A couple years ago when I was taking some college courses I wrote this essay for English. It's short and covers a few basics of global warming and natural climate change. While I agree the climate is changing I don't believe it's man-made global warming. I can't find my source page for this essay right now but I will keep looking through all of my stuff and see if it turns up.
Global Warming
Are humans causing our planet to warm? Or could it be that the earth is going through a natural cycle? Most scientists seem to believe humans are. But frozen palm trees have been
observed falling out of melting glaciers in Alaska. Tests done on these glacial trees have shown that they are around 50,000 years old. So Alaska must have had a tropical climate at that time.
Other studies have shown that the earth's temperature has fluctuated greatly in the past. So if humans aren't causing global warming, what is causing the earth to warm? There are several
theories that explain this warming that show that humans are not the source of global warming.
One of these theories says the earth has natural cycles that cause an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as the cycle continues the atmospheric carbon dioxide will decrease.
Water vapor in the air contains carbon dioxide. As the air warms, the vapor releases the carbon dioxide stored inside it. This causes the temperature to continue to warm.
This process is controlled by the Artic Ocean. It acts as a temperature regulator for the globe. When the Artic Ocean is frozen over, there is no water available for evaporation and
therefore very small amounts of snow fall to replenish the Artic ice cap. The ice cap continues to melt off until the process is reversed. But what is it that can reverse this process?
As the ice cap melts it will begin to expose large areas of open, ice free ocean. Water will begin to evaporate into the air and more and more snow will form. When snow falls onto the ice
cap it begins to expand and cover a much larger area. The air around the ice cap will begin to cool, and absorb the carbon dioxide it released into the air when it was warming. The air will
continue to cool until the Artic Ocean is once again covered in ice and no evaporation can occur, and the whole process will start again. It takes about 100,000 years to complete the cycle.
Scientists believe we are only ten to twenty years from the peak of the cycle and the earth will start to cool back down.
During the time between 950 and 1100 AD the earth experienced a very warm period called the Medieval Warm Period. The oceans around Greenland and Iceland were relatively free of ice,
and the Vikings were easily able to sail to them and colonize these areas. During this time Greenland, Iceland, and most of Europe thrived. But within 150 years the climate would change
dramatically.
The years between 1250 and 1850 were known as The Little Ice Age. Temperatures during this time were much cooler than the years before. The passages used by the Vikings were blocked
by ice for much of this time. Winter lasted much longer and the growing season was much shorter. The winter ice cap lasted up to 3 weeks longer in the spring and the glaciers in the Alpine
Mountains grew much larger. The Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period both occurred hundreds of years before people began to contribute to the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the air.
These two events in climate history demonstrate the way earth naturally goes through cycles of warm and cold temperatures.
Global warming is often blamed on humans and the amount of greenhouse gases we create. Some say that 100% of global warming is caused by people. Even though our greenhouse gas
emissions have increased greatly over the last 125 years, we do not create enough to disrupt earth's natural cycles. For example, about 90 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually circulates between
the oceans and the atmosphere. Another 60 billion tons are annually exchanged between plants and the atmosphere. Humans account for only 5 - 6 billion tons each year. Compared to the 150
billion tons naturally circulated by the earth, humans are responsibly for less than 5% of the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At only 5% of total carbon dioxide production, humans
contribute very little to global warming.
Some scientists would like us to believe that humans are solely responsible for our warming climate. They tell us we should 'go green' and 'save the environment.' But in reality this is just part
of earth's natural cycle. Contrary to what most people are led to believe, humans account for a very small amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We hear every day how we are destroying
our planet. Millions of dollars are spent every year to research ways to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions when in fact the earth is going through natural cycles. We, as humans, need to step
back and admire the earth and it's amazing climate so perfectly fit for us.
