Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Essay Global warming causes changes in the earth’s weather patterns that have disastrous effects. Global warming or anthropogenic global warming is defined as the gradual increase in the earth’s surface temperature. One of the major causes for this phenomenon has been attributed to the increase in the quantity of certain gases in the atmosphere that cause the greenhouse effect. The radiation received from the sun by the earth is retransmitted by the earth into space, but the wavelength of the retransmitted radiation is greater than that of the incident radiation. The gases present in the atmosphere absorb this radiation and this action results in increasing the earth’s temperature. Carbon dioxide is the predominant greenhouse gas. Some of the other greenhouse gases are water vapor, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydroflourocarbons, perfluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons. Industrialization and deforestation are the chief factors that have caused this increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Further, the ever increasing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are modifying the composition of the atmosphere, thereby leading to global climatic changes. For instance, the period 1995 to 2006, was witness to the warmest atmospheric temperatures. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the IPCC had estimated in the year 2001 that the linear warming trend from 1906 to 2005 of 0. 74? C was higher than the corresponding trend for the period from 1901 to 2000 when it was only 0. 6? C (Webb, Barlow, Whetton, May 2007). Moreover, the increase in global temperatures has wrought widespread climatic changes. The melting of glaciers and ice deposits near the poles and the thermal expansion of the oceans has brought about an increase in the sea level. Heavy rains are being caused due to the changes in the patterns of precipitation and an increase in the number of hurricanes was observed. In addition, an increase occurred in the average intensity and duration of these hurricanes, due to the correlation of hurricanes with the surface temperatures of the tropical seas. Furthermore, other natural catastrophes like floods, droughts, heat waves and tornadoes exhibited intensification in their duration and cycles. In addition, global warming causes changes in agricultural output, glacier movements and summer stream flows; and the extinction of certain species. Other concomitant causes are the spreading of infectious diseases like malaria. Scientists predict that the effects of global warming would last up to the year 2100 because carbon dioxide would persist from fifty to two hundred years (Cause and effect for global warming). Deforestation is one of the main reasons for the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, because trees convert most of the carbon dioxide to oxygen. In addition, burning of fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For instance, in the year 1987 a large area of the Amazon rain forest was burned down and this burning released nearly five hundred tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. Further the conflagrant of forests would result in a reduction of the number trees, which would increase the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and thereby enhance the greenhouse effect. Modern civilization entails the use of cars, power stations and industrialization, which are factors that contribute to global warming. The main contributors to this process of global warming are the United States, the European counties and China (Global Warming). In addition to carbon dioxide, which comprises more than half of the greenhouse gases, there are other gases that also contribute to the greenhouse effect. Methane is released due to activities like coal mining, oil excavations and the burning of fossil fuels. Agriculture is the chief contributor of methane and cattle emit methane into the atmosphere when they chew their food. As the world population increases, the activities of agriculture are also increased thereby the emissions of methane also increases. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is emitted during the burning of fossil fuels. Chlorofluorocarbons are emitted by air conditioners, refrigerators and aerosols and their molecules are ten thousand times more effective in absorbing heat than carbon dioxide molecules. Moreover, they survive for a hundred and ten years in the atmosphere (Global Warming). Oceans absorb carbon dioxide, but when the oceans heat up their ability to absorb carbon dioxide diminishes. Moreover, methane, which is located in the ocean bed, is released due to the warming of the oceans. Global warming raises temperature levels and it has been observed that the temperature at poles rises more than that of other regions on the earth. This causes the melting of glaciers and ice at the poles, which would further raise the sea level. Occurrences of storms and hurricanes become more frequent due to global warming, because the heated oceans produce more water vapor. Continental farmlands suffer a greater depletion of water due to the heavy evaporation and there is decrease in the groundwater levels. These factors serve to increase the possibility of droughts. Due to the melting of the polar ice caps the sea level may rise by twenty to fifty centimeters by the year 2050, which would result in the inundation of the coastal areas (Global Warming). In order to overcome the problem of global warming it is essential to contain fossil fuel combustions, ban the use of CFCs completely and plant more trees. Energy conservation will help to diminish fossil fuel burning and efforts have to be made to find alternate transportation modes that will replace petrol and diesel fuelled cars. Moreover, cars that meet the eco friendly standards only should be manufactured. Deforestation should be completely stopped and afforestation should be initiated on a war footing. In the absence of such measures, the future of this planet is grim and life would be seriously endangered. References Cause and effect for global warming. (n. d. ). Retrieved September 9, 2007, from http://timeforchange. org/cause-and-effect-for-global-warming Global Warming. (n. d. ). Retrieved Septeber 9, 2007, from http://www. ypte. org. uk/docs/factsheets/env_facts/glob_warm. html Webb, L. , Barlow, S. , Whetton, P. (May 2007). Climate Change Raises the Heat on Wineries. Australasian Science , Vol. 28, Issue 4; Pg 20.