Have you ever heard of global warming? It is a very common topic, but few people actually know what it is and what the causes and effects include. The major cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse and other harmful gases into the air. I chose the topic of climate change because it is a huge dilemma in present day and affects nature, animals, plants, people, and the Earth. Studies show that the Earth is getting progressively warmer over the years since the industrial revolution started. The effects of global warming have caused the Earth to get hotter, ecosystems along with animals to suffer, and storms to get stronger and more deadly and intense.
Asking people to stop burning fossil fuels would be asking a lot, but this problem is worth taking into consideration to try to find a solution.` As scientists ponder the consequences of human activity, one main problem comes into mind: Global Warming. Global Warming is the increase in the global temperature over several years.
Climate change relates to Earth Science because the gases that make global warming possible are in the atmosphere, and global warming is mostly an atmospheric problem. Global warming has a huge impact on humans. For example, the heating of the Earth has caused storms to be as deadly as ever.
When these storms such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and tornadoes reach land or descend upon us, the debri and chemicals from the fatal storm lead to diseases and sicknesses, which is just another deadly aspect of climate change. Furthermore, an impact that global warming has on humans and society is that climate change is causing deadly fires in California. These fires influence Americans by forcing them out if their towns and homes. The process of global warming starting forest fires begins with plants getting too much heat, therefore they get dryer. When the plants get to this condition, it is way easier to start fires, and since California is very hot, the fires naturally break out there. One last impact of global warming on the world is the fact that global warming is impacting ecosystems and animals. With the world getting warmer every year, the seasons roll around at different times. The problem is that when animals such as bees depend on the coming of spring to go out and pollinate flowers, when the timing of spring and flowers blooming is off, they can’t get their job done.
As a result of not pollinating right away, their whole schedule is off and their pollination cycle gets messed up. In addition, global warming causes ocean temperatures to get warmer, which can cause species to go extinct and disappear. Oceanic animals often need a certain range of temperatures in water in order for them to survive. If the ocean temperatures get too hot and an animal can’t survive, then it will go extinct. Extinction one more problem being worsened by global warming.
Climate Change has many causes, but all the things that trigger global warming originate from human activity. “Since the Industrial Revolution began in about 1750, carbon dioxide levels have increased nearly 38 percent as of 2009 and methane levels have increased 148 percent.” says the NASA Earth observatory. One of the most prominent gases to effect the atmosphere is Carbon Dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen 25% since 1958. When we burn fossil fuels from driving cars, factories, and other industrialized processes, we are releasing greenhouse gases in the air.
Now, you might be asking yourself, “What makes greenhouse gases so bad to have in the atmosphere?” Well, greenhouse gases aren’t actually bad to have in the atmosphere. It’s just when the composition in the atmosphere contains too much of gases such as Carbon Dioxide and Methane, that’s when the situation gets dire. Greenhouse gases are not like normal gases in the air.
When the ground absorbs sunlight, some of that heat is released into the atmosphere. Normal gases keep the heat for a little time before letting it go out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, however, keep this heat way longer than normal gases in the atmosphere.
When there is a lot of gases in the air doing this, the Earth becomes warmer over the years. Global Warming also has a huge effect on the field of science. Climate Change is causing all sorts of organizations and predictions to arise. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).” Scientists are constantly trying to find a natural way to stop the devastating effects of global warming on our planet. Another effect of climate change is the melting of ice in the North Pole.
Ice melting up north impacts animals such as polar bears to whom ice is their home. Moreover, in regions where this heat is especially damaging, there are droughts. These droughts can cause plants do die, people to become dehydrated, and animals to suffer. In particular, India is suffering from floods, massive droughts, and heat waves. Finally, one of the scariest things for us personally is that the Southern states of America are getting the worst hit from Global warming.
“They found that the impacts could prove highly unequal: states in the Northeast and West would fare relatively well, while parts of the Midwest and Southeast would be especially hard hit.” says New York Times. On a better note, Texas and Arizona are projected to get the worst of it, but Georgia is still warmer than many other states in the U.S.
A. Perhaps the most devastating part of global warming is that humans can do something about it. When coral reefs start to die, temperatures shoot up, and wildlife is affected, you know it’s bad, so why not try to make a difference and help out? Since humans are the ones releasing all of the greenhouse gases, we can cut down on all of the gases that cause these disastrous problems, but it isn’t going to be easy.
“People are at greater risk of dying,” The New York Times says. Despite all of the hard work it’s going to take to stop global warming, it’s in our best interest to try to put an end to this problem.