| INTRODUCTION | REFERENCE | PERIODICAL ARTICLES | NON-PRINT |
| TOPIC ANALYSIS | BOOKS | INTERNET SOURCES | REVIEW |
"To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only
legitimate hope of survival. "
by Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American Poet, "Gift of Good Land"
In this day in age, the world's population has exceeded 6 billion and technology has advanced further than ever thought possible. One's initial thought would be to celebrate these things but what we don't think about is how they could be detrimental to us as well. Because of this, we are experiencing a phenomenon called global warming.
Global warming is a very serious problem that has proven to become progressively worse as time goes on. It is provoked by both human and non-human activities that cause gases to build up in our atmosphere. These gases have a greenhouse effect and therefore cause the global temperature to rise. While this can have some good aspects such as increased farming opportunities for agricultural workers, the negative effects seem to far outweigh the good. Global warming has a domino effect. When the Earth warms, it causes glaciers to melt. This in turn causes the oceans to rise. The increase in temperature makes ideal conditions for disease to thrive and spread as well as problems such as droughts and fires to occur.
Although the global temperature is rising at the slow pace of 1 degree Fahrenheit per every 100 years, this problem could have devastating effects on Mother Earth if we don't do our part to control the things that contribute to it now. The purpose of this research project is to offer you the best information available to help educate you about this progressing global issue.
Greenwinds is a nonprofit organization. Their goal is to educate people about issues concerning the environment. They encourage the use of alternative energy sources and combat global warming. Their mission is to raise public awareness on these issues.
Sierra Club 85 Second Street 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94105-3441 (415) 977- 5500
The Sierra Club was formed back in 1892 and was led by the famous conservationist John Muir. Their goal is to preserve and protect nature. The Sierra Club participates in congressional lobbying in order to pass laws that aid in conserving the environment.
Ott, Wayne R. Environmental Statistics and Data Analysis CRC Press: January 1995.
"Is the Earth Overheating?" The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book Inc.,1999.
This is a factual article on global warming. It explains what global warming is and the different theories on what it is caused by. It gives the reader a general idea of how greenhouse gases are formed from activities such as burning fossil fuels, and how they affect the temperature of the globe.
"Research in Global Change" Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Maryland:
Smithsonian environmental Research Center, 1999.
This is a comparative study of the Earth then and now. It shows global temperature change as well as other effects it has, including the rising of oceanic levels. It also talks about the buildup of atmospheric gases that are in part to blame for the rise of global temperatures. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C conducted this research.
Christianson, Gale E. Greenhouse: The 200-Year Story of Global Warming. New York:
Walker and Company, 1999.
In this book, Christianson talks about the discovery of global warming and greenhouse gases. The book goes over several contributions made to the study and prevention of global warming. Also provided is a timeline of the effects of greenhouse gases and how the damage to the environment has progressed.
Michaels, Patrick J. and Robert C. Balling, Jr. The Satanic Gases: Clearing
the Air about Global Warming. Washington D.C.: Cato Institute, 2000.
This book is published by a national research center in Washington D.C. so it is written from unbiased perspective. The authors provide arguments about the effect global warming has which test views commonly held by the media. This book is scientifically based which eliminates any opinions that may be found in other books on this topic.
Zorita, E. and F. Gonzalez-Rouco. "Implications for Global Warming"
Geophysical Research Letters. Vol. 27, No. 12, (2000) p. 1755.
This article contains different issues often associated with global warming. The authors use two climatic models to compare the effects global warming has had on Earth thus far. This includes a detailed list of problems brought on by global warming that are already present today as well as a list of foreseen complications.
Karl, Thomas R., Nicholls, Nevell and Jonathon Gregory. "The Coming
Climate." Scientific American (1997).
The three authors of this article are each members of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. In this article, they discuss the debate of how much of global warming can be attributed to human activities. They dispute whether or not the increase in population and the rise of technology could have devastating consequences on Earth.
Drabenstott, Mark. "Agriculture's Portfolio for an Uncertain Future:
Preparing for Global Warming" Economic Review Q 11 (1992) p 5-20.
In this article, Drabenstott talks about the direct effects global warming has on agriculture in general. He mentions previous misconception on greenhouse gases and what humans can do now to take preventative measures towards global warming. I have found several other articles on environmental issues by this author in different periodicals.
"Global Warming: Early Warning Signs." Environmental Defense Fund,
Union of Concerned Scientists. 1999. 4 June 2000 <http://www.climatehotmap.org/>.
This site uses a map to show how global warming has impacted different regions throughout the world. It also touches on issues that don't immediately come to mind when you think about global warming. The consequences include glacial melting, the spread of disease, droughts, fires and more. It provides links to several other pages concerning global warming and greenhouse gases.
"Global Warming Information Page." Global Warming Organization.
2000. 4 June 2000 <http://www.globalwarming.org/>
This site provides several different resource materials on global warming. It gives links to different news and press articles and other sites on this topic. It has an unbiased nature and it views global warming from economic, political and scientific standpoints. This site explains how global warming can impact all walks of life, from consumers to farmers to small business owners.
Interview with Al Gore: National Public Radio, 1998.
This interview concerning global warming was held with Vice President Al Gore and became very controversial after it aired. Gore claimed that because the Earth's temperature is increasing, the government should to spend billions of dollars to pay for preventative measures. It was said that he made these statements in an effort to win the support of environmentalist groups. Many felt he was jumping the gun since the rate of temperature increase is so slow.
Identifying keywords and headings was especially easy for this topic, mostly de to there being a lack of synonyms for global warming. I found quite a bit more information than I thought I would and it was found in places where I would normally not have looked. A lot of information was found through suggestions made by other sources. I just thought of words that I knew were commonly associated with global warming such as "greenhouse gases" and "climatic change" and found several hits. I then went to some of the sites that those keywords found and drew other words from those articles. The keywords I chose found an abundance of information of this topic.
My strategy for finding information was to seek out resources that had an environmental nature to them. I knew there were several organizations such as the Sierra Club that were like that and so I used their web sites to find links to other related places. I tried to narrow down my search by being as specific as possible and by using the advanced search feature when offered. I found a lot of data this way. I think much of searching luck was due to all the recent attention that has been given to this topic.
I acquired a huge amount of information on global warming in working on this project. All of the information I found was remarkably current because of the newfound awareness of this issue. The resources I found were mostly factual and included maps, charts and graphs. I compared data retrieved from different sources and found them to be very similar, leading me to believe that the information was highly accurate. The Internet sources I found seemed to be a little more up to date than other resources I used. It was easier and faster to find relevant items on the web and by far my choice of ways to obtain information on my topic.
The topic of global warming is one that is very controversial. Many people seem to think that we shouldn't worry about it as much as we do where others feel as if we are running out of time. A debate that has been spurred by the rise of global warming is about how much we can really cut back for the sake of the Earth's temperature. Many feel that the human activities that contribute to global warming are ones we need to do in order to survive. This becomes sort of a double-edged sword because the rest of the people feel that if we don't do something now, we won't survive anyway.
Please send comments to: Britt Wilhelm