Ferguson, Charles D. Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford UP, 2011.
In this book Charles D. Ferguson, president of the Federation of American Scientists, writes about how nuclear energy is formed, the health risks it can cause, and the cost of nuclear energy plants. He gives the three sources to create nuclear energy: fission, fusion, and radioactive decay. Farther into book Ferguson gives background information on nuclear energy and the health risks that can develop from it. People exposed to too much ionizing radiation over long periods of time are at a higher risk for developing cancer; however, the human body can fight off ionizing radiation in low dosages, so containing the amount of …show more content…
Fox provides information on why we should be using nuclear energy. He starts the book by providing people 's arguments over why or why not they believe in the greenhouse effect or global warming. Some scientists argue that the carbon dioxide in our environment is causing the earth 's temperature to rise; however, skeptics argue that the earth is in the middle of a warming cycle. Fox strengthens his argument by providing predictions of the rising of sea level. The higher temperatures cause the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to melt causing sea level to rise several feet. Providing examples of where our energy comes from and how much we use Fox argues we burn too many fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.). In result, there is an overabundance of carbon dioxide in our environment, causing global warming. He backs up his information using graphs to show the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment and changing temperatures. I can use the information from Why We Need Nuclear Power to provide an argument explaining how burning fossil fuels is causing global warming and then provide information on why nuclear energy would be better for the life of our planet. Also, I could compare and contrast information from the two summaries I have written to build a stronger argument in favor of using nuclear