GlobalWarming Awareness2007
The global warming controversy is a debate about the specific causes of the increase in global average air temperature since the mid-1800s, the prediction of additional warming, and the consequences of that warming. An additional issue is whether the modern warming period is unprecedented or within normal climatic variations.
Issues
The existence of a rise in average temperatures since the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid 1800s is not disputed. The controversy focuses on the specific causes of the recent warming, and concentrates on the warming after World War II; the likelihood and magnitude of future warming; and whether additional warming would be harmful or beneficial.
Actions have been proposed to slow down warming, on the premises that it is likely to be large enough to cause harm to humans overall and that it is possible to curtail activities that contribute to it, in an effort to reduce predicted harm.
Some of the main areas of controversy include:
- Whether the climate is changing beyond natural variations in the historical temperature record
- Whether human/industrial activity is responsible for the change and if so, to what extent
- The effect of predicted depletion of fossil fuels, both individually as e.g. oil runs out and users turn to the higher polluting coal and overall as to whether there are sufficient available reserves to cause the more extreme climate change scenarios
- The effectiveness of policies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
- The size of future changes in climate
- The regional effects of climate change
- The consequences of climate change
Among climate scientists there is widespread agreement that global warming is primarily caused by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The debate is more vigorous in the popular media and on a policy level; questions include whether there is a scientific consensus on the extent and rate of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), and in particular whether there is sufficient evidence to justify immediate and far-reaching actions to ameliorate its effects. Those who believe such a consensus exists express a wide range of opinions: some merely recognize the validity of the observed increases in temperature, while others support measures such as the Kyoto Protocol that are intended to reduce the magnitude of future global warming. Still others believe that environmental damage will be so severe that immediate steps must be taken to reduce CO2 and methane emissions, even if the precise results are unknown, and even if there are substantial economic costs to doing so. One example of an attempt to force action is the Sierra Club suing the
Another part of the debate relates to political or policy decisions and their rationales. For example, one such argument relates to the above mentioned Kyoto Protocol—developing countries such as
Skeptical scientists express varied opinions concerning the cause of global warming. Some say that it has not yet been ascertained whether humans are the primary cause of global warming (e.g., Balling, Lindzen, and Spencer). Others attribute global warming to natural variation (e.g., Soon, Baliunas, and Carter), ocean currents (e.g., Gray), solar activity (e.g., Shaviv and Veizer), cosmic rays (e.g., Svensmark), or unknown natural causes (e.g., Leroux).
Visit the site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy