The Issue of Global Warming - Term Paper Example

Global warming Introduction Global warming refers to a steady rise in the earth temperature. Life on earth thrives on a temperature of between 30-45 degrees. A rise in the temperature therefore threatens the life on the planet and destabilizes several features that sustain the same. Since 1971, the temperature has risen steadily owing to fraudulent utilization of resources on earth leading to the emission of poisonous gases. The ecology has a mechanism of sustaining the life within it; the earth has an atmosphere that maintains the temperature among other fundamental features of the planet that sustains life (Schlossberg, 55). The ozone layer that encloses the planet creates a greenhouse effect capable of sustaining both the temperature and composition of air thereby ensuring that the water remains in a liquid state. Global warming is a result on careless human activities that have consequently destroyed environment and has severe ramifications most of which threaten the existence of life in the planet as portrayed in the discussion below. Among the factors that have contributed to global warming is environmental degradation, humans interact with their environment carelessly thus resulting in the massive loss of forest cover among other vital features of the earth. Trees are vital aspects of the planet; they have a mechanism of maintaining the carbon level on earth thereby stabilizing the global temperature. However, increased human activity and encroachment into the forests have resulted in the loss of large forest covers. Humans have successfully reduced the sizes of the great equatorial forests in both Brazil and central Africa among other areas. Additionally, such calamities as forest fires have compounded the problem resulting in loss of huge forest covers. As countries in central Africa and in South America pride themselves in the exportation of timber, they encourage massive deforestation oblivious of the consequences of such actions. Besides deforestation, the extraction and use of fossil fuels has resulted in the emission of large amounts of carbon monoxide into the environments. Large companies in every country currently use fossil fuels such as diesel and petrol among others. Such gases emit large portions of unburnt carbon in the form of poisonous carbon monoxide gas. The gas alone is responsible for the substantial reduction in the size of the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a thick layer of oxygen molecules that cushion the earth from the dangerous radiations and rays of the sun. This way, the earth remains cushioned from both excessive heat from the sun and the ultra violet rays of the sun that can destroy life. The carbon monoxide emitted by the large companies rise to the ozone layer where it reacts with the oxygen to form a less volatile carbon dioxide. The emission of such poisonous gases has reached a poisonous level in the developed countries such as China and the United States, the countries emit large amounts of carbon monoxide that continue to deplete the ozone layer thereby making the earth vulnerable to the dangerous aspects of the sun. The depletion of the ozone layer has therefore made the earth surface susceptible to the dangerous features of the sun among other aggressive natural features. As the temperature of the earth rises, the increased carbon in the atmosphere locks the heat trapping it within the earth surface. This has resulted in the rise on the temperature on earth and the subsequent increase in the sizes of the deserts. Increased desertification in Africa, Asia and parts of America are results of the increasing temperature of the earth coupled with the aggressive human activities such as deforestation (Chant 90). Among the effect of global warming on the earth surface include the desertification; the deforestation has destabilized the ecology. Trees emit water into the surface through transpiration; the water rises turns into vapor and condenses before falling in the form of rain. The increased deforestation has consequently broken the cycle thereby resulting in several parts of Africa, America and Asia experiencing unpredictable amounts of rainfall. This has consequently resulted in the rise of desertification in such regions (Buckland 77). Global warming has also instigated the melt of ice in previously cold places such as the mountaintops and the Antarctic. Additionally, the temperatures of such cold regions like Europe have rose consequently causing great melts of ice. The melting snow and ice in such regions has consequently resulted in the destruction of such ecologies and more severely contributed to the rise in water levels in oceans, rivers and lakes among other large water bodies (Karen and Ricardo 43). The rise in water levels in such water bodies has myriad effects including increase in floods and undetermined rainfall patterns. The climatic conditions have successfully changed thereby making life unpredictable. Flooding has become phenomenal in different parts of the world including Europe (Clark 66). Additionally, the bursting riverbanks in different parts of the world continue to result in loss of life and destruction of property. The rising water levels in the oceans continue to extend into human territories thereby displacing humans along the coastal regions. The erratic climatic conditions on the other hand have succeeded in making life unpredictable. The hot seasons are hotter and extend and when the rain comes, it pours to destructive levels. Such erratic climatic conditions have successfully made life more difficult leading to food shortage in different parts of the world such as Africa and Asia where the people rely entirely on rain fed agriculture (Bernard 23). Global warming has also led to the death of many people in the world because of the varying and unexpected climatic changes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the change of climate in 2004 resulted to 3% of people in the world suffering from diarrhea and 3% suffering from malaria. In the same year, 3.8% of people in the world died due to global warming. Many sicknesses such as the skin cancer have resulted from global warming. A large number of animals have died due to sicknesses caused by global warming (WHO, 2009). Global warming has also led to the frequent occurrence of droughts especially in Africa. This is because of the failure of crops due to inadequate water and