Global warming claims: evaluating contradictory evidence and expert disagreement

¶ … Globe is Warming. Or is it?

Policy makers and climate scientists have for the last couple of years maintained that based on available evidence, our planet is warming. The increase in global temperatures has been blamed on, amongst other things, the sustained release of green house gases into the atmosphere. Scientists warn that if nothing is done, average global temperatures will continue rising going forward -- with devastating consequences. However, as much as claims of global warming seem realistic, there is evidence to the effect that global warming could just be yet another scientific claim founded on scant and perhaps erroneous data.

Indeed, during the last one century, "the average global surface temperature has risen by about 0.74C" (BBC, n.d.). Experts attribute this trend to the rising levels of harmful gases in the atmosphere amongst other factors. Thanks to the increase in the said temperatures, there are claims that the polar ice sheets have been melting at a faster rate than in the past. According to Casper (2009), it is this melting ice that has been contributing to the rising sea levels. That is why today, unlike was the case a couple of years ago, "many of the native villages that have existed for centuries along the coasts are being flooded as the sea levels rise" (Casper, 2009, p. 143). Based on this chain of events, the issue of global warming seems real rather than imagined.

Amidst claims of global warming and sustained calls for the formulation of policies to rein in factors considered responsible for the trend, new evidence paints a picture of a cooling planet. During the 7th International Climate Change Conference, one of the most startling revelations made by participants was that during the last decade or so, global temperatures have actually been on the decline (Ferrara, 2012). According to participants who also happen to be distinguished climate change experts with years of experience in the field, global temperatures are likely to decrease even further in the coming two or so decades (Ferrara, 2012). If this is indeed the case, claims of a warming globe could be somewhat inaccurate.