Intro to Rhetoric
Synthesis Essay
Nearly all climate change studies show humans as the main, or at least substantial, cause of
global climate change. Since the mid-1900s, scientists and researchers have seen an increase in
the carbon levels in the atmosphere. From this discovery, global climate change started to
become a major issue in scientific, political, and religious realms. For the past 650,000 years, the
carbon levels have stayed below a non-threatening threshold, until around 1950, when the levels
drastically spiked and continued to increase causing many issues in the areas of environment,
economics, health, and technology. The generation of your parents, started these problems; now
you, as part of the Millennial generation, need to argue about what is the best way to slow the
process of global climate change.
Possible Claim Topics:
 Deforestation
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Water regulation
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Food
Reduction of
waste/consumption
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Reduction of emissions
Other
Requirements:
 Read and annotate all sources
 Use 3 sources in your paper
A. “Water Scarcity Impacts Climate Change” Proquest
B. “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler” Mark Bittman New York Times
C. “Global Warmimg Will Likely Cause Serious Human Health Effects” Thilaka
Ravi Opposing Viewpoints
D. “Deforestation and Global Warming” The Union of Concerned Scientists
E. “Software Calculates City-Specific Carbon Footprint” Opposing Viewpoints
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3 claims (minimally 3 body paragraphs)
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Introduction and conclusion
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MLA internal citations and works cited page