Global Warming:
Information and Resources

Global Warming Information and Resources for
Research Papers, Reports, Essays, and Speeches

Global Warming: Is it Real? Are Humans the Main Cause of Global Warming? What are the Causes and Effects?

What is Global Warming? What are the Pros and Cons?

Brief Introduction:

There is plenty of scientific research and scholarly studies that have been done over many years on global warming. You would think that with all this scientific data that there would be very little controversy when it comes to global warming. You would think that there would be no question on whether there is or is not such a thing taking place called global warming. You would think that we would know for sure that global warming is a threat or not a threat to humanity. You would think that there would be little dispute on whether human activity is the main cause of climate change or is global warming a natural part of Earth’s evolution. HOWEVER, despite ALL the scientific research, scholarly studies, expert scientists, mathematical models, and data, there is doubt about different issues pertaining to global warming, which helps fuel debate.  If you read a lot of the literature on global warming, you will see words, or terms, used such as “uncertain,”  “factors vary,” “hard to determine,” “incomplete evidence available,” and “a great deal of uncertainty.”

If you need to write a persuasive (argumentative) paper, essay, or give a speech where you have to choose one side of the global warming debate, then we recommend that you take the side that believes that global warming is real and is a threat to this planet.  We make this recommendation IF you are looking for the easiest way to go with this subject.  When doing the research, it appeared to us that it was easier to find more information that argued that global warming is real, it is a threat to the Earth, and the main cause of global warming involves activities performed by humans (carbon dioxide, burning fossil fuels, industrial revolution, aerosols, and more). It just seemed to be easier to find this type of information. Information to counter these arguments is out there and we supply some of that information farther down this web page. However, it seems harder to find credible information that supports the argument that global warming is not all that big of deal and there are natural causes of global warming. Click on your choice of topics:

Global Warming is a Real Threat to Life on Earth because of Human Activities 

  OR

Global Warming is Not a Serious Threat and is a Product of Natural Causes

Global Warming is a Real Threat to Life on Earth because of Human Activities 

When talking about global warming, often one hears about the greenhouse effect.  Most people understand how greenhouses allow sunlight to enter through the windows and that sunlight heats the interior by trapping the heat.  A similar thing happens with planets. Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth’s surface resulting in warming the Earth.  There is nothing wrong with a specific amount of the natural greenhouse effect as long as some of the radiation can escape back into space. In fact, without this natural process, nothing would be able to survive on the Earth. Most scientists agree that there is global warming, but many disagree on how severe the climate change is and the factors that are causing global warming. However, there is plenty of evidence to prove that global warming is a dangerous threat to this planet and the main cause of global warming involves human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.

There is so much information out there on this subject that you could write a book on this subject, as so many people have already done. We know that we should not use the word “easy” when giving advice about research papers, but for many people it would be fairly easy to write a research paper on the reality of global warming, the possible danger to the planet, and that human activities represent the main cause of global warming. For example, you could spend quite a bit of time and paper just explaining what global warming and the term greenhouse effect are, including a history of the climate change.  You can write pages on the topic of “burning fossil fuels” as that topic covers heating of homes, vehicle emissions, factory emissions, and much more. Here is one possible outline that you can modify for your needs:

Thesis Statement

Here is a possible introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that we have placed in bold letters:

When talking about global warming, often one hears about the greenhouse effect.  Most people understand how greenhouses allow sunlight in through the windows and that sunlight heats the interior by trapping the heat.  A similar thing happens with planets. Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth’s surface resulting in warming the Earth.  There is nothing wrong with a specific amount of the natural greenhouse effect as long as some of the radiation can escape back into space. In fact, without this natural process, nothing would be able to survive on the Earth. Most scientists agree that there is global warming, but many disagree on how severe the climate change is and the factors that are causing global warming. However, there is plenty of evidence to prove that global warming is a dangerous threat to this planet and the main cause of global warming involves human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.

Following are some sources of information that will support concepts that we have listed within the outline above. All sources are cited in MLA 2009 7th edition as a PRINTED source. Some of the following sources can be found online for free, but if you use the online source, you will have to cite the source as an online source UNLESS your professor allows you to cite the ONLINE source as a PRINT source/citation. Remember to double-space and using hanging indentations. This is not a PDF so the format may not appear correctly on YOUR computer screen.

