Elizabeth Landry

ENG 1201
07 July 2019
Casebook
Gelbspan, Ross. "Boiling Point." Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources, edited by
Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 462-467. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context,
http://link.galegroup.com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/CX3456400173/OVIC?u=dayt3
0401&sid=OVIC&xid=d3cbb5ab. Accessed 1 July 2019.
“Boiling Point” by Ross Gelbspan posted on Opposing Viewpoints focuses on what really
causes global warming. It hits both perspectives of whether or not it is a natural caused issue by
saying that there is a greenhouse effect that is a natural phenomenon, but then describes how
it has been taken into a greater effect because of human activity. Humans burn the natural
gases which causes them to escape into the air, which causes the Greenhouse effect to occur at
a faster rate. These natural gases go into the sky and atmosphere to form what is known as acid
rain. This acid rain causes the development of sulfuric acid into lakes, rivers and soils. This is an
issue because of how the carbon cycle works. The carbon cycle uses all its components and
forces these gases to circle around and again release into the atmosphere. Although the
greenhouse effect is natural, humans are causing it to take affect at an alarming rate.
Ross Gelbspan wrote this article in order to prove to people the cause behind global
warming. Many people do not try to understand it, but act like they do. He makes sure that the
reader knows that although global warming is caused by humans, that it is a natural
phenomenon. People believe that humans are causing it entirely, but the author is ensuring
that humans are just accelerating the rate as to which it does. This article’s audience is anybody
who is interested in global warming; however, the audience is for educated people in the
matter. It does explain what things mean, but some of the words or processes are not
explained because of the interpretation that the reader knows what it is.
The author has been researching global warming for numerous years. He has published
a number of books about global warming, which makes him credible for this topic. The author
has facts and detailed descriptions about certain science related topics within the subject and
knows how all the information is related. He uses numbers and facts that have been found in
his research to prove his points.
This source is relevant to my topic because it gives a detailed explanation about how
global warming is occurring naturally but is being sped up do to human decisions. This works
with my research paper because it shows how the United States’ decisions are causing this
issue to become more and more severe, and how it needs to be stopped in order to protect the
earth.

“Is Sea Level Rising?” National Ocean Service. 24 May 2019.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html. Accessed 1 July 2019.

“Is Sea Level Rising?” published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce on the National Ocean Service on May 24, 2019 gives the reader
a better idea of just how much of an issue it is if sea levels keep rising. It explains how about
forty percent of the U.S. population lives on the coast. When the reader actually interprets that
startling statistic, they immediately get scared. The concern of moving all of those people to
somewhere inland sounds crazy, especially in the already crowded United States. It continues
to explain how eight of the world’s largest ten cities are located near a coast, which is even
more alarming because the effect of global warming is hurting everyone. Many people think it
is only the U.S. that is causing this issue, but other countries throughout the world are
contributing to global warming and are in danger as well.
The author’s intension when publishing this article was to put the reader’s mind into
perspective. Many people do not realize the enormous issue that rising sea levels is causing and
just how many people will be affected. This article was written in the point of view to make a
difference in this issue, and only touches on the issues that global warming causes. It describes
the amount to which the water is rising and how fast it is doing so, and not about the benefits
of fossil fuels.
The author of this article is not stated, but it is from the website of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce. This source is credible because
it has research that has been discovered by experts, and it is a United-States-run Organization.
This information will be valuable to my research paper because it gives eye-opening
statistics that cause the reader to put the whole situation into perspective. I think that this will
be useful when I am describing the commotion that rising sea levels will cause and just how
many people will be hurt by this issue.

Letman, Jon.“Rising Seas Give Island Nation a Stark Choice: Relocate or Elevate.” National

Geographic, 19 Nov. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/rising-

seas-force-marshall-islands-relocate-elevate-artificial-islands/. Accessed 1 July 2019.

“Rising seas give island nation a stark choice: relocate or elevate” by Jon Letman posted
by National Geographic on November 19, 2018 shows what the life of island people is like
because of the rise in sea levels. It tells who will be hurt most, the people of Kiribati, Tuvalu,
the Maldives, and the Marshall Islands. It continues to give projected temperatures of the
future which could cause the sea to rise between one or four feet, maybe even higher. Not only
is sea level rising, it is also causing storms to be even bigger than before. Since there is more
water in the ocean, more water is being pushed onto shores causing severe flooding. These
storms are also bigger and more damaging than before. The reefs around these islands are
being destroyed because of the debris that is being carried in from the storms. Measures are
being taken underway such as building new barrier walls, but this work is being controlled by
local government, not a larger force.
This article is credible because it is taken from the National Geographic website which
has hundreds of employees discovering new research every day. The article gives facts, quotes
and gives credit to those who originally stated them. The piece was written after taking a trip to
some of these small islands, so the author got a first-hand perspective of the damage that was
being caused.
 The author’s purpose of writing this article was to make sure that the reader
understood just how serious the issue is. He speaks to the audience of older generations who
know where these small islands are and how beautiful they are. I think that this article appeals
to pathos because the reader feels poorly about what is being done to other’s home and makes
them want to take action in order to help.
I will use information from this article to give a better idea about who is being affected
already from rising sea levels, and maybe describe how close it is to our shorelines, the
population, and how much action has not been made. I will also use it to describe how little
action is being done by a larger force, only the smaller groups are taking action.

