the whole point to conserve energy.
Some evidence that global warming is/has been occurring is the increasingly amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, methane levels, and extreme weather conditions such as floods and droughts increasing. With such evidence we can see that global warming is happening... but by just "going green" is this really going to end global warming?
I would have to say that global warming is real and has to be taken seriously. In my opinion global warming can cause alot of serious problems for everyone in the world, evern though every one in the world is not responsible. Innocent people will feel the affects of global warming if we do not do something about it. I do not know what to do to fix global warming, but people becoming informed and having an understanding will be a big step. I think global warming is the response of the earth to all of the destroying we are doing to it.
Is global warming real?.... I would have to agree with pretty much everyone when it comes to this and say of course global warming is real!
unfortunately it is not the best thing in the world to have happen. With the gases in the atmosphere due to pollution and such and can change the temperature at the Earth's surface and harm the Ozone. This can then cause the sun to heat the earth and can cause the ice glaciers to melt, which will expand our oceans and decrease our land.
Nicole Agnew
Global warming is absolutely real whether we like it or not. The average global temperature of our earth has risen over the past 150 years and many say levels of carbon dioxide is to blame. I agree. There are plenty of factors the prove this; massive floods, extreme summer temperatures, intense forest fires, and melting ice caps to name a few. If everyone does not take action soon, we will continue to kill our planet! There are many ways to go “green.” Some action just as small as using different light bulbs, running your dishwasher and washer machine only on full loads can limit the amount of emissions let off into the atmosphere. Everyone must take action NOW if we do not want our grandchildren and great grandchildren to have to wear SPF 70 every time they go outside to prevent serious sun poisoning! Ok maybe a bit extreme but could become reality sooner than we think.
Global warming is more real than most people realize. There are people who have devoted their entire lives to researching the causes and effects of global warming while others dismiss it as something that will take place hundreds of years from now and will never affect them. History is stories of the past right? Well hundreds of years from now, I'm hoping a story will be told about our generation and how we did everything we could to prevent global warming.
Gotta say I'm with Caitlin on this. Sure global warming is probably real, but I'm not particularly concerned with it.
Both of the readings presented supposed evidence about rising mean temperature, melting ice caps, etc., but they seemed to be written from the same view point. Periodically, if I am to decide on an issue one way or the other, I like to hear both sides. How did I do that in this instance? I googled "global warming sham" and read articles from sites such as "www.biblebelievers.org" and "www.enterstageright.com." Not only did these sites offer 'evidence' counter to the "global warming, free-spending liberal agenda," but the articles turned into transparently vindictive democrat bashing sessions. No thanks, Religious Right, global warming is real.
To be completely honest I never really understood the true meaning of Global Warming. The articles did give me a better understanding of the topic. Do I think it is real? Yes because there is scientific information that proves that Global Warming is here and is going to continue. It is our job as socially responsible citizens to do our best to preserve this beautiful earth on which we live. This brings to my only conclusion, clean energy or an alternative energy source. I have full confidence that the Obama administration will make some type of action toward Global Warming. I am all for an alternative energy source to be introduce to the American people, but will it be affordable? I will continue to do my best to recycle and to be conscience of my environment, but do others care? I feel this is a universal issues and we should all be concerned not just for our well being, but for future generations.
I think that global warming is definitely real and is definitely a threat. Lots of studies have shown that our ozone layer is slowly depleting and that changes in the earth's climate are a possible and likely result of this. I don't know about anyone else but when I watch tv I tend to spend a lot of time watching the science channel, discovery, and national geographic so I've seen quite a few shows that have provided some pretty compelling proof. By no means does this make me an expert but i feel that it gives me soe sort of basis for my beliefs. Also, like Caitlin mentioned in her post, there is always another side of the story. Some of the material I have seen has supported the assertion that global warming is just part of the earth's natural cycle of climate change. I would be more willing to believe this if the climate was simply changing but when you add the element of the growing hole in the ozone layer I tend to gravitate toward the idea that this is the cause of our earth's climate change. In short, I definitely believe that global warming is real and that as hard as it may be to figure out what, we need to try to do something about it...
