Cydney Delley
Mr. Jones
Communication Skills/Technical Writing
June 22, 2013 “Is Climate Change even real?”
Global warming is concerning a growing number of environmentalists, climate scientists, and governments worldwide. Despite the growing evidence indicating that the Earth may be in danger, there are politicians, scientists, and interest groups that global warming isn’t real. Whether people understand global warming or not, this evidence clearly proves that global warming is real.
There have been changes in temperature throughout Earth’s history due to geological disruption, a slight change in the planet’s orbit, or when the sun’s energy production varied. However, in the last 200 years, human activity has been the primary cause of the of rising global temperature, raising it by about 1.4°F since the early 20th century, according to NCDC. By taking samples from the Antarctic ice cores, scientists have also measured the amount of carbon dioxide and methane, and found that they have increased by about 38 percent and 148 percent, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 1750s.
Over the past 100 years, sea levels have risen at an average rate of 1.7 millimeters per year based on tide gauge observations. Since 1993, however, the rate of rising sea levels has increased to about 3.5 millimeters per year. Recent satellite imaging also shows that worldwide sea levels have risen between 4 to 8 inches. When climate temperature increases, water absorbs some of that heat which causes the oceans to expand. It also causes ice to melt, particularly from Greenland, polar caps, and mountain glaciers, which contributes to greater amounts of liquid water. Higher temperatures also cause large chunks of Antarctica’s ice to break off. At this rate, it is very likely that, by 2100, major coastal cities will be swamped or partially submerged, such as New York City, Miami, and London.
According to the National Ice & Snow Data Center, as of July 2011, the amount of snow covering in the Northern Hemisphere was at a record low. The 2011 amount was 2.92 million square miles below 1979’s average, and 865,000 square miles below 2000’s average. The air temperature around the North Pole was 11 to 14°F higher than average. When the 2011 satellite images of the North Pole were compared with those between 1979 and 2010, snow and ice coverings were melting at an earlier time, sometimes as early as 50 days. Other evidence of global warming includes larger and more frequent pockets of ponds and lakes in the spring.
In conclusion, Global Warming is a major problem that needs to be handled. If the problem isn’t handled, there will be higher sea levels, global rise in surface temperature, and the snow will continue to retreat from the Antarctic and Artic Circles. People can deny and forget about global warming and climate change if they want too, but it is an obvious problem that each and every one of us can help fix.