Behind the public debate about human-induced global climate change, there is the science. The history behind this science goes back long before it became a public debate, from Svante Arrhenius’s carbon dioxide studies in the late 19th century, to Milutin Milankovitch’s solar orbital explanations of Earth’s cyclical climate in the early 20th century, to Charles David Keeling’s discovery of Earth’s seasonal CO2 fluxes and subsequent long term trends in the 1950s. By the 1960s, the United States Air Force had refined the use of heat-seeking missiles due in part to the infrared-absorbing properties of CO2 in the atmosphere. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, evidence of human impacts on atmospheric CO2 levels from fossil fuel consumption continued to build, with scientists monitoring the levels in the atmosphere from the Arctic, to the equator, down to the Antarctic. Despite scientific research building a solid link between fossil-fuel derived atmospheric CO2 and rising average global temperatures from trapped solar radiation, in the 1990s, political and economic forces began to push back against the evidence, pointing to mathematically insignificant uncertainties in the data to validate government inaction on the problem.
Reasons for this non-scientific push-back were discussed in the Module 8 video review, and has resulted in massive public confusion on the issue. However, in light of this confusion, the scientific evidence persists, and has only grown stronger with each passing decade.
Watch the 1-hour video, Earth: The Operator’s Manual (PBS), and review the evidence for human-induced global climate change from the eyes of Dr. Richard Alley, one of today’s leading environmental scientists on the cutting edge of climate change research. Post a minimum of a 250-word summary and personal review. As you review this video, consider the history of climate change research, how various branches of the government have responded to the threat of global warming, and how mitigation steps may be taken in light of the world’s increasing demand for energy. Review the essays of other students, post a minimum of two thoughtful comments of approximately a paragraph (a single sentence is not a comment), and reply to any and all comments posted about your own review.
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