Michael Mikaelyan

Dr. Richard Matzen

Writ112: Essay Two
10/7/2014

Psychology Behind Global Climate Change and Global Warming

What is Global Climate Change? Global Climate is a change in the statistical distribution of
weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (Wikipedia). The
counterpart to Global Climate Change is phenomenon call Global Warming. Global Warming is
the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of Earth's climate system caused by the
actions of the human population. Global Warming has become a controversial topic ever since the
appearance of Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth came out in the year 2006. (Imbd) Al Gores
movie was a good start to involve the people in helping with the environment along side with other
companies going green and giving out information and statistics such as NASA.
A good source of information on the climate change is the government operated company
NASA. As one ventures into their sub-section site for climate, one can easily navigate through the
many updates, statistics, and other climate related information available to the public. The site is
organized with the most current news and the most changes in climate.
Media today has done a great job informing the population about Global Climate Change
and Global Warming. It can be seen through the push for a greener planet from many companies
and communities. These companies and communities advocate the push for a more Eco-friendly
environment which have resulted in a variety of hybrid and electric cars, a more conscientious

people, and a whole new trend of people treating the idea of being eco-friendly as popular and cool.
The cause of this media related movement can be attributed to Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth, was a documentary filmed by Al Gore giving the audience the
facts behind what we call today Global Warming. The movie documents and points out the facts
that we would not naturally know about if we were to go about our natural lives. The movie points
out the facts about the polar ice caps and the reduction of ice caused by the total global increase in
the planet. The movie main point is not to persuade the audience in any one direction, but to give
the audience a chance to sit down with themselves and consider the facts and come to a conclusion
on their own. This has been true and there is still a divide between those who believe in global
warming and those who do not. (An Inconvenient truth)
The sea level of planet has been slowly rising and the cause of this is the melting of polar ice
caps and mentioned previously. The loss of ice in the North and South Poles that raise the sea level
of the planet can result in the flooding of cities and engulfing of lands that were before dry. As the
ice melts and the sea levels rise the Animals that live at the North Pole begin to lose Realestate. With
this loss of Realestate the animals have less room to growth and live. This directly causes the decline
of animals in the Northern Pole such as the Polar Bear.
Though it may seems elementary, as the amount of heat within water rises the water
experiences something called thermal expansion. With a hotter average temperature of water on the
planet the polar ice caps result in melting. This melting adds to the amount of liquid water present
and thus more a higher sea level. This combined with thermal expansion resulting is a multiple
increase in area that is cover by water which can lead to further erosion, an increase in chance of
flooding of coastal areas and stronger storms due to a higher amount of water.
Al Gores movie, even though it was a movie, did have an effect on the psychology of the
people. Knowing that their actions can cause the degradation of the planet we currently live in did

begin to change the way we think and the way we act. The studies of Grant D. Jacobsen, from the
University of Oregon, show a correlation between An Inconvenient Truth and the amount of
voluntary carbon offsets. A carbon offsets is an action to balance out the amount of carbon dioxide
and carbon monoxide that one might produce through their lifetime. This can be done by
something as simple as planting a tree. Carbon Monoxide is the cause of the degradation of our
ozone layer. Carbon monoxide directly reacts with ozone to produce carbon dioxide and oxygen gas.
Carbon dioxide on the other hand is a natural insulator. As the ozone thins and the amount of
carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere, this results in the total increase in planetary temperature.
What was once something overly scientific has today become more or less common knowledge.
Though not everyone may know the chemistry behind what happens in the ozone, they do know
that something happens in the ozone that results in Global Warming. The result of the An
Inconvenient Truth resulted in an increase of spending toward the carbon offset. Wherever the
movie was shown, within a ten mile radius, this extra spending was seen.
People spending extra money that they might not have the luxury to spend. The psychology
of fear used by the idea that we might become extinct along with many of the other animals is
strong within the movie. It is very predominant, yet subliminal at the same time. People, by
evolution, are genetically imposed to move toward survival and the survival of their species. The
reason sex is a pleasurable thing is because its a reason to mate and reproduce, to keep the chain of
our bloodline going.
So the continuation of our lives, and our lives through our future, are all dependent on the
action we take today. Al Gores movie gives us the fact and our psychology instill our survival traits
into action. We, the population, start to become more eco-friendly and more self-conscious about
our actions and what we move towards for. With an increase in the populous being continual, our
technology strives to be more eco friendly and thus retroactive against Global Warming.

References
An Inconvenient Truth. (n.d.). TakePart. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://www.takepart.com/an-inconvenient-truth/film
An Inconvenient Truth. (n.d.). IMDb. Retrieved October 13, 2014, from
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/
Climate change. (2014, October 13). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 13, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change
Global warming. (2014, November 10). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
Jacobsen, G. D. (2011). The Al Gore Effect: An Inconvenient Truth And Voluntary Carbon
Offsets. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 61(1), 67-78.
Sea Level Rise -- National Geographic. (n.d.). National Geographic. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/