Global Warming vs. Global Cooling
December 16th, 2009
Many politicians and environmental activists loosely throw around the term, “global warming” to indicate the recent discoveries of a changing pattern in climate. They cite instances of years with exceptionally high temperatures as well as an overall warmer temperature. While this is generally a well-accepted assertion, many climatologists will claim that we are going through a global cool down. The evidence for this includes record snowfall and very low temperatures. While there is no definitive answer as to which side is correct, it is important to continue to research the climate cycles to make an informed decision.
Global cooling was a term first coined in the 1970s and is the belief that there is an increased establishment and growth of glaciers. Scientists believed that since the 1940s, the earth was gradually cooling. They thought that the increase use of fossil fuels resulted in the release of particles into the air that would filter the sunlight, causing a global cooling effect. It was the belief that global cooling was brought on by global dimming, meaning the increase in particle count of the atmosphere due to human interference. In order to support their case, scientists showed a decrease in temperature over the decades.
In contrast, global warming is a term known for the trend of overall warming of the earth. Proponents of global warming believe that instead of leading to a perpetual cool down, the use of fossil fuels is leading to a warming that can most distinctively be measured by the oceans. Scientists studying global warming have claimed there to be an overall increase in Earth’s temperature by .56°Celcius during a 100 year timespan, the most aggressive increasing occurring during the most recent five decades.
The anticipated effects of global warming are alarming and indicate a destruction of the species and habitats on Earth, affecting even the habitat of humans. The destruction of crops, weather extremes, and disease are feared with many scientists believing the Earth will no longer be livable by the human species.
Scientists who believe global warming is the cause for our climate change dismiss global cooling as a pseudo science. While there may be years when cities experience particularly harsh or cold winters, they refute the notion that it is a repeating trend and instead claim it to be isolated incidents. After all, it is important to keep in mind that climate change is not measured by seasons and does not include soaring highs and lows but a gradual and stead increase or decrease in temperature. When studying this change over the last several decades, the temperature has seen a steady, while not amounting to even a full degree, the implications of such change is grand and according to many scientists, enough to negate the entire global cooling theory.
The debate over global cooling and warming is sure to continue as scientists make claims and ne findings to support each side. The climate has never been considered stable, over the years Earth has undergone both global warming and cooling and the transitions in between. Understanding these patterns is essential to understanding the situation we are currently dealing with.
Scientists generate an understanding of the Earth’s climate pattern through the study prehistoric ice remnants and ocean sediment core to gain an accurate history of climate patterns. They will drill very large holes into the arctic ice, which once began as snowflake. As the snow piled and turned into ice, gas bubbles became trapped, allowing scientists to recreate the history of the climate up to 450,000+ years ago. A similar process occurs in the ocean sediment cores that trap gases allowing scientists to accurately pinpoint climate history of long ago and to accurately discover where we are today.
While climate change is an inevitable pattern of the Earth, it is undeniably being expedited by the impact of the human race. Whether you fall on the global warming or global cooling side of the debate, the common factor is that the overuse of fossil fuels is creating a negative impact on the Earth. Without the proper intervention, the climate of the Earth will continue to change much more rapidly than it biologically should, resulting in the change of life as we currently understand it.
