English VII Global warming reading comprehension and writing activity Group: Students name: _________________________, __________________________ Teachers

s name:

Read the article by Dr. Roy Spencer and answer the questions that follow.
(Text adapted from: http://www.drroyspencer.com/global-warming-natural-or-manmade/)

Global warming refers to the global-average temperature increase that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more. But to many politicians and the public, the term carries the implication that mankind is responsible for that warming. This website describes evidence from my groups government-funded research that suggests global warming is mostly natural, and that the climate system is quite insensitive to humanitys greenhouse gas emissions and aerosol pollution. Believe it or not, very little research has ever been funded to search for natural mechanisms of warming; it has simply been assumed that global warming is manmade. This assumption is rather easy for scientists since we do not have enough accurate global data for a long enough period of time to see whether there are natural warming mechanisms at work. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims that the only way they can get their computerized climate models to produce the observed warming is with anthropogenic (human-caused) pollution. But theyre not going to find something if they dont search for it. More than one scientist has asked me, What else COULD it be? Well, the answer to that takes a little digging and as I show, one doesnt have to dig very far. But first lets examine the basics of why so many scientists think global warming is manmade. Earths atmosphere contains natural greenhouse gases (mostly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) which act to keep the lower layers of the atmosphere warmer than they otherwise would be without those gases. Greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation the radiant heat energy that the Earth naturally emits to outer space in response to solar heating. Mankinds burning of fossil fuels (mostly coal, petroleum, and natural gas) releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and this is believed to be enhancing the Earths natural greenhouse effect. As of 2008, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was about 40% to 45% higher than it was before the start of the industrial revolution in the 1800s. It is interesting to note that, even though carbon dioxide is necessary for life on Earth to exist, there is precious little of it in Earths atmosphere. As of 2008, only 39 out of every 100,000 molecules of air were CO2, and it will take mankinds CO2 emissions 5 more years to increase that number by 1, to 40. Figuring out how much past warming is due to mankind, and how much more we can expect in the future, depends upon something called climate sensitivity. This is the temperature response of the Earth to a given amount of radiative forcing, of which there are two kinds: a change in either the amount of sunlight absorbed by the Earth, or in the infrared energy the Earth emits to outer space. The consensus of opinion is that the Earths climate sensitivity is quite high, and so warming of about 0.25 deg. C to 0.5 deg. C every 10 years can be expected for as long as mankind continues to use fossil fuels as our primary source of energy. NASAs James Hansen claims that climate sensitivity is very high, and that we have already put too much extra CO2 in the atmosphere. Presumably this is why he and Al Gore are campaigning for a suspension on the construction of any more coal-fired power plants in the U.S. You would think that wed know the Earths climate sensitivity by now, but it has been surprisingly difficult to determine. How atmospheric processes like clouds and precipitation systems respond to warming, is critical, as they are either amplifying the warming, or reducing it. This website currently concentrates on the response of clouds to warming, an issue which I am now convinced the scientific community has totally misinterpreted when they have measured natural, year-to-year fluctuations in the climate system. As a result of that confusion, they have the mistaken belief that climate sensitivity is high, when in fact the satellite evidence suggests climate sensitivity is low. To support the case for natural climate change, I also present an analysis of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation which shows that most climate change might well be the result of.the climate system itself! Because small, chaotic fluctuations in atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems can cause small changes in global average cloudiness, this is all that is necessary to cause climate change. You dont need the sun, or any other external influence (although these are also possible). It is simply what the climate system does. This is actually quite easy for meteorologists to believe, since we understand how complex weather processes are. Your local TV meteorologist is probably a closet skeptic regarding mankinds influence on climate. Climate change it happens, with or without our help.

1. The aim of the article is to convince the reader that humans are solely responsible for global warming True False ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. From the text it is evident that climate sensitivity is very easy to measure True False ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According to Dr. Spencer, climate sensitivity has been misunderstood by scientists who think global warming is man-made True False ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. According to the text, which of the following statements does NOT help to explain why some scientists think that global warming is man-made? a. The Earths atmosphere is made up of greenhouse gases which retain some of the natural heat produced by the Earth. b. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide which intensifies the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. c. The increase in the quantity of greenhouse gases retains more heat and increases the atmospheric temperature. d. The carbon dioxide produced by humans directly releases heat into the atmosphere. 5. Why does Dr. Spencer suggest that the natural occurrence of climate change is easy for meteorologists to understand? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What would be a good title for this article? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. In the context, what do the following words / expressions mean: Word Dig Figure out Closet skeptic To emit Meaning from context

Write a 150 word summary about the article. Write a topic sentence which explains Dr. Spencers point of view about climate change. Then write an explanation of why he has this point of view. Write clear sentences and use correct punctuation. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Write your opinion about the debate on climate change. Which point of view do you agree with? Why? Write a topic sentence stating your point of view. Then write an explanation supporting your point of view. Your text should be between 100 and 150 words long. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________