Causes and Effects of Global Warming - Essay Example

Introduction Global Warming is the systematic increase in the average temperature of the earth’s near surface and oceans. It has been assessed that the global warming is happening because of the so called greenhouse effect which happens because of the concentration of the greenhouse gas concentrations. There are subtle warnings, as scientists claimed, like eruption of volcanoes, solar variations, and the cooling effect on the earth suggests the potential dangers of the Global warming to the earth. There are various reasons as to why the Global Warming took place and what were the affects of the same however what has been established till now is the fact that global warming is taking place mainly due to the greenhouse gas concentrations. The effects of global warming are different and varying according to the degree of their intensity with which they can influence the world environment. There are also various theories which suggest that the global warming will not be a continuous phenomenon and that the mankind will handle this issue in order to secure the long term survival of our future generations to come and since global warming is a natural phenomenon therefore it will stop the same way it was started by the nature. Over the history of mankind, we have successfully battled the gore threats from nature which were threatening to our survival on the earth. These threats included floods, earth quacks, tsunamis, viruses etc and through all these, we, as mankind has successfully emerged as winners. It is simple human nature that we want to evolve and in that process we come up with innovations and methods which allowed us to handle these. Since the main causes of the global warming are greenhouse gas concentrations, therefore plantation of new trees and especially those that have the capability of absorbing heat can significantly contribute towards reducing the impact of global warming on the planet earth. Scientists have discovered that plants with short life cycles or quick growing plants like weeds have the capability to cope with the global warming.(sciencedaily,2007). Similarly corals adopt to cope with the global warming more than any other thing as the studies suggest that corals may be able to sustain the extreme heat by forming new relationships with their algae’s to take on more heat.(Hect). This study will explore some of the causes of the global warming, why it takes place and what are the effects of this process. Causes of Global Warming The most important reason for the increase in the global warming is the greenhouse effect. Over the periods of years, global warming has been caused due to increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The single most important contributing source of greenhouse gases is the burning of fossil fuels from power factories leading to the emission of carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect take place due to the fact that when sunlight reaches the earth surface, some of the sunlight is being absorbed by the earth itself whereas the rest of the sunlight is reflected back at the wave length greater than that of the sunlight. Some of these wavelengths are however, during the process are absorbed in the greenhouse gases before they vanish back into the atmosphere. The absorption of this energy by the greenhouse gases effectively warms the environment and causes the global warming. “The major natural greenhouse gases are water vapors, which causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide CO2, which causes 9-26%; methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%. It is not possible to state that a certain gas causes a certain percentage of the greenhouse effect, because the influences of the various gases are not additive. Other greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons.” (www.timeforchange.org) A closer look at the cause of global warming would suggest that the Carbon Dioxide emission is considered as one of the major causes of the global warming as the burning of fossil fuel causes the temperature to increase. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after the Carbon Dioxide and is considered as more than 20 times more effective in warming the temperature of the earth. It is further believed that the most important reason of the increase of methane in the world is the rice plantation. (Ecobridge). Water Vapors are increasing in the atmosphere. Water Vapors are also considered as the most effective carriers of the heat in the atmosphere and are believed to be trapping one third of the heat trapped by all the greenhouse gases. However water vapors pose dual challenges. As the temperature of the earth increases, the water vapor are generated in more quantity hence increasing the level of the most effective carriers of the heat increasing the amount of heat to be trapped and carried by the greenhouse gases. Deforestation is also one of the causes of the increase in the global warming. Trees has the natural capacity to absorb various gases most importantly carbon dioxide however due to increasing deforestation and the destroying of tropical forests alone is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Effects of Global Warming It is believed that there are two major effects of the global warming i.e. Increase of earth temperature and Rise of sea levels Based on these two major effects than there are various other related effects which are direct result of the above two facts. The effects of the global warming include increase in the earth temperature that would cause much effect directly on our environment. Those areas which were traditionally being considered as cold would slow heat up and the glaciers would start to melt down due to increasing amount of heat. Due to global warming, it is also predicted that the weathers will be wilder with increasing rains and floods. These rains and floods however will be at much more higher intensity than the normal rains and floods. Sea level will raise causing damage to the natural resources within the sea whereas increasing sea level would also cause under water tsunamis which can be much more devastating and life threatening to the human beings. Although these events are perceived to be happening due to global warming however there is also a certain degree of skepticism regarding associating a particular event with the global warming itself therefore it may not be claimed through a solid academic proof that certain event took place due to Oceans normally absorb one tone of Carbon Dioxide per person per year however when CO2 dissolves into water, it is converted into weak carbonic acid lowering the pH level of the sea water hence increasing its acidification which is considered as detrimental for the coral reefs. Conclusion The causes and effects of global warming are mutual in nature as both seems to be corroborating each other however what remains a fact that effects are dangerous enough to extinct the whole human race from the earth. References 1) Ecobridge. "Causes of Global Warming." 2008. http://www.ecobridge.org. 01 April 2008 . 2) www.timeforchange.org. "Cause and effect for global warming." 2006. www.timeforchange.org. 01 April 2008 . 3) Science Daily, 2007’Annual Plants May Cope With Global Warming Better Than Long-living Species retrieved April 03, 2008 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191544.htm 4) Hecht, Jeff, 2004,’Corals adapt to cope with global warming’ retrieved April 02, 2008 from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6275-corals-adapt-to-cope-with-global-warming.html 5) Lynas, Mark, 2008,’Has global warming really stopped’ retrieved April 02, 2008 from http://www.newstatesman.com/200801140011 Read More