"Global warming is controversial, of course, but the controversy is mainly over whether human activity is driving it" (Kaku). What Michio Kaku is trying to say is that we are still not completely sure if global warming is completely a man made phenomenon. One thing that we do know is that the Earth is getting warmer as a whole and the recent theory that there would be a mini ice age in the early 2030's was disproven. An examination of many scientific studies will provide deeper insight into the effect that geography has on global warming.
According to National Geographic, sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches.This is due to temperatures rising 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions. This may not seem like much, but if this temperature were to rise much more, the polar ice caps would start to melt, causing higher water levels globally. There is an estimated 5,773,000 cubic miles of water, ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow on our planet. If this were to melt, it would cause some serious and lasting issues. Some scientists speculate that this would cause flooding in lower coastal regions and increased salinity in places such as rivers and bays.
Some people believe that global warming is a part of Earth's natural cycle of climate change. In the late 2000's, a team of MIT scientists recorded a concurrent world-wide elevation of methane levels. This newly found data challenges theories stating humans are the only source of increase in greenhouse gas. Scientists have found that it takes approximately one year for gases produced in the northern hemisphere to cycle down to the southern hemisphere. Because these levels rose at once world-wide in the same year, the MIT researchers find it likely that this rise in methane levels may be part of the natural cycle of Earth, not solely the result of industry. This does not mean, however, that man did not have a role to play in global warming.
