Chelsea Neely
Professor Marits
ENG 112
October 23, 2006
The World’s Greatest Hoax
For years, the general public has been under the illusion that one day the world will become extraordinarily hot. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) infiltrates citizens’ minds with the beliefs that the polar ice caps are melting, which could cause our drinking water to be contaminated. They EPA even blames global warming for the resurfacing of Malaria and for the recent surge in the number of hurricanes affecting the eastern United States. What won’t these activist environmentalists claim global warming causes? Although the media, influenced by the EPA, holds global warming responsible for some of the tragic events facing world, the supposed indications for global warming can all be rationally explained.
Hurricanes have hit the eastern United States more than normal over the last few years, but global warming has been proven innocent of the charge. Ravaged by hurricanes in 2005, Florida still struggles to produce crops (such as oranges) at the level before the storms. Scientists were amazed that so many hurricanes would hit Florida in the same year and placed the blame on global warming. The Center for Science and Public Policy admits that in “the North Atlantic Ocean (the primary basin where hurricanes form that effect the United States) storms have become much more frequent since 1995” but that there has been no evidence of an abnormal increase or decrease in the number or intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms. Global warming activists such as Kerry Emanuel (an atmospheric scientist at MIT) rationalize this phenomenon by stating “[the] results suggest that future warming may lead to an upward trend in tropical cyclone destructive potential, and—taking into account an increasing coastal population—a substantial increase in hurricane-related losses in the twenty-first century [could occur].” Environmental activists such as the EPA also claim that hurricanes will surmount in ferocity and quantity and as long as Americans do not try to prevent future global warming. Dr. Ekwurzel stated to the Union of Concerned Scientists that intensity of hurricanes has a direct correlation with global warming and asserts that “for economic and environmental reasons, and above all to save human lives, President Bush and other elected officials must take action to reduce heat-trapping emissions." Perhaps this is a scare tactic employed by the scientists to harvest money for research, but either way claiming the increased number of hurricanes in a year is a direct result of global warming is as absurd as the evangelists claiming that the hurricanes were sent by God to kill off the evil in the world. According to the Center for Science and Public Policy:
In summary, careful analysis of global hurricane data shows that,
against a background of increasing SST (sea surface temperature), no
global trend has yet emerged in the number of tropical storms and
hurricanes. Only one region, the North Atlantic, shows a statistically
significant increase, which commenced in 1995. However, a simple
attribution of the increase in number of storms to a warming SST
environment is not supported, because of the lack of a comparable
correlation in other ocean basis where SST is also increasing.
Since the link between hurricanes and global warming cannot be established, activist scientists are jumping to conclusions too quickly (“Scientists”). Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University claims that the reason so many hurricanes have occurred in recent years is that the salinity of the ocean (the concentration of salt in the water) is high. This has affected the currents and temperature of the water, both of which affect where, when, and how often hurricanes form. He also states that we should expect hurricane seasons equivalent to that from the 1920’s through 40’s, as the salinity is similar the ones in these years (“Drought”). Alternative theories, such as this one, should be thoroughly evaluated before groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists infiltrate the media with unproved theories.
Activist groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC), who favor the idea of global warming, insist that the polar ice caps are melting and that this will cause sea levels to rise. This would in turn cause drinking water to be contaminated and leave the world searching for suitable water to consume. Robert P. Ackert, Jr., of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, one of the cooler-headed scientists with regards to global warming, agrees with the statement that the polar ice caps are indeed melting, as they have been for the past 10,000 years, as they have consistently done for at least the past 9,300 years. Although this shows that the polar ice caps are indeed melting and causing sea levels to rise (a 1% decrease could potentially increase the sea level by 5 centimeters), it is not because of global warming due to human interference in the environment (“Antarctic”).. Rather, the melting occurs naturally in the environment as it has not been shown that mankind has sped up the rate in the least (“Antarctic”). Therefore, assuming that man has caused the ice sheets to melt is misleading.
