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Seminar Questions:

Global warming: is it bad for us?

Yes, I believe that global warming is bad for us. And some of our current leaders are trying to avoid it and think about other problems, but like Al Gore said sometimes it takes a sudden change for people to notice what’s going on and right now it’s a gradual change. Here’s a little of my point of view on Al Gore. All of Al Gores graphs were showing accurate facts but he did not explain that some of the snow on the mountains were melting but they were melting at the same rate without a major impact from human activity. When he argued I don’t think he was being very persuasive. What Al Gore should have done was not just show his side of the argument and the facts supporting his side but showed some competing facts as well. I also believe that when he was talking about his son getting hit by the car and his loss of the election he was just trying to get some sympathy. He really did not have to talk about that to make a point.

Even if the snow on some mountains is melting at a steady rate over a long period of time and hasn’t been increasing dramatically as the world population grows that doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything about it. We already know that humans can change the world so why don’t we all change the world and make it a better place than it was when we humans did not exist. Let’s leave it in a better condition than when we were presented to it.

What should people do when research studies findings conflict with one another?

I think that they should propose a meeting of a few of the leading scientists on each side to present their argument fairly. I don’t think there should be any politicians involved because they tend to unknowingly become persuasive. I think that most scientist want to educate the public and tell them about the good things and the bad things and things that they should be worried about were politicians want to get as many people as they can on there side. The scientists should not be persuasive and they should have the ability to call on one another when one of them is trying to get away with something that is true but it is not the whole truth. Al Gore did tell the truth but he did not explain the entire truth he used some of the facts but not all of them, and some of the graphs that he used were the most dramatic of the selection.

Does average temperature change affect the way human beings live?

Before I learned about global warming I am almost positive that I never said “is it just me or are the days getting warmer?” Right now I don’t think that global warming has a major effect on an average person but I think that it will. Today when I look at the graph showing the average temperature it’s slowly rising at a steady rate. We have been able to adapt to changes in temperature that’s what’s so great about humans. What if there was a sudden rise in the global temperature what would we do? What we should do now is try to prevent a sudden change in temperature because if that were to happen then we might really be in trouble.

Just because a concept can be disproved, does it mean that better stewardship is not required of human beings?

No, if something is denied doesn’t mean that it should be ignored. That’s really all I have to say about that question.