Global Warming - Research Paper Example

? GLOBAL WARMING Institute Contents Contents 3 Global Warming 4 Introduction 4 Causes 5 Effects 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 13 Global Warming Introduction With the advancement in technology and modern inventions, man has moved ahead in this world but these improvements have been accompanied by their own drawbacks and have created new problems for the human beings and other living beings on this planet. The effects on the environment lay a great impact on the living of the people and human activities have greatly altered the environment of the earth. Global warming is one of the most important environmental problems that mankind is facing. According to Sir David King, the chief scientific adviser of UK Government, “Climate change is a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism.” (BBC, 2004). In a general manner, global warming can be defined as a rise in the temperature all around the globe. But global warming is not limited to only the rise in temperature but it is also associated with bringing about other environmental changes. These changes have a very major effect on the atmosphere of the world. Global warming is hence a very important issue that is increasing and affecting the global environment. It results due to many reasons and harmful human activities serve as the major cause of global warming. Global warming poses a great risk for life on this planet and hence this issue needs to be dealt with in the best possible manner (Houghton 2004). With the passage of time, it has been realized that global warming is an international problem and it has led to many demographic as well as temperature changes in the world. The National Climatic Data carried out a study which presented with very alarming as well as essential findings with regard to global warming. The study presented the fact that the temperature which was recorded in the year 2004 in the United States of America was the 4th warmest temperature on its record since the year 1880 (NCDC 2004). Causes The study of the climate of the Earth along with the global climatic changes and patterns have served to be of great assistance in analyzing the reasons which have led to the problem of global warming. Many causes have been linked to this global issue with human activities being counted as the major reason but it is also believed by a group of researchers that global warming is not associated with human activities but it is rather a natural phenomenon. Carbon emissions can be specified as the major cause of global warming. The factories which are using the fossil fuels during their manufacturing processes are giving out a great amount of carbon and this leads to a great change in the temperature of this world. The trees planted in the world are considered to be of immense importance in stopping the problem of global warming to expand. A tree intakes carbon dioxide during its respiratory process and this helps it to reduce carbon dioxide from the environment. However after a tree dies or the wood in it decomposes, carbon dioxide is given off in the environment. This has been seen as a major cause of the alarming high rates of carbon dioxide in the air these days. In the present years many forests have been burnt by the people or have been burnt naturally due to some accident. These factors have caused the trees to die and release carbon dioxide in the air. In the recent years fires have erupted in the major forests of this world. The fires which erupted in Amazon during the years of 2000 and 2005 can be viewed as a major setback for the environment of this world. It destroyed an area of 132000 square kilometers of the Amazon forest. This area is estimated to be the size of the whole country of Greece. These fires resulted in the release of a huge amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. And it is estimated that the amount of CO2 released during these fires is in billions (Chemical & Engineering News, 2005). Deforestation, climate changes and forest fires have been the major causes of the release of CO2 in the world. Similarly the number of cars emitting green house gases has also increased in the recent years. It is estimated that the number of cars running in America emitted 314 million metric tons in 2004 only. Furthermore it is estimated that the greenhouse gases given out by the cars are more than the gases released by the electrical utilities. This shows that vehicles play a major role in influencing the temperature of the world. However nowadays new regulations are being made in accordance to reduce the harmful emissions given off by these cars (Desonie, 2008). Similarly the aviation industry also plays a role in increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment. It is said that aviation accounts for 3.5 % of global warming in U.S. Methane given off by the rice industries is also considered to be an important cause of global warming. The fertilizers being used for the crops all over the world release nitrogen oxide which is also a harmful greenhouse gas. Permafrost is a structure which holds carbon and other green house gases. It helps to store and not release them to harm the environment. However in the recent years it is found that the Permafrost is not acting like it used to and is releasing the harmful gases in the environment (Tesar, 1991). All these causes have a great effect on the whole environmental of this world. It not only has raised several questions about the stability of this world but has also made the concerned authorities realize the importance to tackle the problem of global warming. A group of researchers have opposed the role of human activities in global warming and they argue that global warming is nothing but an action of nature itself. They state the fact that the Earth has been showing a warming trend over the past century. This argument also denies the possibility of CO2 as a reason of global warming. There have always been variations in the temperatures around the globe. There was a period which was often called as medieval warm period which showed higher temperature patterns than 20th century. They argue that these facts show the natural reasons behind such warm weather and changing temperatures. These are natural cycles of changing weather and humans do not contribute to it. Moreover, this group of thinkers believes that the warming trend is not unusual and is a normal cycle of weather changes which occur naturally. Their claim about the Earth’s climate is clear. They believe that the Earth’s climate is not affected by humans’ actions, preventions and suspension of any act. It is free of our activities and temperature swings occur naturally. A study in this regard reveals that the Earth has a planetary ‘iris’, which consists of tropical cloud cover. This cloud cover spreads out and contracts to control the quantity of heat exhibited from the surface of the Earth. (Lindzen et al., 2001). This group also denies the claim that the warming is caused by greenhouse gases. The fact