INTRODUCTION  

By now you must be thinking that we’re all going to end up like Liv Tyler, watching Ben Affleck parade animal crackers across our stomachs while Aerosmith’s, “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing,” heralds our eventual demise. I don’t know about you, but the majority of climate change documentaries and publications that have been produced make me want to call up Jake Gyllenhaal and ask him just how horrifying the “day after tomorrow” is really going to be.

Ok, well I guess that’s a little extreme and super depressing considering I haven’t listened to Aerosmith since sixth grade and I hate animal crackers. But seriously, what would happen if the world simply chose to ignore the effect human activity has on global warming and refused to make necessary changes? Would the world as we know it turn into a giant fireball and incinerate us?

That seems highly unlikely if not completely preposterous. However, we cannot view this warming of Earth’s surface temperature as having a simple, black and white outcome either. When originally considered, most scientific information points out that Earth’s surface temperature will rise by up to 6 degrees in the next 50-100 years or so.

But then what?

I foolishly thought, “Well, that’s not good but assuming Earth didn’t get any hotter, we might be ok.” Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment, Michael Dworkin, set me straight. He explained that most people, myself