Carbon Dioxide Is the Reason behind Global Warming: Is the Debate Over?
Global warming is one, if not the most discussed concerns of our contemporary society. In fact, it has engendered protracted debates between and among our top scientists, whose differing theories seek to unravel not only the real causes but also certain viable solutions which can be framed to address it. If only to cite, two schools of thought emerge from these heated discussions. On the one side of the spectrum, one group of scientist-thinkers claims that the rapid increase of carbon dioxide emission, owing much from the exponential growth of industries of the post war era, is the chief cause of the present global warming crisis. By contrast, another group, that which strongly disagrees with the aforesaid stance, maintains that global warming is not really attributable to an increased carbon dioxide emission as it is to due to the inevitability of the earth’s natural processes of cyclic heating and cooling within a given span of time.
Thus, while it is agreed that the globe is in fact warming, the debate about whether or not carbon dioxide is causing it is surely not over. This paper makes a case for the necessity of continuing studies as regards to the matter, as I am more inclined to believe that, based on my readings, carbon dioxide emission does not constitute the real cause of global warming, if by ‘cause’ we take to mean that the increased production of carbon dioxide acts as the sufficient explanation of global warming, let alone its sole mitigating factor. The stance which this paper takes is a somewhat critical to the more popular understanding of global warming crisis; i.e. this paper is specifically critical to Al Gore, along with some 2,500 scientist who work at the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and roughly about 86% of American citizens, who summarily hold that global warming is a problem brought about by human doing. This paper seeks to underscore the incurable ambiguities which mark the contention that global warming is entirely due to the increased incidence of greenhouse concentrations, which in itself is nothing but the consequential result of the perceived increase of carbon dioxide emissions.
Carbon Dioxide Emission as Causative Ingredient to Global Warming?
As previously mentioned, there are many scientists who claim that the current state of the industrial societies is a key determining factor that aggravates the noticeable increase of world atmospheric and marine temperatures. Crucial to this is to cite that world economies’ heavy dependence on fossil fuels, which in turn leads to excessive carbon dioxide emission, is responsible for the increased incidence of greenhouse effect being experienced the world over. Homer-Dixon cites that “concentration of greenhouse gases are increasing fast, and the earth is getting hotter” (162). And it, in fact, is not hard to establish that there is a direct correlation existing between the increasing world temperature and the equally rapid increase of carbon dioxide emission recorded in the last few decades. One only needs to show that many studies have in fact indicated that the levels of both carbon dioxide discharge and the world’s atmospheric temperatures have risen side by side, to make a convenient conclusion that there is a cause-and-effect relation between the two (Homer-Dixon 163).
In many respects, this cause-effect model is taken as one of the many arguments espoused by the Kyoto Protocol – an international environmental accord sanctioned by the United Nations, aimed at decreasing world production of greenhouse gases – to pursue its reasoned stipulations. According to the agreement, world governments acceding to such an accord must ensure that steps are undertaken to cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions “below the range” which can be devastating to nature (Kyoto Protocol). Herein, it would be necessary to note that the reasoned premise of such an agreement rests on the plain assumption that there exists a direct cause-and-effect correlation between world economies’ carbon dioxide production and rapid increase of world atmospheric temperatures. Which is why, the Kyoto Protocol tends to regard global warming as anthropogenic in essence – i.e., it is a phenomenon brought about by human doing.
Surely thus, it has to be noted that an excessive amount of research have been conducted globally in the hope of offering answers relative to slowing the rate of the global warming. That having said, there are still reasons to think that no one can really stop the continued warming of the world. Not even the Kyoto Protocol – an already massive initiative, to say the least, taken by humanity to address the problem – dares to dream of averting the rise of world temperatures all together. As indeed, our optimum technologies nowadays have yet to frame adequate solutions to curb the rate of global warming. If this perceived helplessness in respect to global warming speaks of anything about our present situation, it merely proves that there is more into the problem than merely attributing it to human doing. This is because if global warming is really a problem constituted by human fault, then it is with human initiatives that such problem can and must be remedied. Apparently however, human progress cannot be blamed wholly for the recent rising trends of global temperatures.
