Ross Gelbspan

Ross Gelbspan is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis, The Cover-up, the Prescription. In the following viewpoint, he argues that the global climate is gradually warming. A cause of this heating, he asserts, is the millions of tons of gases such as carbon dioxide that humans pump into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. These gases trap heat, raise the average global temperature, and indirectly cause many negative effects, including floods, storms, and droughts. Gelbspan argues that the corporations that produce fossil fuels are attempting to convince the public that there is no climate crisis, but their claims are not supported by the available evidence.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are some of the small, medium, and large phenomena that Gelbspan attributes...