Synthesis Essay: What Is Global Warming Hoax?

In his essay titled “Climate of Denial”, Al Gore, a well known environmental advocate and former vice president, verifies the reality of climate change and global warming. The piece is an attack on corrupt companies and news outlets that attempt to persuade the public that global warming is not a critical issue. Gore also earnestly conveys our environment’s current state and offers possible solutions that would increase awareness about global warming and begin to revert the planet back to a healthier, more sustainable state. The overarching purpose of Gore’s work is to call attention to the widespread climate change that is occurring. However, he also focuses on the corruption and bias within the media, and their attempts to conceal the truth about global warming. Writing to those who are conflicted about who to believe, he makes a valid argument that defends the beliefs of he and his fellow activists and encourages others to become more active in the climate change issue.

Bill Clinton signing the Kyoto Protocol and George W. Bush refusing to sign it (ignoring that the Senate refused to ratify the protocols both times) polarized the issue of global warming into a Republican and Democratic issue, where Republicans either downplayed or denied the issue of global warming and Democrats vied for it to be regarded as a problem (Dunlap & McCright 2010). In December 2007, the Christian Science Monitor (an international news organization without Christianity-related bias) revealed that George W. Bush actively suppressed climate scientists to maintain public opinion that global warming wasn’t an issue (Clayton, 2007). This study revealed a series of abuses dating as far back as within a month of him coming into office- the first being a contradiction between what the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reported on global warming evidence found by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and what was released to the public. When the NAS affirmed that their findings were true and accurate, the Bush administration maintained the idea that global warming is

The argument put forward by John Coleman, in his article “Global Warming Greatest Scam in History!”, is flawed mainly due to numerous logical fallacies. “Ad Hominem”, “Guilt by Association”, “Red Herring”, “Appeal to Irrelevant Authority”, “Hasty Generalization”, and “Genetic Fallacy” are some of the logical fallacies that can be observed to prevail in Coleman’s argument. As a consequence, the soundness, validity, clarity, reasoning and consistency of the whole article are insubstantial. Coleman’s premises fail to support his proposition that global warming is a scam, making the whole argument distorted and faulty.

Matt Patterson argues in “Global Warming – The Great Delusion” that the alleged scientific consensus surrounding the theory of global warming is based not on fact, but rather on a web of mass hysteria and deceit. Patterson contends that “In fact, global warming is the most widespread mass hysteria in our species’ history”, and that the beliefs of global warming proponents are the result of their own delusional imaginations and a subconscious apocalyptic yearning toward which masses of people tend to subject themselves. While Patterson worries that what he perceives to be the

These last two election cycles have demonstrated the importance of climate change in relation to politics and the american people. What is unfortunate is that what seems to be a very crucial and real problem in our human survival, according to scientists, is being debated by people who do not have the scientific credentials to even discuss the science behind the reality of climate change. Those behind the skeptics, have funded a successful campaign against the reality of the facts and have introduce doubt into the sciences.

In the news report “Climate of Doubt”, PBS FRONTLINE investigates the reasoning behind the relationship climate change and politics has been fluctuating over the past few decades. In 2006, An Inconvenient Truth, a film that called for action against climate change, gained mass attention from the American Public. However, this rally for environmental sustainability created some undesirable consequences. There is a growing movement for anti-climate change by various CEOS, scientists, politicians, etc. that have been marketing against green movements. They claim that climate change was developed out of scientific malpractice, has no scientific backing, and the bad weather we experience is no more abnormal than it was a century ago.