Answering the question is global warming real I would have to sadly say yes. Though there is much evidence that has been shown to us like the ice bergs melting away I also feel that there is also a lot about global warming that has not been presented to us. I honestly would like to be shown a lot more evidence though because I feel like there are too many people just telling me what to think. Honestly I was just talking to another professor about this same subject who said that he does not believe in global warming one bit. He claimed it was all a big crock and one of the major things he found funny actually made me think. He told me that about 10 years ago he taught a class about how the earth was going to freeze over and they had all this proof. He loved the author of the text book for that class and the guy had some good points in the book. Well, apparently my professor was doing some reading on some well known guy in a green group saying how we are overgeating the earth and have been for many years. Turns out the author of that book that said the earth was over heating was the same author of the book ten years earlier saying the earth was going to freeze in the future. I along with my professor just found that kind of amusing. I also would like to point out Mr. Gore who leaves every single time after giving big speeches about how we are killing the environment in his stretch hummer limo which brings him to his OWN jet plane only for him....Just think its kind of hypocritical that a big name in these green groups can put some much pollution into our earths air thats all..
I do feel that global warming is real. There are many animals across the globe that have seen a drastic decrease in population. Most notably the Polar Bear, who needs cold waters and temperatures has seen a decrease.
The U.S. Geology Survey has recently reported that if the prediction of melting ice is accurate, we will see 1/3 of the polar population disappear.
The OZone layer is also weakening, waters around the world continue to warm, and the polar ice caps are slowly melting.
While I dont have all the facts about global warming, and still hold the possiblity of this being a natural happening on our planet, I do believe the issue is an important one
I will agree with what seems to be a overwhelming majority of the class that "man-made" global warming does exist. The greenhouse effect is as much a natural thing on this planet as running water. I believe that industrialization, and the race for growing nations and third world nations to catch up have dumped more CO2 into the atmosphere than anyone could have imagined, and it has all become a problem to this point. Yet, let us face the harsh reality that we all more or less enjoy the luxuries we have along with the country we live in. Without the industrial revolution we do not get to enjoy the lives we lead today. It started with big buisness and big manufacturing, went on for years through the 1900s with companies not having to check their emissions and was reall propelled, in my opinion, by Ronald Reagan with his massive deregulation of many major companies with large emissions of CO2. So in the end I guess I am saying that we all wish this could be changed, but its a human fault that nothing will be done about it on a large scale.
I just got my internet back up & running, I will be posting my response shortly.
According to what I read on the National Climatic Data Center's website, "many scientist have now concluded that global warming can be explained by a human-caused enhancement of the greenhouse effect...(which)...has been intensified by humankind's input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere." The information concluded with, "There were significant climate changes before humans were around and there will be non-human causes of climate change in the future. "
So to answer the question, Yes Global Warming is real. The earth has been warming. It has been doing so at the highest rate in the last 20 years. But it is nothing new. Though I do not doubt that it could have possibly been decreased or maintained at a steady level; from reading the Yahoo! article I learned that even if we were to cease all human activities that increase global warming, it would take 1,000 years to level off.
Does that mean we ignore that situation? I think not. Does it mean we put a priority on making an immediate dramatic change. I think not either. If it not something that is necessarily going to have an immediate effect on us, then we should focus our energy (no put intended) on the financial crisis.
I answering this question based on the reading assignment. However if I based on the NAACP Image Awards I recently watched, I would want to put a greater emphasis on a global warming solution. Al Gore and a Kenyan Professor were awarded for their positive contribution to our current global environmental issue. I think to have a more balanced view on this I should watch "The Inconvenient Truth."
there is no question that the glaciers are melting, and that the temperature in certain parts of the world are warmer than they have been in the past. Global warming is real. the real question is what is causing it, and what can actually be done to stop it, if it is in fact stopable
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