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 Olin Akisoglu  3/2/11  Sybenga pd. 7 Global Warming In Class Essay Since the 70s, scientists have worried ﻿(about) over the undesired climate change that they believe is a result of g lobal w arming. While it is imperative that we curb our destructive tendencies, there are many obstacles in the way of surviving the pandemic. If we as a global community are going to unite to prevent further damage to our climate, our leaders must recognize that global warming is a legitimate phenomenon, that our consumerist tendencies directly harm the environment, and that economic sacrifices will have to be made to elevate us out of this predicament. ﻿Clear thesis--good. Whilst many staunch conservatives still denounce Global Warming as a myth, most scientists agree that it is a serious force to be reckoned with. Climate data that gets collected every year demonstrates the relatively rapid change that the earth is undertaking. The government released a report in 2000 highlighting the change in global ocean surface temperature over the past century. Not surprisingly, the average surface temperature has gone up over 0.5 degrees Celsius since 1980 (source B). The steady increase in water temperature is a direct result of the earth’s temperature increase. Furthermore, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration has estimated that by 2050 , Pakistan, Bangladesh, and a large part of India will be underwater. Al Gore, former Vice President and staunch ( already used in this paragraph--find a synonym) global warming advocate, worked together with this organization to create An Inconvenient Truth, which documents scientific research conducted over the past 30 years that proves the existence of global warming. With such a well-respected politician and trusted organizations backing ﻿g lobal ﻿w arming, as well as scientific data, it should be impossible for world leaders to consider it anything short of a catastrophe. Unfortunately, this rapid climate change has been directly linked to the consumerist lifestyle with which many Americans live. Many scientists believe that global warming started in the 1800s. With the ability to mass produce cheap goods and the creation of factories, ﻿need subject that has "the ability to mass produce cheap goods etc.." unhealthy amounts of carbon get burned and released into the atmosphere, causing the ozone layer’s destruction and permeating more of the sun’s heat. If we didn’t did not﻿ rely on factories to produce cheap goods in such massive quantities, climate change would not have progressed this far. According to the Department of Energy, the total volume of waste produced each year by Americans weighs more than 2.3 million Boeing 747 jets. The creation of this much product certainly releases unhealthy and unnatural amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. What’s ﻿what is worse, our consumption rate ﻿of oil, fossil fuels, etc.. is constantly increasing. According to Oxford scientist Mark Maslin, the carbon dioxide emissions of the United States have increased by 12% since 1990(source E). Further estimates indicate that emissions will increase by 30 % by 2012. If we do not change our consumerist tendencies, the global climate will continue increasing exponentially. It is important to recognize however, that while countries should ideally create environmentally friendly policies, in many cases they ﻿the policies are simply not economically feasible. Just as Cambridge scholar Bjorn Lomborg discusses in his book, many countries simply do not have the money to create environmentally-conscious policies (source D). In the U.S, such a large chunk of the population works in industries that cause carbon emissions that the loss of these businesses would cause a great shortage of jobs and eventually lead to an economic collapse ﻿(but environmentally friendly policies can create jobs to make up for those lost by those other closed industries). While the government provides an $8,000 rebate for those who chose to buy a hybrid car, they are still too expensive to be considered affordable by most Americans. Often, fuels such as ethanol that are alternatives to fossil fuels are even more expensive than gas. The best option would be for government to invest in industries such as wind-powered and solar technology, which can create jobs as well as cut down on carbon emissions ( never mind). Only a gradual shift from our environmentally harmful habits is economically feasible. ﻿I'm not sure that you really said much about a //gradual// shift in the paragraph so I'm not sure what you mean. The consequences of global warming are potentially catastrophic, and it is important for leaders to recognize that new approaches are needed to find solutions. Only if we work together, as humankind, to collectively become more environmentally friendly, will we be able to overcome climate change. If leaders do not act quickly, there may be no hope for our future survival.