The causes of global warming were the topic of debate as the College Democrats and College Republicans squared off on Tuesday night. Republicans contended a natural cycle of cooling and warming periods was the attributable cause, while Democrats said carbon emissions and greenhouse gases were responsible for global warming.
"Greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide cause atmosphere to trap more and more of the sun's heat," Erin O'Sullivan, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said in her opening statement for the College Democrats.
Kate Maxwell, a freshman in SPA, argued that there is no consensus within the scientific community that carbon emissions cause greenhouse gases and said there is currently a "suppression of debate within the scientific community."
Republicans repeatedly stated that scientific evidence did not necessarily confirm humans as the primary factor in global warming.
"There is no hard scientific data confirming the claim that humans are the sole factor causing global warming," Steve Issacs, a freshman in the School of International Service and SPA as well as a debater for the College Republicans, said. "There is no consensus."
Republicans further contended that correlation did not mean causation.
Democrats argued that it is impossible to ignore scientific evidence that stated that as emissions have increased, so has the earth's temperature.
"We see there is a warming period and that this correlates with carbon emissions," Howie Perlman, a freshman in SPA and the School of Communication, said as well as speaking on behalf of the Democrats. Perlman is also an Eagle writer.
Another point of debate was the reliability of the scientific data. Republicans pointed out that only 90 percent of scientists attribute global warming to humans.
"There is no overwhelming consensus," Luke Kraus, a freshman in SPA, said for the Republicans.
Meg Imholt, a sophomore in SPA said a scientifc theory is never 100 percent, and that "90 percent is a pretty good consensus."
The event, sponsored by the two clubs, was moderated by Louis Goodman, dean of SIS.
