Global Warming
Global Warming: Who’s to Blame?
It seems that a single week does not go by without hearing something about global warming. It has been all over the news for as long as I can remember. Because of this media bombardment, I would be surprised to find a single person in America that does not know about global warming. I’ll also go so far as to assume that the vast majority of the people you ask will tell you that not only is global warming occurring, but humans are to blame. In fact, John Stossel, in a special report on the TV show 20/20, says “that 86 percent of Americans say global warming is a serious problem.” If you believe Al Gore, the debate over global warming is over (Give). Al Gore insists that global warming is happening, and that humans are most definitely to blame. However, in truth, the debate over global warming and who is to blame is far from over.
The media’s fascination with global warming and climate change is not a new one. Over the past 100 years, scientists and the media have reported on countless occasions about global warming and global cooling. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, James Inhofe, makes note of this in his report to the senate titled Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge to Journalists Who Cover Global Warming. He says that in 1895, the New York Times reported on an impending ice age saying “Geologists think the world nay be frozen up again” (9). He goes on to say that in 1912, the New York Times and Newsweek both ran articles on the encroaching ice age, and that it would threaten the survival of the human race (10). Thankfully that ice age never happened and the human race was able to survive.
The trend of scientists forming bad theories and the media promoting them in a rush of fear and panic did not stop at the turn of this century. In the 1930s global cooling was no longer an issue, and instead global warming was the great fear. By the 1970s,
It seems that a single week does not go by without hearing something about global warming. It has been all over the news for as long as I can remember. Because of this media bombardment, I would be surprised to find a single person in America that does not know about global warming. I’ll also go so far as to assume that the vast majority of the people you ask will tell you that not only is global warming occurring, but humans are to blame. In fact, John Stossel, in a special report on the TV show 20/20, says “that 86 percent of Americans say global warming is a serious problem.” If you believe Al Gore, the debate over global warming is over (Give). Al Gore insists that global warming is happening, and that humans are most definitely to blame. However, in truth, the debate over global warming and who is to blame is far from over.
The media’s fascination with global warming and climate change is not a new one. Over the past 100 years, scientists and the media have reported on countless occasions about global warming and global cooling. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, James Inhofe, makes note of this in his report to the senate titled Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge to Journalists Who Cover Global Warming. He says that in 1895, the New York Times reported on an impending ice age saying “Geologists think the world nay be frozen up again” (9). He goes on to say that in 1912, the New York Times and Newsweek both ran articles on the encroaching ice age, and that it would threaten the survival of the human race (10). Thankfully that ice age never happened and the human race was able to survive.
The trend of scientists forming bad theories and the media promoting them in a rush of fear and panic did not stop at the turn of this century. In the 1930s global cooling was no longer an issue, and instead global warming was the great fear. By the 1970s,
Cited: An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore, Billy West. 2006. DVD. Paramount. 2006. Beck, Glenn. An Inconvenient Book. New York: Threshold Edition, 2007. Coleman, John. Comments on Global Warming. 20 Mar. 2008. 17 Nov. 2008. . Doyle, Alister. “World warming despite cool Pacific and Baghdad snow.” 11 Jan. 2008. Reuters. 01 Nov “Give Me a Break: Global Warming.” 20/20. ABC. 16 Nov. 2008. 25 Sep. 2006. 01 Nov. 2008 .