The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that the return of Malaria to parts of east Africa results from mankind’s ignorance in causing global warming. Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkey are already on WHOs list as countries in danger of a mosquito-borne malaria outbreak (“Disease”). Malaria was prevalent about three decades ago, but since then Kenya has not seen any signs of the disease. Malaria is an infectious disease which can lead to “symptoms including fever, anemia, chills, flu like illness, and in severe cases, a coma potentially leading to death” (“Malaria”). Dennis Shanks of the US Army Medical Research Unit conducted a study in Kenya to uncover the truth regarding who or what to hold responsible for the resurgence of Malaria. The study was conducted over a thirty year period from 1966-1995 in which he found that while the total number of admissions into Tea Estate Hospital showed no significant change, the number of admissions with malaria increased. Various options were investigated to try and discover what was to blame for the resurgence. Shanks measured the amount of precipitation, temperature, as well as vapor pressure, but none of these had any significant changes; therefore they are not the cause of the resurgence. Organizations such as Environmental Defense allege the excess amount of rainfall caused by global warming was causing conditions in Kenya to become ripe for the spread of Malaria, but since no apparent increase in the amount of rainfall has occurred over the past thirty years, global warming cannot be assumed guiltyd. Scientists such as those from the Cooler Heads Coalition now conclude that “the most likely culprit is resistance of the disease to the malaria drug chloroquine, especially since all other relevant environmental and sociological factors are unchanged’” (“Global Warning Exonerated”). Global warming activists should thoroughly investigate other answers to the world’s problems instead of quickly blaming global warming and causing public alarm.
Accu-weather documents that there has indeed been a trend toward climate change. They admit that there has been a slight increase in temperature over the last century, but this increase is only .45 degrees Celcius. The majority of this warming (70%) occurred before 1940, when the world was only slightly industrialized in comparison to today’s standards. Out of all of the greenhouse gases emitted into the air, only 2% of them are from man-made sources, whereas natural emissions such as water vapor account for 98% of the emissions. Also, according to the Cooler Heads Coalition:
Projections of future climate changes are uncertain. Although some computer models predict warming in the next century, these models are very limited…Scientists who work on these models are quick to point out that they are far from perfect representations of reality, and are probably not advanced enough for direct use in policy implementation. Interestingly, as the computer climate models have become more sophisticated in recent years, the predicted increase in temperature has been lowered.
Since there are other explanations for the supposed signs of global warming, how can activists continue to base their theories off of these weak indications? Even the scientific community believes that there is not enough evidence to substantiate the claim of global warming. In a survey conducted by Gallup, it was found that “only 17% of the members of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Society thought the warming of the 20th century was the result of an increase in greenhouse gas emissions” (“Global Warming in Brief”). Therefore, a majority of scientists don’t even believe that gas emissions are causing warming temperatures, which in turn means it could not cause global warming.
Activist scientists such as those associated with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists are using global warming as a cause of some of the world’s problems. In doing so, these scientists intend to harvest money from politicians as well as the public to “prevent” future warming from occurring. If WHO or NRDC can’t figure out what is causing an increase in malaria or temperatures, they indicate global warming as the culprit. These organizations automatically assume global warming is caused by humans. If the public were to become more educated about global warming, it would realize that activist scientists, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists manipulate statistics for their political agenda. These activist scientists need to review the facts, not just the ones that suit their theories, before sending the public into a state of panic.
Word Count 1,567
Works Cited
“Antarctic Ice Sheet not in Danger from Global Warming; New Findings Lead to New Predictions; No Flooding Trends in the U.S.” Global Warming. Jan 8, 2003. Cooler Heads Coalition. Oct 23, 2006.
“Drought Cycles and Hurricane Cycles; CBS Hot Air Watch.” Global Warming. May 17, 2000. Cooler Heads Coalition. Oct 23, 2006.
article.php?uid=286>
Emanuel, Kerry. “Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years.”
Jul 31, 2005. Nature – International Weekly Journal of Science. Nov 18, 2006.
“Global Warming Disease Warning.” Jun 18, 1999. BBC. Nov 18, 2006.
“Global Warming Exonerated in Resurgence of Malaria; CO2 Emissions May Lower Ozone and Methane Concentrations.” Global Warming. Jan 22, 2003. Cooler Heads Coalition. Oct 23, 2006.
“Global Warming Lending Strength to Hurricanes.” Nov 10, 05. Union of Concerned Scientists.
Nov 18, 2006.
“Global Warming In Brief - Q&A.” Global Warming. Nov 11, 2000. Cooler Heads Coalition. Oct 23, 2006.
“Global Warming Won’t Wait.” Jun 5, 05. Natural Resources Defense Council. Nov 18, 2006.
“Malaria.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Oct 24, 2006. Oct 24, 2006.
“Scientists’ Recent Comments on Global Warming and Hurricanes.” Global Warming. Nov 2,
2005. Cooler Heads Coalition. Oct 23, 2006.
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Drs. Wong, James and Charmeides, Bill. “Global Warming’s Increasingly Visible Impacts.”
2005. Environmental Defense. Nov 18, 2006.
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