Global Warming is Real vs. Global Warming is Fake - Essay Sample

Global warming is one of the most deliberated topics all over the world. These discussions have generated varied views on whether global warming is real or it is just a hoax. It is an issue that has captured the eyes of the politicians who too have different opinions on whether it is only a weather occurrence or it is unreal. While few people consider it a challenge to the whole world, other people see it as a shift in climate that occurred some years back and has since stabilized. The proponents of global warming have their reasons to back their claims, while those against it have explanations for their arguments. I am not sure, however, that global warming is fake or unreal, but we could both agree that majority of the people would prefer warm weather over cold, and understanding global warming is significant so that people are prepared to meet the challenges that it brings.

Many people have argued for the rising sea levels as a result of global warming. This rise has been contributed by the thermal expansion of the ocean as a result of warming because water expands when it warms. The world has also seen a considerable melting of ice in glaciers and ice sheets in the Antarctic and Greenland as a result of a warming climate. Domenech argues that these factors have contributed to the 3.2mm global average rise in global sea levels in the last two decades alone (n.p). The amounts of the water stored in the land have also contributed to the fluctuations of the sea water level as different locations experience different geological processes and changes in currents and winds along some coasts hence moving water away causing the land to either sink or rise.

On the other hand, global warming is a not real because there is no uniform rise in sea levels around the world as there are some areas that the sea level is rising while it is dropping in other regions. For instance, Titus and Eric argue that some areas in the United States such as Mid-Atlantic and Western Pacific have faced rising sea levels while North and South American Pacific Coast and Alaska have faced an apparent drop in the sea levels (19). The Pacific Northwest has had a stable or dropping sea levels where the land is rebounding upwards or tectonically active in response to the melting ice sheets. These changes are as a result of no uniformity in temperature associated with ocean circulation.

We may not agree whether global warming is real or a hoax, but we can agree on the reduction of global warming because of the effects it has on the people and the environment. I respect the idea that global warming is a hoax because of the lack of uniformity in the rise of sea level in the different places in the whole world, but rising sea levels as a result of global warming have caused flooding in cities close to the oceans (Prothero 15). Although these effects are not felt in many areas in the world, they are catastrophic because it destroys property and displaces people.

Secondly, even if there is global warming, there is life in the water. Seagrass and algae have benefited from ocean acidification because of their ability to use carbon dioxide and bicarbonate (HCO3) in photosynthesis. I agree that global warming is harmful, but animals such as green sea turtles and manatees thrive when global warming occurs because it increases the availability of food (Griggs 263). Some organisms in the ocean such as crustaceans are resistant to changes in the percentage of carbon dioxide in the sea (Abate 8). Plants and animals flourish in the ocean despite acidification which tells that global warming is not real.

On the contrast, I believe that ocean acidification is an indication of global warming. The acids levels in the ocean are on the rise hence has made the oceans all over the world more acidic. The levels of carbon oxide in the atmosphere have accumulated because of the increase in human activities. This gas dissolves in water and forms a weak acid absorbed into the oceans. It alters the nutrients cycle in the ocean hence shifting the competition of the species, changes the marine ecosystem, and food web.

The reality about global warming is that the accumulation of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere has led to the acidification of the oceans. The increasing acids in oceans are having a marked effect on sea inhabitants such as coral reefs, tiny creatures, and fish. Furthermore, shelled animals are affected by the increased levels of carbon dioxide in water because the shells of these animals may dissolve in the long run. I agree with the opposing view that the global warming is not real because the oceans absorb a small percentage of the accumulated levels in the atmosphere. Russell argues that the effects of acidification on the ocean ecosystem is relatively low but crucial in the provision of data for policy management (41). The food chain in the ocean is made up of several species, and the growth of seagrass and algae causes an increase in the population of some species which will have an impact on another species.

In addition, people disagree with global warming because they believe that temperature is not rising uniformly in all parts of the world. Some areas are experiencing a rise in temperature while some other areas have average temperatures. Schwartz, for instance, notes that Alaska and Canada are warming faster while summer temperatures are showing a little trend (496). The global warming controversy has also indicated that the temperature has been stable since 1998 with no notable rise in the sea levels (Liao, 1). Critics of rising temperatures are even of the opinion that the governments all over the world should stop wasting huge sums of money on global warming.

