With the rise of global warming deniers begets a need for this article. It is important to not get caught in the web of mistruths run by corporations and administrations that role back progress. We will be discussing a vital issue that impacts everyone (except for maybe 1% of people if you catch my drift). So lets dive into a bit about global warming from a rational understanding of where we stand and what we know.
Current progress of global warming in the world today
Global warming, also known as climate change, is the scientific phenomenon describing the direct consequences of an average increase in the earth’s temperature because of steadily increasingly radiation trapped in the system creating, a greenhouse effect.
Global warming is one of the biggest issues the world is faced with right now. It’s effects on plants and animals are without a doubt startling, and it’s impact on the human population is even more scary. Global warming is happening all around us and it is rapidly changing our climate and our earth.
The effects of global warming are being felt all over the world. Extraordinary heat waves have caused countless deaths around the globe as of late. What’s more, in a disturbing indication of events to come, Antarctica has been losing around 134 billion metric tons of ice every year since 2002; we wrote on glacier melt to help you understand it further. This would accelerate if we keep on buying fossil fuels at our current pace. According to experts, this result in sea level rising several meters within the next 50 to 100 years.
Major factors contributing to global warming
The green house effect
Research by scientists has proven that the green house effect was the main cause of global warming. The result of this is the atmosphere trapping the heat radiating from earth towards space. There are certain gases in the atmosphere that keeps the heat from escaping; greenhouse gases like methane, water vapor ozone and carbon dioxide(CO2). Over the last 50 years, temperatures have increased and this increase is a reflection an increase in the atmospheric greenhouse concentration.
Methane
Another cause of global warming is methane. The global warming we are facing in the world today is the after effects of methane being released from cracks of the earth and through natural gas leaks. Methane’s effect on global warming is about four times as bad as the effects of Carbondioxide. Cattles and other animals that produce methane can likewise contribute fundamentally to global warming. This is exacerbated by the thousands of cattle produced for the meat industry.
Deforestation
Activities of humans have contributed to global warming. Large amounts of Carbondioxide is released into the atmosphere. Human activities such as cutting down wood for fuel and paper, the use of tropical forest land for palm oil plantation. Plants remove and store Carbondioxide from the atmosphere and when they are cut down, Carbondioxide is released into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide(CO2)
Carbon dioxide(CO2), and amongst other heat trapping agents, is the primary contributor to global warming. As the level of Carbondioxide (CO2) rises, the pace of global warming is accelerated. Research has confirmed that less heat is escaping the atmosphere than 40 years ago.
Polar ice caps melting rapidly
Ice is melting rapidly from Greenland and the Antarctic into the world’s ocean. The Antarctic ice sheet is loosing it’s mass, thereby trapping warm water below the surface, dissolving ice masses from below and this accelerated melting is causing the sea level to rise.
According to Al-Jazeera, this meltwater will cause significant disruptions to ocean currents and change levels of warming around the world. The Antarctic ice sheet’s loss of mass, meanwhile, traps warmer water below the surface, eroding glaciers from underneath in a vicious circle of accelerated melting that contributes to sea level rise.
Effects of global warming
As global warming progresses, biodiversity everywhere throughout the world will suffer. Species’ habitats will cease to exist, they won’t most likely adjust to their changing environments and the migration pattern of many animals will be disrupted. Humans have already degraded the planet, with pollution to our marine and wildlife, this is just salt on the wound. Food sources will be compromised as plants will begin to loose nutrients.
According to research, if all the ice and snow in the world were to melt today, the result would be sea level rise of over 200ft and this would be detrimental to many low lying areas around the world.
As global warming occurs, the world will experience an increase in death rates, people will die from heat-induced sicknesses such as heat stroke, exhaustion from heat and suffer life threatening illnesses such as kidney disease and heart failure.
The global warming induced high temperature will worsen the weather, and worsen natural disasters including storms, heat waves and drought. It will increase the occurrence of hurricanes and also increase its economic effects.
The storms will destroy agriculture and disrupt habitat such as coral reefs and alpine meadows and this will result in the extinction of many plants and animal species.
There will be more frequent outbreaks of allergies and infectious diseases, due to an increased level of air pollution and the spread of favourable conditions favourable to pathogens and mosquitoes.
Solutions to global warming
- We can help as individuals, by taking action to reduce our carbon emissions.
- Expand the use of renewable energy and transform our energy system to a cleaner one that does not include coal .
- Reduce deforestation.
- As individuals, we can help by taking action to reduce our carbon emissions.
- Support solutions that reduce the use of fossil fuels–such as burning of coals, gas, and oil. Read our article on going 100% Clean Energy.
- Increase vehicle fuel efficiency and support other solutions that reduce oil use.
- Place limits on the amount of carbon that polluters are allowed to emit.
- Encourage better use of natural resources, making agriculture greener and more efficient.
- Build low energy buildings in order to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings.
- Check out the Green New deal that took the US by storm on a progressive path
China taking the lead on global climate change
China has taken the lead in global change. China has produce about 28% of Carbon dioxide emissions in the world. Making them the leading global- warming pollutants ,America comes second. But in the recent years, China has decided to to pull back on dirty fuel, particularly coal. About ten years ago, there were rumors of China building two new coal-fired plants which was entirely true and showed how much the country consumes coal. Now, China has become the bellwether on global climate change.
Conclusion
Global warming is rapidly changing our climate, and it’s effects on our planet is scary. There’s evidence that humans are causing this climate change. Many of the solutions to climate change hinge on we humans changing the way we behave, shifting the way we make and consume energy.
