Explaining a Concept Research Paper - Essay Example

Human activities that cause an increase in the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere include: industrial farming, cutting down of trees and burning of fossil fuels. This paper will give an overview of the issue of global warming and will highlight its impacts and measures developed to contain the issue. Green house gases are described as atmospheric gases that absorb and release radiation within the range of the thermal infrared through a process identified as the green house effect (Bhatia 124).

The main green house gases in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, ozone and methane. Green house gases tend to increase atmospheric temperatures as they allow incoming solar radiation to get into the atmosphere but they trap the outgoing wave radiation of heat preventing it from escaping. This will cause heating of the atmosphere leading to global warming. Research has been carried out by scientists to determine the effects of global warming which include sediment research, tree- ring research and ice- core analysis.

The sediment research has identified that water levels in the oceans are reducing compared to water levels about 400,000 years ago. The tree ring research, on the other hand, shows the levels of atmospheric precipitation (Siegfried and Avery 128). These researches have provided sufficient evidence to show that global warming has resulted in changes in climate. Researchers have therefore concluded that human activities and unregulated release of green house gases into the atmosphere are the main causes of global warming and climate change.

Governments, researchers and conservationists have acknowledged the adverse impacts that global warming may have on the environment if corrective measures are not put into place. Global warming is a serious problem that has adverse impacts on sustainable development of the nation. Adaptation has been identified as a strategy that can be applied to enable the nation to deal with climate change. Adaptation will involve making necessary adjustments in the human as well as natural systems in response to expected changes in climate.

According to research carried out by scientists, levels of global warming and climate change are highest in temperate and polar regions (Siegfried and Avery 275). The Polar Regions have thick and large masses of slow moving ice known as glaciers. Glaciers cover a significant proportion of the earth surface. Ice carps and valley glaciers found in the Polar Regions contain more than 50 % of the world’s fresh water. Scientists have predicted that the rate of melting of glaciers and ice carps has increased in recent times due to increased global temperatures.

The rate of melting is expected to increase in coming years if effective mitigation measures are not initiated to contain global warming. Scientists have also predicted that if the worldwide ‘business as usual’ culture continues, global warming will lead to a rise in the sea levels of approximately 25 inches. Other research shows that sea levels will rise as soon as in 2040. Rising sea levels, however, will rise depending on the rate with which glaciers and ice carps are melting. If the rate of global warming continues to increase, the rates with which glacie