Perpetual Winter: The Debate Over Global Warming
By Sarah Miner
Spring has finally
come, but not a minute too soon. After a seemingly interminable winter, freak
snowstorms in April and May have many questioning the validity of this so
called “Global Warming”. Unfortunately, these people would be sadly misinformed
if they thought that one cold winter could disprove something that was set in
motion decades ago. The most important distinction to make here is that between
climate and weather. Climate refers to weather patterns over years, eras,
things that take a very long time to observe, analyze, and interpret, while weather
can be something as trivial as an approaching thunderstorm or a sunny day.
This past decade has been the hottest on record since the
1880’s, when scientists started recording reliable data. Ironically enough, it
has been proven that hotter atmospheric temperatures often produce droughts
followed by heavy flooding. Recent natural disaster statistics are starting to reflect
the change in temperature as well. In the United States, the amount of rain or
snow falling in the heaviest tenth of storms has risen 20% in the last year,
which is nearly three times of the increases from any previous year. Other
countries have seen up to a 67% increase, which is a red flag for researchers
everywhere. Although it’s hard to believe, spring officially arrives 10 days
earlier than it used to, on average. Scientists have dubbed it the “Spring
Creep,” and it’s not likely to reverse itself anytime soon. Everyone is encouraged
to do simple things to help the environment. Little changes like using clean
energy, conserving electricity, and recycling can make a big difference in the
world.
Themes of Nature of Science
1.)Science is Based on Evidence: there's substantial evidence backing up this article and global warming in general.
2.)Conflicts Within the Scientific Community: Despite all of the evidence, there is still some controversy surrounding the claim that our world is heating up. Actually on second thought, those who disagree normally don't associate themselves with the scientific community, so nevermind.
3.)Role of Motivation and Curiosity: I would assume that everyone ought to be pretty motivated to learn about what's going to happen to the planet we inhabit, and I hope that people learn to take this information and do something worthwhile with it.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/cold-snow-climate-change.html
Hey Sarah, I really like this article! I think this is a very good article for people to read who don't believe in global warming. I read this really cool article online and it talked all about how scientists are researching global warming, and places where it has the greatest impact. I think it is also very important to realize that although we had some late snow this yar, we actually had an unusually high average temperature this Winter. Check out this website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Global-Warming/Global-Warming-is-Happening-Now.aspx
I'm glad there is some sorta explanation for this wintery spring we are having. Some nature of science themes that apply to your article are that science is tentative and science is collaborative.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great article! I found another article that states that it's highly likely that people have something to do with global warming. I personally believe we people have to do our part in the environment, but other people obviously disagree.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/2009/12/19/climategate-copenhagen-science-opinions-contributors-s-robert-lichter.html
Good article. However, I interpret this whole "global warming" as more of a climate imbalance. I mean that there are higher fluctuations in temperature between the times of year. In this sense, the long winter was to be expected. Just last week it was low 30's and snowing, but now it is almost 70 and I'm about ready to jump into a pool. This change in weather is natural and has happend many times before. Unfortunately, It just hasn't been this "weird," which tells us that there is a chance that human industrialism could be partly responsible for the great variations in climate. I believe that humans using "green tech" can't hurt, only help.
ReplyDeleteGood article, even if it isn't strictly biology related. I'm not trying to argue with you, but I doubt that the "little things" will actually do much to help climate change. The work of someone commuting on their bike instead of driving a car for years is negated by a single airplane flight. I realize how big of a problem it is, but as explained in the book Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the only way to reverse the path of climate change is a massive, unified global effort on many different scales.
ReplyDelete