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What Negative Things Do People Say About Global Warming?

The Earth is rapidly becoming warmer, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). And greenhouses gases may be to blame. Gases like carbon dioxide and methane absorb the sun's heat, enclosing it in the Earth's atmosphere rather than allowing some of that heat to reflect back into space. Because of this pattern, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that temperatures will rise between 3 and 7 degrees F over the next century.

  1. Human Activity is the Catalyst

    • Though scientists attribute some global warming to natural causes, for the most part, humans are responsible for the accelerating climate change, according to NASA. Human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels and the culling of forests are the main culprits. NASA estimates that, as of 2009, carbon dioxide levels have risen 38 percent since the Industrial Revolution.

    Drastic Weather Changes

    • Temperature changes will shift weather patterns. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), global warming will result in more warm days and fewer cold days. Global warming may also contribute to a greater number of heat waves. The EPA predicts that the warmer climate will produce stronger hurricanes. Hurricanes will feed off warmer sea temperatures to produce hurricanes with more intense winds and amplified rainfall. Though flooding and hurricanes will increase along the coast, areas located far away from storm systems will experience more droughts due to less available precipitation, according to the EPA.

    Sea Levels Will Rise

    • Global warming will increase sea levels by contributing to the melting of glaciers, according to Greenpeace International. Over the next 100 years, Greenpeace International estimates that sea levels will rise anywhere from 3.5 to 34.6 inches. Rising sea levels, according to NASA, will not only destroy many coasts but also cause more coastal flooding to become more frequent, leaving up to 10 percent of the Earth's population who live in these regions at risk.

    Negative Influence of Human Health

    • Global warming also influences the health of humans. Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever will increase due to the mosquitoes and other insects that thrive in warm areas, according to the EPA. The EPA also notes that the water and air may become more polluted due the effects of global warming. Warmer air will promote more smog-filled days that will intensify respiratory disorders such as asthma. Water pollution may increase because of more algal blooms in water supplies, reports the EPA.

    Contradictions

    • Though many scientific communities agree on many facts related to global warming, some have a negative view of the global warming consensus. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), much of the data that global warming is based on is flawed. Recordings of the earth's temperatures, for example, are not taken from enough areas of the earth's surface. The NCPA also stresses that much of the forecasting about global warming relies on expert opinion. Expert opinions, according to the NCPA, are less reliable than scientific facts, making many global warming forecasts baseless.

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