A Great Global Warming Swindle Essay

â€Å"A Great Global Warming Swindle† was a documentary which implied that the increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide was not the cause of the increase in temperature. It states otherwise: the increasing amount of carbon dioxide is itself the result of the rising temperature. Generally, the documentary asserts that man-made global warming is a lie. Before our film showing, I have already watched Al Gore’s â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth† twice. â€Å"A Great Global Warming Swindle† presented a whole lot different view and it quite made things a little bit confusing. I used to be a hundred and one percent sure that global warming is indeed mainly caused by the increased amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere but after watching the documentary, well it changes things because ideas get mixed up. And now, I am being presented two ideas which are contradicting each other. Based on my own understanding and knowledge about the idea, I strongly believe that carbon dioxide plays a major role in the currently rapid increase of global temperature. As far as I could remember, since elementary it has always been discussed in my science class that greenhouse gasses cause global warming and that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It has been like that for like†¦ forever? My mother told me once that one time when she went to Baguio, snow fell. I really don’t know if she was telling the truth but being a child, I believed her. When she told me that story, I guess I was 5 years old. During those times, going out in the sun during 9 o’clock in the morning is still safe and it won’t bring you any harm. The sun’s rays were still â€Å"friendly†. Comparing those times to the present time, one would note that: there were lesser vehicles; electricity was not a â€Å"major major† commodity; we have more trees and forests; deforestation and kaingin were not that rampant†¦ generally, we were living a simple, eco-friendly and less innovative kind of life. Nowadays, our way of life has improved but it had adverse effects. The one that has been greatly affected was the environment. As our way of living continues to improve, so does the temperature. The temperature improves in the way that it continues increasing. As men find ways in improving their way of living, they intentionally and unintentionally destroy the environment — the increase in global temperature seems to go with it. Basing on what is happening today and on what had happened, it seems very logical that global warming may really be man-made. It seems to be caused greatly by man’s activities. Man has been destroying the Earth and global warming is one of the indicators that it is indeed in the verge of destruction. But the point of â€Å"A Great Global Warming Swindle† is that the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is much greater than the amount of carbon dioxide. So what? † you may ask. It matters because, as a matter of fact, water vapor itself is a greenhouse gas. This somehow piqued my curiosity. Was I wrong for believing that global warming is man-made? To feed man’s curiosity there are two things, among all innovations and inventions, that were proven to be very helpful — research and the internet. Though research in high school has deprived me of one factor essential in a person’s biological growth — that is sleep — I did a little of it to support my stand by basing on the opinions of others. Here is a summary of what I have read from different sources†¦ â€Å"†¦ Although the documentary was welcomed by global warming skeptics, it was criticized by scientific organizations and individual scientists (including two of the film’s contributors). The film’s critics argued that it had misused and fabricated data, relied on out-of-date research, employed misleading arguments, and misrepresented the position of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change†¦ †(Wikipedia. ) â€Å"†¦they completely misrepresented me. My views were distorted by the context in which they placed them. I was misled as to what it was going to be about. I was told about six months ago that this was to be a programme about how complicated it is to understand what is going on. If they had told me even the title of the programme, I would have absolutely refused to be on it. I am the one who has been swindled†¦ †(Professor Carl Wunsch, Pure Propaganda — The Great Global Warming. ) â€Å"†¦In other words, CO2 does not initiate the warmings, but acts as an amplifier once they are underway. † (Professor Severinghaus, Pure Propaganda — The Great Global Warming. ) According to some, the documentary might have wrongly presented or misinterpreted the ideas of the scientists and the data they have gathered. They might have spread absurd arguments and have caused great confusion, especially to the viewers. To others, the documentary might have been enlightenment to what is really happening. But in the end, it is up for us to choose which side we are going to believe. It does not matter if you are the only one who seems to have a different view compared to others. Always remember, there are no wrong opinions†¦ only those that oppose everyone else’s.