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Global warming has been recently a very popular term among many famous people including Al Gore who came up with the documentary “ An Inconvenient Truth” in which he talks about global warming. On a more formal note, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term “climate change” for human-caused changes and “climate variability” for other changes. Other definitions of global warming are “the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation.” According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average global air temperature near the Earth’s surface increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the hundred years ending in 2005. The IPCC also states that the most significant increase in temperatures was between the mid-twentieth century.
There has also been a lot of experts in this field who are trying to determine the causes and effects of this phenomenon which are also sparking some controversies. Some of them are listed below.
In the Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, he highlights various causes for this occurrence. One of them is that the destroying of trees, which causes our ozone layer to become thinner and therefore be more vulnerable to the sun’s rays. This causes the sea levels to evaporate more quickly and when this happens, the water levels start going lower. This for one causes more mosquitoes who were below the sea level and could not reach land to start to come up to land and cause various unwanted diseases. This for example is like the country Nigeria.
Other reports suggest that the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases due to human activity caused most of the warming observed since the start of the industrial era. However, Al Gore argues that not only does the industrial era cause this effect but also the inconsiderate behavior of people who turn on their car engines and increase the amount of gas and pollution in the area.
Research also proposes that warming may be the result of variations in solar activity. It also concludes that none of the above effects were immediate and according to the experiment results took about 50 years to produce such negative results. One of the reasons is that the “thermal inertia” of the Earth’s oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that the Earth’s current climate is not in balance with the forced pollution around it.
Another important cause of this global warming is the greenhouse effect. This is basically when the air pollution from cars, factories and so on is trapped in our atmosphere and unable to get thru it, thus it generates heat. The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
As a result of having more trees cut down, we are therefore unable to allow the trees to absorb all this carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen. Thus, our earth is in a very dangerous position of becoming overly polluted and worst of all, retaining this pollution. Al Gore argued that the government is not helping make this better, in fact, they are encouraging it. He says that we should reduce the consumption of petrol which will lessen the amount of carbon dioxide produced every second. Apart from that, he also suggests that the government takes charge and close down industries that let out harmful chemicals to protect the ozone layer that we have left. He also urges companies and factories to educate themselves on how to use better materials to generate lesser or zero pollution while they are operating.
Unfortunately, the government argues that by doing the above lesser companies would want to operate and this would cause a shortage of supplies to the public!
The existence of the greenhouse effect as such is not disputed. As quoted, “occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C (59 °F), without which Earth would be uninhabitable and on Earth, the major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70% of the greenhouse effect (not including clouds); carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–26%; methane (CH4), which causes 4–9%; and ozone, which causes 3–7%.
As a result, the temperature will increase drastically in a few year’s time as shown in Al Gore’s movie and the water level will decrease significantly. He also portrays that the ice caps melting and a result of global warming. Consequently, this will soon also submerge a lot of low lands around the region. This also affects polar bears in the artic as they are starting to feel the warmth in the area. As shown in the video, more polar bears are finding various ways of sheltering themselves from the sun and moving to places where it’s colder.
Apart from the above, other sources like the IPCC also reports that some other naturally occurring gases contribute very small fractions of the greenhouse effect; one of these, nitrous oxide (N2O), is increasing in concentration owing to human activity such as agriculture. Research by NASA climate scientist James Hansen indicates the 0.75° rise in average global temperatures over the last 100 years has been driven mainly by greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide.
There are several effects that can be caused by global warming. One of them will be the increase in global temperature which will affect us, humans, in various ways. Firstly is of cause the increase in temperature. Most of the cold countries will start feeling much warmer and the warmer countries would feel so hot as though the sun is piercing thru the skin. This effect has already been felt in some places such as in the Asia Pacific region. Apart from that, the increasing global temperature will also cause sea levels to rise, consequently, it will lead to an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events and change the amount and pattern of precipitation.
Besides the above, among other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions, and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.
Moreover, several predictions for secondary and regional effects include extreme weather events such as rising sea levels, glacier retreat, artic shrinkage, and altered patterns of agriculture are cited as direct consequences. Besides that, there are also other impacts such as the expansion of tropical diseases, changes in the timing of seasonal patterns in ecosystems, and drastic economic impacts. This has been a controversial issue as concerns have led to political activism advocating proposals to mitigate, eliminate, or adapt to it.
Developing countries are expected to be especially vulnerable to reduced economic growth as a result of warming. Increasing temperature is likely to lead to increasing precipitation but the effects on storms are less clear. Robert E. Tuleya of NOAA stated in 2004 that warming induced by greenhouse gas may lead to the increasing occurrence of highly destructive category-5 storms. Over the course of the 20th century, evaporation rates have reduced worldwide this is thought by many to be explained by global dimming. As the climate grows warmer and the causes of global dimming are reduced, evaporation will increase due to warmer oceans.
It’s predicted that each 1% increase in annual precipitation would enlarge the cost of catastrophic storms by 2.8%. The Association of British Insurers has stated that limiting carbon emissions would avoid 80% of the projected additional annual cost of tropical cyclones by the 2080s. The sea absorbs heat from the sun, while the ice largely reflects the sun’s rays back to space. Thus, retreating sea ice will allow the sun to warm the now exposed seawater, contributing to further warming.
As quoted, “In 2007, higher incentives for farmers to grow non-food biofuel crops combined with other factors (such as rising transportation costs, climate change, growing consumer demand in China and India, and population growth) to cause food shortages in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Mexico, as well as rising food prices around the globe.” Furthermore, increasing average temperature and carbon dioxide may have the effect of improving ecosystems as some studies have reported.
In conclusion, if we the public do not attempt to make a difference, very little will change. Schools should be taking the lead in educating the younger ones on global warming. The subjects should include more on the environment and its decreasing life span due to our human activities. Thus, the younger ones would be environmentally aware and would grow up to at least appreciate it. Apart from that, the government should step up and take more stern steps towards stopping companies who use pollute the environment and also to impose strict regulations to protect the environment.
As Al Gore said, now is the time for us to act. We should take responsibility for each and every one of us to ensure that our environment stays for a longer period of time. Several campaigns can be organized to ensure that the public is aware of how they can also make a difference. For example, The Competitive Enterprise Institute has launched a national advertising campaign, focusing on the threat to affordable energy posed by Al Gore’s global warming agenda. There is a question of whether the burning of renewable fuels such as forests should be counted as contributing to global warming.
The public should lessen the use of petrol and switch to other energy-consuming vehicles which would protect the environment. Simple steps like turning off your engine while waiting for someone rather than polluting the environment will make a lot of difference. There are many things we commoners can do, we just have to be responsible enough to do it.
Bibliography
“CEI Launches National Ad Campaign on the Impact of Al Gore’s Global Warming Policies”. Web.
“The Inconvenient Truth”. A documentary by Al Gore.
“Attribution of recent climate change”. Web.
Pidwirny, Michael Dr. “ Chapter 7:Introduction to Atmostphere”.
“ Greenhouse Effect”. Web.
“Global Warming”. Web.
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