Is the Threat of Global Warming Real?

Is the Threat of Global Warming Real? Name Institution Is the Threat of Global Warming Real? Global warming has been the cause of major concern in the world and as a result, governments have been collaborating to come up with solutions to this problem. However, not many people take global warming seriously, with some positing that global warming is not as imminent and threatening as we have been made to believe. On the other hand, some individuals believe that global warming is happening and in fact, it should be a cause of concern because it is threatening the ecosystem and ultimately, it will destroy life on earth. As a result, there has been a major debate between opponents and proponents of global warming in recent years. However, scientists continue to provide evidence that global warming is real andthey posit that human beings are partly to blame for the problem(Romm, 2016). This paper aims at exploring the issue of global warming by first providing a brief explanation of what global warming is and then analyzing the evidence provided in support of global warming and its effects. What is Global Warming? Often, global warming is used synonymously with climate change. However, global warming is just an aspect of climate change that deals with changes in temperatures in the earth. According to the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society (2014), evidence of global warming is being monitored through temperature changes, both over land and sea. In modern times, recorded temperatures are being compared to earth temperature in the past so that the changes can be registered to prove that global warming is a real threat to both lives on earth and at sea. As such, most scientific evidence of global warming has been as a result of time series analysis. The most convincing evidence of global warming has been provided through observations made on the overall climate system, as posited by the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society (2014). They include a rise in the global mean temperature, a decline in sea ice, rise in the sea level, and a decline in the snow cover. Rise in Global Temperatures The earth’s surface temperature has been on the rise over the last few decades. While investigating changes in global temperature with the aim of predicting future temperatures, Hawkins, et al. (2017) revealed that in 2015, the global average temperature was recorded to be approximately 1◦C above the pre-industrial temperature level. In addition, between 1986 and 2005, the temperature level was approximately 0.55-0.86 ◦C higher than those during the pre-industrial period. This reveals a trend of average global temperature rise since the pre-industrial period. In fact, Cahill, Rahmstorf, and Parnell (2015) predicted that a regular global temperature rise of 0.16◦C per decade should be expected at an interval of approximately four years. This prediction is based on their observation that the years with the highest recorded global temperature were 2005, 2010, and 2014. Recently, there has been a claim that the global temperature rise has taken a hiatus since there have been no significant changes in temperature over the last few years. This has given some people the idea that global warming is not a threat after all. However, Cahill, Rahmstorf, and Parnell (2015) suggested that this claim is incorrect because new records of global temperature should be expected after every four years on average, rather than yearly. It is, therefore, safe to assume that global temperature will continue to rise. Also, Hawkins, et al. (2017) posited that due to the rapid change in temperature over the last three centuries, it is likely that the global temperatures would reach the 1.5◦C sooner than expected. Currently, the high global temperature has had negative effects on life on earth. For instance, McDowell, et al. (2015) posited that forest and vegetation mortality that is being experienced in the Southwestern part of the United States is caused by increasing global temperature. This could also pose a danger to human life given the symbiotic relationship that exists between plants and human beings. Thus, preserving the ecosystem would require joint efforts targeted at preventing further global temperature rise. Decline of Arctic Sea Ice The loss of sea ice in the Arctic has been supporting evidence that global warming is real and that it poses a threat to life at sea. According to Lindsey and Scott (2019), as of the 2018 summer, the recorded decline in the sea ice at the arctic reached 12.8% per decade. In fact, their data revealed that in 1980, the minimum Arctic sea ice extent was 7.0 millions of square kilometers but by 2015, it was 5.0. Based on this trend, they predict that by 2020, the minimum Arctic sea ice minimum will be at 4.7 million per square kilometers. If this trend continues, sea ice could become non-existent, especially during the summers, in the next 50 years. Hansen, et al. (2015) posited that the degree of ice melts is becoming increasingly high because of increasingly high warming of the ice sheet surface in the coastal regions. This poses a threat to sea animals such as polar bears and seals. However, the damage could also extend to human life, hence the need to take global warming as a serious threat. In fact, according to Hansen, et al. (2015), as the sea ice continues to melt rapidly, there is a high chance that this will provide more energy that will bring about severe weather, such as superstorms and extreme cold during winter. Other than the Arctic, the Antarctic has also registered a decline in some areas. However, most of the Antarctic has experienced some small increase in the sea ice, and National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society (2014) attribute this to changes in the wind patter...