Global Warming Short Answer Essay

Jackson Nagle
A02498640
Short-Answer Essay Cyclical global weather patterns and the increased usage of carbon emissions have lead to an increase of global warming. These higher temperature recordings are due to normal weather patterns according to scientists. Although there is an increase in global carbon emissions, the fact that climate measurements have been increasing since the beginning of the 20th century, long before society began using fossil fuels as an energy source in large amounts, illustrates the idea that “global warming” is actually just a normal, cyclical global weather phenomenon. According to the National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average temperature in 2012 was 55.3 degrees, which is 3.2 degrees higher than the 20th-century average (NCDC). These weather patterns are “described as part of a longer-term trend of hotter, drier and potentially more extreme weather” (Eilperin 1). However, the increased usage of carbon emissions is also contributing to the increase of global temperarures. According to a Global Carbon Project report, along with the record high global temperature average that rise every year, carbon emissions also rose 54%, and will continue to rise in the future. This correlation between record high global temperatures and an increase in carbon emissions proves the point that when carbon emissions rise due to an increase in human populations, temperatures are affected by what scientists call the greenhouse effect. Although the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty that “imposes concrete reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on a number of industrialised countries” (“The Kyoto Protocol”), was supposed to cut the world’s greenhouse-gas output, the yearly increase of the world’s population will call for more energy usage. In fact, the World Resources Institutes predicts that 1,200 new coal plants have already been proposed for construction (Yang). When one of the cheapest energy sources is the burning of fossil fuels, more coal plants will be built and global temperatures will continue to rise as well. Global warming is an issue today caused by the increase in carbon emissions and normal global weather patterns.

Works Cited

Eilperin, Juliet. "2012 Hottest Year on Record in Contiguous US, NOAA Says." The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2012-hottest-year-on-record-in-continental-us-noaa-says/2013/01/08/5c9dc1ae-55d9-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html>. "The Kyoto Protocol." Citizens ' Global Platform. N.p., 6 July 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. <http://www.globalplatform.fi/dictionary>.
United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Climatic Data Center. U.S. Records. By Jesse Enloe. National Climatic Data Center, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/all-time/maxt/2012/07/00?sts%5B%5D=US>.
Yang, Ailun. "New Global Assessment Reveals Nearly 1,200 Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants." WRI Insights. World Resources Institute, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/11/new-global-assessment-reveals-nearly-1200-proposed-coal-fired-power-plants>.

Cited: Eilperin, Juliet. "2012 Hottest Year on Record in Contiguous US, NOAA Says." The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. &lt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2012-hottest-year-on-record-in-continental-us-noaa-says/2013/01/08/5c9dc1ae-55d9-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html&gt;. "The Kyoto Protocol." Citizens ' Global Platform. N.p., 6 July 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. &lt;http://www.globalplatform.fi/dictionary&gt;. United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Climatic Data Center. U.S. Records. By Jesse Enloe. National Climatic Data Center, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. &lt;http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/all-time/maxt/2012/07/00?sts%5B%5D=US&gt;. Yang, Ailun. "New Global Assessment Reveals Nearly 1,200 Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants." WRI Insights. World Resources Institute, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. &lt;http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/11/new-global-assessment-reveals-nearly-1200-proposed-coal-fired-power-plants&gt;.