McNabb, David. “External Pressures on the Resource: Climate Change.” Water Resource

Management: Sustainability in an Era of Climate Change. Springer International

Publishing AG, 2017, pp. 65–93.

The chapter “External Pressures on the Resource: Climate Change” taken from David
McNabb’s book Water Resource Management: Sustainability in an Era of Climate Change is
about how the people in the world should be more cautious with the water supply and what
their carelessness is doing to the environment. He wants people to learn how to be sustainable
in order to better the planet. In the “External Pressures on the Resource: Climate Change”
McNabb writes about impacts that people have on the water resource. We continue to write
about how these changes in weather are different in different areas. Some parts of the globe
are experiencing severe droughts while other parts are receiving large amounts of rain, causing
floods and more catastrophic events. There is not a common denominator. Droughts are a
larger issue than one would believe. The droughts have been soaking up water reservoirs,
decreasing the flow of streams and removing water from aquifers in the ground. Additionally,
the United States lost over one billion dollars in extreme weather events in 2015. Not only was
there a great dollar cost to these events, but a loss of lives as well. These devastating events are
caused by global warming. Global warming has also caused the rise of sea levels which
continues to rise up to a half an inch to an inch per year. At this rate in the year 2100, the ocean
could rise up to sixteen feet. This rise in sea level each year affects people’s homes but also the
groundwater because of saltwater intrusion. The groundwater could become saltwater and
freshwater could be lost. When many people think of sea levels rising, they do not consider the
Midwest of the United States. These extreme changes in weather can lead to periods of rain,
and periods of drought. These heavy rains can cause floods which will ruin agriculture and
infrastructure. If these were to fail, the nation’s economy would tank. The world has to come
together to make decisions about climate change, and what to do in order to slow the process
of this horrible downslope.
McNabb’s purpose of writing this is to stress the disruption we are causing to our
world’s water supply. We are being forced to change the way we think of water and forcing it to
change its cycle as well as its precipitation patterns. When people think of precipitation they
think of a little rain, but our human impact has caused there to be a larger trend in disastrous
storms and flooding. He wants people to realize just how much of an issue we are causing to
our world’s greatest resource, water.
David McNabb is a credible author because he has a tremendous amount of research
behind him, including graphs and statistics. He gives all the information not written by himself
credit and tells exactly who and where it was found. He wrote a whole novel on water resource,
so he knows information about the subject and goes into great detail about it.
This book source is relevant to my research paper because it uses information that
backs my support about how damaging global warming is, and it demonstrates all that will be
affected if nobody does anything to slow its course. This source gives valuable information
about the effects of global warming and the effects of water and the issues they can cause on
the earth.

Reguero, Borja G., et al. "Comparing the cost effectiveness of nature-based and coastal

adaptation: A case study from the Gulf Coast of the United States." PLoS ONE, vol. 13,

no. 4, 2018, p. e0192132. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A534255276/OVIC?u=dayt304

01&sid=OVIC&xid=3e3b9f9e Accessed 1 July 2019.

Borja G. Reguero , Michael W. Beck, David N. Bresch, Juliano Calil, Imen Meliane wrote
the article, “ Comparing the cost effectiveness of nature-based and coastal adaptation: A case
study from the Gulf Coast of the United States” posted by Opposing Viewpoints on April 1, 2018
to explain the issues that future generations will run into because of damages to the earth due
to global warming. It is predicted that flood damages will end up costing about one trillion
dollars each year because of the rise of sea levels. It continues to point out the corruption of
the government, only spending money on a military line of dense of the U.S. coastline, but not
protecting the small island, first line of defense, leaving them to be swept away by the rising
water. However, some people have ideas in order to adjust climate change issues. Everyone
knows that they cannot stop the earth from heating, but they know that they can slow the
process down. For example, some organizations have the idea to use green infrastructure. They
want to move into different processes in order to keep the environment cleaner and safer.
The authors’ purpose in writing this article was to educate people on what is trying to be
done in order to slow down the process of global warming. It is trying to make people realize
the time that goes into this process and just how serious the situation is. Instead of saying what
needs to be done, they explain what is in the process of being completed. The audience of this
piece would be adults who have an interest in the issue. The authors use technical terms and
talk about the government that a younger kid would not know about.
The writers of this article are credible because of all the resources used and given credit
to within the text. The information that is gathered is researched and checked by a variety of
people. Since there are multiple authors, the article is credible because of all the people that
are checking over their work and ensuring that the information is correct.
 I plan to use this article to describe what is being done to help global warming in my
research paper, but also use it to give a representation of how little the government is doing to
help the situation. This will help in my conclusion that the government should be held
accountable for the issues that they have caused on the environment and show how little they
are doing to help this issue currently.