that they present in this regard is that warming does not follow the trend of greenhouse gases concentration. This group also asserts that the increased warming detected around the world for the past century is the effect of increased urbanization which has resulted in the crowding of people and has led to a raise in the temperature. Moreover the opponents of global warming also have to say that the green house gases which tend to accumulate in the troposphere have not caused any major change in the temperature of the layer. This hypothesis is further backed up by the satellite data which measures the layers of the surfaces over the earth. (Christy et al. 2003) On the contrary however it is said by the supporters of global warming that medieval warm period was not researched properly and the research contains flaws. They also argue that there is no validity of the claims that the recent extreme conditions, including heat waves, intense precipitation, massive forest fires and worldwide coral bleaching, in the Earth’s environment are the result of changing climate. These are invalid, unrealistic and self created myths which are not validly proven so far. Effects Global warming has many profound effects on the atmosphere and the environment of the entire globe. It has a wide range of effects and has been associated with many hazards. The melting of glaciers, floods, droughts and corrosion are the major effects of global warming. It is said that the green house gases do not pass the surfaces of the earth and stay in the troposphere of the earth. And basically these green house gases cause the troposphere to have an increase in temperature. This can result in the melting of glaciers as well as polar ice which can then result in having an effect on the entire ecological structure of the world. The melting can result in increased water and hence subsequent drainage of this water in the sea. Hence, there is a rise in the sea levels with the melting of the ice of these glaciers. And due to this many small islands could be wiped out from the map of this world due to flooding and a rise in the sea level. The climatic conditions prevailing in the world can be termed as ‘unstable’ that have resulted due to the impact of global warming. This unstable climatic condition throughout the world has sparked out new diseases. For instance the floods caused by global warming can lead to an increase in the spread of malaria. The harming effect of the changing climatic conditions in the world can be clearly evidenced by the increasing number of floods throughout the world. In 1998 the number of countries which received flood was 55. The heat waves throughout the world have increased since the 1950s and have killed a billion people. In 2003 a heat wave that hit Europe killed around 35000 people. Similarly coral reefs form an important part of the environment but recently they also have been affected by the climatic conditions. In March 2006 it was found that a whole colony of Caribbean corals was lost. This shows how lethal the effect of Global Warming can get. Similarly the strong winds prevailing on the surface of the sea have caused dead zones to arise. These dead zones consist of a low oxygen area. And this dead zone can be lethal for the marine life as it would prevent the supply of oxygen for them. Global warming is an issue which is harming the lives of all the living things. The effects of global warming have also spread to the marine life and it is expected that the effects will further worsen in the recent years (Bhargava 2004; Global Warming in the 21st century 2008). Conclusion Global warming is hence a matter of global concern which needs attention at all levels of the society. Measures should be taken to prevent the disastrous effects of global warming before they affect the world and completely alter its demography and the lives of the human beings. There are many underlying causes that lead to global warming with humans having a major contributing factor towards the climatic changes and extreme weather conditions. The role of humans in the causation of global warming is more convincing. Industrialization has been a major contributing factor towards global warming as the factories which are using the fossil fuels during their manufacturing process are giving out a huge amount of carbon and this contributes greatly in making the climate warmer. Also the emissions from cars, industrial reactions and burning of wood are other contributing factors. Deforestation is one important cause which increases the green house gases in this world. These account for the rise in carbon dioxide and hence the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The effects of global warming can range from mild warming to disastrous effects like floods, epidemics of diseases as well as droughts. The close analysis of global warming has made me aware of the fact that global warming is an international problem which can lay a wide range of impact on all forms of life on this planet. Global warming can alter the normal ecological pattern of the world and hence result in very severe effects. The depth of causes has made me aware that man is himself actually destroying his environment and atmosphere where he lives. I believe that global warming is a silent killer affecting the planet at all levels. It has the power to alter the landscape of the world followed by affecting human lives in the form of natural disasters as well as diseases. I believe that it extremely essential that important steps should be taken at all levels to counter this problem. The assistance of the international agencies as well as the common man is important for overcoming this problem. This should be initiated by creating awareness followed by methods to deal with the causes of global warming. Bibliography BBC (2004) Global warming ‘biggest threat’. Web 13th March 2011. Bhargava, Gopal. Global Warming and Climate Changes: Transparency and Accountability. Delhi: Isha Books, 2004. Christy, J.R., R.W. Spencer,W.B. Norris,W.D. Braswell, and D.E. Parker. 2003.Error estimates of version 5.0 of MSU-AMSU bulk atmospheric temperatures. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 20, 613–629. Desonie, Dana. Climate Causes and Effects of Climate Change. Our fragile planet. New York: Chelsea House, 2008. “Global Warming in 21st Century Causes, Effects & Future.” (2008). MD Pub Pvt Ltd. "GLOBAL WARMING Effects of Rising CO2~ Emissions Match Predictive Models; Researchers Call for Action." CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS. 83. 12 (2005): 47-48. Houghton, J T. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University, 2004. Lindzen, R., M.D. Chou and A.Y. Hou. 2001. Does the earth have an adaptive infrared iris? Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 82(3), 417–432.Top of Form Bottom of Form National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). “Climate of 2004: Climate Perspectives Reports.” (2004) Web 13th March 2011. Tesar, Jenny E. Global Warming. New York: Facts on File, 1991. Read More