We advise you to see if your local library has any of these sources or if they can interlibrary loan the resources for you for FREE. If you need to purchase any of the books then please look for the best price on Amazon.com.

Books:

If you need just one source, then this book may be all that you need. There is A LOT of information and statistics in this book covering global warming.  We mean A LOT.  Chapters 6 through 9 provide plenty of information on climate change, especially global warming caused by human activities. 

Strom starts out in the first few chapters explaining the Earth’s overall climate over the past hundreds of thousands of years. Over time, ice ages and global warming have come and gone. For those people who want to argue against global warming and that man-made activities are not the main cause of global warming, then the first few chapters of this book will help. The first few chapters give support to the theory that global warming is a part of Earth’s natural history. However, chapters 6 through 9 provide strong evidence that global warming is something to be concerned about and the main cause is human activity. Strom explains the main greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. There are all kinds of charts, graphs, and statistics about a variety of man-made activities such as burning fossil fuels, power plant emissions, deforestation, farming, and much more. Here are just a couple of quotes from a TON of information that this helpful book can provide:

“the yearly world emission of carbon dioxide it about 25 billion metric tons from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) and cement production.”

“Carbon dioxide’s current rate of increase is 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000  years, and probably considerably longer.” “Pre-industrial concentrations of methane were 773 ppb (parts per billion) during the past 650,000 years compared to about 1,752 ppb today.”

Just about any “opposing viewpoint” book on global warming will do a good job of providing you with the pros and cons of global warming. This particular 2006 book covers the pros and cons on topics such as the reality of the threat of global warming; causes of global warming from human activities or natural causes such as the Sun; effects of global warming; and measures that should be taken to combat global warming.

Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles

Robertson, Henry. “Global Warming: Too Much Energy.” Synthesis/Regeneration Fall 2007: 2+.  Print.

This 2007 magazine article gives information/statistics on how human activity is increasing carbon dioxide, methane, and other GHGs. “For 650,000 years the concentration of C[O.sub2] in the air stayed in a band of 180-290 parts per million (ppm) by volume.” The Industrial Revolution began about 200 years ago. In 1959, “the C[O.sub2] concentration was 315 ppm. Now, it’s 382 ppm and rising by 2 ppm per year.”  A variety of causes are explained, as well as possible consequences of global warming. This article can be found FREE online at http://www.greens.org/s-r/44/44-02.html.

This article can be found FREE online at

http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/how-we-know-global-warming-is-real/

This is another very good magazine article providing evidence that global warming is a real threat and human activities are the main cause of recent climate change. “The concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in atmospheric samples have been measured continuously since the late 1950s. Since then, carbon dioxide has increased steadily from about 315 parts per million (ppm, or molecules of carbon dioxide per million molecules of dry air) in the late 1950s to about 385 ppm, now.”

The “PRO” global warming article counters many of the arguments that many skeptics of global warming use.

This is another good magazine article that counters what the skeptics of global warming have to say. There is some very good information about the present and future effects of global warming.
The ENTIRE document, not just part one, is located FREE online at http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/attachments/global-climate-change_1.pdf

Although this December 5, 2003 scholarly journal article might be a little old, it does provide credible support that “the main source of global climate change is human-induced changes in atmospheric composition.” Some of the statistics in this article include information such as  “90 % probability interval for warming from 1990 to 2100 is 1.7 [degrees] to 4.9 [degrees] C.” There are uncertainties but “the likely outcome is more frequent heat waves, droughts, extreme precipitation events, and related impacts (such as wild fires, heat stress, vegetation changes, and sea level rise) that will be regionally dependent.”
This article can be located FREE online at http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/worldweatherchanges.pdf

Websites:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Change Web Page at http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html contains A LOT of information about global warming/climate change. There are plenty of charts, graphs, tables, and statistics to help write a research paper, give a speech, or provide a presentation.

Science and Technology Sources on the Internet: Global Warming and Climate Change Science is located at http://www.istl.org/01-fall/internet.html. This website provides a comprehensive list of resources on the World Wide Web to help you find information on global warming/climate change.

Global Warming is Not a Serious Threat and is a Product of Natural Causes.

Introduction to this View:

In our opinion, it would be harder to write a research paper/essay or give a speech on the topic that global warming is not a serious threat to the inhabitants of the earth and that global warming IS a product of natural causes rather than human activities. It would be harder, but not impossible to make this argument. Although there appears to be much more evidence generated that says that global warming IS serious, there is some literature to support those who feel that global warming has been greatly exaggerated.  Following is the general arguments that people use to support their claim that global warming is not as dangerous as many think and that the main causes of global warming are not man-made.

