Contrasting Views

In his article, Caldeira makes the following arguments, among others. First, the current technological advancements can predict adverse climate changes in the far future. Secondly, the present civilization is harming the climate 5000 times faster compared to that which annihilated dinosaurs. Lastly, humans are at risk of extinction due to climate changes. In the Toulmin argumentative method, the following are viable contrasting ideas to his essay.

First, the current technological advancement has a promising trajectory that is likely to solve significant issues in human civilization. For instance, it is possible to map and track the weather patterns and advise people regarding their safety. While this is usable in combating adverse climate change, big tech companies such as SpaceX are designing methods to exit the earth in catastrophic geologic times. Hence, there is a likelihood that the climate of the future will make the earth inhabitable. Secondly, while the current rate of climatic change is 5000 times faster than that of dinosaurs, it is mostly happening due to human activities.

That is, we are not sure whether the rate would be lower, same, or higher with that of the Cretaceous period. Nevertheless, the deposition of CO2, methane, and water vapor in the atmospheres is exponential, and results similar to Cretaceous are likely to manifest sooner than it took to catastrophe. Lastly, although the current climatic change predicts suggest a nightmare to human civilization, or extinction of many organisms, some may still survive. For instance, given that ideas such as interplanetary travel by SpaceX succeed, there is a chance that some people will luckily survive the earth’s adversity. In the end, it means no human life will survive on the earth, hence extinction.