Global Warming as the Earth’s Natural Way of Being
While it may be easy to establish the correlation between the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted in the last 50 years and the rise of world temperatures, it is nevertheless difficult to construe a necessary cause-and-effect connection between them. For say that carbon dioxide alone is the sufficient explanation to global warming means that we are reducing the problem into a single cause; and this must not be so. Michel Jarraud contends,
You cannot attribute (global warming) to a single cause. It’s about the very complex interaction between all the elements that make up the very complex machine that is the Earth…But global warming is likely to lead to more frequent extraordinary events and greater intensity of these events” (qtd. in Homer-Dixon 162).
Thus, if, by taking Jarraud’s contention, global warming is reducible to a single cause, then we might as well inquire the possible causes which bring about its occurrence. To this end, various elements such as solar radiation and concentrations of volcanic dust must be cited as probable causes as well. Still, another interesting theory which must be considered lies in realizing that many scientists believe that by “back casting” the earth’s atmospheric trends in the last centuries, one can appreciate how the earth follows a “dominant cycles and patterns of temperature changes” in the course of lifetime (Homer-Dixon 164-164). In a manner of speaking, herein it makes sense to suppose that earth merely follows its intended course of nature when it is perceived to be undergoing a relative increase or decrease in its surface temperatures.
In the first place, global warming should be seen as a natural process or occurrence, or a phenomenon not generated by human activities. In fact, global warming happens periodically; as this was proven by Petr Chylekon. For instance, in his report, he maintains that during the 1920’s, Greenland’s temperature was recorded higher than it was during many instances 2005. With such telling evidence, he concludes that, “the Greenland warming of 1920 to 1930 demonstrates that a high concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is not a necessary condition for period of warming to arise” (Petr Chylekon). The same may be said of the trend which shows that during the period of 1900-1940, the temperatures were rising even when industrial production was insignificant. After this period came the economic boom as the War was over and production in cars began to increase. Ironically, this was the period when the temperature dropped and did not begin to rise until four decades later. Besides, one must also note with care that the past 150 years have seen a very minute increase in world temperature – only half a degree Celsius. If with the massive production of carbon dioxide the rate of world temperature increase does not appear to be so drastic, then it is evident that carbon dioxide is not the sole cause of global warming.
Secondly, where carbon dioxide is in question, it is certainly insightful to note that human activities do not really generate as much carbon dioxide emission as does nature itself, when it produces the carbon dioxide in manner being more significant, if not undeniably massive. This is certainly an interesting angle to look at; for while we agree to a certain respect that carbon dioxide is a heat-generating compound in the atmosphere, it nevertheless is just one of the many gaseous compounds comprising greenhouse gases. As such, carbon dioxide comprises a meager .54% of the total greenhouse gasses present in the air (source?). Moreover, human activities are not to sole progenitor of carbon dioxide. The earth’s land surface, it must be noted, emits carbon dioxide as well. For instance, when a volcanic eruption occurs, the earth produces more carbon dioxide than the amount produced by industrial factories around the world, and certainly more than the amount of the same emitted by human beings. This is to speak only of the earth’s terrestrial surface, which is roughly about 30% of the world’s surface area. The largest emitter of carbon dioxide is by the larger marine surface, as it makes up the remaining 70% of our world’s geographical composition. One must realize that as the Earth gets hotter, the ocean emits more carbon dioxide, which may help explain why carbon dioxide concentration increases as world temperature rises. If the earth produces, by itself, a large amount of carbon dioxide, then it makes sense to claim that it is nature that ushers itself on to a state of global warming.
Thirdly, not only must people start to realize that global warming is a phenomenon that happens on a natural basis, they too must take into careful account the significant role which solar radiation plays in ushering the world into another phase of warmer temperatures. In other words, the warming of the earth is in fact believed to be operative on the heat generated by the sun. This is exactly the contention leveled by Jeffrey Gordon in his book called Solar Energy: The State of the Art. He says that solar energy and temperature correlate generated by the heart of the sun act as the major contributor behind the heat on the surface of the earth. Besides, he maintains that “a clear correlation between the urban temperature and the sky view factor was found” (Gordon 14). Herein, we have to aware that Gordon speaks of sky instead of the sun so as to drive home his point. This is because cloud formation in the sky, along with the amount of solar radiation, plays an important role in the warming of our climatic system. Ordinarily, we speak of cloud formation as a phenomenon explicable by the rate of evaporation and condensation of water vapor transpiring in the earth’s atmosphere (The World Book Encyclopedia 111). But, if we consult scientific theories, there are those who say that cosmic rays are the actual reason behind the formation of clouds; rays that are activated through the sun. If clouds are generated by cosmic rays, and that they absorb and reflect solar radiation, which in turn make the earth’s surface cool or warm according to the cloud density, then it is with good reasons to claim that global warming is indeed caused by natural processes.
