Allaying Skepticism on Global Warming

Global warming is a hotly contested issue in our political climate. However, the consensus across organizations devoted to climate science is that global warming is an issue and is largely human-caused. Global warming occurs when an abundance of CO2 disrupts the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is what happens when certain greenhouse gases (GHG’s) absorb infrared radiation, or heat, and redirect it towards the Earth’s surface. This is how the planet maintains a moderate temperature. But the greenhouse effect naturally creates an equilibrium, and too many carbon emissions will cause too much heat redirection, warming up the planet dramatically. But there is a vast amount of misinformation floating around: some claim this process merely follows a natural cycle, or that the existence of winter disproves global warming.

The claim that global warming is part of a natural process sprung from a time in history called the Medieval Warming Period. Ten independent, peer-reviewed studies pursued a history of global temperatures over thousands of years.

Using climate models and ice cores that provided a record of the world climate, scientists created a history of global temperatures. One study focused on the Medieval Warming Period, a time when global temperatures were abnormally hot for 400 years, and described this period as hotter than the current century, though several follow-up studies have found many flaws. But according to prominent climate scientist Dr. James Wang, even if it was not so flawed, this would have little effect on the current consensus. “That there were warmer periods in the past caused by natural factors...is insufficient reason to assume that the current warming also is natural.” In other words, models illustrating global trends over hundreds of thousands of years do not account for the current, extreme upturn in temperature. Only once human influence is considered do the projections match the data. In fact, the expected extent of natural warming was expected to either flatline or decrease within the past century.

Another common misconception about global warming holds that the relentless cold we experience during Northeastern winters diminishes its seriousness. However, supporters of this myth don’t differentiate between weather, which refers to short-term or seasonal atmospheric conditions, and climate, the average of weather over a 400 year period. That means seasonal phenomena such as harsh winter storms do not contradict the evidence for global warming climatologists have accumulated so far. One hypothesis even states that they might be typical of the phenomenon, since warmer air temperatures mean more moisture stuffed into clouds, which in turn leads to heavier precipitation.

While it is not wrong to question even the most widely accepted actualities, such as climate change, this kind of scientific rigor should not be dismissed just on the grounds of suspicion. In our digital age, where information is easily accessible, we can often find evidence that unambiguously supports or rejects our hypotheses with a click of the mouse. But if we aren’t careful, selection bias turns assumptions into myths, which can become indistinguishable from fact. Eventually, ignorance spreads and, in no time, scientists find themselves trying to uproot logical fallacies entrenched in society’s collective consciousness. So, if some counter-argument still holds you back from accepting global warming as a real issue, stop hesitating and look it up!