He Harmful Effect of Climate Change - Essay Example

The rest is retained by naturally occurring gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide contained in the atmosphere. This phenomenon acts to warm the Earth and is called the “greenhouse effect.” The addition of more carbon dioxide from man-made causes traps excess heat thereby increasing the Earth’s temperature. (Solomon, 2007)

The excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is predominantly caused by fossil fuel consumption from coal-burning electric power plants, factories, and vehicles. The two long-term effects of a warming planet are a temperature increase of five to nine degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100 in addition to an increase of sea levels by dozens of feet. This rise in temperature and sea level has already begun and would continue for decades even if air pollution were somehow ended today. According to the World Meteorological Organization, “2000-2009 was the hottest decade on record, with eight of the hottest 10 years having occurred since 2000.” (Jenkins, 2012). Simply experiencing hotter temperatures is not the most concerning aspect of climate change. 

The continued warming of the climate is accelerating the evaporation cycle resulting if more intense flooding and more widespread and longer-lasting droughts. The warming of ocean waters causes them to expand and therefore sea levels to rise. Melting ice caps are adding to this dire problem. A rise in sea levels will cause huge numbers of people living in coastal regions to migrate elsewhere, an economic and health catastrophe. Much of the world’s financial centers are located on the coast. In the U.S. alone about 50 percent of the population lives within 50 miles of a coastline. Melting land ice and the reduction of glaciers decrease stream and river flow, a concern for human, animal, and plant water supplies. Precipitation patterns are changing which increases extreme weather events while tropical storms are intensifying. Changing weather patterns are affecting agriculture yields. (Jenkins, 2012).

Scientists, economists, and humanitarians can only predict the outcomes of climate change but so far those predictions have been eclipsed by actual events. The temperatures have become even warmer, ice caps melting faster than originally thought and more wildfires are occurring, for example. Hurricane Sandy brought the issue to the forefront during the recent presidential campaign. Climate change did not cause the hurricane but the rise of sea levels and warming oceans made it more intense therefore its effects were more devastating. Heat waves that used to occur every 20 years or so killing thousands are now typical and the earth is warming still. There is also the original issue of air pollution and the problems associated with it. “More hot days mean ripe conditions for ground-level ozone, or smog, which forms when pollutants from tailpipes and smokestacks mix in sunny, stagnant conditions.”  (“Climate Change,” 2012).