Global Warming: The Issues and Debates

Global warming is a phenomenon that refers to the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the environment due to manmade activity. The buildup of carbon dioxide causes atmospheric temperature to rise, which causes sea level to rise, and carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean and polar ice. The reason global warming is so controversial is because the Bush Administration fails to consider the phenomenon a result of manmade activity. However, in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore maintains that global warming is real, it is caused by human activity, and mankind and government must act immediately to halt and reverse it (Guggenheim, 2006). In ten years the damage to our planet may reach a "tipping point," from where there is no human activity that can halt or reverse it (Guggenheim, 2006). This analysis will discuss the phenomenon of global warming, including how it is affecting our planet and what needs to be done about.

Global warming could play havoc with the world's climate, threaten ecosystems and marine life, and affect human health and well-being. Increased industrialization over the past century is the main culprit in causing the phenomenon in the minds of scientists. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere from car exhaust, smokestacks, chimneys and other sources of air pollution. Deforestation due to industry exacerbates the problem. According to Lee (2002), rainforests

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s emission controls on the U.S." (Taylor, 2005, p. 20). Despite these moves by the Bush Administration, Al Gore maintains global warming is a real and present danger to the future of mankind and the planet. As Gore notes in his documentary, "There is no controversy about the facts. Out of 925 recent articles in peer-review scientific journals about global warming, there was no disagreement. Zero" (Guggenheim, 2006). The fact that some officials and media reports question the existence or threat of global warming is due, according to Gore, from a disinformation campaign conducted by energy companies to "reposition global warming as a debate," much like tobacco companies did with respect to the link between tobacco smoking and cancer (Guggenheim, 2006). Ten years from now the world will not self-destruct, but Gore and a consensus among scientists is that if little is done before then a point where be passed where an irreversible slide into destruction will occur. Before the U.S. and other nations that have pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol will adopt such limits on greenhouse gases, Flavin (2002) argues that "There are a number of key issues that need resolved in the draft agreement now on the table" (p. 39).
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Approximate Word count = 1339
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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