There is something wonderful and beautiful about the world we live in and the changing seasons we experience throughout the year. A winter snowball fight, the spring variety of flowers, the hot summer sun, and the brilliant fall leaves. Each has a mood and setting of its own. These changes seem normal enough, yet lately scientists have become concerned with the extreme change in our seasonal patterns.
Through the media and politics most all people have been exposed to talk of global warming. One example of this is the diminishing glaciers in Asia. According to National Geographic "The Tibetan Plateau as a whole is heating up twice as fast as the global average of 1.3°F over the past century." Since the glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau is what feeds their rivers, it is a big concern that these glaciers are dissapearing. One Tibetan farmer, Jia Son, says this is caused because "We've upset the natural order . . . And now the gods are punishing us." However, researchers have looked into it a little more scientifically.
These changes are said to be from global warming in our atmosphere. It is noted that "The ice cover in this portion of the plateau has shrunk more than 6 percent since the 1970s—and the damage is still greater in Tajikistan and northern India."(National Geographic) Six percent in just 40 years is quite a lot, so scientists are researching ways to counteract global warming.
According to Robert G. Watts "The globally averaged surface temperature of the Earth has increased during the past century by about 0.7˚C." Watts then goes on to say that this is due to the emission of greenhouse gases in our environment.
Many see global warming as skeptical and untrue. While this may be the case one thing is certain. Global warming cannot be proved false anymore than it cannot be proved to be true. Therefore, it seems only necessary to concern ourselves with the issue and to take precautions.
One way in which scientists are looking to counteract global warming is by limiting the emission of greenhouse gases. In an article accredited to David Gilbert, it tells us that the only way we are going to get government aid in helping this cause is if we have hard evidence. It states that "those who consider that global warming is a real threat . . . and the small but considerable band of sceptics, have an interest that there should be a durable mechanism for developing a rounded approximation of the truth." In other words everyone wants facts and statistics not just theories and ideas. Until these truths are found though, nothing can be done to help stop this.
National Geographic also tells us that even "Though scientists argue about the rate and cause of glacial retreat, most don't deny that it's happening. And they believe the worst may be yet to come." We should always be sure to help protect and maintain our environment to ensure our well-being. Watts remorsefully suggests in his article that "we have already passed the 'tipping point,' which is the time after which, regardless of our future actions, global warming will cause considerable hardship on human society." So we must now continue to look for enough evidence of global warming to convince governments of their need to help. Until we achieve that goal nothing can be done on a large scale to halter this process.
-Gilbert, David. "Next Steps on Global Warming." Nature 348.6298 (1990). 181-182. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 10 Sep. 2010.
-"Google Image Result for Http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2007/07/04/greenhouse_gases.jpg." Google. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2007/07/04/greenhouse_gases.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wired.com/autopia/2007/07/ford-chrysler-j/&usg=__1qIKMUuPBXmNACXKYJDZG3OTRW4=&h=389&w=450&sz=21&hl=en&start=0&sig2=b3-GfAPHedXLWRHZBonPFA&zoom=1&tbnid=brz9z4vQM98qfM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=165&ei=7niQTNaBMYnEsAO11NSPAQ&prev=/images?q=greenhouse+gases&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=583&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=293&vpy=108&dur=455&hovh=207&hovw=239&tx=144&ty=103&oei=7niQTNaBMYnEsAO11NSPAQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0>.
-Larmer, Brook. "The Big Melt." National Geographic. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/tibetan-plateau/larmer-text/1>.
