Climate Change and Global Warming Report

By Rayce Dendel
Salt Lake Community College
(SLCC)
2016

Rayce Dendel
MWF 8:00 A.M
English 2010
Report Final

In this report I will be comparing and contrasting facts and data between two currently
existing theories concerning the warming and cooling of our planet, and how we may or may not
be involved as a species. My hypothesis is that while the Earth has been going through cycles for
some time, I believe that due to our growing overpopulation issue that we are exponentially
accelerating a natural process to a dire and irreversible point. In the pursuit of answering this
question without bias, this report will contain quotes and testimonies from some of the leading
researchers and studies from both sides of the argument, in an effort to present this conflict in a
fair, and balanced light.
To gain a base level understanding, I will start with the definitions of the two key terms
surrounding this issue. The first thing to understand is the term climate change. The
dictionary definition of Climate change refers to any changes in the Earths weather patterns
over any period of time. (Webster 2016) Dr. S. Fred Singer, professor of environmental studies at
the University of Virginia, is an accredited, well established voice in the global scientific
community and one of the worlds leading proponents of non-anthropogenic climate change. He
asserts in his book Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years that our climate has been
changing naturally since the planets conception, and that this change includes both heating AND
cooling of different parts of Earths atmosphere in varying degrees. (Singer 2007) This will be
the jumping off point from which the examination of climate change will be based on in this

paper.
The contrasting argument is termed global warming. Merriam Webster defines global
warming as an increase in the Earths atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to
occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution. (Webster,
2016) The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that the Warming of the climate
system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented
over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice
have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.
(Stocker et al. 2013) This means that our global temperature is heating up and as humans are
believed to be the cause. There are arguments for both sides of this issue, and now that we know
the base theories behind each, we can begin examining the logic behind both of these voices, and
why and how there are two vastly different fields of theory on this subject.
Despite the different explanations as to why, both theories agree on one thing: Our
climate, and our environment are changing. According to NASA, 9 of the 10 warmest years on
record have occurred since the year 2000. (Shaftel, Jackson, NASA 2016) Not only that, but
NASA has measured and averaged a global increase in temperature of almost 2 degrees
fahrenheit since 1880. This may not seem like much, but when you think about this much
warming on a global scale, this is a massive increase in heat! (Shaftel, Jackson, NASA 2016)
Now that there has been an established understanding of the core of both theories, and
there has been a confirmed warming of the Earth over a varying period of time (whatever the
cause may be), the next step is to provide evidence and reasoning behind each theory, starting
with the camp against global warming.
A study of the Earth and its weather patterns conducted by Harvard has shown that our

planet has experienced significant changes to our atmospheric temperature long before humans
came into existence. (Savin, 1977) There are many things that naturally affect our atmosphere
and climate, which is what led to these changes. A significant example is the changing
composition of our Sun. The Sun is one of the largest contributing factors to the temperature of
the planet we live on. According to an article published on Nature.com, an international weekly
scientific journal, the Suns magnetic coronal field has DOUBLED in the past 100 years. The
effect of this is that the solar wind we receive from the sun is slightly more magnetic than it has
been previously, resulting in an increased magnetic field throughout the heliosphere. Because of
the changing magnetic fields, the amount of cloud coverage on our planet changes as well,
which results in varying temperatures worldwide. Over a period of years this shift in the
consistency of solar wind has caused different levels of heating and cooling. (Lockwood,
Stamper, Wild 1999) In summation, the Sun is naturally constantly changing, and this in turn
affects our planet. We certainly cant control the Sun, and as far as we know we dont have any
large or tangible effect on it, or its composition. This means that at least in part, some of our
changing temperature has nothing to do with us as a species.
Looking further back than just the past 100 years, there is clear evidence of varying
temperatures and climates throughout the world without evidence towards human contribution. A
study conducted between the University of Michigan and the University of Western Ontario
confirmed that there has been significant fluctuation in temperature across all seven of the major
continents over the past 500 years. They did this by drilling what are known as boreholes, 616
of them to be precise. By drilling these holes, scientists can examine the composition of the soil
and rock deep in the earth, and from here they can make assumptions about the temperature and
structure of the environment from many centuries ago. (Huang, Pollack, Shen 1999) Since there

are no accurate weather records from these time periods, this method of research is widely
regarded by the scientific community as one of the most effective and productive ways to study
the history of the Earth and its atmosphere. What the boreholes revealed is that the Earth has
been experiencing long term heating and cooling trends, and that these trends began long before
any sort of substantial human interference with the atmosphere. A separate study conducted by
Thomas J. Crowley concluded that at least 41-64% of the temperature variance in the past 1,000
years was due to the Suns changing irradiation, in addition to a phenomena known as volcanism.
Volcanism is the occurrence of pyroclastic material, gas, or lava being ejected from the Earths
core, and in turn encompasses the study that this event has on our environment and atmosphere.
The study previously mentioned was published by the National Climatic Data Center, and is
widely regarded as one of the best sources of evidence for natural climate change. (Crowley,
2000)
When considering the previous quotes and data in context with the issue of
overpopulation, one might come to the conclusion that our numbers as a species has no apparent
or significant effect on the warming of the environment. Clearly our planet has been in a pattern
of tumultuous change since the very beginning of its existence, so one would be inclined to ask,
what evidence is provided to support the claims of global warming?
I have previously established in this paper the definition of global warming as climatic
change influenced at least in part by humans and the carbon and greenhouse emissions that we as
a species put into the air through our use of various machinery and industrialization. This theory
is widely accepted across the international and scientific community, which is evidenced by
many facts including the existence of numerous organizations, both governmental and public,
dedicated to fighting global warming.

