The Myth of the Global Warming Alarm How should we view global warming and its implications for our future? If we are to believe the common press, global warming is a threat to the entire world community. The implications of the projected impact of global warming on our well-being, our economy, and our social structure have been portrayed as both frightening and devastating. But is the threat of global warming all that it seems? Does the extent of the impact match the portrayal of our future eschewed by the media? Or is the global warming scare, like the nuclear war scare of the 1980's, an exageration that is skewed toward the worst-case scenario? What can be said with assurance about the impacts of global warming on our future?
In fact, there are serious holes in the assumption that global warming will cause significant damage to the earth and the human community. Our knowledge of its probable impact is far from perfect. Also there are remedies that can be taken to counteract the intensity of any negative effects. For these reasons, the media's portrayal and common beliefs about global warming may be over-reactions to a problem that, though serious, is not necessarily devastating to the extent that our society often believes it to be.
What is global warming and why is it believed to be a threat to our future? Global warming is the increase in the earth's temperature over time due primarily to a build-up of gases in the atmosphere (Kowalski: Open for Debate..., 2004, p. 9