“Rising Sea Level.” Center for Science Education. National Center for Atmospheric Research.

https://scied.ucar.”Redu/longcontent/rising-sea-level. Accessed 1 July 2019.

“Rising Sea Levels” posted by Center for Science Education describes how scientists have
viewed photos from satellites that help determine the changes in tides and just how far they
are creeping onto the shore. This rise in water is due to ices sheets melting, and glaciers slowly
shrinking because of global warming. The major issue is that the melting has outpaced the
snowfall rate, creating an enormous change in precipitation. The melting ice causes issues in
the ocean because it is mixing with the saltwater. This causes a change in density, and the
waterflow heat changes. These changes mess with the currents in the ocean and warm waters
flow to areas of typically cold water, making the global warming process accelerate at a faster
rate.
The author’s purpose in writing this article is to inform people about the global warming
process. It also points out the issue with land in Greenland because of the decrease in the mass
of their ice sheets and glaciers. The audience is people interested in global warming but can be
anywhere from middle school to adult. The author really breaks it down into terms that are
easy to understand and into a way that is easily understood.
This source is credible because it was taken from a website by the National Center for
Atmospheric Research. This shows that this information is credible because it has research that
has been found by people that are experts in the subject. It also shows statistics in graphs that
backup their information.
I will use this information in my research paper in order to really break down the
process of the ice melting and the issue it is causing in the ocean. Most of the paper, I plan to
write about the effects that rising sea levels will have on the land, but nothing really about the
effects of currents in the ocean.

“The Climate Change Lawsuit That Could Stop the U.S. Government from Supporting Fossil
Fuels.”60 Minutes”, CBS News. www.cbsnews.com/news/juliana-versus-united-states-
climate-change-lawsuit-60-minutes-2019-06-23/. Accessed 1 July 2019.
CBS News conducted a 60 Minutes episode called “The climate change lawsuit that
could stop the U.S. government from supporting fossil fuels” on June 23rd that argues a lawsuit
between people of the United States and the U.S. government regarding climate change.
Twenty-one kids are trying to sue the U.S. government for failing to protect them while they
continue to make decisions that causes climate change. They are doing this to have the
government realize the negative impact that they have on the environment and the fact that
they knew the damage they were causing. United States’ citizens are losing homes, and the
environment is rapidly getting worse and worse. According to the article, the known damages
that the use of fossil fuels cause has been known for almost fifty years, but the government still
continued to use them. The lawsuit argues that the government has done nothing to protect
the planet from climate change but proceeds to pollute the air and damage coast lines and
forests. It calls for the government to form a plan to have the United States slowly move away
from fossil fuels and to a greener fuel. It has been a long, controversial battle that continues
because of the accessibility and cost of fossil fuels. If the government were to change their fuel
type, it would cost the United States billions of dollars and can ultimately change the economy,
but the people believe that it is worth it in order to save the planet.
The writers’ purpose for this article/interview is to show the struggles of people that are
fighting the U.S. government. If nothing is done in these circumstances the United States is
causing future generations to suffer. The audience in this case is the middle-aged generation
because they will be the ones who have to take action to make a difference. It also appeals to
the pathos of the older audience due to the fact that they contributed to cause harm to the
earth and the idea that their great grandchildren will have to live in such poor conditions. Since
this is an ongoing case, it is current, but further updates need to be discovered. Because this
interview was from the point of view of the people suing the government, it does not
necessarily give both sides of the issue. It gives an anti-government approach, but not
necessarily the pro-government point of view.
The writer of this piece is credible because it is taken by a very popular news publisher
CBS. It was also displayed on CBS’s show,”60 Minutes” The author has adequate information
because they interviewed multiple sources in order to receive the full story and get the facts
about people’s opinions and roles in the case.
This source is relevant to my research paper because it questions the fact of whether or
not the government should be held accountable for the damage that the environment is
experiencing. It talks about how not only the environment changing but how human and
government decisions helped increase the speed to which it is. This will help prove my opinion
about how the government should be held accountable because of the proof it provides as to
why the government should be blamed and the point of view of people from all generations.