One such organization is the EPA, an American governmental organization designed to

monitor, assess, and combat the devastating climate change we are all experiencing. According to
their data, global greenhouse emissions have increased 35% from 1990 to 2010. (EPA, 2016)
This means that in the last 20-25 years we have added more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere
than anytime in the past 100 years of our history. This is largely due to the increasing
industrialization of many countries and nations that previously did not have access to the
factories or machines that contribute to these gas emissions. This is caused in turn by the
increasing population of many 2nd and 3rd world countries. Our global population is
skyrocketing. According to the UN, (United Nations), the population of Earth is expected to
reach almost 10 billion by the year 2050, just 34 years from now. (DESA, U.N. 2015)This means
that in 34 years we are expected to increase our population by approximately 2.4 billion people.
When you consider the fact that it has taken all of human history for us to reach our current
number of 7.3 billion (as estimated by the UN), growing by a 1/3 of that in under 50 years is
staggering. Our growth rate is exponential, not linear. Why is this a problem?
Simply put, the more people there are, the more carbon and greenhouse emissions our
planet puts out as a whole. And the more emissions that we put into our atmosphere, the warmer
our planet becomes. This is due to the fact that when we put carbon and greenhouse emissions
into the atmosphere, they stay there, and reflect heat that the Earth gives off that would
otherwise emulate into space, straight back at our planet, producing the global warming effect
for which the theory is named. While we cant say with absolute, concrete certainty that our
significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions is the direct and only cause for our warming
planet, there have been many observations of the effects that we HAVE already had as a species,
and there are some things we can say FOR SURE were caused by our populations increase in

carbon and greenhouse emissions. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an
astounding 70,000 deaths occurred in the summer of 2003 in Western Europe due partially to the
extraordinary heat that the region was experiencing during that time. The heat was attributed to
the increase in emissions, not a natural phenomena. (This number is compared to other years
during the same period.) In the same report they confirm that our continued greenhouse gas
emissions interferes with rainfall patterns in certain areas of the globe, which cause fresh water
sources to vary and become scarce. This in turn causes a myriad of different health problems and
diseases for many different people around the world. On top of that, the report goes on to say that
nearly half of the Earths population lives within reasonable distance to the ocean shore or
coastline. (WHO, 2016)This is significant because global warming is thought to cause a rise in
sea level, which can be devastating even in minuscule amounts. A report from National
Geographic confirms that the oceans have indeed risen by an average of 6 inches in the past
century alone. (National Geographic Society, 2015)That means this trend started right after
America, one of the first countries to industrialize itself, began full steam into their Industrial
Revolution period, a time when factories and machines that emit carbon and greenhouse gasses
became increasingly prevalent, to put it lightly. Over the course of history more and more nations
have begun increasing their technological prowess, resulting in a decrease of mortality rates, and
an increase in global population, which in turn increases our emissions as a species. The global
population has increased by almost 2 billion in the last 20 years alone, according to the
Population Reference Bureau. (PRB, 2016) The National Geographic report goes on to confirm
that our oceans have been rising by .13 inches per year over the past 20 years, a rate nearly
DOUBLE that of the past 80 years. So to put it all together clearly and simply based off of the
information provided, there has been a measurable parallel increase in population and effects of

global warming in just the last 20 years of our history, which is a shockingly short amount of
time when you take into consideration the entirety of the Earths existence.
Furthermore, In 2011, an article on sciencedaily.com confirmed that economic and
populous growth in China contributed to a 9% increase in carbon emissions from just that
country alone, which added to a global rise in these same emissions by a whopping 3%. (Science
Daily, 2012) This increase was due to an economic stimulus the country was experiencing. The
more people in industrialized countries there are and the wealthier they become, the more
emissions we have. If we follow this trend, in roughly 33-35 years we will have increased our
global carbon emissions by almost 100%. This kind of human growth and the impact it may
have is unprecedented in the context of our history as a species.
In the end, both sides of this debate/issue have some sort of inconclusive element to
them. Further research and examination of this issue are needed, but sufficed to say that whatever
the reasoning behind the warming of our planet is, we must take preventative measures against it.
Another report or paper would be needed to discuss solutions to this problem and the
implications of those solutions on a global scale, but for now I will end my report with a
conclusion to my hypothesis based on the research of this paper. Is our growing population the
reason behind our warming planet? I would say the answer to this question comes in two parts. I
believe based on the facts and data provided that our Earth is INDEED naturally warming itself,
as it has done over thousands of years. I also believe that in addition to this, humans are
exponentially compounding the issue with unrelenting emissions of carbon and greenhouse
gasses. To put it simply, both sides are correct. I submit that only by coming together and
collaborating over this global crisis can we truly overcome it, and step into our future as a
species with hope on the horizon, rather than despair.

References and Citations

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2. Singer, F. S., Ph. D. (2007). Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years. Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
3 .Midgley, P. M. (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (T. F.
Stocker, D. Qin, G. K. Plattner, M. M. Tignor, S. K. Allen, J. Boshung, et al., Eds.). Switzerland:
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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Retrieved July 5, 2016, from http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
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6. Lockwood, M., Stamper, R., & Wild, M. N. (1999, June 3). A doubling of the Sun's
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ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 July 2012.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120719115130.htm>