Cheryl DeVito
Kelley Warren
Final
ENC 1102
10 March 2014
Global Warming and its Effect Worldwide
Is the earth melting?
Scientists have struggled for decades researching information to
support their
belief that the earth is at risk. Many believe that the product of carbon
dioxide
resulting in our daily lives and other are the result of the heating
effect into the atmosphere.
(National Geographic) This can be very dangerous to
all living things.
Global warming is an increasing rise in world-wide
temperature which causes climate
changes. Many scientist believe that this is
the result of the greenhouse effect. Energy from the
sun is generated onto the
earth’s surface which then is bounced back into the earth’s atmosphere.
Some
gases escape the atmosphere and some are trapped. Gases trapped in the
atmosphere,
generate an increase in heat and this is the greenhouse effect. The
earth needs a certain amount of
these gases because without them, the earth
would be a lot colder. (National Geographic)
One of the gases trapped in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide in
greenhouse gases is thought to be the cause of this rise
in the earth’s temperature. NASA’s Earth
Observatory has found that human
activities affects the carbon cycle. (National Geographic)
The human population is increasing daily and thus, consumption
of transportation,
heating, cooking, electricity and manufacturing, has
increased. This increase in consumption,
causes carbon dioxide to enter more
rapidly into the atmosphere than is able to be removed.
Increasing levels are
upsetting the natural carbon cycle. The result is that humans are adding to
the
natural occurrence of global warming. (The Carbon Cycle: The Human Role, Earth
Observatory, NASA)
A worrisome effect of
global warming are the melting glaciers and ice shelves around
the world. ("Guardian") Studies have pointed out that the rates of
extinction of animals and the
flooding of low-lying islands, due to rising sea levels increased frequently by
the melting of
glaciers. (Strickland) The cold climate among the glaciers has
helped keep the floating ice
shelves in the water by 20%. Floating ice shelves
help keep the water from getting hot by
reflecting the sun’s rays and sending them
back into the earth’s atmosphere. The glaciers have
been melting at a
faster rate due to the climate change. By the glaciers melting, the sun
reflects
into the blue water and heats up. (Salmons) The
glaciers, heating up the warm water strips away
the floating ice. Scientists point out that as the artic
begins to melt, fresh water dumps into the
oceans and the water temperature
rises. Warm water will expand and rise up, and flooding will
occur. Sea water
rise can mean salt water contaminating the drinking water and agricultural
fields. ("Climate Hot
Map") This will put
millions of people at risk. Many studies have pointed
out that rates of
extinction of animals and flooding of low-lying islands are due to the rising
sea
levels that are increased by severe storms and melting of glaciers.
(Strickland)
Although some scientists believe humans are the cause of
global warming and that it is a
big problem, there are others who disagree.
Some say that the quick warming trend has not been
caused by only carbon
dioxide and human actions, but by other gases as well. By reducing the
amount
of other gases involved, chlorofluorocarbons, CH4, and N0, which are not
produced by
the products of fossil fuel burning this will
help decline global warming all together worldwide.
For the future it could
possibly change the climate all together for the better. (Hansen, and Sato)
We only have one
place to live and earth is it. I believe after researching the issue of
global
warming that this is an issue that will not disappear. Global warming will
affect all living
things. We must be able to live our daily lives but we
must also find a way to reduce the effect
our daily lives have on our
environment. While effective things are possible, we as humans can
do something
to decrease the result of global warming. But as a community we have not yet
brought this to reality. We have to be careful in what is happening in the
world around us and to
try to do our best to establish results in diminishing
the effects of global warming. If
not we will
not be able to enjoy what we have and also pass it to the next
generation to enjoy.
Works Cited
. Climate Hot Map. Union of Concerned Scientista. Web. 8
Mar 2014.
<http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-effects/sea-level.html>.
"Global warming." National
Geographics. n.d. n. page. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
Hansen, James, and Makiko Sato.
"Global warming in the twenty-first century: An alternative
scenario." PNAS. N.p.. Web. 8 Mar 2014
HowStuffWorks.com.<http:science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/global-
warming.htm>01
March 2014
Salmons, D. "Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction." Global Issues. N.p.. 15 Jan
2011. Web. 8 Mar 2014.
<http://www.globalissues.org/article/233/climate-change-and-
global-
warming-introduction>.>.
Shah, Anup.
"Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction." Global Issues. N.p.. 01 March
2014.
Web. 8 Mar 2014. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/233/climate-change-and-
global-
warming- introduction>. >.
Strickland, Jonathan. "How Global Warming Works."HotStuffWorks.com.
N.p.. Web. 8 Mar
2014.
<http:science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/global-
warming.htm>01 March 2014 >.
.
The Guardian. N.p.. Web. 8 Mar
2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/sea-ice>.
("Guardian")