• One of the main arguments that global warming is NOT a threat to humanity and that natural causes are responsible for climate change is that global warming is a natural part of Earth’s history. You can spend quite a bit of time and pages on the historic climate changes IF you need more pages for the research paper/essay.  Ice ages and global warming trends have come and gone since the beginning of time on Earth. Global warming has taken place a number of times long, LONG before humans burned fossil fuels like they do today. This is an important concept. There are a number of natural causes that relate to this main view that natural causes have been instrumental in climate change for hundreds of thousands of years.
  
  
• There have been three somewhat “recent” ice ages and corresponding warming trends in relatively “recent” Earth history.
• Mid-Holocene Optimum lasted about 2,000 years from 1000 to 3000 BC. The summer temperatures were about 2 to 3 degree Celsius warmer than our average summer temperatures, now.
• According to Strom’s book, another warm period lasted about 400 years from 900 to 1300 AD, occurring during the European Medieval era and is called the Medieval Warm Period.
• The Little Ice Age is the last climate change before the current warming trend. This is a time of varying warm and cold temperatures that lasted from about 1350 to 1850 AD.  The average global temperature was colder THEN, up to about 1850 AD.

These cold and warm trends are accepted by many scientists. The cause of these climatic events may be disputed, but the fact that these changes in global temperature occurred is NOT questioned.
The Mid-Holocene Optimum, Medieval Warm Period, and Little Ice Age are important to the skeptics of global warming because the varying cold and warming temperatures happened BEFORE the Industrial Revolution and the significant human activities that are blamed for causing global warming today.  A variety of natural causes are suspected for being responsible for the Mid-Holocene Optimum, Medieval Warm Period, and Little Ice Age such as the Sun’s irradiance (sunspots) and volcanic eruptions.

• The Little Ice Age is significant because it lasted almost to the 20th century. The warming that we are seeing now may just be a natural climatic rebound from the end of an ice age.
  
  
• The Sun is seen as being instrumental in the current warming trend.
  
  
• A 2007 "The New American" article states some of the following information on the sun as a cause for global warming:

“It is well-documented that periods of decreased solar activity…often coincide with climatic change. The best-known example is the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715), a solar event that is coinciding with one of the coldest phases of the Little Ice Age.”
Other researchers “concluded that their analysis suggests that the increase of the Earth’s temperature during the last 80 years is primarily related to the increase in solar activity.”

A "Human Events" magazine article states that “the 0.7 Celsius increase in the average global temperature over the last hundred years is entirely consistent with well-established, long-term, natural climate trends.”

Steve Goreham states in a March 2011 "USA Today" magazine article that  “there is much evidence that the sun is the driver of Earth’s climate. A combination of long-term alterations in solar radiation and short-term changes in low-level cloudiness driven by variation in sunspot activity correlates well with changes in Earth’s temperatures.”

There is no question that humans have produced greenhouse gases. However, they are not alone in contributing to global warming and may not be the main cause of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.    Soil and water vapor are just two examples of natural causes of global warming.

There is a variety of arguments that question how dangerous that global warming is now and will be for the future of mankind. Many, many people feel that the global warming threat is greatly exaggerated.

• Steve Goreham provides quite a bit of information that helps put global warming in perspective by saying throughout the March 11 USA Today article:
• “The last few years indicate that climatism momentum may have peaked. Hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean dropped to 30-year lows. The Arctic Icecap stopped shrinking and grew larger in 2008 and 2009. Eight years of declining global temperatures now are recognized by the world.”
• “Seas continue to rise at a steady rate of seven inches per century.
• “Glacier shrinkage has occurred for over 200 years.”
• “Model projections of higher temperature-related deaths, increased vector-borne disease, and species extinction are not supported by experimental evidence.”
  
  
• Soil is known to contain carbon dioxide and will release this gas into the atmosphere as the soil warms. Soil can be a natural cause of producing carbon dioxide contributing to the greenhouse effect.
  
  
• As Oceans warm, water vapor is released into the atmosphere contributing to the greenhouse effect. The Oceans are a natural “carbon sink” that absorbs carbon dioxide. Oceans absorb less carbon dioxide when the water warms which means more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere from natural or made-made causes.
  
