The Scientific Explanation

Monica Cambi

The issue of seeking a solution to the sudden change in climate has not been emphasized until people actually started to feel or see it. This rapid shift on the earth has long been imposing a threat to our society since the beginning works of Roger Revelle and even before him. It is through Roger Revelles’ work that we actually started to see the planets’ geography. According to Albert Gore, previous presidential candidate for the 2000 election, it was Revelles’ work that astonished him with the issue that many people have ignored. The issue that is now such a threat that makes it seem that anything we come up with will not be enough. Al Gores professor has shown him the slight implications needed to fear climate change on our planet. Al Gore has since contributed his attention to finding an alternative by seeking aid through political means. He believed that by becoming president he can have the resource to enforce the dangers of ignorance. Up until the time he ran for president, Al Gore has made numerous hearings for this worldwide and yet neglected issue. The turn in his life that promoted his attention to this issue was his sons’ tragic accident. He questioned what the purpose to life was and how he can continue to live in a place where the ones he loved no longer existed. This pain created by this accident made him realize that in no time one can lose everything they had. He became overly entitled to seek a solution for the issue that climate created irreversible results. Before the time he ran for president, he visited various areas where he believed scientists can explain the doubt and confusion that he had about the current situation.
Places such as: Mount Kilimanjaro, the Himalayas, Glacier Park, Japan, Greenland, etc… were visual evidence where change was undergoing in the sea. Al Gore did not only see the skeptical results that were created by climate but the change in the ecosystem and nature. In 1957 Roger Revelle recorded data that measured carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It took only a few recorded data, and extensive amount of time to see that the exposure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was rapidly increasing. The place that made scientists the most apprehensive was the Himalayas. It was in this region that drinkable water was available to people and due to the sudden climate change the glaciers were decreasing in size every day. It was only a matter of time that the earth was going to face an inevitable drought and afterwards a famine. During Al Gores presentation of climate change, he mentioned how before carbon dioxide did not surpass 300 parts per million, but now the amount rate of carbon exposure was almost half more than the estimated amount in 50 years. It has been recorded that through the past 14 years, the 10 hottest days were recently seen placing 2005 at the top. The issue of climate change is not something random, but the cause of global warming on earth. Global warming is a result of the burning of fossil fuels and industrial power plants that release smoke in the atmosphere. The smoke released thickens the ozone layer, thus trapping the natural sun rays that come to the planet. Naturally the sun comes or more like orbits around the earth, letting us receive the heat rays that is suppose to be in the planet to keep equilibrium.
What usually occurs is that the suns’ rays are both reflected by the earths’ surface and some are absorbed. However, with the frequent burning of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases the ozone layer has thickened trapping the majority of rays in, and causing the temperature to increase. If the rays can not leave then the temperature rises, thus melting the 1000 year old glaciers that were once a habitat for cold surrounding areas. The temperature that starts to melt the glaciers decreases the surface area that reflects the rays. This is predicted that in less than 50 years the polar caps that are usually reflecting sun rays will disappear and when they do the sea will continue to be exposed to radiation that will heat up the once polar area. With the increase in sea water the frequency of storms occurring will rise, and along with it the disaster that it will create. It is said that with warmer waters the velocity of the storms will become more violent and its affect will be greater. Along with the lowering of ice there is more movement of insects in various areas. This movement allows insects that are disease carriers to come into communities and affect it. This enables diseases to spread more frequently and widespread. The extinction of animals especially polar bears has rised and of other creatures as well. Global warming and climate change does not affect only animals and one part of the world, but the planet entirely. What are more disturbing are the images of people who have perished from hurricanes and other natural disasters. The issue that many seem to forget or ignore is the availability of money that can be used as a form of relocation for inhabitants where areas would be affected. The solution that Al Gore proposes is that with increase tax on petroleum the usage will rapidly decrease. This has been proposed since it worked with the issue of cigarettes.












Cited Works
1. Guggenheim, Davis. “An Inconvenient Truth” New York 2006 Sundance Film Festival.