Global Warming Essay

Global warming has been on the agenda for quite a while now. Everybody has something to say about it – the scientists, the news, the politicians, and even celebrities. Some of them ask questions about climate change and wonder whether global warming is a real thing or just another hoax to distract our attention from real world problems. Others have already made up their minds and claim to have an explanation for everything about the issue. Regardless, global warming remains a standing topic. It is no wonder that global warming essay only becomes an increasingly popular written assignment for students of various fields of study.

However, when tasked with writing a global warming and climate change essay, students often feel confused. They ask themselves - “What can I say on this topic that hasn’t been said? How do I write my essay on global warming? How do I make my writing original, informative and exciting?” Indeed, it may be somewhat challenging to make your global warming essay stand out when so much has been said and is being said on this topic. However, this is a common issue, and the same can be said about pretty much any essay topic that the students have to write about.

GLOBAL WARMING ESSAY TYPES

The truth is that when you write an essay on global warming, the information that you put in there does not always have to be 100% original. What you write in your global warming essay will depend on the type of paper that you are supposed to submit. Most likely, it will be one of the following:

• Argumentative. When you are writing an argumentative essay on global warming, you will be expected to pick a side in the debate on climate change and support your claim with arguments in favor of the position that you took. This means that you will have either to give strong evidence that the climate change is in fact happening and its consequences can be dramatic or to debunk global warming as a myth decisively.
• Expository. In an expository essay about global warming, on the other hand, you should by no means pick any side. The very definition of an expository essay demands that you stay objective throughout your writing. So, you should steer clear of any possible bias. If you give any statistics on climate change facts, choose your words very carefully to make it sound as dry as possible. Another good idea to write an expository essay on global warming about is the current state of an ongoing debate: Who are the most well-known scholars investigating the issue? Whose arguments gain more momentum in the press, among politicians, and among the general public?
• Problem and solution. A problem and solution essay on global warming is arguably the easiest type in terms of defining what you have to do. Simply use the climate change facts as an evidence proving the problem of global warming and offer a solution through raising awareness, introducing a more green-conscious use of our planet's resources, suggesting more eco-friendly technologies for industry and/or general public, or any combination of these. Alternatively, your facts will suggest that the climate change is either not happening or stays within the norm. In this case, your problem can be the fact that people pay too much attention to this imaginary issue, and the solution can be in popularizing the actual facts and raising awareness about truly pressing matters.

CHOOSING SOURCES FOR A GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE ESSAY

Regardless of which type of essay you are to submit, it is hard to imagine writing a global warming and climate change essay without some trustworthy sources to refer to. It is always critical to select only reliable sources, but it is truly imperative when you write about climate change. As we have mentioned, this topic has been covered by many scholars and not only them. So, there are so many relevant findings and opinions that they often contradict each other. Sometimes, the opponents even call each other fake news straight out. To avoid this with your global warming essay, you should take extra care to make sure that the sources that you are referencing are indeed reliable.

The selection of sources may seem like quite a challenge, but – same as with most other undertakings – it only seems so when you don’t know what exactly to do. To have a better idea of how to tell a reliable source of information on climate change from a non-reliable one, here is something of a checklist:

• It had better not be a blog. Blogs were not invented to convey objective information. They were made for sharing opinions. Hence, the information in a blog will always be biased, to various degrees. So, unless your climate change essay is supposed to be about the variety of opinions on the issue, blogs should not be your source.
• Avoid commercial websites. These are mostly the ones in the .com domain zone. Even when they present some engaging and exciting pieces of information, their ultimate goal is to sell a product or service. Providing only objective information may be among their priorities, but not among the top ones. This is why such websites cannot be deemed a reliable source of information.
• Make sure your source is up to date. Always check the date when the article or book that you are referencing was published. Global warming studies are ongoing. Some researchers may often get new data at their disposal or come to new conclusions. This is why the information from an outdated source may be incomplete or downright wrong. So, it is best to refer only to the most recent materials. That is, of course, unless your global warming essay describes the historical development of understanding a particular climate change-related issue.

It is worth to add that Wikipedia articles are also hardly a reliable source here. As you know, they can be edited by pretty much everybody, and everybody is prone to being subjective. However, real-world is always worthwhile to check their reference sections, because they may list some valuable sources.

EXAMPLES OF RELIABLE SOURCES FOR A GLOBAL WARMING ESSAY

You may ask “This checklist covers pretty much everything on the Web. How do I write my essay?”

To make your writing even easier, we have collected a handful of reliable and regularly updated resources where you can find information on climate change for your research. Naturally, we by no means insist that you limit yourself to using only our recommended resources. Still, they can be a good place to start your research!

#1 Natural Resource Defence Council
Available at http://www.nrdc.org, this is actually an environmentalist group website. One may argue that their information is biased, but aside from their analytics, they provide quite a handful of reliable stats on environmental damage to the climatic situation and the ways to confront it.

#2 Nature.com
This is the website of a weekly journal about nature and science. Obviously, climate change is within their scope of interest, and they do enjoy unquestionable authority in their field. The articles are often contributed by environment scholars who discuss such topics for a living. Moreover, Nature Magazine does not insist on only one theory about global warming. Instead, it gives room for various scholars to discuss their theories and findings and to debate about them.

#3 NASA and NOAA
If you put aside the environmentalist approach to the issue and try to be as objective as it gets, your first obvious sources of information would be NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA. They are the ultimate source of information about how exactly the climate changes on a given period of time. Their value is that they provide only statistic and analytical data, without any bias.

#4 Project Earth
This is one of the Fusion websites, dedicated to environment-related issues and available at http://projectearth.us. Once again, someone might argue that their content is biased. Well, even if it is, its bias lies in the selection of materials that they choose to publish and not in the materials themselves. Their global warming essays, for one, are occasionally reposted by respected media, such as Newsweek.