Global Warming - Essay Example

I. What is Global Warming? For the past decades, at an accelerating tempo, the primary composition of the Earth’s atmosphere has been greatly changed by the fossil-fuel demand of machine civilizations. Human provoked warming of the Earth’s climate is materializing as one of the foremost scientific, economic and social issues of the current century, as the impact of climate change become noticeable in everyday life in sites as diverse as small island states of the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean shores (Johansen, 2002). The ‘greenhouse effect’ of more commonly known as ‘global warming’ is not a concept which is unknown to science. It has simply turned out to be more easily recognizable in the contemporary period as temperatures have accelerated upwards and scientist have designed more refined ways to measure and predict atmospheric phenomena. The atmospheric stability of trace gases in reality began to change further than natural parameters at the advent of the industrial period, with the earliest extensive burning of fossil fuels (Martens, 1999). It became evident in the nineteenth century and a significant factor in global climate change by about the latter part of the twentieth century. Following an intensifying argument, the knowledge that human activity is warming the earth in possibly harmful manners became commonly approved in scientific communities by 1995 (ibid). Reaching its farthest limits, an atmosphere plagued by the greenhouse effect can be exceptionally unlikable; people will soon witness hazy Venus, with an atmosphere composed of dominantly carbon dioxide. Venus’ surface temperature warmed substantially through “runaway infrared forcing” (Johansen, 2002, 2) is approximately 800 degrees F. Mars, with almost no “infrared forcing” (ibid) present in its atmosphere, normally records negative 53 degrees C. Earth’s temperate degree of “infrared forcing” (ibid) together with its clouds of liquid water maintains the planet suitable to the sustenance of life. II. Causes of Global Warming Human activities are upsetting the environmental equilibrium in an essential manner, adding to the amount of various greenhouse gases, as well as, according to Maskell and Mintzer (1993), “Water vapor, the principal greenhouse gas… which is expected to increase in response to higher temperatures that would further enhance the greenhouse effect” (1027). Scientists who examine the future possibility of human-stimulated warming also point to various natural mechanisms which could be the basis of the rate of change to speed up, through “biotic feedbacks such as release of carbon dioxide and methane from permafrost and continental shelves in the oceans” (Johansen, 2002, 33). The likelihood of a run off greenhouse effect by 2050 is discussed in various literatures, frequently with a clear sense of urgency. This sense of necessity strengthened at the advent of the millennium, as scientists discovered the relationship between heating of the low-lying atmosphere and the cooling of stratosphere, a key factor in weakening of the ozone layer above the poles (ibid). However, an investigation of the climate of the past thousand years implies that human activity is the primary force behind the steep global warming pattern observed during the latter part of the twentieth century. The analysis conducted by Thomas J. Crowley, a geologist, discovered that natural determinants, such as changes in sunlight or volcanic activity, were the most dominant influences on the fluctuations in temperature until the twentieth century. After 1900, nevertheless, natural factors have accounted for merely about a section of observed global warming, as Crowley calculated (Johansen, 2002). III. Effects of Global Warming on Humans The author of the book Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, John T. Houghton, predicted that global warming will speed up the spread of several diseases coming from tropical areas to the equatorial regions. Malaria could swell from its current level, Houghton cautions. “Other diseases which are likely to spread for the same reason are yellow fever, dengue fever, and… viral encephalitis” (Houghton, 1997, 132). After 1980, insignificant occurrences of domestically-transmitted malaria took place in large cities in America. Globally, according to Epstein (1998), almost 500 million people were infected by malaria each year, and approximately 1.5 and 3 million die, most of them are children. Parasites and mosquitoes that transmit diseases have developed immunities to drugs (4). Dengue fever, which is classified as a mosquito-vector disease, have been growing in coverage in several regions of the planet; accelerating in altitude in the tropical regions and increasing in latitude in temperate areas, as global temperatures have increased during the latter part of the twentieth century. Increasing temperatures and humidities improve the scope of several diseases transmitted by insects, including mosquitoes and insects thriving in warm climate (Johansen, 2002). Martens claims that while the general effect of global warming on human health is anticipated to be exceptionally negative, peoples may enjoy a small number of positive consequences. A number of diseases that live in cold climate, for instance influenza, may locate their ranges lessened in a hotter region. The older population might die less often of heart ailments and pulmonary disorders which intensify during cold season. “Whether the milder winters could offset the mortality during the summer heat waves is one of the questions that demands further research” (Martens, 1999, 535). IV. Other Effects of Global Warming Global warming could bring about the melting of polar ice caps. If this happens, the sea levels will rise. According to the estimate of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers in the world melted in one day the sea levels would rise about more than 200 feet. Also, temperature increases and shifting landscapes in the Arctic Circle will threaten various species of animals (Johansen, 2002). Those that are extremely adaptable will be the ones to survive. Another effect of global warming is in the economic sector. Hurricanes cause sizable amount of money for the repair of the damages, diseases use up money to cure and regulate and conflicts intensify all of these (Epstein, 1998). Moreover, even though some regions of Earth will become damper or wetter because of global warming, other regions will endure severe droughts and heat strokes. Africa will be the primary recipient of the worst of it, with further serious droughts also predicted in Europe. Water is until now a hazardous commodity in Africa, and as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims, global warming will intensify the conditions and could result into conflicts and war (Johansen, 2002). Works Cited Epstein, P. (1998). Climate, Ecology, and Human Health. Houghton, J. T. (1997). Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Johansen, B. E. (2002). The Global Warming Desk Reference. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Martens, P. (1999). How will Climate Change Affect Human Health. American Scientist , 534-541. Maskell, K. (1993). Basic Science of Climate Change. Lancet , 1027-1032. Read More