Perspective 1: Richard Alley, Penn State University Glaciologist

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1 Global Warming: Fact or Fiction? The Industrial Revolution that gave rise to modern environmental pollution as it is generally understood today. The emergence of great factories and consumption of immense quantities of coal and other fossil fuels gave rise to unprecedented air pollution, industrial chemicals, and untreated human waste. Environmental laws have been around since 1863, but as a result of population growth, the rate of pollution has kept far ahead of our ability to control it. Over the last century, the earth has been experiencing a rise in temperature. This rise in temperature has been creating changes in climate and weather patterns around the world. Many scientists attribute these changes to man, other scientists insist it is a natural phenomenon. Two views on global warming: Perspective 1: Richard Alley, Penn State University Glaciologist Scientists like Richard Alley global warming to Co2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from things like automobiles, factories, and even cow manure. Alley discovered something 10 years ago that made him worry the Earth's climate could suddenly shift, and it changed his life. It was a two-mile long ice core, pulled up from the center of Greenland. It contained bubbles of air that reveal what the Earth's atmosphere was like over a period of 100,000 years. The ice core showed that at one point, in as little as 10 years, the global climate had drastically changed. Soon after that discovery, climate change became a personal crusade for Alley. Explain the first view on global warming: Video Clips- An Inconvenient Truth (2002) The former Vice-President and former presidential candidate Al Gore, has given hundreds of lectures around the world on the current state of the environment. His documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, focuses on the issue of Global Warming. This documentary has become a landmark film for environmentalists. A) Explain what is happening to the glaciers and snowcapped mountains around the world. How will this affect people? A) What happened to the ice in the Antarctic? B) If a chunk of ice from Antarctica or Greenland should break off and fall into the sea, what will happen to the world?

2 Perspective 2: John Christy, University of Alabama Climatologist Scientists like John Christy believe that environmental activists are overly paranoid. They believe that the earth has always naturally gone through global warming. They agree that the earth is warming slightly but believe that it is not man, but natural occurrences that are warming the earth. Last fall, Congress debated a bill that would have created regulations to combat global warming. Sen. James Inhofe led the opposition, and went so far as to call global warming a hoax. He based that statement, in part, on the work of John Christy, a professor and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Christy is a respected climatologist, but he's also a maverick who argues that global warming isn't a problem worth worrying about. His major contribution has been to analyze millions of measurements from weather satellites, looking for a global temperature trend. He's found almost no sign of global warming in the satellite data, and is confident that forecasts of warming up to 10 degrees in the next century are wrong. Explain the first view on global warming: Video Clips- The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007) Made in response to An inconvenient Truth, this film explores the idea that Global Warming is entirely a hoax. A) How does the speaker describe the medieval warm period? B) Why does the film say there is nothing wrong with the earth s current temperature? Global Warming: Fact or Fiction- You decide! Work with a partner to decide your stance on the above question. You must have at least two strong reasons to back up your stance. Be ready to discuss.

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