Chapter Summary and Analysis

Global warming has been one of the most highly debated issues of the past ten years. The global warming debate pits scientist against politicians and environmentalists against energy companies. The public hears a great deal of conflicting information on the issue of global warming and most people are not sure what to believe. Global warming is part of the Earth's natural cycle, and although pollution and other human-related factors contribute to the phenomenon of global warming, it will not end until the natural cycle has run its course.

The Earth was formed about four and a half billion years ago from an orbiting band of cosmic matter. About four billion years ago, a planetoid struck the Earth's surface, and failing to escape the Earth's gravitational pull, it became the planet's moon. By this time, the Earth's rotation had slowed considerably and...