inadequate grazing fields for livestock. Additionally, it has also led to the death of many animal species due to lack of food and water in their regions. Many animal species that mostly live in forests have died because many trees which are their habitats have been destroyed. The drop of water level in the oceans has led to the death of many species of sea animals. Communities that largely depend on fishing have had to migrate to other areas in search of better living standards. The shortage of water in various regions in the world due to global warming has been alarming. The lack or shortage of water is due to deforestation which destroys the water catchment areas. In areas that receive rain, crops are destroyed because of the high level of acidity of the water they receive. The acidity of rain is caused by the many gases such as carbon monoxide that are released to the atmosphere. Many people in such areas suffer great lose of the money spent on planting the crops. Many people have moved from rural areas to urban areas to work in industries. This is because they can no longer depend on the produce of their lands for a living (Matt, 2010). However, there are various ways that global warming can be reduced. Since global warming is majorly caused by the production of much energy to the environment, factories and industries should be able to use technologies that are energy efficient. Conservation management organizations should be able to ensure that trees are not illegally cut. This will reduce the rate of deforestation. To eradicate deforestation, people should be encouraged to plant more trees than they cut. The planting of more trees will help in reducing the rate of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. If this is implemented, global warming would be reduced because large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a major cause to global warming. In the effort of stopping deforestation, governments should put serious charges on people caught cutting trees illegally. This will create great fear on people r thus reducing the rate of deforestation. The government should also ensure that its citizens are made aware of the causes of global warming, its effects to the environment and ways of reducing it. To reduce the energy that is released to the atmosphere, renewable energy which is produced from natural sources should be used to ensure that less energy is released to the atmosphere. Such energy sources include the use of solar, geothermal, wind and biomass. To eradicate global warming, the exploitation of fossil fuel should be greatly reduced. This can be achieved by restricting the construction of new coal production power plants. The shutting down of coal plants can also be important in eradicating global warming in the world. The use of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs should also be implemented to reduce global warming. Compared to the regular bulbs, CFL consume less power and has a longer life span. Additionally, manufacturers should produce vehicles that use less energy and emit less carbon monoxide to reduce global warming. This is because the transportation system uses about 25% of energy in the world emitting chemicals and pollutants into the atmosphere. The number of cars produced should also be reduced to lower the rate of emission of carbon monoxide to the atmosphere. This is because carbon monoxide causes global warming and thus ought to be reduced. Vehicles can also use low-carbon fuels to reduce the amount of gases to the atmosphere. For individuals in a community to help reduce global warming, they can choose to drive less by walking, biking, carpooling and using the public transport system. This will reduce the time of driving and less pollution of the atmosphere. When driving, one should ensure that the tires are properly inflated. This is because tires that are not inflated consume a lot of energy leading to global warming. One should not drive in an aggressive manner and should ensure that the engines are tuned properly to reduce the wastage of energy. To reduce global warming, it is also advisable to buy products and items that can be easily recycled. To save energy, one should avoid using a lot of hot water at home. To enable this, one should purchase geysers and dishwashers that save energy. One should also avoid taking frequent showers while using hot water. Individuals should also avoid buying products that have a lot of packaging. This is because products with a lot of packaging have a lot of waste materials which may pollute the environment. When not using electronic devices, it is advisable to turn them off to save on energy. Individuals can also purchase electricity which is more environmentally friendly such as the green power electricity. This saves on energy and reduces the amount of gases released to the atmosphere (Smith, 2010). As discussed above, it is clear that global warming is majorly caused by human activities such as deforestation, the use of a lot of energy, the emission of poisonous gases to the atmosphere from industries and machines. Global warming is also caused by how people live everyday and how they consume power in their homes and offices, the kind of products they buy and the use of electrical devices. However, global warming is major caused by the amount of heat released to the atmosphere which as a result breaks the ozone layer. Global warming has had negative effects on the nature of the earth and everything in it. It has led to death of plants and animals, varying climatic changes, the rising and falling of the levels of water in the oceans, lack of rain in various areas especially the semi-arid regions, drought and famine in a larger part of Africa and other continents and has destabilized the ecology system. To solve the issue of global warming, deforestation must be stopped, people should implement the use of energy and products that can be recycled, use vehicles that save on energy and emit less gases and creating awareness on the effects of global warming and how it can be reduced in the society. Works cited Bernard, Carsten. Information system: Critical perspectives. New York: Routlegde, 2008. Print. Buckland, Michael K. Information and Information Systems. New York: Praeger, 1991. Print. Future Intelligent Information Systems. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011. Internet resource. Chant, Scholes. 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