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Global warming continues to be a hot topic among professors and students at “Climate change may be the number one crisis affecting mankind,” said Kate Latham, an environmental studies lecturer. “But who’s very alarmed? … This should be a crisis level higher than terrorism.” Latham said she “absolutely, positively” believes humans are fueling climate change. She said dramatic increases in temperature since humans began burning fossil fuels, which release heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, have convinced her that global warming is caused by human activity. Latham added that she sees an almost majority consensus among scientists that humans are responsible for increasing global temperatures. “It’s only in the nonscientific community that you find people still not really sure it’s happening,” Latham said. Warren Gibson, an economics lecturer, said he began doubting the human role in climate change after reading a July 2 editorial in The Wall Street Journal written by Richard Lindzen, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology atmospheric scientist who is a prominent refuter of human-caused global warming. “I’m skeptical still that the link is really there between human activity and temperature,” Gibson said. Natural greenhouse emissions, such as the carbon dioxide released from a volcanic eruption, are bigger contributors of global warming according to Sam Zinoni, a graduate student in economics. “I’m not saying there is no global warming,” Zinoni said, “but I’m not 100 percent convinced that global warming is caused by humans.” Carl Flynn, a freshman majoring in political science and pre-law, said he also believes natural processes explain rising global temperatures. “The earth goes through fluctuations, and I just don’t (believe) humans have the capability to tip the scales,” Flynn said. “I don’t see humans making this gargantuan, Armageddon-scenario impact on the earth.” Eugene Cordero, a meteorology professor, said humans are not causing all of global warming, but are responsible for a large segment of it over the last 30 years when burning fossil fuels began to rise sharply. “There are uncertainties,” Cordero said, “but (scientists) still feel comfortable saying that (humans cause a large part of increasing temperatures).” Despite opposing views about the human role in climate change, the one element many campus constituents agree on is that the media has represented global warming issues poorly. “Scientifically speaking, it’s not a controversial issue,” Cordero said, “but that’s the way that it’s portrayed in the media.” Cordero said a majority of scientists agree that human-produced carbon dioxide emissions are the primary contributors of global warming, but journalists depict it as an issue that divides the scientific community. “That’s not the reality,” Cordero said. “If you look at peer-reviewed literature over the last five years, it’s very difficult to find an article that says that humans are not contributing (to increasing temperatures).” Cordero said journalists may be trained to look for two sides of an issue to the detriment of the truth, but he does not fault the media for the public’s sometimes cloudy understanding of global warming. “I’m not saying you should blame the media for this confusion, because scientists have probably not been strong enough in presenting this (topic),” Cordero said. Latham agreed with Cordero that the media may make the issue unclear for the public. “I think that the media is still feeding into the sort of popular belief that maybe it’s happening, maybe it’s not,” Latham said. Amie Frisch, a senior majoring in environmental studies and former president of the Environmental Club at SJSU, said some reporters include assertions from nonscience, business interests. “The media is looking at (nonscientific opinion) and treating it with the same importance as actual, scientific studies,” Frisch said. “It’s not really a fair comparison because you are getting (testimony from) public relations people versus scientists.” Zinoni, who studies economics, said global warming has become more of a business than anything, with the media more likely to support the side claiming humans are the main contributors of climate change. “People are getting jobs studying this issue and talking about this issue,” Zinoni said. “If you write an article, it’s easier to sell the article if you are pro the idea that humans are causing global warming than against. That’s why very few are talking about other theories.” Zinoni added that many people read articles that reinforce their previously held beliefs. Flynn, who is president of the SJSU College Republicans club, agreed that the media portrays global warming inaccurately and said some articles reflect the ideas of environmental alarmists. “I think it’s almost like they are trying to scare people into figuring into a certain agenda that they have set forth,” Flynn said. Besides the sometimes confusing media portrayals of global warming, the economic costs of reducing greenhouse emissions will be high according to Gibson, who teaches economics. Gibson said this expense should be weighed against the likelihood that human-caused global warming is a reality. “(Reducing carbon dioxide emissions) is going to impact people’s standards of living substantially,” Gibson said. The latest report on global warming economics presents a different view. According to an Oct. 29 article from the British newspaper The Observer, a 700-page report from economist Sir Nicholas Stern details significant global economic and environmental damage if governments fail to implement policies mandating the reduction of greenhouse emissions within the next 10 years. Future consequences of global warming in Stern’s report include the displacement of 200 million people because of flooding or droughts and up to $7 trillion in costs around the world. Related Links: Back to Orange Journalism Home Page Orange Journalism: |
