Global Warming and Its Effects

Global Warming and its Effects

What is global warming? Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature. This hurts many people, animals, and plants. Many cannot take the change, so they die. However, global warming has its causes and it also has its effects on humans, and animals. Many things cause global warming. One thing that causes global warming is electrical pollution. Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others. In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity. Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals. Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum. Many pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air when fossil fuels are burned. Some of these chemicals are called greenhouse gasses. We use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give off less pollution. Petroleum, one of the sources of energy, is used a lot. It is used for transportation, making electricity, and making many other things. Although this source of energy gives off a lot of pollution, it is used for 38% of the United States’ energy. Some other examples of using energy and polluting the air are: Turning on a light, watching television, listening to a stereo, washing or drying clothes, using a hair dryer, riding in a car, heating a meal in the microwave, using an air conditioner, playing a video game, and using a dish washer. When you do these things, you are causing more greenhouse gasses to be sent into the air. Many chemical compounds found in the Earth’s atmosphere act as “greenhouse gases.” These gases allow sunlight to enter the atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some of it is reflected back towards space as infrared radiation (heat). Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere. Over time, the amount of energy sent from the sun to the Earth’s surface should be about the same as the amount of energy radiated back into space, leaving the temperature of the Earth’s surface roughly constant. Many gases exhibit these “greenhouse” properties. Some of them occur in nature (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide), while others are exclusively human-made (like gases used for aerosols). Greenhouse gasses are sent into the air because creating the electricity you use to do these things causes pollution. If you think of how many times a day you do these things, it’s a lot. You even have to add in how many other people do these things! That turns out to be a lot of pollutants going into the air a day because of people like us using electricity. The least amount of electricity you use, the better. Global warming pretty much has an effect on almost everything in the world, most of these effects are on humans. Some examples of these effects are the spread of disease. For example, As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north, bringing plague and disease with them. Indeed some scientists believe that in some countries, thanks to global warming malaria has not been fully eradicated. Also more natural disasters occur more often like hurricanes, tsunamis, and floods. As well as migrations, conflicts, and war happen. In addition to war humans suffer the loss of biodiversity and animal extinction which can lead to death and hunger. Moreover, global warming can lead to the death of ocean life, for example, The world’s oceans absorb roughly 30% of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide that seeps into the atmosphere, and so inevitably, as more fossil fuels are burned, ocean life will continue to suffer the negative consequences of global warming. However, humans are not the only species that suffer to global warming, as well as humans, animals are also affected by global warming. As global warming causes climate change, many great deserts like the Sahara, are no longer able to sustain their animal population. Loss of habitat is most vividly seen in the Arctic, where global warming is melting the glaciers, pushing the polar bears into extinction. The melting glaciers have caused water levels to rise in many oceans, threatening to drown many tropical islands and forests that teem with animal life. The Gulf war oil spills, along with oil tanker spills, have devastated a large number of aquatic lives. The pictures of dead fishes covered in oil on many beaches, is a sad reflection of the future that lies in store for them. Changes in weather patterns and coastlines affect the food patterns of most aquatic creatures. Grasslands are also adversely affected by global warming. The effects include; high rate of evaporation, higher temperatures, frequent and severe droughts, reduced rainfall, and lower nitrogen content in forage grasses. Lower nitrogen concentration in the vegetation causes improper digestion in animals resulting in reduced strength, performance and health of animals. To make room for an ever-growing population, many forests, grasslands, and even deserts, have been made habitable for humans. Rainforests and grasslands support many life forms; they are home to tiny insects as well as mighty, grizzly bears. When forests are cleared out to develop more land for domestic constructions, industrial reasons, and farming, most of these animals have to adapt themselves to live in shrinking areas, where everything is less; food, water, hunting and breeding grounds. Loss of habitat renders these animals vulnerable to being hunted down, either in their own little space, or when they come close to human habitats searching for food. With deforestation, many trees and other plants, that provide food to herbivorous animals no longer exist, causing death due to starvation and malnutrition. This in turn has taken its toll on all other omnivorous and carnivorous animals too, making the entire animal life susceptible to extinction. Many animals, domestic or wild, who venture into the human habitat for food, eat from the garbage, mostly picking up plastic, rusted metal or contaminated food. This too has a devastating effect on their health. However, humans can do many things to stop global warming from processing. To stop global warming humans can do many things like carpooling. Carpooling is driving with someone to a place that you are both going to. This minimizes the amount of greenhouse gases put into the air by a car. Another thing that people are doing is being more careful about leaving things turned on like the television, computer, and the lights. A lot of people are taking time away from the television, and instead, they are spending more time outdoors. This helps our planet out a lot. Now, more people are even riding busses, walking to school, and riding their bikes to lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the air. Planting trees and recycling also helps. If you recycle, less trash goes to the dump, and less trash gets burned. As a result, there are fewer greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. Watch what you buy. Many things, such as hairspray and deodorant, now are made to have less of an impact on the atmosphere. Less greenhouse gasses will rise into the air, and global warming will slow down. Global warming is hurting many people, animals, and plants. Did you know that global warming is one of the most harmful natural disasters? Did you know that global warming is leading to the extinction of many rare animals like the golden toad of Costa Rica? In conclusion, global warming is very harmful to our community. Should we try to do something about it, or should we leave it to destroy our world?

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Global Warming and its Effects

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128104533.htm

Table of Contents:
Table of contents pg.2 Outline pg.3 Report pg.4 Bibliography pg.7

Outline:
I. Causes of global warming
A. Electrical pollution
B. Fossil fuels
C. Electricity
II. The effects of global warming on humans
A. The spread of disease.
B. The occurrence of natural disasters.
C. Animal extinction
D. The death of ocean life
III. The effects of global warming on animals
A. The extinction of animals
B. The effect of oil spills on aquatic lives
C. Forests being cleared out for construction, industrial reasons, and farming
D. Animals eating from the garbage
IV. What humans can do to stop global warming
A. What is carpooling
B. Not wasting electricity
C. Planting trees and recycling
D. Watching out for what you buy like hairspray and deodorant.

Bibliography: http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm (What is global warming) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/ http://lipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/ http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/Effects-on-Wildlife-and-Habitat.aspx http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-warming/276

Bibliography: http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm (What is global warming) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/ http://lipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/ http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/Effects-on-Wildlife-and-Habitat.aspx http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-warming/276