Clearing up the Global Warming Debate

by Jeremy Cohen Hoffing May 2, 2010

In the current global warming debate, many facts are over exaggerated and skewed. On top of this there is much confusion and misinformation out there that lead people to hold incorrect beliefs about climate change. TheGreenTruth will attempt to clarify and demystify these falsities and fictitious statements.

One of the most common problems in the global warming debate is the confusion between the terms “global warming” and “human-caused global warming”. Many believe the terms to mean the same thing when in fact they are completely different. Global warming refers to the natural and cyclical warming of the planet, whereas human-caused global warming is the warming of our planet due to humans and pollution. The IPCC has concluded that global warming has only likely been human-caused since 1957. Before that, global warming has only been considered a natural and cyclical phenomenon due to variations in the temperature of the sun. More specifically, the levels of sunspots can be closely correlated with average temperatures on Earth. Many people misunderstand what the actual IPCC consensus is, and believe that there is irrefutable evidence that humans have been causing global warming for the past 120 years. One of the most exaggerated global warming myths is that temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. The current temperature of the Earth is the warmest in 400 years, but the increase since 1850 has only been about 1 degree Celsius, which is within natural variations recorded in the last millennium.

Many people may correctly state that carbon dioxide emissions have increased enormously and have to do with global warming, but incorrectly argue that CO2 causes climate change, and significantly adds to the Greenhouse effect. The same people consider carbon dioxide to be the main component in greenhouse gases. In fact, greenhouse gases form about 3% of the Earth’s atmosphere by volume. 97% of these gases consist of water vapor and clouds, with the rest made up of CO2, CH4, Ozone, and N20. That being said, CO2 accounts for 0.037% of the atmosphere. Although the amount of CO2 is so small compared to the rest of the greenhouse gases, it is thought to be responsible for 60% of the Greenhouse effect. Moreover, the relationship between increases in CO2 and temperature is often misunderstood. While data shows that increases in CO2 and global temperatures are correlated, it does not necessarily mean the increases in CO2 cause increases in temperature. In fact, most geophysicists believe that the increases in temperature cause the levels of CO2 to change. Most of the CO2 on our planet is inside ocean water, and when it is warmed, the CO2 evaporates into the atmosphere. Measurements indicate that the changes in CO2 lag the temperature changes by 800 years.

An issue that is also often overlooked is the increasing acidification of the oceans. Half of CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels are deposited into the oceans making them more acidic. This can have a huge impact on ocean life. This may be potentially more dangerous to ecosystems then the small increase in global temperature.