Still, there is a need to further underscore the fact that many doomsday prophecies in respect to the true state of the earth appear to be patently exaggerated, if not wholly unfounded as well. A glaring example would be to cite how scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change came up with analyses and reports accentuating the correlation between the earth’s temperatures on the one hand and the levels of carbon dioxide on the other hand. This, we might as well be reminded, is in itself an indication of correlation but not of necessary connection, as argued hereinabove. Unfortunately, these scientists argued that, using the temperature-carbon dioxide correlation, the warming globe would be a precursor to a significant rise in sea levels within the next one hundred years. And by further claiming that sea levels are expected to rise at least twenty feet above the present level, these scientist warn of extensive flooding, reduction of earth’s land surface, and all sorts of natural disasters.
We need to point out, however, that this claim is at the very least preposterous. This is for the plain reason that, according to the recent studies shown in a BBC documentary called ‘The Global Warming Swindle’, it would take another 1000 years to have our sea level to rise dramatically by twenty feet, or less (Scott). Hardly over, another example pertinent to some scientists’ tendency to proffer unfounded studies comes through research by Thomas Knutson of the NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. According to him, “a greenhouse gas-induced warming may lead to a gradually increasing risk in the occurrence of highly destructive category-5 storms” (Knutson). Another scientist from the IPCC agrees with Knutson, and even further researched on this case and concluded that we are on the way to another ice age. Once again, the extremities palpable in their conclusions make their claims highly dubitable. At the very least, we need to inquire why scientists arrive at differing conclusions – i.e., one speaks of catastrophic hurricanes, yet another prophesies a looming ice-age – using the same climate model as evidence. We have reasons to believe that these scientists have deliberately pushed their interpretation beyond what their evidences imply. And reason behind this, we might as well surmise, lies in the need to attract the public attention at the expense of portraying the truth of the matter regarding the state of our nature.
Finally, it is imperative to note that many scientists’ tendency to lopsidedly zero in on construing doomsday leaves no room for appreciating the positive ramifications of global warming. During the course of my research, I realized that there are those who say that a warmer globe does not necessarily spell doom for humanity. On the contrary, it may even be beneficial for us. Bruce E. Johansen in his book The Global Warming: Desk Reference for instance contends that “a slight rise in temperatures and carbon dioxide levels would stimulate the growth of many plants” (Johansen 105). This is because carbon dioxide will be more largely absorbed by plants when there is more of it. This moreover proves that the earth’s natural cycle is on course, and that there is no need to unnecessarily incite panic from among the greater public. The earth will learn and adapt to climate changes as much as humans, and every other animal, would.
Conclusion
By way of conclusion, I wish to end with a thought which affirms the central roadmap and chief contention of this paper – i.e., the debate about global warming cannot be laid to rest, so long as the entire truth about the matter is not fully unraveled. Right now, the world is fed with much-publicized but too-often-pessimistic views about the ill-effects of global warming. And much too often, these supposed scientific studies pin the blame on human beings and their otherwise magnificent activities and achievements. This, I believe, is rather unfair. In the discussions that were developed, it was seen that there is more into global warming than merely attributing it to carbon dioxide emissions of the last few decades, and the increased concentration of greenhouse gasses observed in the present times. In the final analysis, we have to admit that the earth’s climate has always been changing. And as we have been through cold and warm periods, we must appreciate the fact that nearly all living species have found, in ways more than one, their respective ways of surviving. Certainly, the debate is far from being over.
References
Chylekon, Petr. Title of Work. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Homer-Dixon, Thomas. The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization. Washington D.C.: Island Press, 2006.
Johansen, Bruce. The Global Warming: Desk Reference. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group Incorporated, 2001.
Knutson, Thomas. Title of Work. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Scott, Phillip. Interview on BBC’s Documentary, “The Global Warming Swindle”.
“The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”. 01 December 2008. <www.econ.yale.edu/~nordhaus/homepage/Kyoto.pdf>
The World Book Encyclopedia. “Clouds”. Chicago: The World Book International, Inc., 1995.
