Environment Support

MAJOR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

There are many misconceptions about global warming. The following bullet points demonstrate the major misconceptions believed by the general population.

  1. Global warming and ozone layer depletion are one and the same.

    Correction: Global warming and ozone layer depletion are entirely different phenomenon. The ozone is a gas layer that protects the planet from the damaging UV-B radiation of the sun. Because of the layer’s thinning and development of ozone holes, more UV-B rays reach us, and cause negative effects on human health, marine and plant life, among others. Global warming, meanwhile, has a greenhouse effect of heat being trapped in the earth’s lower atmosphere. This greenhouse effect is caused by carbon dioxide, which is released when coal, natural gas or oil is burned, plus other gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and refrigerants. Chlorofluorocarbon, which causes the depletion of the ozone layer, plays a trivial part in global warming. Global warming causes climate change, extreme weather, rise in sea levels, Arctic shrinkage, and other negative effects on agriculture, ecology and biodiversity. Even if we resolve the problem of ozone layer depletion, we still face the crisis of climate change.

  2. The sun’s changeability is the major cause of global warming.

    Correction: The sun does shine unsteadily but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that the unpredictability of the sun has only sparsely contributed to global warming over the past century.

  3. Nuclear power causes global warming.

    Correction: The use of nuclear power does not contribution to global warming. In fact, using nuclear power will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide since nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. However, the use of nuclear power still is still controversial due to other environmental and health problems.

  4. Aerosol sprays contribute to climate change.

    Correction: Using aerosol spray cans that contain CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons contribute to ozone layer depletion, but have close to zero effect on climate change.

  5. Humans are producing carbon dioxide at an extraordinary rate.

    Correction: Natural sources account for 96.5% of all carbon dioxide emissions while mankind accounts for only 3.5%.

  6. General pollution and toxic chemicals greatly contribute to climate change.

    Correction: Most forms of pollution play a very insignificant role or no role at all in climate change. The major contributor to global warming is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil to produce energy for heat, electricity and transportation.

  7. It really doesn’t matter much if the planet is warmer by two degrees Fahrenheit.

    Correction: The prediction of scientists of warmth by two degrees Fahrenheit is just a minimum and an average. It may have higher extremes in certain other regions, or different seasons and times of the day. Much of the damage would actually come from rising sea levels, heavier rains for some regions, drying out of some areas, and other similar climactic disruptions.

  8. The space program is a major contributor to global warming since it destroys the atmosphere.

    Correction: Gases released by rocket exhausts do not have significant impact on climate change. The local effects that rockets make in the atmosphere disperse and eventually disappear.

  9. Acid rain is a result of global warming.

    Correction: Acid rain has no relationship to global warming. Acid rain is the combination of sulfur dioxide with water, nitrogen dioxide with water, and carbon dioxide with water. From these, an acid is then produced that falls from the sky and reacts with basic compounds such as marble and concrete. The acids are called sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and carbonic acid, respectively.

Resources for Global Warming Misconceptions