A misconception is defined
as a view or opinion that is found to be not true because of flawed thinking or understanding of a
certain subject. With any subject information gets distorted and misconceptions
form around that said subject and global warming is not excluded from this. For
example there is a widely held misconception that global warming causes every
place on our world to rise in temperature each year. This while seems like it
would be the case is just factually false. While global warming does cause
global temperatures to rise on average this does not mean that in every
location temperatures are rising some stay the same others may even fall.
Another misconception is that the earth’s climate varies over time so what we
are just seeing now is just a part of a natural cycle. While it is true that
earth does have a natural cycle were temperatures have fluctuated it is not
true that the dramatic warming we are seeing now is just a part of a natural
system. In the past global temperatures have fluctuated slowly and where only
caused by natural events such as high volcanic activity. Since the industrial
revolution we have been the main source of green house gas emissions. Recent
ice core data has proven that today we have the highest carbon dioxide levels
in recent geologic history (the last 650,000 years). Yet another misconception
is that global warming is caused by the hole in the ozone layer. People think
that the hole in the ozone layer lets in radiation, which warms the earth. The
truth of the matter is the depletion of ozone in our atmosphere does let in
more UV light but this is not an important factor leading to increased
temperatures. Finally the misconception that the
atmosphere is so large and CO2 in such a small overall percentage that humans aren’t
producing enough CO2 to induce global warming. It is true that our atmosphere
is large and that the majority of gases found in it are not green house gases.
But at the same time it is also true that the majority of those same gases do
not hold the potential to trap heat like green house gases do. This means that
even a relatively small percentage of green house gases can lead to the earth
warming. For more global warming misconceptions/ where I found this information check out:
