here is no doubt that the debate over Global Climate Change (previously known as Global Warming) is a very heated one. What is ridiculous is that it has become a political issue.

According to www.edf.org (Environmental Defense Fund) one piece of evidence that strongly suggests that the Earth on average is gradually increasing in temperature is the more extreme types of weather we have seen over the past few years. A warmer ocean can cause more intense and damaging hurricanes (ex: Katrina). Wildfires and drought have also been plaguing Southern and Western states.

How do people measure the Earth’s temperature? According to the article “How we know the Earth is Warming” on edf.org, one way is the use of weather satellites that have been tracking Earth’s average temperature since 1979. Also, over the course of the 20th century, sea level has gone up seven inches after almost no change for over 2,000 years. Now, you may think seven inches doesn’t seem like that much. You have to think about the scale. That takes tens of millions of gallons of water to accomplish. That’s a whole lot of melting ice.

Scientists also use techniques involving coral reefs that allow them to measure approximate temperature over huge spans of time. In the case of coral reefs, they can accurately measure average temperatures for a 400 year span.

Industrialization has also been a major factor in the production of “greenhouse gases” like carbon dioxide. What greenhouse gases basically do is keep heat from the sun on Earth so we can stay warm. So greenhouse gases are a good thing to a point. A major by-product of industrialization is spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and too much greenhouse gas can cause the Earth to become too warm.

So the truth is, the Earth is getting warmer. We also have overwhelming evidence to suggest that these effects came from major technological advances humans have made.

Now for the opinion part: To say that Global Climate Change simply isn’t happening is unbelievably stupid. It is something I truly don’t understand. After all it’s not like we have a spare Earth we can all move to within flying distance of our space technology just a solar system over.