insydemymind

Context

For this weeks blog post I was tasked to select a controversial topic and research it. I chose global warming because I was recently having a discussion with my mom about how warm Minnesota (where I live) has been the last few years. For quick context, Minnesota is known as a very cold snowy state, and it has lived up to that for the majority of my life. However, the past 3-4 years I’ve noticed my cold snowy state has been warmer and not as snowy. In 2018 when I took my drivers test at the end of January, it was -35 degrees without windshield and I had the whole week off of school because of a snowstorm. Also in case you’re wondering I did pass the test. In 2023 I started to notice the winters were a bit lighter, but thought it was maybe a one-off year, until it happened again in 2024 and 2025. 2024 winter shocked me the most, it only snowed 4 times, and most of the winter had grass showing!!

Background

According to NASA, global warming can be defined as “The long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. This term is not interchangeable with the term ‘climate change.’” Weather is atmospheric conditions over short periods of time while climate is long term regional and global temperature, humidity and rainfall averages. The effects of climate change are irreversible for humans alive today and will worsen more over time if humans continue to contribute to greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Scientists have predicted some of the consequences from global warming and they can be seen today through loss of sea ice, melting glaciers, sea levels rising, and more intense heat waves. Other effects like droughts, extreme rainfall, and wildfires can also be seen today, like the recent LA and Canada wildfires, and back to back grade 5 hurricanes in Florida last fall.

Origin of Controversy

Pew Research Center (PRC) and the Duke Chronicle conducted interviews on individuals who don’t believe climate change is urgent or real. Duke’s study revealed an estimated 15% of Americans don’t believe in it. The main issue was not that the climate isn’t changing but rather that humans are not the problem. Climate change denial was “highly clustered in central and Southern U.S. and further correlated with political affiliation.” The deniers also view natural disasters as natural occurrences with no correlation to climate change. PRC interviewees widely rejected the national media as a credible news source for climate information. Doubt was also driven by the participants beliefs of the motivations behind the ones making these claims. lack of solid evidence is another reason some Americans think climate change isn’t happening. “Overall, 46% of Americans say human activity is the primary reason why the Earth is warming. By contrast, 26% say warming is mostly caused by natural patterns in the environment and another 14% do not believe there’s evidence the Earth is warming at all.” Republicans are also less likely than democrats to prioritize climate action, according to PRC findings.

The Future

The issue of climate change is far from resolved especially with many people disagreeing on the importance and evidence behind it. The global climate is projected to continue warming the Earth over this century and beyond. Our planet is very valuable and we should want to protect it for future generations. Even if someone doesn’t fully trust the information that’s out there about global warming, why take the chance to destroy our only known planet? If you want to be proactive in small ways to save the planet here are some links to resources to help.