Passage 1
The debate about global warming is about the outcome of a gamble. We are betting that the benefits of our industrial and agricultural activities--increasing standards of living for the rich and poor alike --will outweigh possible adverse consequences of an unfortunate by product of our activities, an increase in the atmospheric concentration of green house gases that could lead to global warming and global climate changes. Some experts are warning that we are making poor bets, that global warming has started and that disasters are imminent.
Others assure that the chances of global warming are so remote that outcome of our wager will definitely be in our favor. The impasse is disquieting because the issue is of vial importance to us; it concerns the habitability of our planet. How long will it be before it is imperative that we take action?
Some people are under the false impression that global warming is a theory that still has to be confirmed. They do not realize that scientists are in complete agreement that a continual rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases will inevitably lead to global warming and global climate changer. The disagreements are about the timing and amplitude of the expected warming. It is as if we are in a raft, gliding smoothly down a river, towards dangerous rapids and possibly a waterfall, and are uncertain of the distance to the waterfall.