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What is Global Warming?

Cynthia Bernal
Montgomery College

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What is Global Warming

Does global warming have the same meaning to everyone? Probably not. When people
think of global warming, they think about an increase in temperatures around the globe.
Increasing temperatures can be a factor but not the only factor that can define the word global
warming. To many people, an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is what defines
global warming. The word increase can be very ambiguous and has to be explained in more
specific terms. The trends of an increasing average temperature on the Earth shows that not only
is the temperature on the globe increasing but also increasing at a rate which may affect the
balance of the Earths natural systems. In addition, some places around the world may feel a
decrease in temperatures due the differences where people live around the world. Due to the
different weather patterns, people may experience contrasting effects of global warming. Global
warming is a true phenomenon occurring peoples daily lives, but many people can describe
global warming in multiple ways. Global warming can be defined as the increase of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere to increase the average global temperature.
As the average temperature increases on Earth, many say the average is increasing because
of the increase of carbon dioxide, which is due to the fossil fuels being burned into the
atmosphere. The main people at fault for burning the extra fossil fuels into the environment are
humans (Singh & Singh, 2014). As these fossil fuels are being emitted into the atmosphere
carbon dioxide levels rise and are trapped in the atmosphere, having no where to go because the
Earth is not used to producing this much carbon dioxide gas. In addition, many man-made
products, such as cars, continuously produce carbon dioxide gas with peoples knowledge, but
the individuals do not acknowledge the amount of problems that can come out of the amount of

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carbon dioxide the vehicles use. People know that cars need fuel to operate, but vehicles are
usually a necessity, so people do not bother with the idea of cutting down their use due to ones
individual necessity (Its not science, stupid! 2013). The Earth naturally has a trend that
increases and decreases carbon dioxide at a steady rate, but now with more of an input of
greenhouse gases not as much carbon dioxide can be transferred out of the atmosphere at a
steady rate. In addition, the Earth goes through its phases of hot and cold temperatures, but with
more carbon dioxide emissions into the air, the trapped carbon dioxide will cause the increase of
temperature. The excess carbon dioxide creates a blanket over the Earth making the Earth trap
more heat making the Earth more warmer. Many people criticize that humans are not the only
ones to blame, but so are other animals that produce methane because it is also a gas that can
blanket the Earth. However, researchers say that there may be an impact coming from other
animals but the impact is not as great as humans; since humans are the ones who emit
greenhouse gases into the air with fossil fuels and greenhouse gases needed for energy (Singh &
Singh, 2014). Humans produce more carbon dioxide than the average animal due to all the fossil
fuels and oils being drilled out from the inside of the Earth every day, and the fossil fuels being
drilled out of the Earth are then emitted into the atmosphere. As global warming continues to be
an international problem, affecting people around the world; global warming should be
acknowledged to cause a change to show individuals how much the increasing temperatures is
due to the emissions of carbon dioxide.
As stated about in the previous paragraph, the Earth goes through many different trends
which now show a huge disturbance because of the increase of the average temperature. With the
dramatic increase of carbon emissions into the air, the global temperature is increasing. As a

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result, much of the arctic ice is melting and becoming thinner with record low ice in 2014 (Singh
& Singh, 2014). The higher increase of average temperature the higher the carbon emissions are
being emitted due to the air because they are interrelated with similar consequences. However,
people who do not believe global warming is happening is due to how some researchers may
manipulate their data to produce results that does not convey the idea of global warming, which
show carbon dioxide emissions not increasing at a significant rate (Vasey, 2014). People say this
because the Earth has always had carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Now there has been an
increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but many scientists predict the changes are due to
natural occurs the Earth goes through every so often. With more data being produced scientists
may be able to prove the existence of global warming, science carbon dioxide has been one of
the main factors of global warming. In addition, many scientists can have bias toward the idea of
global warming as they might interpret their results in favor of global warming since they truly
believe it is a problem that needs to be fixed immediately. With more studies being done on
global warming researchers may be able to prove how global affects the Earth to convey the
existence of increasing temperatures on Earth.
With the continuous increase of temperatures around the globe, many people think
temperatures will increase where they live too, but that may not be true. Since the Earth contains
various systems such as: jet streams and wind movements, that govern the weather of a certain
location, people should take into account their location in determining if they will have an
increase or decrease in average temperature. Even though it might be a decrease, the possibility
of global warming may still be true. Many places around the world are getting colder due to their
location such as the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has been experiencing colder than

