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Is Global Warming Real?

You may already know that this topic creates a lot of controversy. For a while, people didn’t believe the earth’s temperatures were raising. Now pretty much everyone accepts that global warming is real, but they disagree on the causes and need for action. Before we can decide if global warming is “real,” we need to define things. Many people think global warming means “human-induced” temperature change on the planet. However, that’s not what it really means. Global warming is just one aspect of global climate change; global cooling is another. Climate change is caused both by natural phenomenon and by man-made activity.

Celestial Connection

Natural processes record climate change in “natural libraries,” such as tree rings, ice cores, coral beds, fossil records, and lake and ocean sediment. Ice cores and tree rings form in layers; in addition to providing climate data, they provide a timeline so that scientists can track climate change. This helps to illuminate the extreme changes we are currently facing. Evaluating our future becomes clearer by looking at our past.

As for global warming, temperatures have been steadily rising over the last century. You might be surprised that the total rise is only about one degree. However, even a one-degree change in temperature creates big problems! Original models for global warming showed a more gradual rise in temperatures. Scientists are shocked and dismayed at how much faster warming is occurring than they expected.

Global Climate Controls

The earth, like your body, needs to stay within a pretty strict temperature range to maintain life. Also like your body, it has many natural mechanisms that keep temperatures in check. This is called homeostasis. To understand how the earth maintains the level of warmth needed for life, we must look to the sun and the earth.

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun enters the atmosphere, heating it up. Of course, if all the radiation from the sun were allowed to reach the lower atmosphere, we would fry. What keeps that from happening is the ozone layer in the outer atmosphere. Ozone reflects harmful UV radiation and protects the earth from excess sunbeams. The magnetic field of the planet also protects the earth from electromagnetic energy from the sun (see Chapter 10).

Heat from the sun as well as heat generated by the earth is conserved in the earth’s atmosphere by the greenhouse effect. Gases in the atmosphere slow the escape of heat back into space, regulating our climate by trapping heat and holding it like a blanket around the planet. Without it, the earth’s temperatures would be colder by about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that is essential for life on Earth. However, too much of a good thing turns bad. Excess greenhouse gases trap too much heat, contributing to global warming.

Signs of Imbalance

The signs of global warming are irrefutable. The arctic sea ice is melting faster than anyone ever expected. As sea ice melts, sea levels are rising, weather is becoming more extreme, and rain patterns and distribution are changing. Areas of desert are starting to get rain and farming areas are experiencing drought.

Codex Cues

In January 2008, daffodils were in bloom throughout Britain—five months earlier than normal.

As the overall planetary temperature rises, the jet stream is shifting. This is breaking down the barrier between the cold arctic air and warmer southern air. The mixing of air masses is making the northern climates warmer and the southern climates colder. As you may have been noticing yourself, this affects seasons, agriculture, disease outbreaks, species extinction, species relocation, and human health.

Over the past 10 years, all signs of global warming have been increasing at a rapid rate. The controversy now is not whether global warming exists, it’s whether humans help create it and whether we can slow it down. As with most things, the answer depends on whom you ask.

Natural Warming

Some corporations and government agencies say that