  
• Mathematical Models are credible, legitimate tools that scientists use to predict past, present, and future events. Computer-generated information based on the best data available can be helpful. However, models and studies can be flawed due to a number of factors. Whether you want to write a report on capital punishment, abortion, gun control, stem cells, or other subjects, you will find that there will be studies associated with each topic that will be disputed. Global warming is no different. It seems pretty typical. Each side of the global warming controversy questions the validity of each other’s models and studies.
  
  
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was created in 1988. It was set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as an effort by the United Nations to provide the governments of the world with a clear scientific view of what is happening to the world's climate. Although many, many people, governments, and organizations recognize the IPCC as the authority on climate change, there is an alarming number of people, scientists, experts, and organizations that do not believe everything that the IPCC, or other credible agencies, are saying regarding global warming. One small example of this is “Climategate.” CBS news reports that prominent scientists “ridiculed dissenters who asked for copies of their data, plotted how to keep researchers who reached different conclusions from publishing, and concealed apparently buggy computer code from being disclosed under the Freedom of Information law.”  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504383_162-5860171-504383.html and http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504383_162-5761180-504383.html?tag=contentMain%3bcontentBody
  
  

Possible Thesis Statement and Outline:

The following is a possible introductory paragraph and thesis statement if you want to write a research paper suggesting that global warming is not that big of deal and that global warming is a result of natural causes.

The Threat of Global has been Greatly Exaggerated

Most people agree that there is climate change going on right now. The Earth is warming and has been warming for decades. However, there is a controversy over how dangerous global warming is and what is causing global warming. Global warming is not as serious as many people think. Current global warming is a result of natural causes such as solar activity, volcanic eruptions, soil, and more natural resources.

Here is just one possible example of an outline for writing a research paper from this perspective.

Books, Journals, Magazines, and other Resources to Support Your Research Paper, Essay, or Speech

Many teachers require their students to provide some type of proof/support for their views. Often this form of support is suppose to come from legitimate, credible sources such as books, magazines, journals, and newspapers. Some instructors will allow information from credible websites. We know how difficult it may be to argue that global warming is not that big of deal and that natural causes are responsible for the current climate change, not so much humans. It is difficult to find sources of information to support this view. For that reason, we will go to some length when explaining the following resources that will help support your research paper, essay, or speech.

Following are some sources of information that will support concepts that we have listed within the outline above. All sources are cited in MLA 2009 7th edition as a PRINTED source. Some of the following sources can be found online for free but if you use the online source, you will have to cite the source as an online source UNLESS your professor allows you to use the PRINT citation. Some teachers will allow you to cite an article found in electronic form as if you found the article in a PRINTED source. Remember to double-space and using hanging indentations. CHECK WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR. This is not a PDF so the format may not appear correctly on YOUR computer screen.

We advise you to see if your local library has any of these sources or if they can interlibrary loan the resources for you for FREE. If you need to purchase any of the books, then please look for the best price on Amazon.com.

Books

If you need just one source, then this book may be all that you need. There is A LOT of information and statistics in this book covering global warming.  Chapters 6 through 9 provide plenty of information on climate change, especially global warming caused by human activities.  HOWEVER, the first few chapters and tidbits of information spread throughout the book support the theory that global warming is part of Earth’s natural history.  
Chapter 6 provides valuable information about “The Mid-Holocene Optimum,” “Medieval Warm Period,” and “The Little Ice Age.”
Page 112 mentions that “the world’s soils hold about 1,500 billion tons of organic carbon. Recent studies have shown that as the Earth warms, soil will begin releasing carbon to the atmosphere”   This is a significant statement because as the Earth warms due to natural causes, such as the Sun, the soil will give off carbon dioxide that rises to the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide, naturally, contributes to the greenhouse effect.
Page 186 states that “the absorption of carbon dioxide by ocean water depends on its temperature; the warmer the water the less carbon dioxide is absorbed.” This statement is significant because it is possible that the Sun or heat from Earth’s core heats the water. Due to this natural warming, less carbon dioxide is absorbed in the ocean and therefore winds up in the atmosphere contributing to the greenhouse effect.

Just about any “opposing viewpoints” book on global warming will do a good job of providing you with the pros and cons of global warming. This particular 2006 book covers the pros and cons of topics such as the reality of the threat of global warming; causes of global warming from human activities or natural causes such as the Sun; effects of global warming; and measures that should be taken to combat global warming.