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average temperatures; scientists say it is due to the melting of the arctic ice because the UK is
very close to the Arctic ice which can cause the cold temperatures of the ice to be emitted into
the atmosphere and transferred to the surrounding places (Singh & Singh, 2014). In addition,
global warming can cause weather patterns to intensify due to the chemical changes in the
atmosphere. With more and more places getting more harsh weather that can impact them,
people are starting to realize the dangers that may come out of global warming. Some cultures
are already evacuating their homes where they have lived their entire lives due to all the
precipitation coming down onto their island (Ma, 2014). The pacific islands did not have the
problem of excess flooding before since the weather patterns were more stable. Now with the
intensifying down pours of rain, the people of the islands have to go north to higher ground and
many humans are approaching extinction due to the uncalled for weather patterns produced by
global warming (Ma, 2014). In contrast, many humans still say global warming is not occurring
because individuals cannot create such an impact on the Earth. But as many people have already
experienced, it is possible that the increase of carbon dioxide emissions may create a large
enough impact on the world that could cause many side-effects from just the production of
carbon dioxide emissions into the air which can change the weather patterns. With the increase of
carbon dioxide into the air the temperature on Earth will increase due to the greenhouse effect
which traps the heat from carbon dioxide. Global warming is produced from the increasing
effects of the greenhouse effect; since carbon dioxide is one of the main reasons for the
greenhouse effect which produces various changes in the weather patterns, carbon dioxide should
be monitored to stop the increasing temperatures which govern global warming.

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As the evidence stacks up, global warming is shown to be a real phenomenon that occurs
day to day due to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The increase of carbon
dioxide can be explained in many contrasting manners, from having the trends of the average
temperature increasing, to how certain places on Earth the temperature may not increase due to
the complex weather systems. The trends conveying the average temperature of the globe
increasing conveys how much of an impact can be made by humans toward the Earth. The Earth
is a delicate place due the delicate interacting systems of jet streams, wind patterns, and the
increase/decrease of the Arctic ice. Furthermore, in various places around the world the
temperatures may be decreasing rather than increasing because of how each location on Earth is
affected by global warming. Global warming will affect various places differently depending on
the interacting of the Earth systems. Devastating floods, people having to move from their
homeland, and individuals not being prepared can convey how global warming affects humans
around the globe. For many global warming means the increase of carbon dioxide but as how
people define the effects of the extent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can vary from each
person.
Countless scientists believe global warming is a true phenomenon occurring in peoples
daily lives. Plenty of people can describe global warming in multiple ways, one way to describe
global warming is the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide
trends show a higher increase of the average temperature on Earth and conveys how the
temperature difference may vary on location. Global warming has impacted the Earth in ways
unimaginable; the accelerated pace humans have increased carbon dioxide emissions into the
atmosphere have created disastrous effects. Even though some individuals may have a difficult

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grasping the idea of global warming, most of the research presented tends to point towards the
increase of carbon emissions into the air as the major culprit. Even if individuals do not believe
global warming is happening, if people stop emitting carbon dioxide into the air long enough and
there is a difference on the Earths average temperature, maybe global warming was really
occurring.

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References

It's not the science, stupid! (2013). The Wilson Quarterly, 37(1).
Ma, A. (2014). Washed away: the threat of global warming. Harvard International Review, 36(1),
7+.
Singh, B. R., & Singh, O. (2014). The Melting of Glaciers Cannot Be Reversed with Global
Warming. In R. Espejo (Ed.), At Issue. Can Glacier and Ice Melt Be Reversed?
Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Chapter 2: A Study About Realities of
Climate Change: Glacier Melting and Growing Crises, Vol. 42, 2013, inTech
Publisher: Rijeka, Croatia)
Vasey, G. M. (2013). Global-Warming Science Is Merely a Working Hypothesis. In D. A. Miller
(Ed.), Current Controversies. Global Warming. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted
from Man Made Global WarmingIs the Science Really Proven?,
www.energynewscentral.com, 2011)