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Craig Davenport Malcolm Campbell English 1102 23 January 2014 How Normal is Global Warming? Introduction/Overview One of the more prevalent debates I have encountered when discussing contemporary issues is that of Global Warming. It is often a debate among scientists and politicians and even everyday people like you and I. The debate of whether global warming is purely a human cause or a natural process in which the earth goes through over the years is a hot topic as of late. It is not just an American problem by any means, it is an issue for the entire globe if anything. The Earth has definitely been going through climate change over the last one hundred years, and it is entirely possible that the human race plays a major role in speeding up the process. In an article for Fox News, John Stossel addresses global warming in relation to the other problems facing the world, even claiming that there is not really anything for Americans to do at this point to prevent global warming especially since global warming is not that much of a threat as of right now. Stossel says that climate is always changing and that global warming is not as big of an issue as it is made out to be. Therefore, he suggests that the government stop spending all of this money on an issue that we cannot really do anything about and focus on more prevalent issues. The debate over global warming is something that can be dated back to prehistoric times such as the Permian-Triassic Era and has argumentative qualities all throughout history with the Ice Age and todays climate changes. All of these aspects interest me, especially since I do not

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know enough to make an educated argument just yet. The government and many of the people involved in Congress have been debating this topic for years so there is a wide variety of sources to pull from, especially scientists.

Initial Inquiry Question(s) There are so many questions I have surrounding global warming; however, this topic can be broken down into simpler questions. I have discussed this topic with a friend of mine who is very interested in the historical aspect of climate changes with dinosaurs and extinction as well as my girlfriend who has about just as many answers as I do. There are questions that encompass the idea that climate changes that killed off the dinosaurs. So, were climate changes responsible for the mass extinctions such as the Permian extinction? Was the Ice Age really that horrendous for life on Earth? Will the current changes in climate cause the extinction of humanity or other species on Earth? The intensity of the current state of climate change is essentially where I am headed with this initial inquiry question: is the climate change now similar to what has happened in the past and is global warming something that humanity really has caused or can affect it? So essentially, will global warming be something to actually worry about or will it be the extinction of humanity?

My Interest in this Topic Global warming is a very prevalent issue in todays society. So why am I interested in it? The heat of the debate has always sparked a fire in me and I have always wanted to have a logical argument behind my opinions. I have delved into the topic of climate change and global warming a tiny bit over the years, with the most coming last semester having to read an article about it for my Intro to Engineering course that peaked my interest. Maybe its the fiery passion

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that burns inside me that causes global warming, I dont know, thats why I want to learn more about it and be able to have these educated debates over what is the proper way to address climate change moving toward the future. I hope to learn the relationship between the climate changes related to the Ice Age and the climate change over the last one hundred years. I hope to learn what the future holds in regard to climate change. There are many aspects of global warming that I hope to learn about.

Next Steps Journalists are very quick to write about the governments stance on global warming and they will have various articles about both sides of the argument about climate changes. Also, the scientific side of global warming and the Ice Age will be in all sorts of books that can be found in the library. News companies such as Fox News has extensive articles out there as well as a multitude of various internet articles. The American Institute of Physics also appears to have respectable information on it that may be of use. Global warming and climate change is an issue that is very contemporary and there are bound to be sources all over the internet and libraries that will help me in this process.