Please pay attention to the chapter of information that starts on page 132. Some of the information provided includes:
“First, much of the warming occurred before 1940 – before 80 percent of the carbon dioxide from human activities was added to the air.”
“Second, the climate record of the past 1,000 years suggests this temperature rise is hardly unique.” Once again, history shows that ice ages and warming trends have come and gone.

This chapter provides concern over the accuracy of the computer simulated models.
A little more information suggests that a little global warming is good for crops, growing seasons, and more benefits.

Magazine, Journal, and Newspaper Articles

This is an EXCELLENT magazine article that can be found in the March 2011 issue of USA Today magazine. Steve Goreham counters A LOT of the arguments given by those (alarmists) who believe that global warming is a real danger and that human activities are the main cause of global warming. We will repeat some of what we mentioned above, from this article. There is more helpful information within this article:

• “The last few years indicate that climatism momentum may have peaked. Hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean dropped to 30-year lows. The Arctic Icecap stopped shrinking and grew larger in 2008 and 2009. Eight years of declining global temperatures now are recognized by the world.”
• “Seas continue to rise at a steady rate of seven inches per century.
• “Glacier shrinkage has occurred for over 200 years.” (Long before the Industrial Revolution)
• “Model projections of higher temperature-related deaths, increased vector-borne disease, and species extinction are not supported by experimental evidence.”

Some teachers require you to obtain information from a scholarly journal. If you need a journal article, then this would be one that might help you. This journal article states that “we learn that temperature changes during the 20th century can be judged as a continuation of the recovery, approximated by a linear change at the rate of about 0.5 degrees C/100 years, with the superimposed multi-decadal oscillation.” “It can be seen that solar activity was relatively low during the LIA and began to recover in about 1800. Therefore, it may be speculated that solar irradiance is involved in causing the LIA and its recovery.” This scholarly journal article helps support the argument that the warming that we see today is a natural warming trend coming out of the Little Ice Age (LIA).
This article can be found FREE "OPEN ACCESS"online at http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=3217

Much of this magazine article supports the idea that global warming is a natural occurrence that has happened throughout Earth’s history. “Based on the findings of their research, the Dutch and Russian scientists concluded that climate reacts strongly to small changes in solar radiation.” This article can be located free online at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Alternative+explanations+for+climate+change%3A+some+scientists+have...-a0166537399

Hiserodt gives examples of why scientists and others are questioning the seriousness of global warming.  There is some very good information that helps counter those who believe that global warming is a very real threat.  Some of the information provided refers to a “Senate report includes names, biographies, academic institutional affiliations, and quotes from hundreds of international scientists who have publicly dissented against man-made climate fears.”

This is an EXCELLENT article explaining some of the credibility issues that Climategate created. “The hacked data appears to show that leading scientists have hidden or manipulated information that does not fit their climate-change thesis, blacklisted dissenting researchers, and circumvented freedom-of-information requests, possibly destroying documents.”
This article can be found FREE online at http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/ignoring-%e2%80%98climategate%e2%80%99/

“Now, a significant fraction of the public regards the past century’s warming as primarily natural and a human-induced global-warming catastrophe as improbable. So public support for expensive greenhouse-gas-reduction policies has eroded.”  However, “there simply is too much money and political capital, and too many reputations are at stake for alarmists to back down.”  This article, the Goreham USA Today article listed above, as well as other information in other sources, refer to another “cause” of global warming and that is that global warming is “big business” for some companies, organizations, and scientists. Basically, there is money to be made in green technology and the fight continues involving a perceived global warming threat to humanity (in order to make money).
This article can be found FREE online at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/8/global-warming-ideology-still-on-top-the-science-h/

How to Cite this Web Page in MLA (Modern Language Association) Format (2009 latest edition)

Double-space the lines. Use hanging indentation with the second line (if needed) and is indented about 7 spaces.  The title of the web page is "Global Warming: Information and Resources".  There is no official author so place the title first and in quotes as seen above. The official website is called The College and Career Library and is placed in ITALICS.   2 January 2012 is when the web page was created. The word Web means that you accessed the information on the Web. After the word Web, type the date that you accessed the web page, such as 6 Feb. 2014.

This web page was created January 2, 2012.