Responses to Global Warming

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that the planet is currently facing the challenge and danger of global warming. The writer maintains that science and technology have brought us to this crisis, in that industrialization has led to global warming. It seems highly likely that we will have to rely on these very same things, i.e. science and technology, to rescue us from the peril we are in due to global warming. Within the ambit of scientific responses to global warming, two basic kinds of response exist: mitigation of global warming, or adaptation to the effects of global warming. This paper examines the research to determine which approach seems more appropriate and useful for saving ourselves from global warming. It recommends that we look to adaptation using science and technology, as mitigation has clearly failed.

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From the Paper:

"Examples include sequestering carbon in trees. This would involve planting a vast number of trees, because trees take in carbon dioxide. They incorporate in into their leaves, roots and stems via photosynthesis. Due to the long life of trees, this would mean that the carbon had been sequestered away from the environment for about 100 years. Another approach is carbon management, in which carbon dioxide emitted during the burning of carbon fuels is caught and then sequestered away from the atmosphere. The question of course is where to store it. One suggestion is to sequester it in the ocean. The problem with this solution is that we do not know what the long-term effects on the ocean would be. In addition, the technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions are still in the very early stages. Fertilizing the ocean with iron is an innovative idea propounded by an oceanographer in 1987."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bellamy, David. (July 9, 2004). Global warming? What a load of poppycock! As crazy weather once again turns Britain's seasons upside down. The Daily Mail: 12.
• Global warming. (2004). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Harris, Paul G. (2003). Fairness, responsibility and climate change. Ethics & International Affairs, 17(1): 149+.
• Hulme, Mike and John Turnpenny. (2004). Understanding and managing climate change: The UK experience. The Geographical Journal, 170(2): 105+.
• Lindsay, James M. (Fall 2001). Global warming heats up: uncertainties, both scientific and political, lie ahead. Brookings Review, 19(4): 26+.

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