Global Warming: Fact or Fiction

Introduction:

Global Warming is the theory that the atmosphere of the earth is gradually increasing as a result of the increase in levels of greenhouse gases and pollutants being released. Since the Industrial Revolution, Earth's global average temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (The World Counts, 2014). There are generally two opinions regarding the argument of global warming: those who believe it is occurring and those who do not. People who believe in the issue back their opinions up using scientific evidence, while those who deny the issue generally do because they do not believe in science, they claim there is no solid evidence, or that the cause of the change in Earth's temperature has no known cause (Why Do Some People Think Climate Change is a Hoax?, 2017)

Side One of the Issue:

The first source was an article titled, Climate change evidence: How do we know?.

This article was posted by NASA, which is a huge organization full of experts on outer space, making them very credible. The article is quite recent, as it was published in April of 2018. This means that the content found within the article is updated with the most recent information, data, and statistics. The purpose of the article is to inform the public of proof that climate change is indeed occurring. The article is factual and full of evidence proving the author's point. The author is impartial because he/she is not proving any personal opinions, but facts and data. This source is incredibly useful because it contains the numbers needed for not only scientists, but anyone in need of the information. The information of the article has been reviewed by the NASA team. The source is incredibly reliable considering where it comes from, and its lack of personal opinion. The content has not been swayed based on any religious beliefs, political affiliations, etc. A limitation of the source is since NASA believes in global warming, they will only provide evidence that supports the theory.

The second source supporting the theory of climate change is, Global Warming by the Union of Concerned Scientists. This source comes from an organization of scientists who want to stop human influence on global warming. The publishing date is not given, as this is not a specific article, but the website of the organization. The purpose of the website is to inform readers of the causes and impact of global climate change. It also gives readers evidence of how global warming has affected specific areas of the U.S. The authors want to provide possible solutions to global warming, specifically what regular people can do to help out. The information is factual and appears to be very well researched, as other sources have the same facts. The information has clearly been reviewed by the organization. The information is objective because they are solely facts, making the source reliable. The source is not biased and does not appear to be altered by personal beliefs. A limitation to the site is a lack of references, however, as said previously, other sources have the same information.

Side Two of the Issue:

The first source that denies the theory of climate change is Top Ten Reasons Climate Change is a Hoax . The source comes from The News-Review and was published in April of 2018. The author does not have any listed credentials, making their credibility questionable. The purpose of the article was to try and argue that the idea of climate change is about money. The information is objective, and although the author used data, they only used data that proved their own point. The entire article is an opinion and is found in the opinion section of the website. This source is useless because none of the information is relevant or accurate. The source has probably not been reviewed considered that this is one person's own personal opinion. The article is completely unreliable, and the author tries to argue that 30,000 scientists are either lying, or are unintelligent. The information has been swayed by political opinion because their only argument against climate change is that the idea was evoked from a disagreement about money. The author also felt the need to state the political party of the people he/she was disagreeing with, which only diminishes their credibility because it shows the argument they are trying to make is based not off of facts and evidence, but on political affiliations.

The final source that does not support climate change is, Catastrophic man-made global warming"" is a complete hoax. The source comes from a member of GlobalClimateScam by the name of ElmerB. The article was published in January 2015. The author does not have any credentials, considering that they are a random user on the site. The purpose of the information is to argue that global warming is fake. The author attempts to use evidence, however, the evidence is false. The author claims that polar bears are thriving, however, their habitat is melting, and their number are decreasing. The source is subjective and the author is using their own opinions to sway readers. The source is not useful because some of their evidence is false, making it obvious that the article was not reviewed. Much of the evidence they used is taken out of context, or they twisted facts/data in a way that made their opinion appear to be correct.

Conclusion:

The sources supporting the theory of global warming appear to be more credible than those who attempt to debunk it. This is because of the origin of the sources, the information being correct as well as recent/updated, and the plethora of certifications given to the authors. On the other hand, the sources for the global warming deniers completely lacked any credibility. The authors, like ElmerB, were random users on lesser-known sites, posting in the opinion section. Their facts were inaccurate, such as the claim that polar bears are thriving, while the author of the first article tried to accuse thousands of experts on global warming of either being uneducated or lying.

Reflection:

A benefit to my conclusion is an overall summary of the credibility of both sides to the question of whether or not humans are speeding up global warming. Based on the sources, readers are given insight into what kind of evidence both sides are using to support their argument. Specifically, readers of the sources who are trying to decide a position to support when considering human involvement in climate change should be able to see that the sources and evidence that argue humans are, in fact, speeding up global warming are much more credible than those that deny it. One major limitation to this research is the fact that only four sources could be used in total to decide whether an entire side of an argument is valid or not. More sources are needed in order to evaluate the credibility of both sides to such a large controversy in science.

References

Climate change evidence: How do we know? (2018, April 04). Retrieved May 16, 2018, from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

E. (2015, January 23). Top Ten Reasons Climate Change is a Hoax. Retrieved May 16, 2018, from http://www.globalclimatescam.com/opinion/top-ten-reasons-climate-change-is-a-hoax/

Global Warming. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2018, from https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming

Nikirk, J. (2018, April 17). ""Catastrophic man-made global warming"" is a complete hoax. Retrieved May 16, 2018, from http://www.nrtoday.com/opinion/letters/catastrophic-man-made-global-warming-is-a-complete-hoax/article_ff895c54-2ba1-55d7-9b81 0520235bc043.html

Temperature Change Over the Last 100 Years. (2014, October 21). Retrieved May 16, 2018, from http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Temperature-Change-Over-the-Last-100Years

Why Do Some People Think Climate Change is a Hoax? (2017, November 24). Retrieved May 16, 2018, from https://www.bestvalueschools.com/faq/why-do-some-people-think-climate-change-is-a-hoax/

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