On the other hand, the temperature has been on the rise due to human activities. For instance, gases released by humans have led to the increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which have caused temperature on the surface of the earth to rise. McFarlane argues that the temperature has been on the rise between 1906 and 2005 where the global temperature shot up from 0.6oC to 0.9oC and has neared double figures in the last half a century (283). This temperature is expected to shoot up to over 1.40C in the United States in the coming decades (Mccarthy 1). All the countries in the worlds are facing the rise in temperatures have felt the effects of these temperatures because of the adverse weather condition and the rising sea levels.

The argument of whether the earth is warming or not is an area where people can reasonably agree to disagree. I believe that the earth has experienced changes in temperature and as a result, it has warmed and cooled over time. This change of climate is as a result of the planet receiving more or less sunshine due to orbit shifts. Smith agrees that the earth warmed between 1895 up to 1940 and became cold between 1940 and 1970 (90). I believe that the worlds temperature has risen because of the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases trap the heat causing the atmosphere to overheat. Singh et al. observe that the global temperatures have been on the rise in the last 30 years with 2001 to 2010 being one of the warmest decades ever recorded (16). As a result of this, heat waves have been experienced in different parts of the world because these regions are receiving high temperatures for several days and nights. A chain of changes are triggered as the world gets warmer and hence have disastrous impacts on the people and the environment.

Climate model calculations used in the prediction of global warming effect have predicted the adverse climatic conditions. These models have replicated the temperatures of the land, ocean, and air in the world since 1990. Climate models have considerably shown confidence in the provision of credible quantitative of future climate change particularly at continental scales and above (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, n.p). These models have provided an unambiguous and robust image on the significant changes in global warming in response to increase in greenhouse gases.

Despite the climate models reputation in the prediction of change in temperature, they have proven unreliable, and the projection of effects of global warming have been proven wrong hence depicting global warning as unreal. These models are flawed meaning that the predictions made in the previous years may be untrue. Some advocates of global warming pointed some key dates when some predictions were to occur but their time of predictions have since passed without any prediction coming to pass. For instance, Al Gore gave a prediction that all the ice in the Arctic would disappear by the year 2013, but on the contrary, Arctic ice has gone up since 2012 (Bruno 34).

I agree that climate models are useful in predicting climate change as they have given accurate figures on the changes in climate, but when significant events predicted by these models do not occur, then global warming is not real. A vast majority of people believe that the world is getting warmer, but if climate models do not confirm these happenings, then climate change is a hoax.

In conclusion, there has been a lot of discussions and controversies on whether global warming is real or it just a fake occurrence. Critics of global warming claim that there is no uniform rise in sea levels because some areas are experiencing a drop in sea levels while in other areas the sea level is rising. Also, acidification is not an indicator of global warming because some organisms in the sea are thriving because of increased acid levels in the oceans. Predictions of global warming by scientists have been proven wrong, and the climate models have failed to predict the changes in temperatures. On the contrary, it is worth noting that the global temperatures are rising. Some areas in the world have experienced flooding and other natural disasters that are attributed to global warming. Is global warming real or it is just a hoax? Those in favor of global warming have tried to prove it in studies and predictions, but I agree that scientists have not conclusively shown global warming.

Works Cited

Abate, Randall. Climate change impacts on ocean and coastal law: U.S. and international perspectives. Oxford University Press, 2015. Print.

Bruno, G. Red Edge: Changing the Way We Think about Climate Change. G Bruno, 2015. Print.

Domenech, Alex. The Domenech Bible Interpretations. WestBow Press, 2015. Print.

Griggs, Gary B. Coasts in crisis: a global challenge. University of California Press, 2017. Print.

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007, ipcc.ch/.

Liao, Enhui, et al. The Coastal Ocean Response to The Global Warming Acceleration and Hiatus. Scientific Reports, vol. 5, no. 1, (2015): 1-10 doi:10.1038/srep16630.

Mccarthy, Michael. Global climate is warming rapidly; US draft report warns. Bmj, Sept. 2017, doi:10.1136/bmj. j3824. Print.

McFarlane, Deborah R. Global Population and Reproductive Health. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2015. Print.

Russell, Peter J., et al. Biology: The Dynamic Science. 4th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017. Print.

Schwartz, Maurice L. Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Springer, 2005. Print.

Smith, Mark W. The Official Handbook of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. Regnery Pub., 2008. Print.

Singh, Harish Chandra Prasad., et al. Climate-Resilient Horticulture: Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies. Springer India, 2013. Print.

Titus, James G., and K. Eric. Anderson. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus On the Mid-Atlantic Region. U.S. Climate Change Science Program, 2009. Print.

Prothero, Donald R. "How We Know Global Warming is Real." Skeptic 17 (2012): 14-22. Print.