Global warming is hot topic nowadays. Alarmists and scientists fight to make their statements known, but while the alarmists avoid the scientist, non-governmental organizations pass themselves as scientist. They not only give out exaggerated data, they also have the nerve to accuse humans of being the cause of global warming. Also, we cannot be certain that we are being told the truth without knowing exactly what is really going on behind the scenes. We blindly trust those in authority because we think that they have our greater good in mind and that whatever they say must be the truth.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change not only reported about the occurrence of global warming, but also stated that it is caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. The Gallup poll has tracked the views of Americans on this issue since the year 2001 and it has been consistent. Fewer people who were surveyed in 2008 said that global warming is due to human activities than natural causes, than people who were surveyed back in 2001. Republicans’ belief in human-caused global warming has decreased from 2001 to 2008 while the Democrats’ belief has risen in the same period of time (Dunlap&McCright, 2008, pg 29).

Climate change and the effect it has had on global warming has been a scientific subject discussed for the last 30 years; however, only recently has it became a highly debated issue in world politics and pop culture. In fact, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), climate change is one of only a few topics that many countries across the world have agreed upon as a potential future cataclysmic issue which must be discussed by world leaders who should also address it with their citizens. The vast majority of scientists are not only

Climate change has been a subject of discussion in the media for many years, supported with the use of arguments against oil polluting the environment and extreme scare tactics of Polar ice caps flooding civilians backyards. The issue has been ignored by the majority of lay people as seeming too complicated, and with all the conflicting information in the media in the past, who can blame them? However, scientifically, climate change and what perpetrates it is fairly simple to understand and society as a whole is beginning to come to a clear consensus on climate change. Thanks in part to more readily available forms of media and information, people have become cognizant of the fact that climate change is a legitimate problem which requires immediate amelioration. While this may seem melodramatic, society is realizing that climate change is an issue which can no longer be denied if the human race wishes to continue.

There have been plenty of disputes regarding the infamous topic global warming, despite the fact that there is a unanimous scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. A history professor at UCSD, Naomi Oreskes, discusses this in her article, “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change”. She begins her investigation by researching credible experts and environmental organizations, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences, and several others. By utilizing these various sources as evidence it strengthens her argument about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. In this case, Oreskes audience consists of

The problem that the pro- global warming theorists have created is that of social standing and little else. While there may be scientific backing to support some of the theory, the media presents the problem with great sensationalism. Global warming and energy conservation has thus become a trend and losses some of its validity through this. The scare tactics used by the media to “promote awareness” are just that, a linguistic ploy to gain favor. “Awareness of this global threat reinforced public concern and environmental problems and thereby provided environmental activists, scientists, and policy makers with new momentum in their efforts to promote environmental protection.” (McCright, 2000) This statement draws line to the potential benefits that would be received if the pro-global warming theorists were to draw enough attention to the issue. Driven by social empowerment and conviction to environmental protection, these activists misrepresent the actual threat and paint it as being much more

The essay opens up with McKibben talking about how the political campaign against global warming is flawed because at our current point there is nothing much that can be done to fix it.(Mckibben,1) He then goes to state that humans are the biggest culprit behind global warming and supports this by giving examples such as SUVs and American ignorance.(2,9) He concludes by saying that if ten percent of America were to go green, it still would not save the planet, but ten percent could get the government’s attention to pass laws making everyone go green. (11)

Everybody has heard of global warming and the anecdote that our grandchildren will never see a polar bear. Near apocalyptic warnings of the future we will have if we allow it to continue unchecked. However, there is a large faction of people who go out of their way to try to downplay the effects of global warming; these people are known as climate change deniers. Predominantly conservative, these people do everything in their power to undermine global warming for economic gain. Climate change denial has a big effect on the scientific community’s ability to focus on a solution to global warming and stems from misinformation and a value of public/personal opinion over scientific research.

The climate change debate has been ongoing for nearly thirty years now, the debate is over the causation(s) of global warming. Temperatures on earth have increased approximately 2.0°F since the early 20th century. Levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane have drastically increased within the atmosphere. Both sides within the debate surrounding global climate change can agree on these points. However; disagree on a number of other possible causations of global warming. Even though there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support each side’s argument; the side suggesting human activity to be the cause of climate change presents substantially more evidence to support their claim than their opposed party. A published