The Debate on Global Warming and Climate Change
Dan R. Finley
Helms School of Government, Liberty University
PADM 475 Advanced Public Administration (B01)
Professor Jennifer Holmquist
October 9, 2023
Abstract
The phenomenon that is commonly referred to as global warming and climate change has
been a contested topic within the political arena over the last four decades. Public opinion and
scientific research have been in conflict over the existence of the phenomenon. Many Americans
are skeptical even with evidence that suggests there is a global warming trend. Confidence in
scientists has substantial implications for the interaction between scientists and the public in
general, and for the public discussion of global warming and climate change in particular. This
research paper will discuss the factors that effect the public opinion. These include political
affiliation, data collected, and published literature discussing the topic. There is also a Biblical
worldview that will be taken into consideration as part of the paper.
Introduction
The global warming idea is composed of three propositions that are derived from two factors.
The first fact is that carbon dioxide is one of a number of so-called greenhouse gases. The second
is that the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by around thirty-five percent
since the start of the industrial revolution (Darwall, 2013). The first proposition claims that the
rise in carbon dioxide along with the other greenhouse gases emitted by humans has caused an
increase in global temperatures. The second proposition states that the global warming will cause
significant damage to the environment and humanity. The final proposition is strictly political for
developed countries to reduce its carbon footprint to lessen the damage.
The challenge presented by the global warming and climate change is the topic of climate
protection (Welfens, 2022). There has been an increasing number of discussions and debates
within the political and business sectors. Global warming and climate change protection affects
almost every aspect of our lives. It has redefined what has been considered ethical behavior.
Humanity is shaming each other on what is perceived to be a blatant disregard for the health of
the planet. It has widened the divide between the two sides of the political spectrum with no
foreseen hope to come to an agreement.
Literature Review
Literature referring to potential concerns about global warming were introduced during the
height of the industrial revolution. A scientist named Gut Stewart Callendar from the United
Kingdom published a paper about his temperature research. He studied temperature at two
hundred weather stations over a five-year period. His conclusion was that there was a slight
increase in temperatures over that span of time. Callendar estimated that the higher level of
carbon dioxide produced by industries was a major factor in the rise in temperatures. (Darwall,
2013). His research took a backseat to the Depression and recovering from the First World War.
Callendar would be influential in later scientists’ research into the connection between carbon
dioxide levels and the rise in temperatures.
Callendar was forced to rethink his research as temperatures began a downward trend during
the two decades after the Second World War. Another shift of weather patterns around the 1970s
caused an overall enhancement of precipitation extremes across the globe with a specific spatial
distribution pattern (Sarkar & Maity, 2021). This was the fuel that relit the global warming fire
and the push to begin discussions on reducing the world’s carbon footprint. The expansion of this
new environmental movement to help preserve the planet had huge implications on global
politics and economics.
The current global warming debate appears to have been accelerated following the
publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the science of
climate change which included a phrase that the balance of evidence suggests a discernible
human influence on climate (Garrard, 2019). This report has caused major controversy
throughout the scientific and policymaking communities. Literature published in recent years has
supported both sides of the argument. Skeptics of the phenomenon has seen the majority of
support from conservatives within the larger industrial countries.
Position
There are different ways to critique the global warming and climate change debate. Some
reject the notion that there is a human causal factor. Others fall into the middle and believe that
there could be some concerns, but the extent is not as bad as the supporters of the phenomenon
state in their literature. My conservative and Christian beliefs give me pause to see that any
significant harm will come to our planet through global warming. There have been several recent
studies that have questioned many of the projections of climate change made by the IPCC reports
and at present there is an emerging dissenting view of the global warming science which is at
odds with the IPCC view of the cause and consequence of global warming (Khandekar, Murty, &
Chittibabu, 2005). A review of these recent studies provides me with a more credible explanation
that supports my Biblical worldview and the belief that God does not intend for His creation to
be destroyed at the hands of humanity.
Biblical Worldview
The Biblical worldview or the Holy Bible taken as a whole provides the primary foundation
of a framework within which to think about global warming and climate change. The argument is
that God the Father personally designed the Earth and its environment to be stable. He brought
was without form and void under His subjection (Christian Standard Bible, 2020, Genesis 1:1).
This means that within the Biblical perspective, the climate of the Earth was not designed to be
chaotic or subject to extreme fluctuations that would threaten the continued survival of humanity
and all other living things (Holdridge, 2019).
Some studies suggest that there is a strong connection between faith and an anti-
environmental sentiment (Garrard, 2019). There have been leaders in the evangelical Christian
denominations that have preached that as steward of this planet, Christians should be leading the
charge to save it. This has activated some of the younger generation to promote this call. They
feel that the church can have a significant impact in this movement.
Climate change may or may not be real and may or may not be human caused. We can know
for certain that God is good and sovereign, and that Earth will be our habitat for as long as God
desires it to be. "Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains
topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with
its turmoil." (Christian Standard Bible, 2020, Psalms 46:2-3). There is nothing wrong with trying
to aid in reducing pollution through recycling or using renewable energy. Our primary focus
should never change from proclaiming the truth of the gospel, the message that has the power to
save souls.
Conclusion
Global warming and climate change has been so thoroughly politicized by the partisan divide;
it is hard to separate the scientific basis for concern from a liberal orientation from conservative
convictions. This makes it hard for the conservatives to accept the possible detriment to the
planet as it does liberals to admit the high cost and difficulty of mitigation. There seems to be a
lack of substantial policies that force the organizations that have a large footprint to do anything
to reduce their output.
The United States as well as other countries began passing laws that would hinder large
corporations’ production. These laws regulated both air and wastewater discharges from these
industries. The projections of future climate change over the next fifty to one hundred years is
based on insufficiently verified climate models and are therefore not considered reliable at this
point in time.
This dichotomy between advised mitigation and modification has been debated since the
inception of climate change. The local level governments are facing even bigger struggles of
financing these strategies Plans could be integrated to achieve beneficial outcomes locally and
globally. This dichotomy of views on climate change continues to fill the political landscape and
will for the foreseeable future. We should pray for peace between the two sides and an agreement
that would be beneficial to the planet and those who would be impacted by those changes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Christian Standard Bible. (2020). Nashville: B&H Publishing Group. (Original work published
2017).
Darwall, Rupert. (2014). The Age of Global Warming: A History. Northampton, MA: Interlink
Publishing Group.
Garrard, Greg. (2019). Climate Change Scepticism: A Transnational Ecocritical Analysis. New
York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
Holdridge, D.W. (2019). Climate Change and the Bible. Meadville, PA: Christian Faith
Publishing.
Khandekar, M.L., Murty, T.S., & Chittibabu, P. (2005). The Global Warming Debate: A Review
of the State of Science. Pure and Applied Geophysics. 162, 1557–1586.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-005-2683-x.
Sarkar, S. & Maity, R. (2021). Global Climate Shift in 1970s Causes a Significant Worldwide
Increase in Precipitation Extremes. Scientific Reports Volume 11, 11574.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90854-8
Welfens, Paul. (2022). Global Climate Change: Analysis, Economic Efficiency Issues and
International Cooperation. Cham, Switzerland: Springer
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