Environmental Effects Of Global Warming

Other species are being affected by this global warming. Especially, the animals that survive on ice like polar bears. Impacts of global warming include the melting of ice in the Antarctic; this is due to the rising temperature of the ocean surrounding the ice which then causes melting. However, some people argue that the ice caps are growing rather than shrinking so they completely devalue the issue of global warming. This is not necessarily true, since the heat from the ocean causes the ice to melt but the melted ice (turned into fresh water) also freezes immediately after it melts. So it is still an issue that is supposed to keep an eye on. The ecological impacts of ice melting would be the reduction of small ice caps which polar bears land

Thermal expansion and the melting of continental ice sheets and glaciers are raising sea levels. Predictions are complicated with this issue because as the atmosphere absorbs more and more greenhouse gases the faster the melting will occur. When only 1% of the three largest ice bodies on Earth melt, the Greenland ice sheet, the west Antarctic ice sheet, and the east Antarctic ice sheet, there is a sea level rise of 76 cm, which is not including the melt runoff from smaller glaciers and ice sheets all over the world. Now this is simply a rise in the water level, however combining sea level rise with land subsidence will amplify flooding (subsidence is the sinking of continental land which occurs after subduction zone earthquakes, ground water over use, and has many other causes). Every coast line will change, flooding the most populated and dangerous areas, I say dangerous because nuclear power plants are built on the coasts to access sea water for facility cooling and catastrophic damage will add additional poisons and toxic nuclear waste that will travel around the planet. (SkepticalScience). In 2008 there is an estimated 20 million climate refugees, as these events continue it is projected that there will be 200 million climate refugees by the year 2050.

In fact major floods that used to happen only once in 100 years now occurring every 10 or 20 years (WWF Global, N.D) And droughts are becoming a constant recurrence in countries such a Malawi, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Ice loss from the massive ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating and could soon become the main contributor to rising ocean levels

Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere form the atmospheric CO2 blanket. This is formed when the sunlight that has passed through the atmosphere is radiated back towards space after it has warmed the earth’s surface. The greenhouse gasses trap this warmpth within earth’s atmosphere, by absorbing the heat energy with greenhouse gas molecules, and this keeps earth at a temeperature that can sustain life. As humans produce more greenhouse gasses, the atmospheric CO2 increases, which means more heat energy is trapped within the atmosphere causing Earth’s heat content to increase. According to the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, “CO2 has increased by nearly 43% in the last 150 years”. This increase in heat content causes temperatures to rise,

One of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world today is the continual heating of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is felt that the increase of substantial amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere is associated with unpredictable climate and heat changes. It is often talked about that the primary reason why the global warming situation is increasing is due to the increase of the amount of greenhouse gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere, primarily the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. The increased carbon dioxide amount in the atmosphere that causes global warming is a cause of concern for many people because of its potential dangerous effects to the Earth and the environment. However,

Sea-level rise is one of the most significant effects of climate change. As global temperatures rise, ice in the polar-regions will continue to melt, dumping tons of additional water into the ocean. Warmer water temperatures will also lead the oceans to expand high projected rates of future sea-level rise. “These factors will cause sea levels to increase and swamp coastal areas all over the world” (Oceans and Sea Level Rise). Particularly, countries which are located in low-lying areas as well as islands, are concerned that their land areas would be decreased due to inundation and coastal erosion and, at worst, a large proportion of their population may be forced to migrate to other countries. Although flooding is an obvious consequence of rising sea levels, there are numerous other effects to consider. The current rising sea levels due to global warming are effecting the environment in a number of ways. (Oceans and Sea Level Rise)

Greenhouse gases are chemical compounds that are found in the atmosphere. Their chemical makeup allows energy from the sun to enter the atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some of it is reflected back towards space as infrared radiation (heat).

Climate change or variability is a naturally occurring phenomena that has been escalated by humans. With the transition from hand production to the use of machines during the Industrial Revolution, the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, used to power the machines has increased exponentially. Advances in technology has led to more fossil fuels having to be burned to sustain energy production. The issue with burning fossil fuels is that the byproduct is a release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which traps solar radiation and warms the Earth, called the greenhouse effect. The impacts of climate change include but are not limited to sea level rise, hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, heat waves, droughts, and flooding. In this paper the focus will be on flooding and its impacts on society including the economy, and ecology, as well as potential solutions.

One of the main factors that contributes to global warming is methane leaks (McKibben). Methane traps heat more effectively than carbon dioxide. It also escapes if it is not used right away, and America is largely leaking methane. Since 2002, United States methane emissions have risen 30%. Ranches and wetlands are boosting methane emissions. There is not very much the world can do about methane, but it is a major contributor to global warming.

Ever since the Industrial Revolution humans have been releasing more and more carbon dioxide, which is accumulated in the atmosphere, this leads to the creation of the greenhouse, this disrupts our Earth’s climate. The greenhouse effect is when the energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate and heats the earth’s surface, in turn the earth will radiate that energy back into earth which will cause a rise in temperature on earth because the gasses retain some of the outgoing energy trapping heat. Greenhouses gasses are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrox oxide water vapor and other gasses. These gasses originate from burning fossils which explain their capacity to produce energy. At first greenhouse effect was considered as a positive aspect but when greenhouse gases increase,

The US population is increasing at a rapid rate of 2.1 million per year” and with it, are many issues that plague the world. Because of overpopulation, scientists have had to increase the production of food and materials. These processes have affected the environment and caused global warming. Global warming is when the overall temperature of earth’s atmosphere increases slowly, typically because of the greenhouse effect caused by the rising level of carbon dioxide gases in the air and other pollutants. Some examples of carbon dioxide gases are fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Global warming has a negative effect on the environment because there are many environmental changes, vegetation’s growth is debilitated, natural disasters are more prevalent, and animals are becoming extinct.

It’s quite alarming how global warming affects the world. Imagine the world’s coolest places, the Arctic and Antarctica with its ice melting and pouring significant amount of water to the sea. The sea levels are rising fast, weather conditions change rapidly and sometimes getting more unpredictable.

Of all the many greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide certainly gets the most attention. While much of this attention is well deserved because of CO2's likely impact on ''global warming,'' too often a focus on CO2 alone obscures the larger problem. Since the mid-1800s, many greenhouse gases have been rising steadily in concentration through emissions from various human activities. CO2, the most important of these due to its much larger abundance, has been exponentially increasing in concentration through the enhanced emissions from fossil fuel burning associated with the onset and continued industrialization of the world's economy.

Imagine a world where almost all of the major cities are covered by water, and alternating droughts led to water storages, malnutrition and an mass animal extinction. Often, people define "Global Warming" as a change in climate directly or indirectly attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition. The climate has always changed. The problem is that in the last century the pace of these changes has accelerated abnormally, to such a degree that they affect planetary life. A closer look at Global Warming will include the controversy surrounding this topic, what cause Global Warming, the actual environmental changes and human attempts to slow it.

Climate change is arising primarily due to human activities, as technology and pollution coincide to dismantle the contentious layer of greenhouse gasses. Heat trapping gasses, mainly carbon dioxide, are constantly adding to the atmosphere because of the burning of fossil fuels. As WWF Global points out, the layer of greenhouse gases acts much like a warm blanket to protect the Earth from the harsh iciness of the universe. When fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Resulting in a thicker coat of greenhouse gases, the climate then warms up additionally. Other gases that affect the climate but may not necessarily increase the climate include